Hot Pink and Dusty Blue Set Apart This Minimony at Loring Social in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic meant Jason and Kevin couldn't have a large, over-the-top wedding, the couple was still able to celebrate their marriage with an intimate minimony at Loring Social in Minneapolis with the help of Minne Weddings and their microwedding planning services. With just a few close loved ones in attendance, the duo exchanged vows in front of a dreamy cloud-inspired backdrop before enjoying a scaled-down reception. "Like many couples right now, we are just trying to navigate the new normal and trying to plan a wedding! However, I don’t know if I could have ever imagined our wedding day to be as spectacular and special—in or out of a pandemic," says Jason. To bring their wedding together, Jason and Kevin chose to take part in a "pop-up"-style wedding where multiple couples tied the knot on the same day using the same vendors. This unique take on a wedding allowed the couple to have more over-the-top details without breaking the bank since much of the decor was incorporated into other couples' microweddings later in the day. 

"We worked with our event planner (Minne Weddings) that has been focused on creating smaller weddings during Covid-19 to allow for friends and family to feel safe and still be able to celebrate. The concept of doing a'mini-wedding' meant our guest list could not exceed 30 guests. Although I always thought I would have a larger wedding, this concept sounded interesting to us and we were excited about trying it. So for us, it was imperative that the details were just right for this intimate group of our friends and family who chose to come to our wedding during this pandemic. We also knew that because of this, we wanted to create a bright spot for them in 2020 and a lot of the theme, style and decor Minne Weddings dreamt up was about keeping those elements light and airy. The venue has a very loft-like urban style to it with a lot of natural elements. To be the 'bright spot' we worked with our planners to incorporate some lighter touches in the decor and theme. We had a short timeline and knew we wanted our guests to feel inspired and have their spirits lifted up! Keeping that in mind we were fortunate enough to work with a great team that was able to help accomplish that vision and then go above and beyond."
The couple's venue, Loring Social, has industrial brick walls and a cool concrete floor so Jason and Kevin looked to their decor and floral arrangements to add a softness to the space. With help from their planning team at Minne Weddings, the couple was "able to do variations of pinks, oranges, pale blue, yellow and navy in the color and add some soft touches to the space. The venue had gorgeous terrazzo and cement flooring so we liked the idea of those softer colors and design aesthetics to better balance with the venue," says Jason. "Having floral elements and candles was very important to our day. The overall impact of both of those elements help to soften the event space. We fell in love with the 1900’s venue but we knew the design and floral our vendors created could take it over the top. The floral was a key factor in the day to bring a harmonious combination to the room so seeing colored glass vases with pastel florals on a marble bar really created that masculine yet delicate look we were going for in our wedding day. The orange and pink boutonnieres on our navy blue suits were blended nicely with the decor and other floral. We knew that other people wanted to share in our day and our videographer gave us an option to create a live-streaming option for those guests who could not attend. I knew that backdrop of the ceremony was going to be a focal point of the live stream. The backdrop was a sky scene with shades of blue and a wall of clouds that were anchored by 2 white pillars with bright florals on each and 2 large vases of flowers at the base. The yellows, pinks and oranges in the floral really popped and definitely made it a gorgeous centerpiece to the ceremony. Everywhere you looked there were large and small colorful flowers and the design of our flowers really made an impact. I knew I didn’t have to worry about the floral and knew I was going to be impressed but never planned to be blown away by just how beautiful is was for our wedding."

Since Jason works in the events industry, the wedding's catering was a top priority. "Being in the events industry and working specifically with catering I knew the food had to be spectacular," he says. "The unique thing about our wedding menu is that the ceremony and reception combined was only about 2 hours long and we knew a plated dinner would not work for what we were looking to accomplish. However, we still wanted to give our guest a nice sip of something drink and some bites of fantastic food, nothing fussy but more like a 'mini-meal' for our 'mini-wedding.' We worked with the caterer and they created an elevated food station for us that would be available and provide a heavier snack plate. It was a take on an old classic burgers and fries, but instead of a traditional burger we did a red wine shallot butter burger  served in miniature white burger boxes, crispy french fries with a tarragon aioli in silver cones and lastly we had individual clear cups of matchstick apples and manchego cheese served with mini forks. Due to Covid restrictions, we had to find clever ways to serve the food at a station with individual portions that were attractive. It was so exciting to see it displayed and guests enjoying the bites of food on the big day while our they toasted us with one of our favorite sparkling rose wines! We finished the night with a custom wedding cake designed by our caterer…There is no better to finish the day than with a delicious slice of banana cake…and another glass of rose."

Looking back on the wedding, the couple shares that "the most anticipated part of the day was simply to be married and surrounded by the people you love and cherish. I was prepared for my spouse to cry during the ceremony but I had no idea how much emotion would overwhelm myself. When we did our Zoom call with the officiant and went through the wedding ceremony I was definitely emotional. However, having it happen at the altar with our friends and family was just so amazing. Our officiant really took the time to get to know us and just made the ceremony so meaningful and powerful. Additionally, the catering team had made mini-meal plates for us to enjoy after the ceremony and brought them to us in the suite which was much needed and very appreciated."