This Michigan Couple Created a Dreamy, Disney Celebration: The Real Wedding of Anessa and Jimmy Ricklefs

While performing in a musical parody of Halloween, Jimmy and Anessa met and fell in love. They started talking every day early on in the rehearsal process, and grew closer and caught feelings for each other. After almost seven years of dating, Anessa convinced Jimmy to go to Disney World with her since she had never been. Once they had finished their meal at Cinderella's Castle, Jimmy got down and popped the question!
 

"When I started dress shopping, I had NO idea what I wanted," Anessa admits. "After multiple appointments I thought I was leaning towards a ballgown." After buying one off the rack, Anessa realized it wasn't the one, and she got caught up in the moment. Since she acts as a princess professionally and often wears similar dresses, she wanted something special for her big day. Anessa decided to try dress shopping alone and asked the consultant to bring anything but a ballgown. When her dress came out, Anessa couldn't take her eyes off it! It ended up being from a brand called "Cinderella Divine", which was a wonderful coincidence for their Disney wedding! We think the dress suits her perfectly! Jessie Silva, their photographer, captured just how beautiful she looked on her wedding day!
 

Starting planning was a difficult process for Anessa since she had never been one to really dream about her wedding and had only been to a few herself. However, she quickly hit her stride after finding the right wedding planning book and figuring out what worked for her. Anessa explains, "My favorite planning tool, though, was a physical to-do list I made on a big tri-fold display board. I added four categories (purchases, vendors and arrangements, design and create, and miscellaneous), and would write tasks on sticky notes under their respective category." They color-coded the sticky notes, too, to indicate if it was something Anessa, Jimmy or both of them needed to do. When they had free time, they would pick a sticky note or two and knock them out!
 

They picked a simple theme for their wedding: Happily Ever After—the ideal theme for these Disney lovers! Since they both are big Disney fans and got engaged at Disney World with a Mickey Mouse ring, they wanted to have Disney elements incorporated in their big day. One of the most noticeable details was their Disney-themed centerpieces. Each table was a different Disney movie, so Anessa and Jimmy thrifted items that matched the movies and spray painted them gold. For example, Toy Story had blocks and little toy soldiers and The Little Mermaid had silverware—including a dinglehopper—and seashells. They ended up picking blue, gold and light pink as their colors by deciding that those were colors they liked and looked good together. By luck, they actually had picked Disney's 50th Anniversary colors!
 

 

What we Love

Against all odds, this couple was able to come together with their friends and family to celebrate their love when they needed it most. "Eleven days before our wedding, I got the call that my dad’s health had rapidly declined, and we needed to go to Wisconsin immediately to say goodbye. The following morning, nine hours away from home, Jimmy experienced a very serious medical emergency," Anessa explains. "He’d remain in the hospital for the next week. We lost my dad the following night. We didn’t know if our wedding would still happen." They also had two important people let them know that they weren't coming to the wedding. When they got home two days before their wedding, they were surrounded by love as people arrived early to help with errands and calm nerves. Anessa's bridesmaid even stayed up late the night before the wedding fixing her nails and doing everything in her power to help alleviate Anessa's stress. The day of their wedding, Anessa and Jimmy felt so much love from those who came to celebrate them, which is just what they needed after some of their darkest days!
 

 

Advice from the Couple

Anessa and Jimmy advise, "Stop worrying about the little things. I know, I know - you’ve spent so much time dreaming of this, put tons of work into planning, and you want it to be perfect. But please take it from a Type A bride who had to learn in the hardest way: the only thing that matters is that you’re getting to marry your person. That’s it. Everything else is just icing on the cake. At the end of the day, no one is going to remember if a piece of decor is missing, if your DJ mispronounces someone’s name, or if your dance wasn’t perfectly choreographed. What they will remember is the love they witness. Just focus on your person and let the little things be little things."
 

 

 

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