Encounters with the Davis Family: A Wisconsin Wedding

After all our Friday adventures we felt ready for Saturday, our last day in Wisconsin and the whole reason for our trip. It was one of Kayla's BFFs wedding day. The wedding was scheduled for 2 pm and we had to be out of our rental house by 10 am. We spent the morning packing up our stuff and playing a few games. We left the house right at 10 and headed toward the wedding venue. We went to a few thrift stores where we bought books and games (of course! What else would we buy? 😂). After that we went to this cute little Cafe/Coffee Shop that just happened to be across the street from the Church the wedding was going to be at. It is called The Potter's Shed. The food and coffee were fabulous, as was the environment. We savored our food and the environment. Once we finished eating, we went out and explored the gardens. There was SO much to see. My favorite part was the wind chimes. You guys, they played in harmony!! They were so big and if we had had an extra $100+ they would have come home with us!!! I have never seen/heard wind chimes like those before. All three of us loved them (Kayla was still with the bridal party). When we finished with the gardens we headed into the pottery shop to look around. Once we finished we headed over to the church (early) to see if we could help with anything. There really wasn't anything else for us to do, but I did snap some pictures for the family (they had a great photographer but she couldn't be every where at once!). The funny thing is, through the whole day I snapped a gazillion pictures, like it was my own kid 😂 Some turned out, some didn't, but I did have a few that I was able to pass on to the family.

The wedding did start at 2 and it was one of the most unique weddings I have ever been to. Of course Michaela was beautiful, and the love that shone from Jake's eyes as he watched his bride walk down the aisle was super sweet. So many influential people from their lives prayed over them and it was so beautiful! Kayla played her guitar while her and another one of their BFFs, Julia, sang. Michaela is a sweetheart and an awesome best friend to Kayla. We met Jake that week, so I don't know him well, but he adores his bride, and it is obvious they are a match made in heaven. God has great things in store for them. Pray for them as they adjust to married life, Michaela is finishing her last year at MVNU, and then the plan is for them to then go be missionaries in Peru.

The reception was scheduled to start at 4:30 so they could take pictures. We had some more time to kill so we stood around the church, then went ahead and made our way there. There was nothing else for us to do. We did talk to Kayla for a bit and she told us the reception was supposed to last until 10 pm. We really wish she had conveyed that information earlier because we were scheduled to drive an hour and a half down the road, thinking the reception would be over by 7 or so. Matt tried to get a closer hotel so we wouldn't have to drive that late, but there was nothing available.

They had a lovely dinner (Matt, Kayla, and Elijah tried the cheese curds to see if they squeaked, they did!!), followed by the toasts from the maid of honor and best man. They also had really unique gifts for their wedding guests: your choice of monogrammed playing cards (Michaela loves games), chapstick with their name and the date, or bubbles.

After dinner is when the real fun began. We headed into another building at the venue, and the dancing started. Michaela and her bridesmaids had practiced a lot of line dances they intended to dance. While they didn't get to do all that was planned, they did do quite a few. They did start with the dad-daughter dance, then the mom-son dance, it was very sweet. I did some of the dances, or just watched and took pictures. My absolute favorite was when Elijah finally joined me and did a dance!! It was so much fun to see him let loose and have a good time in a public place. He has never done that before. Another favorite was Michaela's 12-year old brother asking Kayla to dance, oh my heart, it was so incredibly sweet. He is going to be a heart breaker in a few years (if he's not already to the young ladies 😂). It was pretty incredible to me, as well, to see the way the bride and groom's family interacted with each other, there was mutual respect, and bonding over so many different things. It really was one of the best receptions I have been too. Everyone seemed to have a good time. We ended the night a little after 10 pm, lighting sparklers for the bride and groom to walk through. We stayed a bit longer, then drove our hour and a half down the road, followed by being in the car again all day Sunday, and again Monday, but finally getting home. It was a great vacation and I do hope to go back to Wisconsin again some day. I loved the state. I am sharing some pictures below from our day. (I always share too many, sorry, not sorry)