A Rustic Bohemian DIY Wedding at The Bauer in Kansas City, Missouri

Taylor Triano (30 and a textile artist) and Patrick Ryan (39 and a chef) met while Patrick was cooking for a mutual's friend dinner party, to which Taylor was invited. “We met by complete happenstance,” Taylor says. “A close friend invited me to dinner and some dude I’d never seen before was the chef. You could say it was love at first pork butt.” The proposal was on a cold Saturday night in December while they were in sweatpants watching "Goodfellas" at home. "Patrick started speaking gibberish and just went for it," Taylor says. "I was completely unprepared, hence my sweatpants." But, of course, she said yes. The couple not only loved the great people who run The Bauer, but also the homegrown, rustic aesthetic of the pealing plaster and exposed brick walls. The large windows overlooked the city they love so much. They kept the decor rustic, bohemian and a little Mid-Western with adorned cow skulls framing the alter (made by a friend of the couple) and feather and dried flower floral arrangements (made by a different friend). The bride wore a bohemian dress from Free People with a mantilla-style veil. Taylor wanted everyone to be comfortable and look like themselves. "I hate it when bridal parties end up looking like completely different people from a prom nightmare," Taylor says. She did her own hair and makeup and enlisted the help of Angie Ouderkirk from Jamie Miller Hair Parlour to help the bridesmaids have beachy, imperfect, down, free hair. After the ceremony, they flipped the room for the reception and had hor d'oeuvres from their favorite restaurant, Rye, and dessert from their favorite pastry place, Dolce Bakery. Their friend and super talented artist Miles Bonny was the DJ for the night. "He drove all the way from New Mexico to be there and do his thing," Taylor says. "He plays an amazing trumpet over whatever he's spinning, so we let him take the lead." Taylor and Patrick didn't worry about having a classic wedding. Instead, they focused on what was important to them. "We wanted to just plan a kick ass party, not a rigid, staged, go-through-the-motions thing. Although, inevitably there are motions to go through, we made it as unique to us as we could."