Real Wedding Michigan

ABC Member Planner: Kate McClellan, PBC™, Purple Clover Events, www.PurpleCloverEvents.com, Kate@PurpleCloverEvents.com.Photographer: A Girl in Love Photography.Non-member businesses involved: Misty Valley Farms, Parsonage Event Flowers, Bodhi Tree Films, 2 Unique Catering, A Touch of Whimsy Event Rentals, 50 Amp Fuse.The couple: Though Anna and Noah live in New York City, they chose a classic farm in Ann Arbor for a country wedding. Food was extremely important to them, and they made sure to have unique options for cocktail hour. Guests were treated to a Russian vodka and caviar station, Heirloom tomato bar, and other yummy bites.Wedding Date: Sept. 6, 2014.Inspiration: Anna didn’t want to take away from the natural farm setting, so the design complemented the style. We brought in farm tables for dinner under the tent, and the centerpieces were made up of greenery and flowers in natural tones.Color palette: Neutrals, including champagne.Budget: $75,000-$80,000.Guest Count: 208.Most Unique Design Element: The mirrored wagon wheels suspended from the roof of the tent and wrapped in greenery were a great visual to distract from what can be a plain looking tent ceiling. Another unique element is that Anna and Noah chose to hit a piñata rather than have a traditional cake cutting. It showed their fun loving personalities! They satisfied guests’ sweet tooths with chocolate chip cookies on a shot of patron, a gourmet popcorn station, and mixed Russian desserts.Biggest Challenge: A big storm came in the night before the wedding. We had set up the tent and farm tables the day before. The heavy winds took down the tent and smashed several of the custom tables that were under it. Luckily, the owner of the venue is handy with repair work and was able to recover all but one of the tables, which we were able to replace. Because the original tent used wooden poles that snapped, the venue called in a favor to a tent company that came out immediately with a replacement. By the time the bride arrived at noon, everything looked fine, and she didn’t know about the chaos until it was fixed.Learnings: I always knew that having strong vendor relationships was important, but this wedding really proved it. Our ability to work together really helped us make this wedding perfect for Anna & Noah. ••