A Dream Wedding for a Dreamy Couple
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Photography by Riley Photography
Lyndsey + Evan
August 10, 2018
Culver, Indiana is a quaint lake town many have never heard of, yet is a gem in the Midwest known mostly for the prestigious Culver Academies located on the north shores of Lake Maxinkuckee. When we won a $25,000 wedding, made possible by local vendor sponsorships from this historic town, we couldn’t be more thrilled. To have our wedding where most, if not all, our guests have never traveled to - was exciting!
Evan and I have always been an adventurous couple. We thrive on travel to new places, meeting the local people and supporting the local businesses.
Photography by Riley Photography
Our wedding ceremony and reception were held at Lake Max Meadows. This venue is surrounded by fields, mature trees and rustic barns. I could not have been luckier, it was my dream to be married in a place that was close to nature and to incorporate the natural scenery of bean and corn fields.
They transformed their blue boat barn into a magical space to host our dinner reception, with long farmhouse tables, unique benches and chairs. My vision included rustic table runners of cheese cloth and natural greenery. I did not want to take away from the beauty of the barn’s interior. Additional touches included hanging white drapery with soft lights to enhance the tall beams and magnificent architecture of the historic barn. Furthermore, we had large wooden wine barrels and rustic wooden platforms for our bar that reminisced the 1920s.
One of the best features of working with Lake Max Meadows as a venue for our wedding, it’s close proximity to the town of Culver, Indiana. The majority of our guests were able to find accommodations within five to ten minutes away from the venue.
The real treat to having our destination wedding in Culver, the town itself was absolutely amazing. Small town hospitality that can not be found in big city weddings. We just loved Culver! Our wedding guest shared nothing but compliments on their experience, saying they will be back for vacations and to stay longer. Evan and I couldn’t agree more. Thank you Culver, Indiana and Lake Max Meadows for opening up arms, and inviting all our guests to enjoy all your town had to offer!
Photography by Riley Photography
The one woman the made my dream wedding come true was Liz, who owns The Garden by Liz. When we first met with Liz, I brought pictures from my Pinterest page of the details and ideas I’d like to incorporate into our wedding. She understood right away, and let me tell you, she didn’t let a detail slip by! Everything was there! I wanted a natural theme with just a hint of green and white candles to decorate the tables.
Liz found my deep gray farm tables which matched perfectly. This feature made my reception picture perfect. She was gracious enough to donate beautiful greenery and flowers for the wedding. My bouquet and the maid of honor’s bouquet were absolutely stunning. Topping it off, the groomsmen boutonnières looked like they came straight off my Pinterest board!
Photography by Riley Photography
It was my vision to keep the mood whimsical with no rules about where to sit, or when to eat. Liz found an amazing cater, Rozzi’s. They created fabulous dishes of brisket and Memphis chicken with sides served family style. She also brought in amazing and personable bartenders.
All of the coordination and work Liz and her employees did to transform The Boat Barn into my fantasy rustic wedding reception was, simply, amazing! Her staff’s hard work ensured every detail, small or large, was dealt with to perfection. Their hard work made my wedding day perfect!
Photography by Riley Photography
OUR WEDDING VENDORS:
Lake Max Meadows Loft: We had the good fortune of getting ready in their beautiful AirBnB, which Lake Max Meadows owners, Ed and Becky Furry, donated to us for the duration our wedding. The Lake Max Loft is modern, but rustic, with special touches that keep it feeling warm and inviting. Everything you could want is there! The bed is so comfortable, getting out of it is a chore! The kitchen is to die for! Thank you so much for letting us stay and use the loft!
Fernbaugh’s Diamonds and Fine Jewelry: They generously to donated $1000 towards our wedding. With this, Evan was able to pick out the ring he always wanted. A deep metal with meteorite within the stone. All of their jewelry was magnificent and one of a kind. We can not thank you enough for being a part of our wedding lives that he will wear for the rest of his life.
Main Street Studios: Heather worked incredibly hard with our kid’s section of the reception. We wanted to make sure all the kids could be entertained while the adults were able to have fun and enjoy “adult” conversations! Heather created the cutest kids table full of crayons, colored pencils, markers for the children to decorate print cut-out that all kept in the theme of a farm wedding. There were little chairs they could sit at, which was seriously the most adorable part of the wedding. The table sat under a beautiful tree and we were able to get the cutest photos of the ring bears coloring together during the reception. Thank you so much Main Street Studios. You were a lifesaver to so many adults that evening! She also created beautiful signs that were throughout the venue with details such as “Wedding” in the field and one asking guests to put away their phones and enjoy the ceremony.
