Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Our Wedding

We went on a date in Rochester, and when we came back home, we decided to take our first photo together in front of Koko's apartment, which is now our apartment.

Our very first photo together !

Our first Valentine's Day was filled with lots of love and yummy food at the steakhouse! Oh, we cannot forget to mention that there was a snowstorm on the way home...

First Valentines' Day

Our first mini vacation together!We spent our spring break at Vinny's parents' cabin. Even though it was spring break, we both had to work and study :(

Spring Break 

Vinny and his family came to see Koko's hula performance at the international nights at Winona State University!

International Nights 2024

Vinny and Koko went to see the cherry blossoms to feel a little bit of Japan in Winona!!

Winona Cherry blossoms !

First Northern Lights together! I guess being in the cold state has its perks as well... it was beautiful!

Northern Lights 

Vinny took Koko to Stillwater, MN! We walked around and had yummy ice cream before Koko had to go back home for the summer.

Stillwater date !

Koko came back from Japan !! Vinny and Koko took a little vacay at vinny's family's cabin !

Koko's back !

Vinny and Koko took a road trip to Koko's dream place to visit, the Grand Canyon! We stopped at a couple of places on the way and on the way back, but the highlight of the trip was definitely the Grand Canyon! We'll definitely be back there again!

Roadtrip !

First Minnesota State Fair together!

Minnesota State Fair 2024

We went to the apple orchard and stopped by this cute little pumpkin patch nearby! Koko had difficult time holding the big pumpkin haha !

Pumpkins !

We had our very first wedding date in October 2024 ! We dressed up and celebrated Koko's college friend :)

Very first wedding date 

We had our first couple photoshoot together in Winona ! We were surrounded by beautiful fall colors.

First photoshoot

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving together with Vinny's family. We both were very full at the end of the day. :) Koko's favorite Thanksgiving dishes are turkey and cranberry sauce. Vinny's favorites are stuffing and green bean casserole.

First Thanksgiving !

Christmas PJs 2024 ! Koko had her own tradition of wearing different PJs every Christmas, so Vinny joined that tradition ! Here was 2024 PJs !

Christmas PJs 2024

We went to Japan in the winter of 2024 to celebrate Christmas and the Japanese New Year (お正月) and to see Koko's family in Japan.

Flight to Japan !!

We booked a hotel at Disney Sea in Tokyo to celebrate Christmas!

Hotel At Disney Sea in Tokyo

We spent the whole day at Disney Sea. We ate a lot of good food, went on a lot of fun rides, and enjoyed a performance at the end of the day. It was Vinny's first time at any Disney Resort too!

Tokyo Disney Sea!

We celebrated Christmas at Koko's families house. We ate sushi and hung out with her family!

Christmas In Japan!

We celebrated our first anniversary in Japan. We ate at a fancy restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal!

Anniversary date in Japan

Vinny and his family came to see Koko's hula performance again at Winona State Univeristy!

International Nights 2025

We had our second wedding date in May 2025! We celebrated Koko's best friend and Koko was a bridesmaid too!

Second Wedding Date

June 20th, 2025. A day that will never be forgotten. Koko was very emotional and Vinny nervous lol.

Proposal in Door County!

We had our future wedding photographer there during the proposal and did a mini photoshoot after to celebrate this moment!

Proposal Photo Shoot!

August 2nd, 2025. We officially got married(to work on green card application) and celebrated with friends and family in Winona!

Courthouse Wedding

Although we were already married, we wanted to go through the whole wedding process so we had an engagement party with friends and family!

Engagement Party

We took a trip to Duluth in the fall to see the fall leaves at Lutsen!

Fall Trip to Duluth

We had another fall photoshoot with our wedding photographer!

Second Fall Photoshoot!

We took a early Christmas trip to Chicago! We ate a lot of good food, saw Home Alone at the Symphony Orchestra, and did a lot of shopping!

Christmas trip to Chicago

Our Story

Photos

Shelby and the bride met at work. Shelby has been the older sister figure for the bride. 

Shelby Faustino

Sydney Muller

Maddy and the bride met at the college dorm!

Maddison Stevens

Erin and bride met in college and lived together for 3 years !

Erin Ahrendt

Momoka Yui

Lana Rinaldi

Ella Anderson

Jackson and the groom have been friends since college. 

Jackson Buchholz

Mitchell Fanning

Jacob Fanning

Ethan Anderson

Zeke Myers

Lincoln has been a good friend of the bride. Lincoln and the groom became good friends as they got to know each other.

