1. Real Weddings

Kristin & Andy: A Traditional Wedding in Rockford, IL

Their best friends dated for seven years before Kristin finally met Andy at the couple’s wedding. “We’re still not sure whether they suspected we’d hi

Their best friends dated for seven years before Kristin finally met Andy at the couple’s wedding. “We’re still not sure whether they suspected we’d hit it off or just paired us up in their bridal party -- either way, we became fast friends,” Andy says. “Friends” was the key word -- it wasn’t until halfway through their first date that Kristin realized Andy was interested in her as more than a tennis buddy. The Bride Kristin, Arends, 30, marketing executive The Groom Andy Hayward, 30, production manager The Date September 16 They’d been dating for just over a year when Kristin ran the Hayward, Wisconsin, half marathon. Andy proposed to her when she crossed the finish line. “She said yes, right there in front of the port-o-potties!” Andy says.

White candles wrapped in printed vellum served as place cards, and the color of their raffia ribbons represented their guests’ choice of entree. The candles also served as take-homes for all the guests.
Each of Kristin’s maids wore a chocolate-brown, tea-length dresses and sky blue pashminas, a gift from the bride.
The Hair
Four square tiers of white buttercream-frosted cake were decorated with chocolate fondant ribbon and calla lilies made of sugar. “On top of the cake was a set of interlaced hands, an element that was used in my great-grandma’s wedding in Australia in 1911,” Kristin says.
Kristin carried a romantic bouquet of mini calla lilies, stephanotis, and hydrangeas.
The bride and groom danced to The Beatles’ song “‘Til There Was You,” and the bride and her father danced to “Father and Daughter” by Paul Simon.