1. Real Weddings

An Outdoor Wedding in Clarkston, MI

Christine and Zac met at a fraternity party while both were students at Western Michigan University. They ended up being at the same place with a grou

Christine and Zac met at a fraternity party while both were students at Western Michigan University. They ended up being at the same place with a group of friends on September 11, 2001, and the tragedy of that day made them realize their feelings for each other went beyond friendship. The Bride Christine Appleton, 30, an advertising sales planner The Groom Zac Armintrout, 31, a construction company owner The Date September 4 Six-and-a-half years later, when Christine and Zac were touring wineries in Traverse City, Zac spent the whole day in pursuit of the perfect spot to propose. Christine thought he was acting weird all day. At dinner, when he barely ate a thing -- she even worried that he felt ill! After they had finished dinner, in a private room overlooking the bay, Zac got down on one knee and asked Christine to marry him.

Formal Wedding Party
Simple Menu Cards
Christine and Zac’s invitations had a cool, minimalist design that creatively incorporated the couple’s names. The stationery designer, Christine’s friend, carried the motif throughout the wedding.
The bridesmaids carried green and white bouquets of roses, kale, hydrangeas, dusty miller, silver brunia, seeded eucalyptus, begonia leaves, and a few peacock feathers wrapped in gray satin ribbon to match their dresses.
Christine’s friend, who designed the wedding stationery, made the programs to resemble the invitations. They placed each one inside an ivory envelope with either a gray or chartreuse satin ribbon and displayed them in a wicker tray at the ceremony.
Guests held sparklers around the patio while Christine and Zac shared their first dance to “This Year’s Love,” by David Gray, sung and played acoustic guitar style by Jeremy Sprague. Jeremy and Joshua Sprague were playing the night of the couple’s first kiss -- almost eight years to the day of the wedding.
Moss Ring Pillow
The couple’s florist alternated between two centerpieces—the tables that lined the walls of the room had 18-inch, glass cylinder vases filled with tall willow branches (complete with hanging crystals) and antiqued hydrangeas.
Reception tables in the center of the room had tiny, glass cube -- centerpieces that were lined with moss and filled with antiqued hydrangeas, green kale, dusty miller, silver brunia berries, purple trachillium, begonia leaves, green hanging amaranthus, seeded eucalyptus, and peacock feathers.
Zac’s boutonniere included a black calla lily, an ivory ranunculus bud, silver brunia, and a bleached peacock feather.
The florist filled two trays with moss as a bed for the escort cards, which were ivory rectangles with the table numbers also written in Italian, a nod to where Christine and Zac were headed for their honeymoon. Tiny wire stands held up the cards.
Christine and Zac needed to bring little to decorate their ceremony in the gardens of the Pine Knob Mansion. Simple ivory chiffon panels and arrangements that matched the bridesmaid bouquets decorated the gazebo, and petals covered the aisle.
Christine worked bleached peacock feathers into a lush bouquet of black calla lilies, ivory and green roses, ivory ranunculus, begonia leaves, and green hanging amaranthus.
Christine’s 3-year-old cousin carried a moss basket with a gray satin ribbon for a handle. The florist accented the basket with peacock feathers and filled it with ivory rose petals.
Black calla lilies, ivory ranunculus and dusty miller cascaded down Christine and Zac’s all-white buttercream wedding cake to give it color while a tall, bleached peacock feather topped off the look.