A Charming Michigan Venue That Resembles the English Countryside

Lauren Megerdichian
December 8, 2021
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Once upon a time … Rachel & Bryan transported their guests to the whimsically romantic world of Greencrest Manor! Modern Day Collective planned a day of pure magic for the happy couple within the English-style gardens of the vine-enveloped venue with the most delightful of details. Think floral arrangements & bouquets that resemble freshly picked wildflowers and charming blue toile de jouy-inspired linens! And, you can’t miss the “happily ever after” cake moment under a gazebo that’s straight from a fairytale! Enchant yourself with all the magic that Clary Pfeiffer captured in the full gallery!

From Clary Pfeiffer Photography… After 6 years of dating, planning a wedding was something we became so excited for. We are old souls at heart, we love history and have an affection for antique and vintage things. We knew that we wanted our wedding to be a reflection of who we are. The very original plan was to elope in Ireland…but 2020 had other plans. We thought of just eloping on our own so many times, but we knew we wanted an intimate celebration with our family and closest friends.

Multiple venues and multiple planned dates later, we found Greencrest Manor. Upon seeing Greencrest, we knew it was the perfect venue for us. Greencrest has the ability to transport you to another world, a world that definitely resembles Europe. The manor house itself is so stunning and the gardens are a dream. And I will never be able to say enough kind words about the team. They are so wonderful. They truly understood me and how all the little details were important to us.

I have a love for handmade paper, so I knew I wanted our invitation suite printed on paper with deckled edges. I had the suite designed by Blossom and Ivory. She did a beautiful job with the illustration of Greencrest Manor. Once designed, I had Porridge Papers print everything for us. They make beautiful paper by hand which gives it a wonderful texture and feel. We used the same paper for our vow books.

We both really cared about the details of our attire for our wedding and spent a lot of time thinking about each thing from head to toe. Finding a dress was a process for me, none of them seemed to be exactly what I wanted. Eventually I fell in love with the lace detail and layers of my Essence of Australia dress but knew I wanted to add an overskirt that I had custom made to go over. Between the two pieces, it was the perfect dream dress I wanted.

I reached out to Emmy London and we did a Facetime design session so I could get a bespoke pair of wedding shoes. She was so wonderful to work with. My shoes were so beautiful. And I love that I have the custom sketch of the shoes to keep forever.

Bryan had his tuxedo custom made for him by Tom James. They come to your house, take all of your measurements. You get to pick out fabrics and linings, it was a really wonderful process. The end result is amazing because he has a beautiful tuxedo that fits him perfectly. The company was also able to embroider our names on his cuff, along with our wedding date on his inside jacket pocket.

Family and history were a really big part of our special day. For my ‘something blue’, I wore my maternal great grandmother’s ring. On my fathers side of the family, we have a wedding tradition that has been passed down since the 1800s. We have a gold bracelet that all the girls wear on their wedding days. It was an honor to wear the same bracelet that many generations before me have as well. My God-daughter is my cousins daughter, she was our flower girl, and I got to share the bracelet story with her that day. Our wedding was also very special in that we chose the date to share the anniversary with my grandparents. They have been married for 60 plus years. My grandfather is also the one who officiated our ceremony.

We both share a love of flowers and gardening so flowers were also something we knew we wanted in abundance at our wedding. Lots of color, greenery and organic looking garden flowers. Jen who owns Greencrest is an amazing floral designer and she made the most beautiful bouquet for me. So much color and filled with lisianthus, dahlias and snapdragons. Greencrest set up such a beautiful and simple ceremony space right behind the manor house. We also knew we wanted to do a toss right after ‘I do’ as we headed down the aisle. I had velum programs made that doubled as envelopes filled with dried flower petals.

Right in the middle of Greencrest’s beautiful gardens, they have a conservatory. We knew we wanted to highlight it in some way. We considered having our ceremony in front of it, but then decided to bring our guests into the gardens after the ceremony for a champagne toast and cake cutting. We really enjoyed being able to thank everyone for coming right in this same moment. Our cake vendor, Bella Dolce, was the only vendor we kept throughout the process of our re-planning. I love cake and Erin makes the most delicious lemon rosemary cake with lemon curd and buttercream frosting. Our top tier didn’t get saved… I ate it within days of our wedding!

After cake cutting and toasts, our guests were able to enjoy the bar, infused water stations and head inside the manor for a wonderful food display. We knew we didn’t want the formality of a sit down dinner. With only about 45 guests, we wanted our guests to be able to stroll around the house and property, or have a seat on the patio. It was a wonderful atmosphere to just see our family and friends relaxing and having conversation. We did our dances right on the back patio of the manor. My good friend sang our first dance song which was also really special.

The cream on top of it all was having Clary photograph our wedding. Her and Travis are truly wonderful souls. And I stare at our wedding photos and can’t quite believe they are ours!

Our day was beautifully perfect in every way for us. Definitely worth the wait of so many cancellations and postponements!