“Our love story began, and still continues, in The Wedding Tree building. ”
A love Story by: Kacia VonRuden
The meeting:
I (Kacia) began working at The Wedding Tree in 2009. In the fall of 2011, I became suddenly single and my boss, Cheri, couldn’t help but point out how perfect I would be for her son Dustin. Dustin was out of the country serving as a United States Marine and didn’t returned home until spring of 2012… again my boss, couldn’t help but point out just how perfect we would be together. After our initial face-to-face meeting, Dustin and I were like two magnets… drawn together at all costs. We would “run into each other” downtown, get lunch between classes, we couldn’t get enough of each other!
The Proposal:
As you know, The Court Above Main, a gorgeous new event venue in LaCrosse, was recently opened by the owner of The Wedding Tree. Dustin was hired as our Bar Manager for The Court Above Main, and since I am The Wedding Tree store manager, I am in charge of putting together most of the marketing materials, for both businesses. On a Saturday in September, Dustin informed me of a marketing photoshoot I needed to supervise… Dustin would be mixing mock drinks, and we would take photos of the bar area for our website. That day, after Dustin set up the “photoshoot”, he called me when they were ready to start shooting… except, when I arrive I found that it wasn’t a photoshoot at all… When I opened the doors to the big, bright, beautiful ballroom… Dustin was standing in the middle of the floor, under the huge chandelier, surrounded by burning candles. “Look what you’ve done!” I exclaimed. “Do you like our photoshoot?” Dustin replied. I felt as though I was moving in slow motion as I walked across the room towards him. Dustin was shaking, nervous with excitement, and lost for words. If he had a speech in mind, I never heard it… he dropped immediately to a knee, looked up and me asked, “Will you marry me?” I said, yes… of course. We popped a bottle of champagne and celebrated! Dustin had another surprise for me- Kasey (who is a photography student and employee of The Wedding Tree), was present and taking photos of the whole proposal! IT WAS PERFECT!
Proposal photos taken by: Kasey Leigh
Wedding Planning and Big Decisions:
I knew almost immediately that I wanted to get married on one of two, specific dates in September (My parents anniversary OR Dustin’s Parents anniversary). Our LOVE was introduced in The Wedding Tree building, Dustin proposed to me in that building and we HAD to get married in the building; The Court Above Main was an easy choice for our Ceremony! Because of the size of our dinner guest list, we decided to host our reception at a larger, elegant La Crosse venue, we found that The Waterfront was the perfect reception location for us!
Our choice in Wedding photographer wasn’t a difficult one… I only had ONE choice of who I really wanted… and Jordana Snyder Photography was available. I was too excited to wait, and definitely HAD TO HAVE HER- so Dustin and I hired Jordana to photograph our wedding.
The Engagement photos:
Dustin and I had Fall engagement photos taken… It wasn’t until our engagement session that Jordana got to understand how truly *weird* my fiancé really is. Dustin and I had a blast during our engagement session and now Dustin is convinced we will get a modeling deal because we are just so darn adorable. We can’t wait to show off our engagement photos and better yet, we can’t wait for our wedding day! We know Jordana is the best and will do an amazing job capturing our big day… even the truly weird moments. #WeirdWilhelms
