1. Real Weddings

An Intimate and Colorful Wedding at a Private Lake House in Northern Indiana

Bright colors and personal touches created a picture-perfect atmosphere at a family lake house in Northern Indiana as Michael Kuehl, a 28-year-old pro

Bright colors and personal touches created a picture-perfect atmosphere at a family lake house in Northern Indiana as Michael Kuehl, a 28-year-old programmer, wed his bride Haley Kuehl, the 29-year-old co-owner of a paper goods company. The couple originally met on OKCupid, and their relationship felt right from their first meeting. "It was like a puzzle piece falling into place, so easy and comfortable," Haley says. They exchanged vows on a stunning fall day in an outdoor ceremony overlooking Chapman Lake and used a variety of colors to evoke a natural and familial feeling at their celebration. Although the couple incorporated beautiful details into the decor, they remain focused on the bigger picture. "It was one of the best days of my life because everyone I loved was in the same place, not because every piece was perfect, which it wasn't," Haley says.

“I wanted to feel elegant and romantic — not girly or princessy,” Haley says about how she wanted to look on her wedding day. She chose a long lace dress with a sweetheart neckline. “It made me feel like myself, and it fit with the pretty, romantic, slightly old-fashioned look I was going for with the china and decorations,” she says.
Haley added classic touches of glamour to her attire with a vintage pearl necklace and shoes with pearl accents. She completed the look by wearing her hair curled and half pulled back with a pearl hair comb.
Because she was getting married under a tree at her grandparents' house, Haley wanted everything to feel earthy, natural, and family-oriented. She captured these feelings with her colorful bouquet of wildflowers.
The bride looked glamorous with a diamond ring that perfectly matched the wedding's elegant and romantic feeling.
Haley's grandparents' lake house provided a beautiful back drop as the couple exchanged vows on a crisp fall day. Haley says the location provided everything she wanted. “It was outside, it was beautiful — filled with trees and water — and it was a place that meant family and love to me,” she says.
After exchanging vows, the couple pulled every single guest into a large group photo, which was inspired by a similar picture they'd seen from the wedding of Michael's grandparents.
Black lanterns with white candles hung from the trees above the bride and groom as they exchanged vows and added a rustic touch to the outdoor ceremony.
The wedding had a slightly muted color palette of many shades. “I like using lots of colors and having them play off of each other,” Haley says.
Paper hearts made out of recycled book pages sat atop dark teal napkins and heirloom china that was borrowed from various family members at the reception. “It was nice knowing my great-grandma's, Michael's grandma's, and other family members' china was covering the tables,” Haley says. “It was like having even the people who weren't with us anymore there — a giant circle of family, past and present.”
Because the bride and groom are both avid readers, they recycled book pages into thousands of three-dimensional paper hearts that were used in the both the ceremony and reception decor.
Michael and Haley incorporated their mutual love of reading and movies into the reception decor, hanging quotes about love from their favorite books and films around the sides of the tent along with pictures of themselves. “We also asked our married guests to send us a wedding photo from their own weddings, and we incorporated those into the display as well to make the event feel like a celebration of love and family,” Haley says.
Because the temperatures were somewhat cold during the fall wedding, the couple provided guests with scarves to help keep warm.
After eating a family-style Italian dinner, the bride and groom's 80 guests had their pick of sweets at the dessert table, which featured cake, cupcakes, brownies, creme brulee and cheesecake.
“My mom convinced me to hire a DJ, and I was glad — he kept things moving and it was one less thing to worry about,” Haley says. Although there was a small problem when the power cut out during the couple's first dance, they took it all in stride and ended up dancing a dance and a half.