Wine, Sustainability, & Chickens at Michigan Wedding

After meeting in a stage play, Michelle and Antonio grew a life together that they dubbed ‘pioneer chic’. They enjoyed urban homesteading, making their own wine, and cooking together. They also live a sustainable lifestyle, reusing everything that they can so they wanted to apply that green mission to their wedding. As a green wedding planner and member of the Green Wedding Alliance, we were ecstatic when Michelle and Antonio asked us to help them plan their day.

We focused on their three most important elements of their wedding: atmosphere, food, and music. The rustic style of MillCreek Wilde provided us with the ideal backdrop to build a warm, lush environment for their guests. FIG Catering created a sustainable menu and served dinner family style which added to the sense of community among everyone there to celebrate the newlyweds. Antonio is a drummer so having good music throughout the wedding day was a necessity. We started off the party with Gussied serenading everyone with their twists on bluegrass, rock n’ roll, and timeless classics; then kept the dance party going with Gold Noise DJ.

Nika Vaughan Bridal Artists made our bride look even more stunning than she already is- we adore the dark red lip! Plus, the crystal hair piece is so unique, we love its alternative crown vibes.

If you have a chicken at home named Cheese, you have to represent her on your wedding day. Antonio wore chicken socks under his bright blue suit, how adorable! See below for how they featured chickens on their save the dates too!

These gorgeous bouquets from Becca Blue had a freshly-picked garden feel as if the couple gathered up all their favorites from their own backyard garden. The color scheme of blush, apricot, and burgundy were a lovely compliment to Michelle’s sparkly blush dress.

There was rain in the forecast but that didn’t stop Michelle and Antonio from getting married outside. The light rain sprinkles gave the ceremony a romantic vibe and you could feel how loved these two were by their family and friends. The rustic white arbor at the venue was decorated with an asymmetrical, organic arrangement of blush & apricot flowers and sage & burgundy foliage like it had been there all along growing amongst the trees.

Party time! The venue’s dance hall was filled with a mix of long and round tables. Large, hanging greenery and floral arrangements hung over the tables and the dance floor surrounded by twinkling lights and candlelight. It gave us the feeling of dining under the stars in the forest. Tables had either centerpieces organically arranged with dahlias, ranunculus, garden roses and foliage or an edible clustered display of pears, pomegranates, grapes, blood oranges, and plums. Table numbers were named after different farm and woodland animals like bear, squirrel, bunny and of course chicken.

Dinner by Fig Catering was farm-to-table which truly reflected Michelle & Antonio’s lifestyle. Since the couple makes their own wine together, it had to be featured and served as the perfect pairing for their dinner guests. They had also saved up wine corks throughout their years together and used them as a guestbook. Family and friends signed individual corks and strung them together to create a garland. It was fun seeing the garland grow throughout the night! Michelle and Antonio treated their guests to homemade jam spreads as a wedding favor like apple butter, tomato basil, pear rosemary, and peach basil – yum! For late night bites, guests enjoyed a spread of italian desserts and a chef-manned charcuterie and cheese station.