Photo credits: Bob Klaus Photography

Karen Stolte & John Hohlen
May 27, 2000

FLOWERS: "Flowers by John Plagemann" in Creve Coeur provided all the bouquets and arrangements.

Karen's bouquet was a cascade of white roses and stephanotis. The bridesmaids carried a dozen "Anna" roses in a tightly wrapped arrangement. Anna roses are off-white in color with just a tinge of hot pink on the tips of the petals.

Her three flower girls carried small white baskets with pink sweetheart roses in them.

Karen's mother wore a large purple Cattalay orchid, while John's mother was adorned with a large yellow Cattalay orchid.

Aunts and Attendants wore corsages with 6 white sweetheart roses.

The groom, groomsmen, ushers, and Karen's father and grandfather wore white rose boutonnieres. John's boutonniere had an added stephanotis to match Karen's bouquet.

THE RECEPTION: The reception was held at Orlando Gardens in Maryland Heights from 7 p.m. to midnight. It began with a sports theme intro as we ran through a corridor of people high-fiving us. From there we proceeded to the head table to prepare for dinner and speeches. First, our Matron of Honor, Rita Stolte, made her very genuine toast, followed by the Best Man, Pete Zavich, trying to keep it short. Then it was dinnertime. A beautiful and plentiful buffet was set out for all to eat. We, of course, had first pick. We cut the cake with no icing in the face. We made a pact beforehand. Then before all the guests finished dinner, the DJ had us play a game similar to the Newlywed game. The DJ would ask the questions and then bridesmaids and groomsmen would all have to congregate and come to a final answer as two separate groups. John would write his answer down as would Karen, separately. Then, the DJ would look at everyone's answer and score the bridesmaids against the groomsmen. Of course, the girls won!

Then the dancing began! John and Karen, Dad and Karen, John and Mom, Parents, and finally, the wedding party. After the wedding party dance the DJ announced we would do the snowball dance. This dance is where everyone currently on the dance floor has to go get a person from the audience to dance with them until the DJ says "snowball" again and then the same thing happens again and again until the dance floor is bursting at the seams. This definitely gets the crowd in a fun mood!

Dancing and drinking continued throughout the entire night including such things as the Electric Slide, the duck dance, and the Y-M-C-A. And boy, can you say Y-M-C-A? This had to be the highlight of the night. The DJ brought all the groomsmen and ushers up on the dance floor and handed out hats particular to specific careers or stereotypes (e.g. cop, Indian feathers, straw hat, fire hat, etc.) The Y-M-C-A blasted as the whole crowd gathered to watch John do an impromptu dance. He definitely demonstrated his dancing skills, good or bad -- you'll have to decide after viewing the video. He gave us lessons on how to do such dances as the lawn mower, sprinkler, grocery shopping, etc. The entire reception was standing up to watch this spectacular show. And yes, it's all on video.

And who could forget the Frankie Yankovich polkas. Three in one night! The bride's family is German and Polish!

A crowd gathered for the bouquet and garter tosses. An 8-year-old girl caught the bouquet and her brother who is 10 caught the garter. It was fun.

The night started to wind down when John got his Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers together to serenade his new bride. We think they were all shocked they remembered all the words.

Last, but not least, all the people remaining at the reception got on their feet to wrap their arms around each other and kick their feet to New York, New York! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day!

THINGS I LOVED:
-- Karen - I loved planning the whole event. It's what I do best! My favorite part of the wedding day was the horse and carriage ride from the church through our subdivision. It was very relaxing and fun. We were movie stars for an hour, but without having to fight crowds.
-- John - I loved seeing my bride in her wedding dress for the first time. I loved watching her walk towards me with her dad. I loved seeing all my friends and family at the reception. And knowing they were all there just for us.

THINGS I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY:
-- Karen - There is nothing I would change. I thought the whole event went very smoothly and I loved every minute.
-- John - There were a couple of slip-ups on my part during the wedding ceremony that I could have lived without. But it certainly made for an entertaining wedding video.

ADVICE TO OTHER BRIDES:
a) Create a work plan with all the tasks that need to be done by month. Assign all the tasks to yourself, your husband-to-be, etc. Update it often to see where you are and where you need to be. Share the plan with your fiancé so he knows what he is responsible for and when things have to be done. There are many books available that tell you what needs to be done.
b) Assign someone with specific duties for the "day of". For example, pick up baskets, programs, unity candle, rings, guest book, camera, marriage certificate etc. to bring to the church and/or reception.
c) Use the internet whenever possible.

If you have questions or comments for John & Karen, please e-mail them to jhohlen@bridge.com.