An Elegant Love Story in Gross Pointe, Michigan: The Real Wedding of Olivia and Trevor Conrad

It wasn't until years after their first meeting that Olivia and Trevor got together when they reconnected online. After dating for ten months, Trevor got the best birthday gift ever when Olivia agreed to marry him! Olivia recalls, "He surprised me at his birthday gathering with our family surrounded by rose petals, candles and paper lanterns spelling out, 'Will you marry me?'"
 

When she went to look at dresses, Olivia had a clear vision but ended up surprising herself. "I knew I wanted it to be covered in leaves to go along with the fall theme and the bridesmaids' dresses I already picked out," Olivia explains. "I originally went into shopping thinking I would get long sleeves but changed my opinion on that." She also chose to go with a train for the dress to help elevate the elegance to match their venue. We think it is a stunning addition to there ceremony and looks beautiful on Olivia!
 

Speaking of the venue, it actually played a huge role in amplifying their theme. "We both love old buildings/mansions/art museums. My husband was also previously involved in the National Guard so the military aspect of the War Memorial was definitely an appeal," Olivia shares. They leaned into the historical aspects of the building to create a reception with nods to the classic Beauty and the Beast, one of Olivia's favorite childhood movies! With the theme in mind, Olivia and Trevor chose to highlight their favorite fall colors in their palette with her favorite color being olive and his navy.
 

"One hundred percent of all the decorations, decor and even flowers were done by me with some assistance from family so that made it even more special," Olivia gushes. "I feel like something so wonderful about doing all the design and decorations yourself was that we were able to put so many little touches of ours into our day." See if you can spot all their unique details! Other special things in their big day include their cake being made by the same bakery Olivia's parents used twenty-nine years ago, getting married by the same pastor as Olivia's parents and the books used as their centerpieces were hand-picked by Olivia as books that she thought each table would love. Most of Olivia's outfit also had personal touches like the bows on her shoes being the ones her mom wore and her pearl bracelet being one passed from cousin to cousin on their wedding days!
 

 

What We Love

With so many details to this big and joyful day, their photographer Taylor Marie Photography captured them all flawlessly. Olivia raves, "I noticed our photographer from another event she had done where the photos were just gorgeous, and she turned out to be perfect for us." We love how she got every angle to every special moment to make sure nothing was missed when the bride and groom look back through their photos!
 

 

Advice from the couple

Olivia advises, "It takes a village. Don’t be afraid to get other people involved in the process. I genuinely enjoyed all the crafts and didn’t mind doing those on my own because they were quite cathartic, but there is so much packing and transporting and setting up and tearing down that you really do need all hands on deck. One thing that really worked well for me was giving people jobs. One bridesmaid was on lipstick duty so she tucked my lipstick in her bouquet and had the mission to check on me and make sure there wasn’t any on Trevor. One bridesmaid was on Polaroid duty so I sent her a whole page on what she would have to do. The best man was in charge of the rings so he got a whole page on where the rings had to be and when."
 

 

 

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