Shallece & Dheren's Milwaukee wedding

Milwaukee bride Shallece will be the first to tell you, her rustic fall wedding day didn’t come together the way she’d envisioned. “As the planning evolved, it slowly morphed into something that looked very different from my original idea,” she says. But there’s a twist. “It turned out to be more beautiful than I could have imagined.”

“Sometimes what you have stuck in your head either isn’t available, or is not in your budget, so you have to accommodate,” Shallece explains. “As soon as one idea changes, so does another, until your entire original idea turns into something even better!”

What resulted was a colorful celebration in Potawatomi Bingo & Casino’s event spaces. “We did everything at one place so people could enjoy the day and not have to relocate between the ceremony and reception,” the bride says. Shallece and Dheren said their vows in the Tribal Room. Then, guests moved into Wild Earth for dinner. When they returned to the Tribal Room for dancing, the space had been completely transformed. “It was fantastic!” the bride says.

The ceremony was particularly personal for Shallece and Dheren: His stepfather, the very man who’d set them up, officiated the ceremony. But the stand-out memory for the bride occurred as the day closed with the last dance. “Almost everyone had left except for a few close family members and friends, and we danced to Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World,’” she says. “I began to cry. In all the excitement and stress, it’s very easy to lose sight of what the day is really about. Everything at that moment was perfection.”

Location: Milwaukee
Date: October 1, 2011
Photographs: Dennis Felber Photography

Wedding site and caterer: Potawatomi Bingo Casino; Officiant: Mike Goodman; Ceremony music: Amanda Pike; DJ: Midwest Sound; Gown: Disney Fairy Tale Weddings by Alfred Angelo at Amelishan Bridal; Bride’s shoes: Steve Madden; Bride’s hair: The Hair Company, Delavan, (262) 728-4247; Bridesmaid dresses: Eva’s Bridal Center; Tuxedos: Men’s Wearhouse; Engagement ring: The Jewelry Center; Bride’s wedding band: Rogers & Hollands; Groom’s wedding band & bride’s pearls: Family heirlooms; Bouquets: The Country Flower Shop; Floral arrangements: Groom’s mother; Baker: Brookfield Wedding Cakes; Stationery & favors: DIY; Transportation: Beverly Hills Limos

Ellie Martin Cliffe (104 Posts)

By the end of high school, Ellie Martin Cliffe was completely enamored of journalism, so she chose the most logical college major possible: anthropology. Disappointed by the minimal emphasis on writing and editing, she changed tracks and earned a comm degree from Carroll College. Ellie has since tackled many facets of the field including books, magazines and the Web at places like The Knot and Reader's Digest. She now works full time in book publishing, and is thrilled to get her wedding fix with WedInMilwaukee.com. When she isn’t wielding her (red) pen, Ellie can be found in the garden, at any concert that showcases a fiddle, playing pub trivia or in the kitchen. She and her husband live in Riverwest with their hedgehog, Guinness, and grapefruit tree, Sprout.