What creative or personal aspects did you use in your wedding?
We wanted our children to play a very special role in our wedding, so we had our wedding rings set up on a table with a sign for our guests to say a blessing or prayer over them on their way to their seats.
When our children walked down the aisle during the ceremony, they brought the rings with them. Josh’s daughter handed his ring to me during our vows, and my children handed my ring to him.
Did you do any DIY projects or create any handmade items for your wedding?
Josh designed, machined, and built a beautiful custom champagne tower for the reception! He had our names, our children’s names, and our wedding date included into the top of the tower. It was gorgeous and so special. Every one loved it!
What was the biggest thing you did to save money?
We were very lucky to utilize our very talented family members for several parts of the wedding. Josh’s stepmom, Susie, is a master seamstress and musician. She did all of the wedding alterations – including my dress! She also played the piano during the ceremony and was accompanied by her friend who played the violin. The music was heavenly.
Our wedding officiant was really special and unique. Dr. Randall Mullin was the doctor who delivered Josh when he was born! He is now a retired medical doctor and pastor. It was so special to have him perform our ceremony since he has known Josh (literally) ALL of his life!
The reception took place at our friend’s gorgeous timber-framed barn. They were so gracious and excited to host our family and friends. It was an absolutely beautiful setting!
Josh is a gear head and automotive engineer. I wanted to incorporate his passion for cars somehow into our wedding. We decided to do a special surprise introduction at the reception. We were introduced for the very first time as Mr. and Mrs. VanWynsberghe propped up against a candy apple red 1950 custom Mercury low rider. A very close family friend has a beautiful classic car collection and allowed us to use it for the wedding introduction!
What is the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?
Our advice for future couples is to think about how you want your wedding to feel and not just how you want it to look. We made so many of our decisions based on how we wanted to feel, and how we wanted our children, family, and friends to feel throughout each event of our wedding weekend. That resulted in a more romantic and magical wedding event than we could have ever imagined!
What was your biggest splurge?
Our biggest splurge was hosting our children and out-of-state wedding party for the entire weekend. We rented an 8 room mansion as well as the mansion guest house for the three day event. It was the best splurge because we were all so close and were able to spend quality time together throughout the entire wedding weekend.
What was your favorite detail?
Writing our own wedding vows and sharing them with each other in front of all of the people that we love the most was my favorite detail!
What is the most memorable moment of your day?
The most memorable part of the day was seeing Josh’s face when he first saw me walking down the aisle toward him. We were both trying not to completely lose it.
Share any additional details you’d like us to know about your event!
Our wedding and reception were also pretty special because they took place in two different states! The ceremony at the historic Renwick Mansion in Davenport, Iowa and the reception, just across the Mississippi river, at Signature Big Timbers in Port Byron, Illinois.