Lincoln Salisbury

Quinn Anderson

Wedding Party

What to Wear to a Semi-Formal Wedding

41 Sites to Buy Wedding Guest Dresses

The 15 Best Places to Buy a Suit

We kindly ask you not to wear jeans or shorts. Please avoid wearing extremely revealing dresses.Please wear a color of your preference OTHER THAN white or black.

Dress Code

Q + A

Here is a list of hotels nearby our venue! <a href="https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/americinn/red-wing-minnesota/americinn-lodge-and-suites-red-wing/overview" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AMERICINN</a>9.6 Miles | 10 Minutes1819 Old W Main St.Red Wing, MN 55066651-385-9060<a href="https://www.radissonhotelsamericas.com/en-us/hotels/country-inn-red-wing-mn?cid=a%3Aps%20b%3Aggl%20c%3Aamer%20e%3Acis%20d%3Aus%20f%3Aen-US%20g%3Aho%20h%3AMNREDWIN&amp;facilitatorId=GOOGLE&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwpayjBhAnEiwA-7ena9fNtotfGhgfXv1SwwpBrMXalBrbrzokwp-wzKlPUfY7wj1TlkNT0BoC2acQAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">COUNTRY INN &amp; SUITES </a>5.7 Miles | 6 Minutes4275 Hwy 61 West.Red Wing, MN 55066651-388-9000<a href="https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/red-wing/msprw/hoteldetail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS &amp; SUITES</a>9 Miles | 10 Minutes - Brand New for 2019!1919 Old W Main St.Red Wing, MN 55066651-327-2225<a href="https://www.nicholsinn.com/red-wing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NICHOLS INN</a>9.6 Miles | 10 Minutes1819 Old W Main St.Red Wing, MN 55066651-388-6633<a href="https://www.ticasino.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TREASURE ISLAND RESORT &amp; CASINO</a>4.8 Miles | 7 Minutes5734 Sturgeon Lake Rd.Welch, MN 55089800-222-7077<a href="https://st-james-hotel.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">THE ST. JAMES HOTEL</a>9.8 Miles | 10 Minutes406 Main St.Red Wing, MN 55066651-388-2846

Here is a list of nearby Airbnbs! <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/51727283?adults=2&amp;check_in=2023-05-26&amp;check_out=2023-05-28&amp;children=0&amp;enable_m3_private_room=true&amp;federated_search_id=782f69af-57ff-462c-92f9-81314390a3e4&amp;infants=0&amp;pets=0&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1684520470_bu%2FzYvk5Xn9Wy7RL" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">East Suite at Welch Suites</a> <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/32789128?adults=2&amp;check_in=2023-08-04&amp;check_out=2023-08-06&amp;children=0&amp;enable_m3_private_room=true&amp;federated_search_id=782f69af-57ff-462c-92f9-81314390a3e4&amp;infants=0&amp;pets=0&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1684520760_uyOOl4O9j1XpMiif" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Historic Loft - Prescott </a> <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/747938371809582237?adults=2&amp;check_in=2023-06-02&amp;check_out=2023-06-04&amp;children=0&amp;enable_m3_private_room=true&amp;federated_search_id=a9b84726-b1a5-4091-8e40-fe86a75b4e0f&amp;infants=0&amp;pets=0&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1684520965_plZovV9RV0g%2BqG%2Ba" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Luxury Spa Retreat Suite - Hastings</a> <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/53626511?adults=2&amp;check_in=2023-05-26&amp;check_out=2023-05-28&amp;children=0&amp;enable_m3_private_room=true&amp;federated_search_id=782f69af-57ff-462c-92f9-81314390a3e4&amp;infants=0&amp;pets=0&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1684520496_7eHJD7bW0UZLCslN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">North Suite at Welch Suites</a> <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/51063395?adults=2&amp;check_in=2023-07-14&amp;check_out=2023-07-16&amp;children=0&amp;enable_m3_private_room=true&amp;federated_search_id=a9b84726-b1a5-4091-8e40-fe86a75b4e0f&amp;infants=0&amp;pets=0&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1684520908_kbqabCN7Cq%2B0zQcE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">South Suite at Welch Suites</a> <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/35803392?adults=2&amp;check_in=2023-06-02&amp;check_out=2023-06-04&amp;children=0&amp;enable_m3_private_room=true&amp;federated_search_id=782f69af-57ff-462c-92f9-81314390a3e4&amp;infants=0&amp;pets=0&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1684520427_%2FPQQWiXTO%2BiBQS4v" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Welch Cottage</a>

Kotoko & Vincent

Kotoko & Vincent

Dress Code

SEMI-FORMAL

Ideas & Advice