A Modern Summer Wedding at the Scarab Club in Detroit, Michigan
Elaine Strutz (29 and a film and TV editor) and Tim Young (29 and a filmmaker) both moved to New York City to attend NYU's film program, but they didn't officially meet until a karaoke party three years later. Elaine's song of choice was "All By Myself." "It was love at first sight--a super magical moment for two cynical transplant New Yorkers," they say. After dating for a little while, Tim proposed under the Brooklyn-Queens expressway in the exact same location where they had their first kiss. When searching for the perfect wedding venue, they immediately fell in love with the historical Scarab Club, an art society built in the 1920s in Detroit, Michigan. Not only does it have incredible architecture and rich cultural history, but the Scarab Club is also a non-profit and therefore a tremendously affordable event space with both indoor and outdoor options. Along with the venue itself, many of the wedding details were cost-friendly, including the homemade invitations (made with a woodblock print) and programs, desserts and a wedding cake from Costco, and centerpieces created from flowers from a local market. Elaine's bouquet, designed by Blumz by JRDesigns, reflected the flowers in the venue's garden in a bright color palette of red, yellow, blue, and green. The wedding fashion matched the color scheme with bridesmaids in short red dresses and groomsmen in blue ties with yellow billy ball boutonnieres. Keeping up with the theme of summery flowers, Elaine and Tim gave their guests pouches of sunflower seeds as wedding favors, along with care packages in the hotel rooms with suggestions of things to do in Detroit for out of town guests. The couple even had a Motown cover band at the reception to welcome guests to the city. Overall, Elaine and Tim had the wedding of their dreams, saying, "What reflected us most was our involvement in the whole day to make it feel so unique and special to us. The little touches are what made it feel like it wasn't just an event made by a wedding factory."