Danika + Ben

Photographer Jennifer Brindley kindly shared this gorgeous DIY wedding of Danika and Ben. About the big day:

A bony and graceful white bird perched on the shore of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava was the perfect canvas for Ben and Danika to add their own DIY artistic touches to their wedding day. It had long been Ben’s dream to grow his own wedding flowers, he just had to meet the girl! When wedding planning commenced Ben and his mother-in-law began planting marigolds and zinnias from seed, two hearty and colorful varieties of flower that would reach their peak for the mid-July wedding. These flowers were arranged by Ben and Danika’s moms, who added lush hosta leaves as greenery. Lucky guests took home the vases, also handmade by the couple. The ceramic vases were formed by pressing slabs of clay into cylindrical molds lined with wet paper towels to create a fractured, organic surface on the finished vase. The vases were stamped with the couple’s wedding date and glazed a milky white.

Letters by post were important in the couple’s courtship, so table favors consisted of colorful blank stationery adorned with fully-mailable, uncanceled vintage postage stamps the couple found on E-bay. Guests were encouraged to send this unique snail mail to friends or loved ones of their choice.

Details: Photographer: Jennifer Brindley of JBe Photography

Couple: Ben and Danika Brubaker

Date: July 16th, 2010

Location: Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Creative elements:  This wedding was creative and unique in so many ways!  Danika wore the necklace given to her by Ben’s grandmother.  She told her that she’d been saving it her whole life for the right woman for Ben at their wedding, and that she knew it was going to the right woman.  They had a close friend play the guitar for their processional and also a special song during the wedding.  Their wedding colors were a vibrant orange, yellow and green to play off of the beauty of spring time, the clean white of the art museum, and the special flowers grown for the wedding. DIY projects:  It had always been Ben’s dream to grow the flowers for his wedding.  What a unique thing for a groom to say!  So, Ben and Danika’s mother grew all the flowers for this wedding.  They made the clay vases with Danika, and Ben’s mother arranged all the flowers, as well as made the boutonnières.  They also had a very unique “favor.”  They had been collecting vintage stamps, and made up an orange envelope for every guest with enough vintage stamps to mail a letter.  They said the guests could use it to mail a letter to anyone, but they hoped they’d get letters from their guests.  I thought this was a really creative alternative to a guest book! I also loved that Danika was a pregnant bride.  They were adamant about having the wedding while she was pregnant, and featuring/showcasing her belly because it was a family event.  They were happy and proud to have their unborn baby at the wedding. They did not opt to hire a DJ, but instead had a friend run an iPod.  They created a very special mix of music that reflected their deep love for each other and the love for their friends and family.