Not much is better than a late fall wedding at an upscale farm in the countryside. Taylor and Erik’s wedding day was just that at Ashery Lane Farm in Mayer, Minnesota.
We caught up with Taylor to hear how her gorgeous day came together.
Ashery Lane Farm is such a stunning venue. What made it “the one” for you and Erik?
I loved the country feel of the venue, and it was only located 30mins outside of Minneapolis. The incredible modern farmhouse barns were also a big selling point. Each has such beautiful décor with so much character that the venue really didn’t need much embellishment! And the grounds were just amazing – orchard, vineyards, so many different backdrops for photos, and opportunities for indoor and outdoor activities. It was everything I was looking for!
Taylor and Erik came to Ivory Isle Designs to create their dream stationery from a recommendation from their wedding planner, honeyb weddings. Their stationery style was simple, classic, and elegant but what they most wanted was something unique to just them. We painted a custom portrait of the main barn at Ashery Lane for the invitations, to help get their guests excited about where they would be spending the day.
In their stationery design, we kept the fonts and art consistent, from Save the Dates, through to the stationery at the wedding, so everything felt cohesive and intentional.
For place cards, we created flat cards using the couple’s fonts, and they were placed in wine corks.
Would you recommend Ivory Isle Designs to other brides? If so, could you please share any thoughts on your experience with us?
YES! Josie & Ivory Isle were absolutely amazing to work with. She made the entire process so simple and stress free which was so appreciated. Even with very little creative direction, Josie and team nailed the design and brought my vision to life! She was also so easy to communicate with – quick response times and always providing answers to any and all questions/inquires I had. 11/10 would recommend her to future brides!
What was your favorite part of the whole wedding planning process?
This is tough but I think just the progression of it all – seeing how each vendor or creative decision played into the overall picture and watching it all come together in the end. It felt so disjointed early on, but really came together beautifully. It was a proud moment for me!
I’m also a big fan of checking things off my to-do list, so it was super satisfying when I was able to mark an item as complete and keep on track timing wise with each deliverable.
What was your favorite part of the day and why?
My first looks with Erik and my Dad were super special. Just having a few minutes with both of them before all the madness begun was amazing – and really turned out to be some of my favorite photos as well.
I also just loved our ceremony, even though the build up to it was super nerve racking. Once we were standing at the altar – it was so special to see all the friends and family that came to celebrate with us. We also had my Uncle, Aunt & Cousin do the live music during the ceremony. They’re a bluegrass trio and it was so special & beautiful to have them up with us.
On reflection, is there anything you might have done differently?
Couple of things: Buy wedding planning services for the last 3 months. I liked having control of booking vendors and providing creative direction, but it would have been nice to have a planner’s services just in the last few months to get us to the finish line. There is so much going on in the last stretch that an extra set of hands/pair of eyes on things would have gone a long way and been worth the money!Buy thank-yous in advance so you can get those done immediately. I’m a “do-er,” I hate sitting on things – so waiting for thank you’s to print & ship before getting them out was a bit painful for me!
Do you have any words of wisdom for future brides?
Book your vendors as far in advance as possible!! One of the best things I did was securing my vendors immediately after we got engaged. Doing so took so much stress out of the equation and gave me freedom to enjoy the planning process, and spend more time thinking about creative elements and how I wanted the day to come to life. Communication is key!! Make sure to read contracts and communicate frequently with vendors. Getting ahead of as much as possible will help so much in the final 1-2 months pre-wedding Enjoy the planning process and the day-of as much as possible. Stay in the moment, because it all flies by!
Vendor Dream Team:
| Photographer | Stephanie Marie Photography @stephaniemariephoto.mn |
| Planning | honey b. weddings @honeyb.weddings |
| Venue | Ashery Lane Farm, Mayer Minnesota @ashery_lane |
| Dress designer and/or bridal salon you purchased it from. | BHLDN by Anthropologie; @bhldn |
| Tuxes | Men’s Wearhouse; @menswearhouse |
| Rings | Shane Co; IG @shanecompany |
| Hair and make-up Artist | Hair: Anna Tackaberry; @hairbyannampls Makeup: Heather Marie Makeup; @heathermariemakeup |
| Cake | D’Amico Catering; @damicocatering |
| Florist | Blessings & Blossoms (Melissa Aker); @blessings_blossoms |
| Catering company | D’Amico Catering; @damicocatering |
| Art and Stationery | Ivory Isle Designs @ivoryisledesigns |
