We were two college kids running around the big city!  We met while working at the same college dive bar on campus.  We were friends for over a year before we started dating and that friendship has continued to be the biggest foundation of our relationship.  Ever since that first kiss, our lives have been filled with love, friendship, and the best adventures!

Drew rocked a black Ted Baker suit, a black Calvin Klein skinny tie, and black Wolf & Shepherd Chelsea boots.  Drew’s cuff links represented his favorite team, Liverpool FC! YNWA!!!

The groomsmen wore Indochino suits.

It’s very possible that I tried on five thousand dresses before purchasing this beauty.  I ended up with a gown from Spring Sweet, the most charming bridal boutique in my hometown of Holland, MI.  Finding my dress in my hometown made it that much more special and sentimental to me.

For my bridal look, I wanted something romantic with a vintage touch.  My overall look ended up having an Old Hollywood Glam vibe and I definitely didn’t hate it. The dress is  Willowby by Watters.

Salvage One was the perfect place for our Chicago Winter Wedding. The assortment of beautiful antiques made being stuck inside not so bad.  Salvage One was unique, romantic, cozy, moody, and everything else we could have wanted in a venue.  The Bride’s favorites: vintage church pews for our guest seating during the ceremony, countless vintage chandeliers, and the stunning stained glass. The Groom’s favorites: massive stone elephants that frame the wedding aisle, the trendy yet extremely cozy suites for the groomsmen and bridesmaids, and the gorgeous vintage bars.

The ceremony was our favorite part of the day. We highly recommend writing your own vows for anyone that is questioning it!

We had International Strings play our ceremony and cocktail hour!

Wedding Party Processional:  What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

Bridal Processional:  Over the Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole Version

Recessional Song:  Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles

The venue already had a lot going on, so our decor was pretty simple.  We had vintage rugs down the aisle, moody floral and greenery around the venue, and many many candles!  Our Florist, Persephone Floral Atelier, made the most romantic floral arrangements for our ceremony and reception.

We met our freshman year of college in the dorms at Michigan.  We became good friends and even lived together for two years.  We both moved away and never dated, but always kept in touch, and 10 years later something just clicked!  Things got serious quick – within 6 months Amy moved to Texas, a year later we got engaged then after a ~6-month engagement here we are!

Amy went looking for a dress with a BIG group – my mom, grandma, two future sisters-in-law, cousin, two aunts and maid of honor.  Luckily, B Ella Bridal in Plymouth, MI had the space and welcomed us with open arms.  Dominique, the stylist working with us, was amazing and he helped guide us through the process and kept our search focused while pushing me out of my comfort zone!  I ended up with the 2nd dress I tried on – nothing like what I pictured, but an amazing Moscato 2 piece! (I would highly recommend a 2-piece to anyone starting a dress search!!!)

Justin wanted a suit that was different from those he already had, and would continue to wear for other occasions – so he and the guys all ended up getting custom plaid blue suits!  Everyone got to pick inscriptions and fun fabrics for the inside which was a fun personal touch.

We wanted a venue that mixed our tastes of eclectic & traditional – the Masonic Temple in Detroit was perfect for this!  The huge, historic venue alleviated space concerns we had, the staff were AMAZING through both planning and event phases, and the look of the room night-of blew away our expectations.  We got married in the chapel there, by Denise Tucker of Perfect Day Celebrations, who did an amazing job, then had our reception and cocktail hour in the ballroom.  There were even huge spaces for getting ready on site!  The size of the venue and breadth of events held there was also great for pictures – we wandered around and ended up finding a roller derby setup, the main concert hall and even got to take some pictures on the roof!

The ceremony was great!  We kept it short and sweet with a couple friends speaking and let Denise do the rest.  We also went with a fun “newspaper” style handout we had seen at another wedding, which was a fun alternative to traditional program guides.

Another great thing about the venue was that it was already so decorative.  We didn’t want to add too much, so ended up getting no real flowers and decorated the room primarily with uplighting and gold & light centerpieces.  These were different on each table with geometric shapes, gold twigs and gave each table a little something different.  Our families, especially our mothers, helped so much with everything about this day – especially considering we were living out of state and couldn’t handle a lot of local things ourselves!

This was what we’d been looking forward to for MONTHS.  SO FUN.  Derek from The Block Party was our DJ and saying he was amazing was an understatement.  He guided the reception from speeches to dinner music to dancing and everything was perfect.  Our first dance was a blast and we had an enormous crowd, who all joined in with us towards the end.  We wanted this day to be about having a blast with people we love, and that’s exactly what it was.

Rachel was amazing!  Obviously she takes great photos but her personality fit great with us and we were instantly comfortable.  She also did a great job with our bridal party – we can be a chatty/distracted group – and made sure we got everything we needed.  She did great with going with the flow too since there were tons of last-minute picture requests.  We knew from reading her bio online she would be perfect, and she exceeded our wildest expectations!  Best day of our lives!

Do what you want to do, not what you *think* you should do.  We chose to have no flowers and no cake, and we didn’t miss either.  We also decided to go “Adults-Only” besides our 5 nieces and nephews.  This was tougher, but everyone understood and found sitters – and it allowed them all to stay later and party for longer with us!  Also – go with vendors that you trust and that feel right.  It will make all the difference!