This Summer Celebration Shows Fall Colors in a Creative Way: The Real Wedding of Shriyani Tysen and Kyle Kaufman

After meeting on a dating app, Shriyani and Kyle fell in love. When the time was right, Kyle created an ingenious way to propose to Shriyani. Kyle took the day off work, saying he had PTO, and suggested they go shopping and take their dog Poppy to Weko Beach. They walked on the beach for a little while before taking a break on a log. While there, Kyle pulled out a bandanna saying "my humans are getting married" and put it on Poppy. It was enough of a distraction for Shriyani, so when she looked up, Kyle was down on one knee!
 

Even though Shriyani had an idea in mind when she went dress shopping, her vision for her wedding dress changed after trying on a few. "I went into the dress shopping experience thinking I wanted a more form-fitting dress. I quickly found out that I did not like how it looked on me, and I didn’t feel comfortable," Shriyani shares. "It was important for me to feel confident and comfortable in my dress." She ended up with a stunning A-line gown with delicate floral details in the lace of the dress. We think she looks absolutely showstopping in that gown!
 

When they began wedding planning, Shriyani and Kyle started by finding a venue that would accommodate their dog, who they wanted to be involved in their big day. Once they had the ceremony venue selected, they looked for a reception venue. Shriyani raves, "We looked at a
few venues for our reception and adored everything about The Brick and they had their own catering through Navarre Catering, which was amazing!" The rest of the vendors that Shriyani and Kyle booked came through searching and reading reviews or from recommendations from others who have gotten married. Their wedding ended up being a beautiful event thanks to the help of the team they put together!
 

Initially, Shriyani envisioned her wedding day being in the fall. Instead, they ended up getting married on June 1st, which is Shriyani's grandparents' anniversary. That made the day all the more meaningful! After looking through Instagram for inspiration and deciding what she did and didn't like, Shriyani created a Pinterest board of ideas. Shriyani loves fall colors, so she was set on having terracotta in her color palette. They decided to complement that color with corals, oranges and light blues to make their fall color a bit more summery!
 

 

What We Love

Even though it made her very busy, Shriyani D.I.Y.'d many of the décor items in their big day. She made the table arrangements and most of the signage for the ceremony. However, the most meaningful D.I.Y. wasn't one she did. "My Dad built a Powura, which is the platform that we stood on during our wedding ceremonies and it is traditional for Sinhalese wedding ceremonies. This was the most special for me because he made it and then we decorated it together," Shriyani gushes. They also included their dog in their wedding and had one of Shriyani's best friends be the officiant!
 

 

Advice from the Couple

Shriyani and Kyle advise, "Talk with each other about what is important vs. not important. Kyle pretty much let me take the reins, but I wanted him to feel included in the process as well. If you want to D.I.Y. a lot of things, don’t procrastinate like I did, work ahead of time so you don’t have to rush. Next, make a to-do list. I started it early in the planning process so I could add to it as time went on—you won’t believe some things you may forget as the wedding date gets closer. Finally, don’t stress on the wedding day, nothing ever goes exactly as planned. You’ve done your best and let yourself enjoy the day because it goes by so fast."
 

 

 

are you a bride or groom-to-be?

We'd love to plan with you on weddingday-online.com. Let's get started!

 

are you a wedding extraordinaire?

Join WeddingDay Magazine in inspiring brides by partnering with us! See how here.