All Pro DJ’s of Michiana: Ken was absolutely fabulous. We met with him over drinks to discuss music choices and genres we would like at our wedding. He had so many great ideas to keep our guests entertained, as well as getting them up and dancing. Our guest loved his music choices and how he catered to everyone, he played a mixture of Motown to 90s to EDM. Guests danced the night away out under the stars!
Chad Van Herk: Chad was one of the best and most unique features of our wedding. After the ceremony, he was playing his guitar on top of his bright yellow Jeep! He played folk songs for guests to listen to while they enjoyed drinks and conversation before dinner.
The Lakehouse Grill: They brought in a beautiful display of the best fruits for our guest to enjoy during cocktail hour. The display was stunning, but the taste of the fruit was even more incredible.
Delizious Bakery: They donated our wedding cake. I always had a style in mind for what I wanted. I’ve always been minimal and find simplicity to be beautiful. I decided on a naked cake with specks of gold dripping down the side of the cake. On top we had buds of flowers to keep with the organic and natural theme. The three tiered cake turned out to be one of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen or tasted at a wedding - amazing! The cake was raspberry almond, vanilla almond and lemon almond. We can not thank you enough for your amazing gift to our wedding.
Baked by Brooklyn: Their cupcakes were an absolute hit. With flavors everyone enjoyed, we couldn’t hear enough good things about the filling and frosting of these homemade treats. They were arranged around the wedding cake along with greenery and white candles to give a beautiful aesthetic look. Thank you so much for these fantastic treats!
Sallie’s by the Shore: Sallie’s brought an old Italian ice cream cart along with different flavors of homemade ice cream for our guests to enjoy. Oh boy! What a treat! Everyone, I mean everyone, loved this addition. We can't thank them enough for donating their time and energy to our day, making our guests feel special and happy.
Love Story Wine:. If you have not tried their Pinot Noir, do yourself a favor and try it! You will not be disappointed. We served the Rose before the ceremony started which was a refreshing option for our guests before sitting in the hot August sun. LoveStory was kind enough to donate a case of the Rose for our wedding and it was wonderful. We chose to purchase additional cases of the Pinot noir and Pinot Grigio as well. We absolutely love this wine, and if you haven’t yet, seek them out!
MJ’s Sweet Tooth: I can’t say enough good things about Mary Jane and her company. For starters, she is the sweetest woman you’ll ever meet, and runs her business with so much love you rarely find in today’s business culture. She so was kind and donated our goodie bags for our guests to grab on the way out. She brought in pixie sticks, taffy, pop rocks, and other fun candy everyone absolutely loved. She used adorable brown paper sacks that were stamped, including personalized clips with our guest’s names and wedding date on them for the closure of the bag. Thank you so much for everything you did. I will always cherish your generous gift to us and meeting you.
Riley Trott Photography: Riley was with me the entire time I was getting ready for my wedding and was the main wedding photographer for our day. She captured everything from my hair getting curled to my makeup being applied to Evan and I doing our “First Look”. Her ideas and vision were innovative and intuitive - I was just blown away. She captured beautiful candid shots and I didn’t even know she was there. Evan and I are so blessed to have worked alongside her. She produced the most breathtaking images I have ever seen. We are so grateful for her time and talents and that she agreed to be included to document our wedding day.
Whitney Girton Photography: She was absolutely amazing. She worked hard, facilitating genuine moments between family and friends. Having those photographs means more than posed images. It shows the true feelings of our guests and how happy they were to be celebrating our wedding. Capturing the day is one of the most important aspects of a wedding. Her work is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for donating your time and talents to us on our special day.
Danielle Maverick Photography: She was behind the scenes capturing video used for the wedding video. We can not thank you enough for your talents and time you dedicated to us to make our day perfects.
Culver Coffee Company: Such an adorable coffee shop that was generous to provide coffee and breakfast pizzas to the wedding party before the ceremony. Thank you so much for this making our wedding morning breakfast delicious!
Photography by Riley Photography & Whitney Girton Photography
We know our family and friends work hard, forgetting about love and happiness, at times. We wanted our guests to celebrate our love and bring everyone together outside the big cities and get back to the basics. Culver, Indiana is such a perfect place to do this. We all put our phones down to celebrated life, happiness and most importantly - love. For this we can not thank all of the local sponsors, especially Ed and Becky Furry for providing such a special weekend for us all.
Our wedding weekend was an absolute dream and so we purchased a neon sign that says “it was all a dream” to remember it always! ~ Lyndsey & Evan Jinks
