Michigan Metropark Wedding
Alex, the bride, is not new to Ruffled – she was one of our DIY Contest participants (and the winner!) two years ago with this adorbs DIY pom pom bouquet. Today she is back to share a little bit of her wedding day with us:
From the bride, Alex: When Travis and I got engaged, we were living in Portland, Oregon. We decided that we wanted to get married in our home state of Michigan, even though it meant planning from thousands of miles away. We did everything we could from there – got our outfits, booked a venue sight unseen, booked our photographer – and then scrambled to get the rest done once we moved back. I am a crafter by nature (and by profession) so of course, that meant I wanted to make EVERYTHING. I ended up giving in and having someone else make my dress (good decision), but I made my headpiece, designed all the paper-bits, made our canopy (if you can call it that) and did all the florals with some help from friends. Our overall “look” was a sort of “antique prettiness mixed with old-timey-natural-science-museum,” complete with dinosaur skeleton cake toppers (a tribute to my husbands dino-geekery. He also wore authentic dinosaur bone cufflinks!)
We decided early on that we wanted our wedding to reflect only the things that mattered to us, with little regard for tradition. Instead of walking down the aisle, we had a parade to our outdoor ceremony site, complete with kazoos and other instruments. Our ceremony was extremely short- just a few words by our friend/officiant and an exchange of rings and red string bracelets (which we also handed out to guests.) Then we went inside to have dinner and rock out.
We skipped the special dances and sappy songs, opting to let things unfold naturally- I ended up dancing with my father to “I wear my sunglasses at night”, haha. We hired a photo booth to give people something to do when they got tired of dancing, with some amazing results! Our goal was to create a true celebratory atmosphere, high on love and fun, low on cheesiness, stuffiness, and waiting-around. I think we succeeded 🙂
View all images from this wedding in the gallery
Wedding vendors (White Lake, MI):
Wedding venue: Indian Springs Metropark, Environmental Discovery Center / Wedding photographer: Nicole LaDonne / Wedding cake: Decadent Delight / Wedding caterer: Kosch / Succulents: Succulent Designs / Wedding dress: Urchin Re.Design / Hair accessory and jewelry: made by bride / Wedding shoes: Irregular Choice / Groom’s suit: Bespoke by Duchess Clothier / Groom’s shoes: Walker & Whyte / Wedding stationery: bride / Transportation: Motor City Party Bus
I love her dress. She pulls it off so well!
I love the cake topper!
I am getting married soon and would love to know where you got it or how you made it.
If you have a chance please let me know : [email protected]
ps, this was an absolutely beautiful wedding
the dinosaur bone topper is hilarious! so cool!
Re: the cake topper: The dinosaur figurines came from a museum gift shop- I think it was the Field in Chicago. The hat is rubber and was cut off a little rubber Mardi Gras skull and glued on, the veil is just a scrap piece of tulle. I realize that’s not too helpful, haha. Good toy stores often have dinosaur figurines (though maybe not skeletons) and the veil is easy, finding groom accessories is tough. We had to forgo the dapper little cane and bowtie.
What a gorgeous wedding!! I love it!