The Making of the TCL Trend Wedding

It all started in November when we teamed up with Twin Cities Live to giveaway a HUGE prize to one of their lucky viewers…a dream wedding worth $25,000! Entries started pouring in and we couldn’t wait to find out who the finalists were. Meanwhile, Matt and Kay were enjoying life as an engaged couple and heard about the Wedding Giveaway. They decided to go ahead and submit a video…because what engaged couple wouldn’t want to win a 25k wedding, although they were a little apprehensive thinking they never stood a chance they submitted their video entry! Well, they were wrong about not standing a chance, our team along with the rest of the TCL viewers immediately fell in love with Matt and Kay and their love story.

The goal of Matt and Kay’s entry video was to share their dynamic relationship with the viewers, and show everyone how in love they are. They also thought it would be a cool chance to share a hybrid wedding that would feature Kay’s Laotian heritage along with the traditional American Wedding.

When Matt and Kay found out they made it as finalists they were shocked! They didn’t anticipate making it that far but were really excited for the opportunity, then the shock continued when they found out they actually WON the dream wedding! One stipulation for winning this dream wedding was that the couple had to agree to allow TCL viewers to vote on each element of their big day. From the venue to the dress and even the food, viewers were given the role of Matt and Kay’s wedding planners. While some couples (and many brides) may cringe at the thought of strangers planning their wedding, Matt and Kay welcomed it with excitement! We would narrow down the options to three amazing trends for each category and the rest was in the hands of the viewers. Thankfully, Matt and Kay trusted our expertise in the wedding world, and we hooked them up with the BEST vendors in the Twin Cities, so every option would really be a win no matter what.

Planning a wedding in 4 months doesn’t come without a couple of speed bumps. Matt and Kay were originally planning a 2019 wedding so when their timeline was shortened to just 4 months of planning time they admit that some pieces like narrowing down a guest list and finalizing a registry were a little stressful at times. All the amazing and fun experiences and the whole process of the Trend Wedding were more than enough to make up for the few minor stressors the couple had to overcome. They weren’t expecting to make as many friendships as they did throughout the process. Matt and Kay cherish the relationships they built with each and every vendor and sponsor they worked with, which made the entire process a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

Matt and Kay’s wedding took place on Friday, March 2nd at the beautiful Beach Club (formerly Calhoun Beach Club), the venue TCL viewers decided on! And let us tell you…these wedding vendors brought their A-game and created a truly magical wedding for Matt and Kay. From start to finish the entire day was picture perfect! It was so fun to watch everything the viewers selected to come to life in this gorgeous space. It was very important to the couple to incorporate some of Kay’s Laotian heritage into the wedding. They did this in two ways:

The Sue Quan – A prayer to solidify and recognize the bride and groom’s spirit coming together willingly in mind, love, and understanding of marriage.

The second tradition involves the officiant taking a white string from the Maak Beng (The couples spiritual pyramid) and brushing the hands of the bride and groom with it, while lightly praying to say in Lao as translated to English: “the bad is swept out, good is swept in, may your spirits come together in unity.” The prayers are to rid the newlyweds of any bad spirits or bad luck in their past, and give them new blessings so they can go forth in their marriage with grace, luck, and positivity.

Matt and Kay are currently planning their Honeymoon with AAA Minneapolis. They were most excited to hear that viewers voted on their top honeymoon choice, Hawaii! We wish Matt and Kay all the best as newlyweds and hope they keep in touch! It was a pleasure working with this couple and all the amazing vendors that put together a truly beautiful DREAM WEDDING.

From Matt and Kay, “While our future is still a bit unknown, Kay and I feel so grateful for everything that’s been done for us. We have something really exciting up our sleeves, if you’re interested stay tuned!”