DIY Rustic Chic Wedding by Carissa Christine Photography

When I received the stunning photos from this wedding, my heart skipped a beat.  I am absolutely smitten with all the DIY details, rustic chic theme and beautiful outdoor location of this Fall wedding at the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club in Prior Lake.  Hope you enjoy all the gorgeous pictures by Carissa Christine Photography and lovely DIY details as much as I do!

From the Bride: The best weekend for Chad and I is spending camping, hiking or canoeing together.  We started to fall in love over 6 1/2 years ago on our first camping trip up north.  We have both enjoyed the outdoors from when we were little so when it came to planning our wedding we wanted our family and friends to feel the same love for the outdoors as we do.  The Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club in Prior Lake, was a perfect fit for us.  The outdoor ceremony looking over the lake made Chad and I feel right at home. We wanted our venue to have the charm of being in northern Minnesota without having to travel up north.  The log cabins and tree covered area was what set the tone for the theme of our handmade rustic chic wedding!!  I love all things “DIY” so when it came to planning the wedding Chad helped with the big stuff and let me go to town on the decor.  With the help of family, friends and hours of browsing the Internet, we were able to make almost everything from our own back yard.  I spent every day planning and crafting for 11 months to come up with our rustic chic theme and loved every minute of it.  It was our wedding and it fit us to a “T” we couldn’t have had a better day!!

Photography: Carissa Christine Photography | Wedding Ceremony and Reception Venue: Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club | Wedding Dress: Wedding Shoppe | Cake Designer: Buttercream Wedding Cakes

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Real Wedding Wednesday: Lutsen Wedding by Jonny Edwin

Combine modern chic with a stunning rustic location, and what do you get?  This amazingly gorgeous wedding photographed by Jonny Edwin.  The chevron and stripe motifs incorporated throughout the details and decor give this outdoorsy wedding a modern flair.  Keep scrolling for the spectacular photos and the bride’s story of this couple’s Fourth of July weekend celebration.

From the Bride:

Planning
Fast forward to our amazing wedding on the beach of Lake Superior on 7/7/2012.  We looked at a few places along the north shore and Lutsen was by far our favorite and the most “us”.

Fourth of July Weekend Celebration
We have a lot of out of town friends but yet wanted to keep it super intimate.  We both have large extended families, so even though we had a guest list of around 100 – that was only family and our closest friends.  Because it coincided with the July 4th weekend, many people were able to come up and spend the weekend with us.  We had dinners at our cabins starting Wednesday evening.

Friday night’s groom’s dinner featured a family recipe for peanut butter chicken that Lutsen was kind enough to make.  It’s been a favorite of both the Bertelson and the Mitchell families for years.  We had a fantastic, huge bonfire after the dinner complete with drinks, snacks, and plenty of s’mores.

Wedding Day
Friday it had been raining, but Saturday we woke up to the most beautiful, warm, sunny day you can have on the north shore.  And it was hot! (for up there).  I had been hoping for super hot scorching weather in the Twin Cities all summer, knowing that that was the only way I’d get warm weather on Lake Superior.  It was so warm, we even took a morning dip in the lake.

We did photographs pre-ceremony.  Our wedding party was just my brother and my cousin on my side, Pete’s two brothers on his.

Northland Special Events handled much of the decor and ALL of the set up and day-of coordination.  The chevron table runners and napkins were mine, as was the table assignments board.  It was an antique window with chicken wire that I found at a Minneapolis antique shop.  I then had BreaVie designs create tiny name cards to match the rest of the paper goods and we clipped them onto the chicken wire.

Pete and I aren’t cake people, so we pushed really hard with Lutsen to get ice cream and set up a big sundae bar.  There were other desserts as well, but we used the ice cream as our “cake”.

We had a big table of family photographs – but our favorites were wedding pictures of all of our grandparents.

We loved our DJ, he did a fantastic job and literally everyone was dancing.  We kept the dance kind of short and then headed out to the beach for a 2nd evening of bonfire and s’mores.

Photography: Jonny Edwin Photography | Ceremony and Reception Venue: Lutsen Resort | Wedding Planning, Day of Coordination, Decor and Flowers: Mariah McKechnie from Northland Special Events | Invitations and Wedding Stationery: Kelli Arruzzo of Wanderlove Press Co via Etsy (formerly Brea Vie Designs) | Dress: David’s Bridal | Veil: Tiffani Saxton Designs via Etsy | Jewelry: pieces from my paternal grand mother and great grand mother | Hair: Adrienne N. Tousignant Freelance Hairstylist (also bookable via Creative Beaute Agency) | Wedding Officiants: both of our dads (my dad got ordained) | Violinist: Pete’s uncle | DJ: Sounds Unlimited (Mike) | Food and Alcohol: Lutsen Resort | Lutsen Coordinator: Stephanie Griffin | Pie and Cupcake Desserts: New Scenic Cafe | Ice Cream Sundae Bar Dessert: Bridgeman’s in Duluth