Our Wedding: Part Two

I’m so excited to share the rest of our wedding in Saugatuck with you guys! In case you missed it here’s part one of our wedding with details about my dress, invitations and getting ready. Today I’m sharing why we picked our venue, details on our flowers, what we did for the food and extra little details. I’ve had so many questions about our wedding so I’m looking forward to sharing some of these special moments with you. Have a question about our big day? Ask me in the comments below!

The Venue

We chose Felt Mansion in Saugatuck, Michigan as our venue for both the ceremony and the reception. Cory and I really wanted to be close to or on the water for our wedding without being too far from Grand Rapids where both of our families are. After touring Felt Mansion we both looked at each other and knew this was it. It was close enough to water where we could take pictures (we drove to Oval Beach), and the style was perfect for what we were going for. It was also a full circle moment for me because the person who set Cory and I up is from Saugatuck. And I adopted Wrigley (our dog) from Saugatuck three days before I met Cory for our first date. It was a beautiful piece to the puzzle to have our wedding in Saugatuck.

The Ceremony

I have to give Holden and Derick a huge shoutout for being the absolute best to work with at Felt Mansion. They were so knowledgeable about how to make our vision work, and really helped us achieve exactly what we wanted. I have to say my favorite thing about this venue were the countless options for where to have your ceremony and reception. The options were so nice to have in case weather was unpredictable! We decided on doing our ceremony at the small church they have on the property and it was absolutely perfect. Our wedding in Saugatuck was truly a dream come true.

One of the best decisions we made was doing an unplugged ceremony. I think one person didn’t get the memo…but let your photographer do their job to capture your wedding. The last thing you need are multiple cell phones in your face as you’re walking down the aisle.

The Flowers

The rockstar of the day was Cassie Winters from Cass & Jean Flower Co. I met Cassie at a wedding event months before my wedding and something just struck me about her style for arranging flowers. I knew I wanted to keep our flowers simple and neutral to fit the aesthetic of the venue and our personal style. So when I met with Cassie for the first time I was blown away with her extensive knowledge for all things flowers.

Aside from that we connected on a personal level, and I’m forever grateful for the hard work she did to create these flower arrangements. I gave Cassie some ideas that I had, but I truly wanted her to use her creativity and artistic freedom to create what she wanted for the ceremony and our reception pieces. Let me say when I saw what she did I was literally almost in tears. IT WAS STUNNING. If you’re looking for a florist at your upcoming wedding I can’t recommend Cassie enough. She has an eye for creating unique, beautiful and memorable pieces that you can’t find anywhere else. The two things our guests couldn’t stop talking about at our wedding were the flowers and the food. No joke.

Cassie was also able to track down my favorite flower (peonies) for my wedding bouquet. It was one of the best surprises of the day. Thank you Cassie for partnering with me to make my wedding in Saugatuck the best day ever. I’m so thankful for everything you did!

I let my bridesmaids pick out any dress they wanted in a blush color. It was important to me for them to have a dress they loved, and in a price point they were comfortable spending. I love how well the different shades blended together.

The Reception

I loved having our ceremony and reception at the same place. It was so easy for our guests and easy for us to enjoy not traveling from point a to point b. The idea for the reception was to make it as laid back and fun as possible. That sounds sorta silly for a reception, but we wanted to make sure our guests had a good time. Cory made these cornhole boards with his dad and brother for people to enjoy and they were a huge hit all night long. The great thing about Felt Mansion was the ability for us to have the reception outside and inside so people could enjoy both. In case you didn’t know Felt Mansion has an amazing history behind it so many of our guests loved touring the rooms and learning more about the property during the reception.

We worked with Sea Bags for our guest book, and I’m so thrilled with how it came together. Thank you Sea Bags! You can learn more here.

The Food

Many of you know Cory and I are big foodies. We love trying new things, traveling and going to different restaurants so when it came to picking our food this was a big deal. We heard from multiple people that Gilmore Catering was amazing and let me tell you they were. A huge thank you to Charlie for being the best to work with in making our vision for the food really work and taste amazing. Like I said above, our guests couldn’t stop talking about the flowers and the food.

Since Cory and I love to travel we incorporated this into our food at the reception. We had tables set up based on our travels (and former places we lived) Northern Michigan, Italy, Spain, Chicago and Florida. I also created passports for people to stamp at each table while they were grabbing the food. It was interactive and people really enjoyed going from table to table to try the different foods. Cassie also created the table arrangements that corresponded with the location. She knocked this out of the park with beautiful flowers and accessories.

Pictured above is the Northern Michigan table with Michigan wildflowers and cherries that Cassie designed for the table. We served smoked whitefish planks Michigan cherry burger sliders for the food.

For Florida (where Cory lived before I met him) we did a fruit platter and shrimp. Cassie again did an amazing job with the flower arrangement including palm branches.

The Spain table included a mediterranean dip trio and stuffed dates alongside these colorful flowers from Cassie.

The Chicago table (where I lived before I met Cory) was a big hit with the carving station and shrimp cocktail. And again how beautiful were these flowers?!

The Italy station had lots of cheese (of course) and my favorite caprese skewers. As you can see the stamping of the passport was a huge hit.

Since a bee landed on me while I was picking out my dress (you can read more about this story here) we did honey as a our favors at the wedding.

Here are a few more photos that capture some of my favorite moments from our wedding in Saugatuck.

Having Wrigley being part of the ceremony and reception was exactly what we wanted. He was so good all day and stole the show!

Yes, I totally danced the Parent Trap song with my mom and dad for our song. Also, a shoutout to Christian Verwys for being such a great DJ at our wedding.

I can’t say it enough how appreciative I am of everyone that worked so hard to make this day perfect for Cory and I. My friend Erin stepped in as our day-of wedding coordinator and both my mom and I looked at each other at the wedding and said “we couldn’t have done this without Erin.” I’m so grateful for each person that we worked with and for everyone that supported us on this journey. THANK YOU.

Our Wedding in Saugatuck Details

Photographer: Jenna Borst

Wedding Dress: Wtoo by Watters found at Spring Sweet

Wedding Shoes: Tabitha Simmons

Bridesmaid Dresses: Their own

Groom’s Suit: Bonobos 

Groom’s Tie: Original Penguin

Groomsman Suits: H&M

Hair & Makeup: Engedi Salon Zeeland – Thank you for partnering with The GR Guide on my bridal hair & makeup services. 

Wedding Venue: Felt Mansion

Flowers: Cass & Jean

Catering: Gilmore Catering

DJ: Christian Verwys