Michelle and Nick 02.06.16

Michelle and Nick’s Vintage Winter Wedding | February 6, 2016

Ceremony | Holy Wisdom
Reception | Lake Windsor Country Club
Photographer | Twig and OlivePhotography

Florist | Sweet Pea Floral
Bride’s Dress | Marah’s Elegant Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses | Vera’s House of Bridals
Groom’s Suit | Nedrebos
DJ | Mueller DJ
Baker | Craig’s Cakes

Rentals | Event Essentials
Rentals | A la Crate Vintage Rental

Photographer’s blog post with this wedding: http://www.twigandolivephotography.com/lake-windsor-golf-club-wedding-madison-wi-wedding-photographer/

We first met Michelle in 2014 when we hired her family’s company, Acker Builders of Waunakee.  From the moment we met the Acker family we knew we would make a great team!  (And boy did we on both Michelle and Nick’s wedding and on the gorgeous home they built for us!)

When we initially sat down with Michelle, her sister, and her mother it became clear that they were interested in a large wedding focused on family and friends.  To our further delight, the family includes a couple of adorable pups!

First challenge? Determine the location for a guest list that included just over 400 people!  Here in the Madison area or up north near where Nick’s family is from?  We went to work and were quickly able to find them numerous locations to meet their style, budget and the size of their wedding. After touring several places, Nick and Michelle decided keeping things close to home was the best for their families and ended up choosing Lake Windsor Country Club for their reception and Holy Wisdom for the ceremony.

Next item to tackle was photographer!  Michelle’s love of all things vintage made us immediately think of Bobbi at Twig and Olive Photography.  But, as any good planner we like to give our clients options.  Michelle and Nick met with Bobbi and immediately hit it off!  (And so those other options flew out the window!)  Bobbi has an innate calming effect on people that allows them to relax and allow her to guide you.  (Relaxing is not always easy for clients, as having a camera in your face for hours on end is not normal for most people!)

Because a big family wedding needs beautiful decor and amazing music, those were our next two items to tackle.  For flowers we stuck close to home with Sweet Pea Floral of Waunakee.  Cathy is a force of nature; she is all energy and ideas!  Meeting with her is so much fun! Within the first ten minutes of meeting with her we knew this was not going to be your average floral, this was going to be something special.

Selecting Scott from Mueller Mobile DJ’s was another no brainer for Nick and Michelle.  Our mandate for them with regards to what they wanted from a DJ was clear.  They wanted a DJ that did not act like an awful stereotype.  One who would simply keep the dance floor packed the entire night.  Scott, a former band geek with the UW marching band, just loves music and it shows in how he runs the tunes for the night.  We have been doing weddings with Scott since 2004, so we can happily attest to his skills!

When the wedding day arrived we had our plans, and like any good planners we had back up plans if those did not work.  It all went off without a hitch!  The weather, which was our main concern, and always out of our control, was PERFECT!  The guests were having so much fun that we literally had to kick people out at the end of the night!

We would plan this wedding and any other weddings for this family any day!  Since it is clear that Nick and Michelle are together for life, we may just have to settle for building another home with them……

(If you love Michelle's style as much as we do and are in the market for a new house, check out the Acker Builders parade house at the 2017 MBA Parade of Homes running from June 10-25th in Waunakee, WI.)

Jayme and Katie

Wisconsin Bride - Best of 2017

WI Bride Best of 2017

Wisconsin brides, Madison brides in particular, are tremendously fortunate to have access to so many wonderful wedding professionals. Over our thirteen years of planning, we have been honored to get to work with many talented wedding vendors. We wanted to recognize some of the professionals we have worked with over the last year or so. 

Please take a few minutes to cast your ballot for Wisconsin Bride’s Best of 2017!  (Voting closes March 3...so get your votes in while you still can.)

VOTE HERE!

Jayme and Katie

Florist

Daffodil Parker

FUN FACT:  We did our first wedding with Erin at Daffodil Parker WAY back in 2006! Tracy, our sweet bride, was also a labor and delivery nurse at the time and ended up being Erin's nurse while she was having her daughter!

Flora Designs by Jamae

FUN FACT: Jamae is one talented and BUSY woman! She has three beautiful kids, one of which is an infant whom she sometimes has strapped to her while creating some of the most gorgeous arrangements we’ve ever seen!

Sweet Pea Floral

FUN FACT: Working with Cathy is a hoot! That girl is so talented, but also so fun to work with. We absolutely adore her and her beautiful creations.

Venue

Bishop’s Bay

FUN FACT: We may have shed a tear or two when Cheryl, the Events Manager, left Bishop's for a short period. We are thrilled she is back!

The Lageret

FUN FACT: Although we have not worked at this lovely venue as many times as the other Madison venues, it has quickly become a favorite of ours for many reasons.

Madison Club

FUN FACT: Emily, one of the banquet managers, could be a member of our family...gingers rule the world! She and Katie went to the same high school together!

DJ/Entertainment

Celebrations Entertainment

FUN FACT: Geoffrey is our non-profit hero! That man donates so much time to working with various charities.

Mueller DJ Service

FUN FACT: We have known Scott since before we started doing weddings… he even did Jayme and Dean's wedding!

Rentals

Event Essentials

FUN FACT: Event Essentials was one of the first vendors we ever worked with WAY back in 2004!

A la Crate

FUN FACT: A La Crate is one of Katie's favorite places to go because antiques and vintage are her jam!

Invitations

Sugar Pear

FUN FACT: Kathy recently adopted one of Katie’s dream dogs… a Bernese mountain dog!

Cake/Desserts

GiGi’s Cupcakes

FUN FACT: Lindsay, the lead baker at GiGi's, is one of the coolest people we get to work with! She is funny, sweet and talented all rolled into one.

