Paul & Amber (Hecht) Stemmerman ~ Married Sept. 20, 2014

__How they fell in love:__ Paul and I met at my workplace; I had a crush on him and was too shy to say anything! One night, I caught one of my co-workers whispering to Paul, and he had the biggest smile on his face. Less than 24 hours later, I received my first message from Paul.

Photo by Sonya Lalla Photography

For the proposal, Paul created an elaborate story in which he had won 10 Cardinals baseball tickets at work, and we each invited some friends. On our way into the stadium, we were stopped by a film crew (Paul's hired videographer!). The crew asked if we could read cue cards introducing the starting lineup for the game. The videographer began asking different people to read the cards. The crew asked me to read the last card, so I began to read, and they asked me to stop and try it again. They then flipped the card to one that read, "Will you marry me?" Paul got down on one knee, with all our friends forming a circle around us.

__Wedding location:__ First Presbyterian Church in Jackson

__Reception location:__ A log home and rustic barn belonging to the bride's parents

__Wedding colors:__ Gold, burgundy, ivory and blush

Photo by Sonya Lalla Photography

__What they wore:__ The groom and groomsmen's suits were purchased from Men's Wearhouse -- taupe suits with ivory shirts, leather suspenders and burgundy ties. The bride's dress was from Simply Elegant Bridal in downtown St. Louis. The gown label was Manuel Mota for Pronovias. Bridesmaids wore burgundy dresses with a slit and halter neck from Weddings and Parties Complete in Jackson.

__Decor and more:__ We wanted to pull off a country chic, upscale barn wedding with a twist. I loved the idea of little flowers, leaves, braids and cuckoo clocks, almost a Bavarian warm feel. We used the term "Euro-boho" (European bohemian) when explaining our ideas. A big part of setting the tone of the wedding was the invitations. We worked with local artist and graphic design sisters Elizabeth Richter and Emily Blattel to paint a portrait of us at the barn in our wedding day attire, then digitalized it into an invitation. At the reception, we set up wine bottle time capsules so guests could leave notes for us to read on future anniversaries. We had chan deliers in the barn, lights along the pond, lights leading down pathways to the house, and fabric draping the barn, mixed with the wine and gold colors throughout the wedding.

Photo by Sonya Lalla Photography

__The food:__ Tractor's catered beef brisket au jus, peach-glazed chicken, twice-baked mashed potatoes, green beans with cranberries and almond slivers, salad and blackberry and apple cobblers. We had a late-night menu of baked potato soup, boneless wings and spinach artichoke dip on toasted bread slices.

__The cake:__ Our cake was made by Emily Blattel, who runs The Cake Mom with Jennifer Yarbro. The bottom layer mimicked the ruffled rosette bottom of my gown, followed by a shiny gold layer, with the top layer being hand-painted flowers and our wedding logo. The cake topper was hand-painted wooden characters of Paul and me in our wedding day attire and designed by local artist Brianne Pegg.

__The music:__ Millennium Sound of St. Louis

Photo by Sonya Lalla Photography

__The first dance:__ "From Eden" by Hozier

__Wedding planner:__ Gail Nanney of Magical Moments

__Photographer:__ Sonya Lalla Photography

__Other details:__ Rentals from Magical Moments, videography by Matt Bills

__Amber's advice to other brides:__ Take lots of mental pictures! Everything happens so fast, and I am still just now remembering parts of the day. And let some things be a surprise -- if you spend the entire time worrying about little details, you'll never relax! Trust that everything will fall into its perfect place.