Wedding Book 2023

Wedding Timeline

Use this helpful guide to plan your perfect celebration.

By Meghan Stratton

10-12 months prior to the ceremony, or right after getting engaged:

 Create a big-picture budget for the wedding.

 Choose a ceremony date and a backup date.

 Compile your guest list.

 Research and tour venues. Book the ceremony and reception venues you love and start to envision your big day there.

 Pick a wedding theme or color, and book your florist.

 Book the officiant or select someone you know who is ordained.

 Research and book your photographer, videographer, and DJ/entertainment.

 Shop for and order the bride’s and groom’s attire.

 Shop for bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen suits.

 Have an engagement party.

 Select a seamstress or alterations company.

7-9 months prior:

 Create and mail your save-the-dates.

 Book or coordinate your wedding day transportation.

 Research and book hair and makeup artists.

 Create your gift registry and wedding website.

 Book hotels for out-of-town guests.

 Book honeymoon accommodations and transportation.

 Book a rehearsal dinner venue and confirm your venue’s availability for the rehearsal.

6 months prior:

 Order invitation stationery.

 Purchase wedding rings.

 Plan and take engagement photos.

 Have your wedding attire altered.

4-5

months prior:

 Send out invitations.

 Order cake or desserts.

 Purchase bridal shoes, accessories, and veil.

 Reserve any rental items like chairs, linens, and dinnerware. Before you order anything, check what your reception venue provides.

 Finalize the guest list and the dinner menu.

 Book wedding night accommodations.

2-3 months prior:

 Do trial runs for bridal hair and makeup.

 Purchase or arrange extras like a guest book, toasting glasses, and a cake knife.

 Create and print programs and menus.

1 month prior:

 Apply for and pick up your marriage license. (Check with the clerk of the county you’re marrying in; some licenses expire if not filed in a certain number of days.)

 Write your vows.

 Create and finalize the reception seating chart and table numbers.

 Finalize the schedule for the day of the wedding and confirm your vendor arrival times.

 Review must-have shots with the photographer.

 Review your final RSVP list and communicate any reception changes to your venue and/or caterer.

2 weeks prior:

 Finalize vendor payments. Don’t forget to tip!

 Break in your wedding shoes.

 Delegate day-of duties to trusted loved ones.

 Review your wedding day playlists — this includes music for getting ready, the ceremony, cocktail hour, and the reception.

 Get the groom and groomsmen fresh haircuts.

 Get a final fitting of all bridal party attire, including the wedding dress and groom’s suit.

Katelyn' s

AND DESIGN

812-204-9532 12500 Highway 41, Suite 5 Evansville, IN 47725

Our goal is perfection.

We specialize in wedding and formal gown alterations and will walk you through the entire process. There is no job too big or too small. We offer services ranging from hems and bustles all the way up to complex gown design and reconstruction. Whether your goal is price or perfection, we can tailor the right fit for you. Upfront pricing quotes are provided during your fitting consultation. We aim to provide all of our clients with the highest quality work, fair pricing, honesty, integrity, and great customer service. Come see why our clients continually come back to us.

By Meghan Stratton

After dating for seven years, high school sweethearts Jadrien and McKenna Higginson were married outdoors on a sunny day surrounded by an autumn glow.

The two attended Castle High School in Newburgh, Indiana and ran track. Jadrien chose the date of their engagement two years before it happened, and on June 11, 2021, he proposed on a bench at the Newburgh riverfront.

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Throughout the planning process for their Oct. 1, 2022, wedding, Jadrien and McKenna focused on making their wedding intentional and Christ-centered. They enjoyed asking each bridesmaid and groomsman to be in the wedding party and spending time all together before the ceremony.

The couple wrote their own vows for the ceremony at Kokies Echo Valley, and the bride’s uncle recited a letter about marriage that he had also read at her parent’s wedding. In their unity ceremony, the couple tied three strands together representing their two families and God becoming one.

The reception was held at Kokies Catering and Banquet Center with a classic comfort meal for dinner. The dance party lasted nearly four hours long — and was cushioned by matching sneakers for the wedding party — but it was one special dance that McKenna holds dear.

