Elizabeth and Eric. From Minneapolis with love.

Finding THE DRESS was one of my first orders of business.

I came upon L’Atelier Couture on my second day of shopping and the moment they brought Tonia into the fitting room, I knew it was the dress I would wear when I married Eric. It was absolutely perfect – I could not personally have designed a better gown for myself. Finding my dress and all of my follow up visits to L’Atelier were exactly what I had always dreamed the process would be like. Peter Langner instantly became my favorite designer and now having seen more of his gowns, he always will be!

Everyone is beautiful but Tonia was the one for me on my wedding day.

 

Eric and I met at workin Minneapolis the year I graduated from college. We worked side-by-side for a year before he asked me out on a date! At first, neither of us thought we wanted a relationship but it became very clear after a few months of dating that we didn’t want to be without each other!

We dated for about 3 years and then one day after work, Eric proposed in my apartment and the whirlwind of wedding planning began!

Neither Eric nor I grew up on Minneapolis, so we spent some time deciding where the wedding would be with our parents. Ultimately, we settled on the city where we met and now live.

Our ceremony was held at the Basilica of St. Mary, our own church and one that is awe strikingly beautiful. It is the oldest Basilica in the USA. We hand-picked our music and readings wanting to keep the ceremony very formal, traditional and elegant to fit the location.

 

During my father and I’s walk down the aisle, the trumpet voluntary was played with organ and trumpet. We had 2 soloists who sang throughout the ceremony. When I reached the altar, Eric said to me, “That’s quite the dress, you look beautiful.” My bouquet was white roses and gardenias with some small rhinestones. I absolutely loved it! Our florist described all of our arrangements as very “lush” which is just what we wanted.

My bridesmaids wore Lynn Lugo floor length, charcoal grey gowns and carried pink rose bouquets.

Knowing this was the only time in our lives when everyone we loved would be sitting in the same room, I made sure to look out over the audience and each time I had to fight back tears of happiness knowing everyone was there to be with us on this important day. Everything was perfect!

We had many hours in between the ceremony and reception to take photos with our photographer, Noah Wolf. We had so much fun with our bridal party and families driving throughout the city to great locations! Spending time with all of our best friends and our siblings together was so wonderful. We each have a brother who were groomsmen and mean everything to us!

 

Our reception was held at Lafayette Club on Lake Minnetonka. It was an incredibly beautiful day and cocktails were held outside on the porch overlooking the lake. The ballroom has beautiful chandeliers and we had silver chiavari chairs, puffy white napkins displayed in glasses and white, shimmery tablecloths.

We wanted a very classic, soft look. We had three centerpieces with white roses and hydrangeas.

The moment I walked in the room I felt like I was in heaven!! It was so beautiful and just how I wanted it to look and feel. I will always remember the light dinner music playing and the sounds of all of our guests talking in the dimly lit, romantic room. Eric and I sat so that we could look out at everyone throughout the evening. Our cake was displayed in the center of the dance floor and was all white with waves of glitter.

During his welcome speech, my dad made sure to acknowledge Eric’s brother and cousin who are in the military and have both served in tours overseas. We were so happy they were both home and able to be with us!

Our maid of honor, best man and my dad all made speeches later on as well. My dad talked about the first time I smiled and how he saw the same huge smile when I looked at Eric. I cried through the whole thing.

 

Our friends and family are very big dancers so everyone was on the dance floor most of the night! Our flower girl – in her tutu skirt and sparkly shoes – danced with our best man. Eric and I did the mother/son and father/daughter dances after our own first dance. I never left the dance floor during the later part of our reception and have so many wonderful memories of dancing the night away with Eric!

Looking back on the day, everything was so perfect. My dress is still hanging in my closet and every time I walk by, I smile and have to fight the urge to put it back on! It’s hard for me to watch our video because I wish we could do it all over again! I am so happy to have found Eric and to have spent such an amazing day with our incredible families and friends”.

Elizabeth Bahra