Aeriel and Jon Grimm share a love for skating and call Evansville’s Swonder Ice Arena their second home. Despite skating in the same circles — Aeriel as a figure skater and Jon as a hockey player — their love story didn’t begin until 2015. By then, Jon had returned from playing with the Dallas Junior Hockey Association in Texas, and Aeriel had just graduated from Signature School and started studying at the University of Evansville.
After seven years of dating, Jon proposed in March 2022 during a peaceful evening stroll along the Newburgh riverfront. The couple chose to take their time planning their wedding. “We wanted to incorporate some of my Filipino heritage, so we did have ‘sponsors,’” known as ninongs and ninangs in Tagalog, Aeriel explains. “These were people who we looked up to and could turn to for guidance.”
On Sept. 21 — a date which Aeriel remarks was fun tying to Earth, Wind, and Fire’s song “September” — the couple wed at City View at Sterling Square. Their intimate ceremony in the Sunset Ballroom was illuminated by candlelight. The programs resembled newspapers with games and short stories about their engagement and honeymoon. Elysia King, a live painter based in Saint Louis, Missouri, who works with Cloud Studio Agency, captured special moments on canvas.
Guests then moved downstairs to the reception, where cocktail hour included sushi and lumpia provided by Domo Japanese Hibachi Grill, Sushi and Ramen. The main course featured barbecue from Hawg N Sauce in Mount Vernon, Indiana. Tables were decorated with DIY floral arrangements of roses and orchids. The dance floor was packed all night, with nearly every guest joining in at some point.
Reflecting on the day, Aeriel and Jon laugh at its imperfections, from a storm cutting outdoor photos short to a flower girl chasing her mom down the aisle. “We didn’t want a ‘perfect’ wedding,” Aeriel says. “We love those little moments, making it less rigid and more real.”
Vendors:
WEDDING GOWN
Vow’d Nashville
VENUE
City View at Sterling Square
WEDDING COORDINATOR
Kelley James Events
DJ
Seniour Events
CATERING
Domo Japanese Hibachi Grill, Sushi and Ramen and Hawg N Sauce
CAKE
Bea Sweet Treats
PHOTOGRAPHER
Abi Baumgart Images
VIDEOGRAPHER
Patton Photo
BRIDAL BOUQUET
Emerald Design
HAIR AND MAKEUP ARTISTS
Bri Updike and Sydney Fulkerson
LIVE PAINTER
Elysia King from Cloud Studio Agency
SUITS
Generation Tux
PARTY BUS
Feller Limousine
