Shady Elms started with

a farm, a family, and a little bit of a crazy idea. 

But long before it became a business, this farm was already a place for gathering.

Generations of Alex's family have lived, worked and celebrated here. His grandmother was married in the farmhouse, and nearly 60 years ago, his parents, celebrated their wedding in the barn. Long before we ever dreamed of hosting weddings here, some of our family's most important moments were already happening on this farm.

​

When Alex first brought me to Shady Elms while we were dating, he took me on a four-wheeler ride through the fields. I immediately knew this was a special place—and I soon fell in love with the farmer.

​

After we became engaged, we began dreaming about our future. I knew how much the farm meant to Alex, and if this was where he wanted to build his life and do the work he loved, I wanted to build mine here too.  During our senior year at Geneva College, we turned that dream into a business idea for an entrepreneurship class: what if we created a wedding venue on the farm where we hoped to one day build a life together? We presented the idea in class and then brought it home to Alex's family.

With their blessing—and a whole lot of help from both our family and friends—we decided to actually do it.

 

We spent the summer of 2010 renovating the grounds and preparing Shady Elms for our own September wedding. Our wedding became the first celebration of what would eventually become something far bigger than either of us imagined.

And Shady Elms Farm was born.

​

In those early years, I built the business alongside my mother-in-law, Jane. She had just graduated her fourth child from homeschool and needed a new creative outlet—and I happened to have one for her! Together, we welcomed couples, designed weddings, planted flowers, dreamed up new ideas, and watched this little family venture grow.  As those first five years unfolded, I was constantly watching, listening and learning. Wedding after wedding taught me what worked, what didn't, where couples felt overwhelmed, and all the little things that could make a wedding day run beautifully—or make it unnecessarily stressful. I began to realize that I didn't simply want Shady Elms to be a beautiful place to get married. I wanted to create an experience that made the entire process easier.

 

That became my next big vision for Shady Elms: an all-inclusive wedding experience. I began taking everything I had learned and building a system where all the pieces worked together—from planning and food to flowers and the flow of the wedding day. I wanted our couples to have fewer things to coordinate, fewer details to worry about, and more freedom to actually enjoy the season they were in and the day they had waited for.

 

Over time, that all-inclusive approach became one of the defining parts of Shady Elms. We continued to refine it with every wedding, and today that same commitment to beautiful, relaxed, well-run celebrations still guides the way our entire team serves our couples.

After ten years of dreaming, creating and building Shady Elms together, Jane was ready to retire. I purchased her share of the business and took on full ownership, carrying forward everything we had built together while beginning a new chapter for Shady Elms.

 

But Shady Elms has never been something we've built alone. From the earliest days, our family has grown right alongside the business. Parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family have each been part of the story in different ways. As Shady Elms grew, several family members stepped into important roles within the business—coordinating weddings, caring for the grounds, managing behind the scenes, designing, giving tours and helping us serve the families who come through our doors. And because it's a family business, there have certainly been plenty of moments when everyone simply jumped in wherever they were needed.  It has been such a blessing to be able to work with family!  

 

Some of the people who helped us begin this story are no longer with us, while others are still working alongside us today. Their fingerprints are all over Shady Elms, and we are incredibly grateful that something that began with family has continued to grow with family.

And somehow, the little wedding venue we started all those years ago just kept growing.

 

Today, Alex and I are raising our four children right here in the middle of it all. They are growing up surrounded by cousins, cattle, flowers, weddings, tractors, good food, and a whole lot of people.  Shady Elms has grown too. What began primarily as a wedding venue now includes our restaurant, catering, florals, coffee, events, livestock and, of course, weddings.  It may look a little different than it did in 2010, but the heart behind it hasn't changed.

 

We believe there is something special about gathering people together. Whether you're saying I do in the barn, sharing breakfast around one of our tables, celebrating a milestone, ordering flowers for someone you love, or simply enjoying a cup of coffee—we want you to feel at home here.  Our mission is to love and serve the people who walk through our doors, create an atmosphere of beauty and relaxation, and shine as a bright light for Christ.  We are incredibly grateful that God has allowed this little idea to become our family's life and work. And more than 15 years later, we're still dreaming about what this place can become—and we're pretty excited to see what He has planned next.