“We decided to do a private dance halfway through the reception,” she says.

“All of our guests went outside to prep for the flashlight exit. Jadrien and I stayed alone inside and danced to the song I walked down the aisle to — a break in the chaos for just the two of us to have a moment together and take it all in. It was the most special and unique part of our day.”

Photos by Neeley Photography

Alex & Danielle

By Meghan Stratton

Danielle and Alex Mitchell are high school rivals turned sweethearts. Both are native West Siders, but Danielle attended Mater Dei High School, while Alex studied at F.J. Reitz High School. There already is strong debate about where any children the couple may have will attend secondary school.

They met in high school through mutual friends and dated nearly six years before getting engaged. Alex proposed at the Haynie’s Corner Arts District fountain after a romantic dinner at Sauced, and the couple’s families eagerly watched the proposal from behind nearby trees.

Alex and Danielle needed a large venue for their nearly 250 wedding guests. The April 30, 2022, ceremony was held at Resurrection Catholic Church amid Easter flowers and decorations.

After the ceremony, the couple took their wedding party on a joy ride with a party bus from Feller Limousine. They danced and drank on the outdoor patio at Mo’s House in Haynie’s Corner before heading to their reception at The Bauerhaus.

“Our reception was romantic and fun thanks to the amazing Bauerhaus,” Danielle says. “We were so appreciative of the amazing food, drinks, music, dessert, and midnight snack! It had just started to rain right before we arrived, and we were able to get some amazing photos right outside the venue.”

The Bauerhaus added a personal touch with a large display of the couple’s engagement photos. The bride wore a dress from Ella Park Bridal and earrings from Olive and Piper, but her wedding band was a custom creation. Alex took metal from Danielle’s grandmother’s wedding ring and made it into a new wedding band. Danielle’s sister also has some of their grandmother’s ring in her own wedding band, so both sisters will always have their grandmother with them.

The Mitchells’ wedding day was full of personal moments, and one of the happiest was when Danielle saw Alex at the end of the aisle.

“We had done a first look earlier that day, but the emotion hit us both all at once,” Danielle says. “I was all smiles, and Alex was choking back some happy tears. It was a beautiful moment for us both.”

By Meghan Stratton

Kalisha Singh and Pratish Maharjan both were born in Nepal, and it was important to them that they incorporate Nepali details into their Hindu wedding. Because the bride’s parents live in Evansville, family and friends traveled from around the world to celebrate the couple in the Tri-State at Pine & Co.

The couple dated long distance for about a year before getting engaged. They both have lived in the U.S. for 20 years — Kalisha in Los Angeles, California, and Pratish in Traverse City, Michigan. They were connected by family and met for the first time in October 2020. Pratish proposed a year later on a night walk in Manhattan Beach, California.

“We didn’t have a wedding planner, and we just had a few months to plan for our wedding,” Kalisha says.

Guests came from near and far to attend the couple’s Sept. 30, 2022, wedding, including Pratish’s parents, who flew from Nepal. The ceremony, held outdoors by a gazebo and pond on the grounds of Pine & Co, was an abbreviated version of a typical multi-day Nepali wedding.

The ceremony included traditions and rituals performed by a Hindu priest. Kalisha wore a red sari and red bridal veil in accordance with Hindu culture, and Pratish sported a traditional long shirt and pants called a daura suruwal, along with a dhaka topi hat that is popular in Nepal.

The couple and their guests enjoyed a cocktail hour and traditional Nepali food from Evansville eatery Yak and Yeti. Entertainment for the night consisted of music from Bruder Entertainment and a few songs sung by the bride’s cousins.

“We’re so thankful to our family and friends who helped to plan and coordinate, from outfits to decor and food,” Kalisha says.

Zachary

By Meghan Stratton

The stars aligned on Oct. 1, 2022, for Zachary and Emma Risher’s celestial-themed wedding. Mount Vernon, Indiana, native Zach originally wanted to propose under the stars on the beach at Cape Canaveral, Florida, but inclement weather had other plans. Instead, the couple got engaged during a break in the rain on the anniversary of their first kiss.

