Wear Your Best Boots for This Rustic Michigan Celebration: The Real Wedding of Alayna and Chris Griffin

Mutual friends introduced Chris and Alayna in college, and they were good friends for a while before they started dating after bonding over their love of country music. After a first date in 2020 where they talked for three hours, Chris and Alayna didn't go on to date for another six months. After a shared New Years Eve kiss, the rest is history! Chris proposed at the lake in their college town. "It was perfect. I thought we were going to dinner with two of our close friends but turns out he had planned for both of our families and our friends to surprise me right after the proposal," Alayna recalls.
 

"When I went wedding dress shopping, I tried on multiple dresses before putting on my dress and I knew the second I put it on, it was the
dress for me," Alayna raves. "I loved the lace and the sleeves as well as the neckline of the dress." We think she is absolutely stunning in it! It's the perfect gown for their rustic fall wedding.
 

Since they were getting married in the fall, Alayna and Chris decided to lean into the fall colors with their wedding. Alayna explains, "At first, I debated sticking with all neutrals but then I got to looking for bridesmaids dresses and knew that I wanted to do mismatching dresses with the terracotta, cinnamon, brown to burnt orange colors." To complement their venue, they also included plenty of gold accents in their day. We love how Lauryn Borst Photography was able to capture all these stunning, rich colors along with their emotion-filled portraits!
 

Speaking of the venue, Alayna actually contacted them the night she got engaged. "I had dreamed of getting married there for a while and wanted to tour as soon as possible," Alayna gushes. "I’m one of those that had been dreaming about my wedding day ever since I was a little girl so I had a good idea of what I wanted for our big day." When it came to looking for ideas, Alayna used a mix of Pinterest and TikTok for décor inspiration. Social media was also a great place for them to find vendors!
 

 

What We Love

To make their day truly special, Alayna and Chris wanted to pay attention to the smallest details of their day. One special touch was their dog was present at both their ceremony and cocktail hour. Alayna also wore boots as her something blue. "Another special touch that no one got to see, was I had fabric from both of my late grandmothers’ dresses sewed into my wedding dress by my heart," Alayna shares. "That was very special to me!"
 

 

Advice from the couple

Alayna and Chris advise, "Our best piece of advice is to do whatever you want to do for you wedding day, not what social media or the trends are telling you to do. Social media can be so tough because it comes with great ideas and inspiration, but it also can be hard not to compare your day to someone else’s or doubt the plans that you have made. Big or small, neutral or colorful, simple or extravagant, do whatever
makes you and your fiancé happy!"
 

 

 

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