A Whimsical Summer Wedding at Chilly Root Peony Farm

As a full time wedding planner, Jordan has been dreaming about her wedding for as long as she can remember. Matthew and Jordan met sophomore year at their local high school. Jordan had just transferred schools and was going through a very rough period of her life dealing with illness. Matthew was persistent and would come up to her every day after school at her locker and chat. She was a bit clueless and didn’t pick up on the cues for months. Finally she did and the rest is history nearly 10 years later. Last summer they got engaged and quickly began the wedding planning process. Convincing a commercial peony farm who doesn’t host weddings 4.5 hours away from their town was their first hurdle. Little did they know just how much work would go into planning a wedding for 150+ guests in a space that did not have running power, bathrooms, an indoor space for weather or running water. They had to bring in everything from generators to toilet trailers, rent a commercial kitchen 20 minutes away, bus in and out all of their guests from hotels and hire the local football team to hand carry their tent pieces, tables, chairs etc. 1/2 mile down the hill since there was no access for the large box trucks. At the time, the stress and effort did not feel worth it, but all said and done, every bit of it was! They knew they wanted their day to feel romantic and whimsical and for the theme of their wedding to be a garden floral party. They worked with a local florist to create their dream ceremony and reception space featuring local blooms and greenery all fitting within their colors and theme. Jordan fell in love with a 3D floral applique dress, asked her mom and grandmother to be their flower girls, and worked with a local cake artist to design a five tiered wedding cake adorned with sugar flowers. Most importantly they wanted to celebrate with their friends and family and for their wedding to be a huge party. They created six unique signature cocktails that were floral themed- think lavender lemonade gin and tonic, fireweed margaritas, etc. and offered local beers and wine. They picked gallons of local fireweed leading up to the wedding and made the simple syrup themselves! They hired their favorite band who did not disappoint, and kept the party going into the wee hours lit by hundreds of candles hanging from the tent. Matthew and Jordan are both big skiers and made shot skis to commemorate the night which were a big hit, even Jordan's 91 year old grandma enjoyed the shot ski!