Zach and Emma, a Long Grove, Illinois, native, met while attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, and started dating after working together on a friend’s independent film. They became engaged after almost four years of dating and planned a wedding in New Harmony, Indiana.

When planning their wedding, Emma and her mother, Ann, spent hours finding the right decor to fit the starry theme. Zach hand-painted the table centerpieces for the reception.

And that wasn’t the only personalized touch — Zach also wore his grandfather’s suit from his grandparents’ marriage 74 years ago. Photographer Zach Straw of Straw Photography and Media took a variety of detail shots to capture the personal elements of the ceremony and reception.

“Our ceremony was held on the second floor of the beautiful Rapp-Owen Granary,” Emma says. “The venue made it feel very timeless.”

A horse drawn carriage from Horseshoe Bend Carriage Company whisked the couple away following the ceremony. The reception was held at the New Harmony Inn and Conference Center, and Emma says the dance floor was packed with their loved ones.

“Because our friends and family live around the country, it was very special that we had everyone that means a lot to us together in the same space,” Emma says.

Wedding and Social Invitations by Link

Around 2014 as our own kids started marrying, we had this idea that a local design and print service for brides to be might be a thing. As Etsy, Pinterest, and other online services started to take off, we heard some dissatisfaction from customers about the inability to touch and feel the product which is instrumental in making sure everything for your perfect day meets your expectations. So we started into this small niche business of preparing and printing Wedding and Social Graphics for customers who would develop their expectations online and then have them fulfilled with a local purchase. A place where they could use their senses to bring their expectations to life. Its worked wonderfully for us and the many new customers we have assisted. Last year coming out of COVID there were many couples ready to tie the knot. We assisted 67 of them in creating visually pleasing graphics for invitations, programs and other print and promotional collateral to make their special day superb.

Sharon & Bob

Tyler

By Meghan Stratton

It was a sunny, 45-degree day in February 2022 when Rachael and Tyler Blocker were married in an intimate, backyard wedding. Rachael’s grandfather walked her out of her childhood home and down to a dock on their farm, where her groom waited.

The couple’s immediate family watched the ceremony nearby, but one important person was missing. Tyler’s mother passed away from breast cancer in November 2021. On his wedding day, Tyler’s sister gifted him a lasered handkerchief featuring their mother’s handwriting so she could be present.

Tyler proposed to Rachael in his mother’s home after three years of dating. They planned their wedding in under one month.

“Because our farm work life can be stressful during certain times of the year, we knew we wanted to keep our wedding small, simple and ‘very us,’” says Rachael, a member of the family of farmers behind Mayse Farm Market. “Our planning process was smooth, and it all seemed to have happened naturally, just like how our relationship formed and blossomed.”

Despite the abbreviated planning timeline, the couple found small businesses and vendors eager to help make their wedding happen. Timberview Flower Farm coordinated florals and greenery, and even the couple’s dog sweetly sported a wreath for the occasion. After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed dinner at Biaggi’s Italian Restaurant’s private wine room and cut into cake from Piece of Cake bakery.

At the end of the day, the couple said their wedding was everything they wanted, and they couldn’t have asked for a more perfect winter day.

“Getting married at the farm made our wedding day even more sentimental,” Rachael says. “Our wedding day was so beautiful, and I loved how we just did our own thing.”

Austin

By Meghan Stratton

When high school sweethearts Austin and Julia Dewig were married on June 4, 2022, they invited “just about the entire town of Haubstadt,” Julia says. The couple met through mutual friends while attending Gibson Southern High School and dated more than four years.

Austin proposed at the top of a hill, and candles lit Julia’s path toward her friends, family, and fiancé-to-be. When it came time to start planning, Julia enlisted the help of spreadsheets and planners. To make sure everyone involved in the ceremony is on the same page, she recommends creating a “day of the wedding” planning document to hand out, as well as emergency kits for bridesmaids and groomsmen.

The wedding at St. James Catholic Church was presided over by three priests who the couple each knew. The church was well attended with around 650 guests. The nearby Vanderburgh County 4-H Center auditorium was the perfect venue for the couple’s large reception.

