Patti Soskin: The Ultimate Host

When you are a career restaurateur and a natural born entertainer, the obvious place to host your daughter’s wedding is your own backyard.

“We looked at other venues, but all of our big life events happen at home. Friends always gather at our house, so it felt right," says Patti Soskin, founder of the beloved Twin Cities restaurant chain yum! Kitchen and Bakery, which she runs with her husband Robbie Soskin.

The Soskins have three kids, but just one daughter, Maddie. Her May 2024 wedding to Chad became a full-on family production—so exquisitely executed, it could have made Martha Stewart gasp with delight.

"We are lucky because my parents are not only in the hospitality business, but they are genuinely passionate about creating special spaces and moments for our family and others," Maddie says. "I told my parents I cared about my dress and who was standing at the end of the aisle, but they really had the vision on the rest."

They started with a photo spotted on social media of a white floor in a tent with flowers on it. “That resonated,” Patti says. “A contemporary feeling, but  garden-y.”

The ceremony took place in the round—Maddie loved the idea of family and friends surrounding her and Chad. For the reception, guests moved to an airy, greenhouse style tent with clear ceiling panels to let in all the light. Flowers, by Arts & Flowers, were the design focus. So many flowers: ranunculus, garden roses—in vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges (no pastels, thank you). Modern arrangements dotted the long, family-style tables and lined the edge of the stage where the band performed. Flowers dangled from the rafters, and the pièce de résistance: disco ball-style floral spheres hung from the ceiling. Patti and Robbie even found an artist to hand paint flowers on their driveway, matching the flower decals on the white tent floor, which the Soskins constructed themselves.

With all the details Patti was managing—from the menu, which she created and outsourced to chef friends and her team at yum!, to batched cocktails (avoids a pile up at the bar!), down to décor for the portable bathrooms—this mother of the bride didn’t spend a lot of time trying on dresses. Here again, Instagram served up the perfect inspiration: a bubble gum pink trapeze style gown festooned with a monochromatic cascade of large floral appliqués—the perfect complement to the white flowers on the skirt and train of Maddie’s bridal gown.

“I became obsessed with finding it,” Patti says. But every time she searched for the Greta Constantine gown, it appeared to be sold out.

Just by chance, while on vacation in Turks and Caicos, Patti tried her dress search again, and up popped a Canadian boutique—“maybe because I was out of the country?” she surmises—that had the dress! The catch: they only had one size, which was too large, and nonrefundable. She went for it anyway, and had the dress altered to fit. (We found it available for special order via Wardrobe Apparel.)

“I loved the color, loved that it was super comfortable, and it felt right for an outside, garden-style wedding,” says Patti. Bonus: it even had pockets.

Adds Maddie: "We wanted the party to look and feel fun, and my mom's dress matched that vibe. It was truly perfect for her!"

The night before the wedding, Patti was on a ladder in the yard, hanging colorful ribbons from trees and testing lights. "We all have to play to our strengths," she jokes. But come wedding day, she intentionally shifted from host/caterer/planner extraordinaire into Mom Mode by getting dressed with Maddie and the bridesmaids away from their home, where the wedding prep was in full motion.

“If you have a moment that’s not fun, stop and restart,” Patti advises. “It should all be fun. We truly had the best time doing this together.”

| Photography by Hael