Craig’s Cake Shop

FUN FACT: Jayme and the ladies from Craig's Cakes were on a TV show together in 2010! We absolutely loved their white chocolate shavings.

Bloom Bake Shop

FUN FACT: Bloom Bake Shop is such a unique treasure in Madison. They truly create beautiful and delicious desserts!

Hair and Makeup

Kendra Gassner

FUN FACT: Kendra, in addition to being an amazing hair and make-up artist, went to school with Jayme’s husband Dean!

Kenzie’s Kuts

FUN FACT: Mckenzie, is a true talent who also happened to school with Jayme’s brother Brad!

Rik RakSalon

FUN FACT: Colie is a talented hair designer with the biggest heart. This is where Katie gets her hair done!

Wedding Planner


The Darling Wedding Co

FUN FACT: We like to think that we are pretty organized, dedicated, detailed, crazy, and fun! J

Catering

Upstairs Downstairs

FUN FACT: In all our years of doing tented weddings, we have by far used Upstairs Downstairs the most!

Underground Food Collective

FUN FACT: The wonderful people at Underground helped us pull off two tented weddings in one day! We would have never have been able to do it without them.

Blue Plate Catering

FUN FACT: Katie’s family is best friends with Tim DiMenna and his family, co-owners of Blue Plate! Their staff is always friendly and very responsive.

Bridal Apparel and Accessories

Marah’s Elegant Bridal

FUN FACT:  Both of Katie’s sisters have found their dresses at Marah’s. Marah and her sister have such a wonderful selection of gowns!

Vera’s House of Bridals

FUN FACT: Jayme worked as a bridal consultant for Vera’s in both Madison and Janesville when she was 19!

Photographers

Twig and Olive Photography

FUN FACT: Bobbi, Doug and Courtney are the best… we have so much fun working in collaboration with them and their talented visions!

Errin Hiltbrand Photography

FUN FACT: Errin is from the same small town as our extended family… making her apart of our family!

Krakora Studios

FUN FACT: Michael and Heather are honestly a couple of dream photographers. We have shared so many memories with them over the past thirteen years!

                    VOTE HERE!

Getting to know us

"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you."  This week we will be introducing ourselves to the world...kidding!  We thought it would be fun to give you the low down on our two senior planners, Jayme and Katie.

First up is our principal and planner...Jayme Galanos.

Jayme Galanos

Principal | Planner

Photo By: Tim Fitch Photography

When Jayme began the business, formerly known as Beyond Elegant Events in 2004, she was anxious to combine her knowledge of project and budget management with her experience in the wedding industry. From working at several floral studios as well as operating as a bridal consultant, Jayme’s passion is for all things planning, organizing, and making things pretty. While her career began in the technology world working for leading corporations such as Berbee/CDW and Alliant Energy, it was her love for creativity in conjunction with her impeccable organizational skills, which eventually led her to the event industry.

Jayme handles each wedding as if it were her own. She understands how important it is for each and every client to sit back and cherish every moment on their wedding day.

Photo By: Twig and Olive Photography

As a mother of two children and one very spoiled “fur baby,” Jayme is very adept at multitasking and handling any issue that might arise on the special day. In July 2017, Jayme and her husband, Dean, DWC’s CIO and heavy lifter, will celebrate their 13^th wedding anniversary (the year of lace)!

Jayme thrives on providing personal attention to each and every client. This boutique approach is what makes DWC unique. As principal, Jayme strives to make you a part of the Darling Family!

Fun Facts about Jayme:

Hobbies: Knitting, crafting, and experimenting with make-up

TV vs. Reading: Reading all the way - she always has a book with her!

Dog vs. Cat: Both, but since her husband and daughter are both allergic to cats, she has small fluffy dogs who will cuddle with her.

Guilty Pleasures: Watching vlogs and beauty gurus on YouTube, cute office products (Target!), and anything chocolate!

Family: Jayme and Katie are actually cousins. They are part of a large family headed by Dean and Donna who recently celebrated their 65^th wedding anniversary.

Why the Change?

Why the change?

Why would we change our name after thirteen years?  Over the last year of contemplating, discussing, planning, and designing, people have asked us many times why we want to change the name and branding for Beyond Elegant Events.  That answer is easy…. it was time!

When we started the business thirteen years ago, we had no idea that Beyond Elegant Events would take off as rapidly as it did, surpassing our wildest expectations.

Over time, our vision for the business has evolved and morphed into something different than what we set out to be. 

Instead of wanting to conquer the world and be the biggest, we determined we wanted to just be us, a small team wanting to make each client feel like they are part of our family…because the Darling Wedding Co is a family! You will see in upcoming posts on our blog and social media, we are still in contact with many of our past clients to this day. We love seeing our client’s birth announcements, work accomplishments, and celebrating their anniversaries!

We want to create a team with our clients complete with amazing wedding professionals to bring their dream day to life.  Planning a wedding is an enormous task, with heightened emotions, many challenges, and countless decisions.  We streamlined our process to help make the planning of such a huge day feel as stress free as possible. 

Since we are a small team made up of only two planners, Jayme and Katie (watch for our bios coming soon!) and a couple spectacular assistants, we only take a select few weddings each year.  This boutique wedding approach allows us more initialized attention to our clients.  A planner will never have two weddings in a weekend with us.

The Darling Wedding Co is a place for couples to find a planner, who not only has over thirteen years of knowledge to pull from, but to find a friend to call to vent to when the pressure gets to be too much. We promise to do everything in our power to turn your dreams into reality while providing a collaborative, creative, and fun process.

Sincerely,

Jayme and Katie