1. Real Weddings

Lindsay & Shane: A Formal Wedding in Des Moines, IA

Five and a half years after they first started dating, Shane Alertsen planned a proposal to Lindsay Van Zee that was truly unique. Lindsay babysits tw

Five and a half years after they first started dating, Shane Alertsen planned a proposal to Lindsay Van Zee that was truly unique. Lindsay babysits two children a few nights a week, and one night on her way home, she was pulled over by a police officer. After going through the usual formalities, the officer asked Lindsay to get out of her car to perform a sobriety test. She closed her eyes to touch her finger to her nose, and when she opened them, she suddenly saw Shane down on one knee in front of her -- he’d been in the back of the patrol car the whole time! The Bride Lindsay Van Zee, 25, histotechnologist The Groom Shane Alertsen, 27, youth service worker The Date June 30 Lindsay and Shane couldn’t find an outdoor site they liked in either of their hometowns, so they decided to search Des Moines where they now live. “The Salisbury House was the last place we looked at,” Lindsay says. “I fell in love with it and knew it was perfect.” The 42-room mansion was modeled after an estate in Salisbury, England, and the two planned a ceremony outside in its formal garden. Afterward, they celebrated with their 185 guests at a reception held at a downtown hotel.

Lindsay wore her hair in a side-parted updo. The strands that were pulled up were curled and pinned down, with small jeweled hairpins placed throughout the curls. She wore her veil pinned underneath.
“I wanted the day to be very elegant, but I love color,” Lindsay says. She opted for chocolate brown as the main hue, but brought in bright orange, pink, and green with the flowers. She carried a bouquet of orange gladiolus, baby hot-pink roses, and green hydrangeas, cymbidium orchids, and leaves.
The groom and his guys wore orange rose boutonnieres. Shane’s also included a green dendrobium orchid.
Lindsay and Shane’s color scheme popped up in many of the reception details. Guests found their escort cards strung on pink and orange ribbons across chocolate-brown boards.
Lindsay and Shane cut a four-tiered ivory square cake adorned with brown satin ribbon at the base of each tier. A mini bouquet of orange gladiolus, baby hot-pink roses, green hydrangeas, and green cymbidium orchids topped the confection, which also featured a few blooms scattered over the tiers. A friend of the bride’s family, who has made cakes for many of their occasions, created their wedding cake.
Lindsay and Shane married in an outdoor ceremony in the formal garden of the Salisbury House. The couple stood with their wedding party on the stone steps while their guests sat facing them on the lawn below. The groomsmen knocked on the wooden doors at the top of the stairs and led the bridesmaids out of the house. Lindsay and her father came out last.