Elegant Fall wedding at Felt Mansion

Wanting everything to be timeless, vintage, and Victorian Sasha & Brady chose to marry at the FELT MANSION – a hidden gem in West Michigan. Nestled in the rolling dunes between Holland and Saugatuck, the historic venue provided the perfect picturesque setting for their luxurious and romantic wedding. With fall being their favourite season, they chose to get married at this time of year in order to incorporate all the rich tones. Choosing sage green and darker earth tones for the bridesmaids combined with classic black and white for the grooms, it was elegance personified, and all beautifully captured by Michigan wedding photographer JAILA RIXIE.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS LOCATION? Brady and I are from Michigan. During our time in Grand Rapids, where we met, we would drive down to Saugatuck State Park for a little get away and walk through the woods to go to the beach. We would sometimes get there early and eat at our favourite restaurant, The Southerner, which was only a couple miles from The Felt Estate. Any time we would go to the state park, we drove directly passed The Felt Estate, not even realising so close to our favourite date spot was where we would end up getting married a few years later. We love Saugatuck Dunes and so when we saw The Felt Estate, we know it was the perfect place to celebrate with our friends and family. 

HOW DID YOU MEET? We met in 2018, Brady was the best man, and I was the maid of honour at Brady’s brother’s wedding. The bride, Maggie, is my childhood best friend and the groom, Bailey, is Brady’s brother. Brady and I ultimately met on their wedding day, and we exchanged numbers but nothing happened until months later when I moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a job. It just so happened that the place I moved into was only a block over from Brady. We were only a couple minutes away from each other’s places. Brady asked me to grab coffee at The Lantern, a local coffee shop. We met for coffee and have been inseparable ever since. 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROPOSAL: On September 25, 2021, Brady, and I along with a big group of our friends went to a San Diego Padres game. It was a gorgeous night, and I had no idea what was about to happen. Our seats were so close to the field and as I was sipping on a margarita, all our friends yelled “SASHA LOOK” and everyone pointed to the screen on the baseball field that read “Sasha will you marry me?”. I turned and Brady was on one knee. It was such a surreal moment and it felt like something out of a movie. It was the best day ever. 

TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR WEDDING DRESS/ATTIRE: When we lived in San Diego, I was on the hunt for the perfect dress. I went to a small boutique in Old Town and tried on a Vera Wang dress, big mistake of course, I fell in love with it. But I knew it was beyond my price range… so I kept searching. I was so inspired by my venue that I knew I wanted detailed embroidery, a big train, and a sweetheart neckline. So, my aunt Mimi from Wilmington, North Carolina finally said “Just come to Wilmington and I promise you’ll find your dress!”. Sure enough, we went to The Coastal Knot, and it was the first dress I tried on and we teared up and knew, it was THE dress. It was a special moment for my aunt Mimi and me. For Brady, he really wanted the classic look, with a black suit, black shoes, and a black bow tie; all the guys looked so handsome!  

DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY ELEMENTS? Our wedding planner, Caitlin Gilbert, owner of CMG Events is our DIY queen! Caitlin truly made our vision come to life by ordering paper off Amazon and calligraphing all our table numbers and name cards, just going above and beyond for us. I did use my own vintage mirror as the welcome sign and some side tables I found off Facebook marketplace to add more décor to the space. Brady’s sister let us borrow her candles and hurricane glasses, which saved us a ton of money. We truly had a village of people who made our wedding day perfect. So, a huge shoutout to everyone who helped up, we are beyond grateful! 

DESCRIBE YOUR WEDDING FLOWERS: Two years ago, I saw a tagged photo on The Felt Estate’s Instagram page, and I was obsessed with the florals in the photo, and I knew whoever did them, I wanted to be our florist. Alicia Gonzalez Winn, the owner of Joy and Bloom Design Co., is the mastermind behind our gorgeous flowers. I sent her fall florals off Pinterest with a mixture of photos of whimsical, delicate floral arrangements and she created what she did! I was blown away. She is truly a master at her craft. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OUT TO A COUPLE PLANNING THEIR WEDDING? All the planning and all the craziness leading up to the wedding day is worth it! And on your big day, it's like you blink and it’s all over… So don’t fret about the little things. Enjoy your beautiful day with your person and do the things the way you and your partner intended. Enjoy everything as it is, from the days leading up to it, all the way until the last song is played. Enjoy the moment as it happens before you.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT? It was deep into the reception. The dancing was well underway, and everyone was enjoying themselves. Both of us wanted everyone to have a good time and the best way to do that is to encourage everyone to get on the dance floor, including ourselves. Our DJ was an old friend Brady had met several years ago in college. Him and Brady had wrestled together throughout college but hadn’t spoken in years. Our maid of honor and best man, Maggie, and Bailey, saw him out of pure coincidence DJing at another friend’s wedding and spoke very highly of him, so we reached out to him to DJ our wedding as well. The songs he was playing were firing everyone up. I don’t think there was a single person under 30 that wasn’t out on the dance floor. Even some of the parents and grandparents were busting a move. At one point someone shouted, “Where’s the DJ?” At that moment, both Brady and I saw our DJ, Sean Halverson dancing alongside everyone else with better moves too. This moment was memorable for both of us, not only because he was our old friend and everyone was having a blast, but we felt that it represented the intimacy of our wedding as a whole and loved that we were having the time of our lives with our best friends.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD CHANGE OR DO DIFFERENTLY? Absolutely nothing. It was truly the most beautiful, perfect day. Brady and I were on Cloud 9 the entire time, so overwhelmed by so much love and positive energy surrounding us. Our amazing vendors and wedding planner, Caitlin Gilbert, made everything so special for us. Our officiant, Jake Mucha, was amazing and delivered a beautiful ceremony. Jake is also our Maid of Honor’s brother, and the Mucha’s have always been there for us. So, like we’ve been saying, it takes a village and we truly have the best people in our lives who showed up for us, showed us unconditional love and we couldn’t say thank you enough.

A big thank you to Michigan wedding photographer JAILA RIXIE for sharing this beautiful wedding with us. After more than seven years in the wedding industry, Jaila prides herself on delivering timeless, true to colour and deep black and white imagery that document the raw emotions and elegant details from your wedding day. "If I were to have a manifesto for JRP it would be to capture the true essence of your love, bestow iconic images as an heirloom and document your eternal heartfelt vows; all the while having the most joyous time at your wedding celebration. I cherish every love story I have the honour of capturing." You can see more of her portfolio here.