Like many love stories, Payton and JP’s begins in college. The two met at the University of Michigan and instantly connected! But…not romantically. After a few years of friendship, the two took those foundational building blocks and made a fantastic relationship. A few years after that, JP was ready to pop the question! As JP was assembling the final touches of the proposal and subsequent surprised engagement party, he sent out invites over Facebook for friends and family to celebrate along with them. But, oops! JP accidentally sent it to Payton as well! Nevertheless, she accepted his proposal, and the two share a great laugh about it today.
When it came to their wedding, that same fun-loving and goofy energy that the couple shared was incorporated as well. The team behind Ann Travis Events was there to help with it all! From the beautiful flowers by Willa Rose Floral and the fantastic transformation of their venue, The Jam Handy, into an urban oasis. Photographer Jake Anderson captured every photo in its colorful, fantastical bliss!
Burst of Color
Can you see a color palette forming here? Cool green, bright yellow, and chic black effortlessly work together here to make the sweetest-looking invitations.
This adorable bouquet was both seasonally appropriate and timeless.
Payton absolutely shined in this chic and effortless bridal look!
Picking my wedding dress was such a fun experience and I ended up buying it from Beloved Bridal in Ann Arbor. It was an Alexandra Grecco dress that I had had my eye on from the first moment that I started looking for dresses online (even before I was engaged lol).
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Carousel
JP looked incredibly handsome in a light gray suit and comfortable white sneakers.
P.S. The sneakers have a fun surprise we’re going to reveal shortly!
The cool sneaker trend wasn’t limited to just the groom! His groomsmen were all encouraged to wear their favorite pieces from their shoe collections to this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Surprise! The shoe tongue’s logo was replaced with sweet photos of Payton and JP in their younger years.
Love Letter to Detroit
Processional: Can’t Help Falling in Love by Ingrid Michaelson
Recessional: Cry by Hans Zimmer
First Dance: Unstoppable (FKJ Remix) by Lianne La Havas, FKJ
The couple’s industrial venue mixed with their additions of lush greenery and color was a very intentional design.
We were inspired by our friends, our families, and our love for the city of Detroit. We love the rawness of Detroit with its rich history and our venue encompassed that fully. But we wanted to show a juxtaposition of the rough side of the venue and our city with the love we felt on our day.
Congratulations to the bride and groom!
We feel as though we can only give honest advice to those who have a wedding planner, as we had the pleasure of working with Ann and her team throughout our entire planning process. My number one piece of advice is to trust your wedding planner up until the day of your wedding. I am sure Ann gets this a lot but I checked and rechecked so many details during the month leading up to our wedding, which caused me so much unneeded stress. We worked with Ann for just under 2 years to plan our wedding and there are so many details that go into planning a large wedding. This is their profession and they are probably 10x better than you at wedding-specific record/schedule keeping, detail-memorizing, and staying on top of deadlines. So just trust that they’ve got your back. With that, have fun with it! We planned to have a longer engagement well before COVID because we wanted to make sure we were both equally involved in the planning process because this is a (hopefully, haha) once-in-a-lifetime experience and it should be just as fun as the actual wedding day.
Serving Up Fun
Talk about creative wedding appetizers! Take your tasty treats up a notch by serving them in a fun, decorative style.
Want tips on how to make your cocktail hour memorable, as well? We’ve got you!
My favorite detail from the day was the greenery and floristry that our amazing florist put together in less than 48 hours in 90+ degree heat. We had an endless number of hanging pots full of beautiful plants to warm up the venue. It was breathtaking, and I will never forget walking into the venue for the first time to see that transformation.
Guests’ seats were perfectly curated to be light and bright! White table linens compliment by black flatware and frosted glasses made for a beautiful and visually interesting setting.
Kurtis, our planner, surprised us with the most fun glow sticks while we were on the dance floor that made the night all that much more fun!
I don’t know if I can call out one specific favorite memory from the day because the day was all-in-all one of my favorite days. It all came together in the most imperfect kind of way; even the things that went “wrong”. I still look back on them as some of my favorite memories. The weather was ungodly hot on our wedding day; I’m talking 90+ degree heat and at least 80% humidity. Remember, we booked this non-air conditioned venue thinking we would have our wedding day in May. But our wedding planners, vendors, and guests took it in stride, bringing in tons of fans, cold desserts (like our late-night boozy popsicles), and amazing attitudes while enduring a sweaty, but very happy night to celebrate me and JP. I did not hear one complaint from anyone about the heat, even though I knew no one was totally comfortable. Celebrating with all of our family and friends, many that we had not seen in person for a long time, was the highlight of our day!
Congratulations to Payton and JP!
photography: Jake Anderson Photo // venue name: The Jam Handy, Detroit, Michigan, USA // event design: Ann Travis Events // planning: Ann Travis Events // florals: Willa Rose Floral // wedding dress: Alexandra Grecco // wedding dress boutique: Beloved Bridal // hair stylist: Bridal Beauty Couture // makeup artist: Bridal Beauty Couture // paper goods: Invitations by Caitlin // catering: Cutting Edge Cuisine // cake: Sweet Heather Anne // tabletop rentals: Event Theory Michigan // furniture rentals: Modernly Events // linen rentals: La Tavola Linens // music: Elite Entertainment