OBJ Design helped make Julia’s design vision come to life, as she has always dreamed of a pink sparkly wedding. The venue was covered in flowers, chandeliers, lights, draping, and plenty of sparkles.

The wedding food was a familial labor of love. Austin’s family owns Dewig Meats, and their catering company Pappa Bear’s provided two whole hogs, steamboat round, barbecued chicken, and plenty of sides. The couple also asked each of their aunts to bake a different type of cookie for the cookie bar. And instead of walking around to guests’ dinner tables, Austin and Julia greeted each guest as they entered the buffet line.

From the ceremony to the reception, Austin and Julia’s wedding was full of celebratory personalized touches as a testament to their love for family and one another.

“When I was walking up the aisle, I looked out into the pews, and the church was packed with all our friends and family,” Julia says. “This was so special! It made me tear up looking at both of our parents as well. They were so helpful during the entire wedding process, and we will be forever grateful for having such loving parents as well as friends.”

The Black Horse Barn

Where the magic begins...

AAA Travel WBC2

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Agape Graze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 agapegraze.com

Alterations by Olivia 72 alterationsbyolivia.com

Artistic Imagery Photography . . . . . . . . 87 artisticimageryphotography.com

Award World Trophies & Gifts 86 awardworldtrophies.com

Bally’s Evansville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 ballysevansville.com Bar Louie 95 barlouie.com

Bauerhaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87, 89 thebauerhaus.com

Bella Terra Organic Spa 92 thebellaterraspa.com

Biaggi’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 biaggis.com

Black Horse Barn 91 theblackhorsebarn.com

Bridal Makeup by Maria . . . . . . . . . . . 90 mariamechelle.com

Burdette Park 79 burdettepark.org

Copper House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 thecopper.house

Culligan of Evansville 93 culliganevv.com

Doubletree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 evansvilledoubletreehotel.com

Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science . . . . . . . . . 95 emuseum.org

F C Tucker Emge Realtors 70 fctuckeremge.com

Flowers and More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 flowersandmorein.com

Friedman Park Event Center 64 friedmanparkeventcenter.com

Just Rennie’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 justrennies.com

Katelyn’s Alterations and Design 68 katelyns-alterations-design.business.site

Link Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 linkgraphics.com

Magic Moments 75 magicmomentsbridal.net

Main Street Wedding and Event Venue . . . 92 mainstreetevansville.com

Mesker Park Zoo & Botanical Garden 91 meskerparkzoo.com

Moonbeam Trolley Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 moonbeamtrolley.com

OBJ Design 74 obj-design.com

Owensboro Convention Center . . . . . . 94 owensborocenter.com

Pine & Co 78 pineandcoevents.com

Shelter Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 shelterinsurance.com/CA/agent/vickyanslinger-clark

T .R .U Event Rental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 67 trueventrental.com

Travel Smart 95 choosetravelsmart2.vacationport.net Venue 812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 venue812.com

Warehouse 410 89 facebook.com/warehouse410evv

Zeidler’s Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 zeidlersweddings.com

1 week prior:

Have your rings cleaned.

Invest in a beauty routine including but not limited to manicures, pedicures, hair coloring, massages, or facials.

Pack your day-of emergency kit with items such as deodorant, hair pins, makeup, sewing kit, mints, and stain removal tools.

Pack for your honeymoon. (If traveling internationally, be sure your travel documents have the correct surname on them! See a travel agent for more details.)

The day prior:

Pull together attire and accessories

Give designated helpers the items for which they’re responsible.  Steam the dresses.  Relax and have fun at your rehearsal dinner!  Stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep.

Wedding Day:

Eat a healthy breakfast.  Give your rings to the best man or maid of honor before the ceremony.

 Get your pre-selected hairstyle and makeup done.

 Dab your flowers with paper towels before you hold them.

 Remember that anything that would take five minutes on a normal day usually takes 20 minutes on your wedding day. If you’re running ahead of schedule, fabulous!

 Enjoy your wedding, and spend time with your loved ones!

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