Chloe & Sterling
To the Moon and Back
Detroit Institute of Arts
Photographer: KR Moreno Photo
Published by Brides & People Magazine
C&S have been together since high school and since then, they have always had the same motto when referring to their relationship,
‘To the moon and back’. So when we started planning their December wedding at the Detroit Institute of Arts (the exact venue where they had their first formal dance together back in high school), we knew that we had to lean heavily into a celestial theme. Taking inspiration from the heavens as well as the incredible art museum itself, we designed a literal dinner under the stars, utilizing projection mapping, reflective surfaces, and and star charts of milestone dates in their relationship to tie together each element of the design, all the while embracing details taken from the history of Detroit, the city where these two first fell in love.
For the first impression to guests, our talented stationery designer, Plume & Proper, designed an invitation suite with both celestial cues and inspiration from Detroit and the DIA specifically. As the DIA was the first milestone location of C&S's love story (and the venue for their upcoming wedding), it was only right that the invitation feature a portion of the famous Diego Rivera murals, as well as a star map of the night of their first date. Designed with thick snow-white cardstock, beautiful letterpress detailing, and bright gold foil, this invitation suite was the perfect introduction for this grand 'Detroit Affair'.
As C&S both call Detroit their hometown (no matter where they live), it was special and important for them to get married in a place that they knew well and also felt at home.
The enormously grand Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Catholic church founded in 1905 on Detroit's prominent Woodward Avenue, where the Bride's family are members, was the perfect setting for the couple's wedding mass. Surrounded by beautiful stone architecture, stained glass windows, and countless carved wooden pews, guests watched intently as C&S walked the long aisle, exchanged vows, and jumped the broom.
Before dinner, a custom seating chart experience was created for guests to find their seats. Nodding to the 1920s interior architecture of the Woodward Lobby at the DIA, a custom Corinthian-column gazebo was installed. The ceiling of the structure was painted black, with small lights showing through, giving the effect of a starry night. From the ceiling, silver star ornaments were hung with printed paper tags listed with guest names and their table numbers. As guests were invited up to the Great Hall for dinner, all 176 guests interacted with the installation, walking under the whimsical canopy of stars to collect their ornament and find their seat.
For dinner, guests dined under a projected ceiling of stars at mirror-topped tables, which reflected the starry sky above, acting as the 'tablecloth' for the evening's festivities. Clear glass place settings and glass candelabras reflected light from glowing spotlights and flickering candles. Gold flatware and chairs complimented the gilding in the walls and ceiling of the 1920’s Great Hall, while bright pink and purple florals took inspiration from the museum’s Dutch Masters paintings just one floor above. Custom rotating planisphere menus featured a gold foil star map of the wedding night and calligraphed names of each guest.
But our favorite detail of the tablescapes nodded back to C&S’s motto for their relationship, ‘To the moon and back’. Small glowing moon orbs were incorporated into the centerpieces at each table, adding a lovely glow to the otherwise dark room.
For the couple's wedding cake, our talented cake designer, Sweet Heather Anne, created a beautiful white 5-tier cake featuring scroll-work inspired by the stone filigree reliefs around the Hall. Fresh florals and a hand-painted star map of the night the Groom proposed were added to the cake to tie the design back into the tables. And finally, a miniature version of the celestial orb from Marshall Frederick’s famed Spirit of Detroit monument was set on top in perfect crowning glory.
As a final nod back to our couple, and to bring some love to our baseball-playing Groom, servers passed out late night ballpark snacks (including crackerjack boxes) to the dancing crowd.
Additionally, custom ballcaps were made for VIP guests featuring the Bride and Groom's wedding hashtag 'Chling got the ring' and instead of a bouquet toss, we opted to toss a (soft toy) baseball to the crowd.
