Laura & Steve’s Chicago meets Iowa Pi Day wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Laura, Dietitian

Her offbeat partner: Steve, Web Developer/Architect

Date and location of wedding: West End Architectural Salvage, Des Moines, IA — March 14, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

Our venue completely drove the decisions and decorations we made for our wedding and reception. The venue was a former warehouse converted into a salvaged goods shop in the heart of downtown Des Moines, Iowa. I am from Ames, Iowa but Steve is from Chicago, so we really enjoyed showing off this unique venue to the city crowd that traveled to Iowa.

Additionally, completely on accident, we picked Pi Day as our wedding day. This year’s Pi Date exactly matched the first 5 digits: 3.14.15. This turned into a spectacular theme that we were able to weave into the ceremony, decorations, dessert, speeches, and party favors. The guests loved this and it made the evening very entertaining. Can’t wait to eat pie every year for our anniversary!

Tell us about the ceremony:

Our ceremony was very personalized, short, and non-religious which fits our laid-back style. We chose not to have a wedding party, but instead involved those special people in our ceremony/reception in other ways (e.g. poem readers, speeches). We decided to write our vows together where we were able to tie in important/funny aspects of our relationship into our promises for our future together.

We asked our four nieces and one nephew to be flower girls/ring bearer which was hilarious and special. During the ceremony, Laura’s sisters read a poem they found about love and Laura’s oldest niece played the clarinet to “Love Me Tender” and invited the guests to sing. These were very memorable!

Finally, a good friend was asked to be officiant. He made it very personalized and was also able to tie in Pi Day to our ring exchange. Pi is, after all, a universal ratio which describes a circle.

Tell us about your reception:

Having a live band was important to Steve so we decided to go that route and we are so glad we did. The band made the night! The band was Box Brothers from Ames, Iowa who specialized in oldies and rock and roll. They learned four new songs for us including Daft Punk's “Get Lucky” and some Beach Boys songs which my dad loved. They even allowed me to invite some friends to sing with me during a song they wrote for the groom as a surprise. They were so accommodating.

We also received many compliments on the caterer we chose, whose nutritious meal fueled the night (I'm a Dietitian, so this was important to me). Instead of the usual wedding cake, the caterer prepared PIES for our dessert in concert with our Pi Day theme. A friend created a pie topper that highlighted our life in Chicago.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Any other advice for Offbeat Bride readers?

We planned our wedding in less than five months and as the pictures suggest, I was seven months pregnant on our wedding day. This created a challenge because a few family members wanted us to wait until after the baby was born because they worried about the added stress. But I am stubborn and decided to go ahead with the wedding plans.

My biggest advice for other pregnant brides is to listen to your body. If you don’t feel well or are having complications, take it easy. I found a dress to accommodate my growing belly and it helped that the bulk of the wedding planning was during my second trimester, which is when I felt the best.

Vendors

• Photographer: Kat/Eye Studios
• Venue: West End Salvage
• Dress: Misdress
• Shoes: New Bride Co
• Bouquet/bouts: The Blooming Corner
• Ring Box: Ineses Wedding Gallery
• Guestbook: Wedding Guest Book
• Hair: Erin Walker at Chic Salon
• Makeup: Rachael Townsend at All About Me