1. Real Weddings

Amber & Tal: An Outdoor Wedding in Milwaukee, WI

Amber Erceg and Tal Griffiths used a DIY attitude and a French-inspired style to pull together their romantic, rustic outdoor wedding in Wisconsin T

Amber Erceg and Tal Griffiths used a DIY attitude and a French-inspired style to pull together their romantic, rustic outdoor wedding in Wisconsin The Bride Amber Erceg, 26, veterinary technician The Groom Talfryn Griffiths, 33, geophysicist The Date July 29 As soon as Tal introduced himself to Amber in a club in Houston, she had a feeling he was the one: “It was all over as soon as I heard his adorable British accent,” she says. Though Tal had to return to the UK soon thereafter, the couple talked every day and when he returned to the States two months later, “He moved in with me immediately,” Amber says, “after one date!” Tal proposed in Amber’s childhood bedroom in Wisconsin, and there was no mistaking her excitement. “‘Will you marry me’ was the nicest thing I’d ever heard, so I made him ask me three times!” Amber says. Planning the wedding from Houston, Amber and Tal used TheKnot.com’s message boards to track down great vendors in Wisconsin. To set a vintage, rustic tone for the wedding, the couple chose a chocolate brown and pale pink palette. They also used French toile in many details, from the invitations to the table decor. “I felt the pattern was both romantic and a touch whimsical,” Amber says, “a perfect representation of Tal and my personalities.”

The Couple
Amber found an amazing white silk Lazaro ball gown with a drop-waist and scoop neckline, but chose to have a local seamstress make a few modifications. “I found a fabulous seamstress in Houston who helped me turn a dress I loved into the dress of my dreams,” she says. They replaced the beading with a simple, thin pink sash and bow, and used 10 yards of pale pink silk to create a cascading train of ruffles tucked into the back of the dress.
Dessert was a four-tier white cake filled with homemade lemon curd and raspberry buttercream. The cake was iced with pale pink European buttercream and topped with a small spray of roses, hydrangea, and orchids.
Floral arrangements were packed in vintage silver pieces that the bride had collected at garage sales and antique fairs over the previous year. “I loved the romantic yet whimsical nature of mismatched gravy boats, tea cups, pitchers, and goblets overflowing with flowers and surrounded by candles,” Amber says. In a nice personal touch, two of those silver pieces were actually the toasting flutes used at Amber’s parent’s wedding almost 30 years earlier.
Amber and her bridesmaids carried bouquets of full, pink garden roses, accented with hydrangea and alstroemeria.
Amber and Tal took their first spin on the dance floor to “Something Changed” by the British band Pulp. “It described our relationship so well since Day One that dancing to anything else for our first dance as husband and wife just wouldn’t have been right,” says Amber.
Amber and Tal were married at Wehr Nature Center -- a place where the bride spent much time as a child. During the ceremony, the couple exchanged traditional vows and their wedding rings were passed among their guests on a pillow for each to say a blessing. “I love knowing that our rings, such a strong symbol of our marriage, have been blessed by so many that we love and respect,” Amber says. After an emotional ceremony, the bride and groom set the mood for the celebration with an upbeat recessional to The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.”