Taryne and Steven’s ‘Modern Bohemian’ Conservatory and Museum Wedding by Justine Montigny

Welcome to the middle of the week everyone, I hope you are having a good one so far? Today I am taking you off to Detroit for the super stylish, modern wedding of Taryne and Steven. The couple have a real love for the city and the architecture within it, so they decided that Detroit would be the perfect location for their wedding. The botanical garden within the Belle Isle Conservatory gave them the perfect backdrop for their ceremony, followed by a stylish reception in the Museum of Contemporary Art. Both locations complemented the couple perfectly, mixing in a colour scheme of mustard yellow against the green and white of both venues. Industrial detailing, an amazing cake and dessert table and the most gorgeous flowers make this wedding super stunning and a joy to look at, all captured perfectly by Justine Montigny.

A drizzly day in Detroit that included an intimate ceremony in a botanical garden, a wet romp through downtown, and celebratory feast with all our close friends and family. We were showered with so much love and excitement.

Taryne and Steven were married on 9th June 2018, the day after their seven-year anniversary at Belle Isle Conservatory, Detroit, Michigan with the reception at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. ‘Steve went to architecture school in Detroit and loved it there. Through our courtship he showed me the beauty of Detroit through its architecture and history. Currently, Detroit is going through revival, which is very exciting to witness. So once we got engaged we knew we wanted to get married in Detroit. We had 113 guests, we got engaged while I was in dental school and did not want to deal with the stress of planning a wedding while trying to pass dental boards. So I had one year to dream and then one year of actually planning. It worked for us.’

How they met
Several years ago I was a server and had waited on Steve and his friends multiple times. I thought he was cute but I never got the vibe that he was interested. It wasn’t until one day at the beach with mutual friends, that we struck up a conversation about music and just hit it off from there. Before we got married, we had been dating for seven years, which includes four years of long distance while I was out of state for dental school.

The proposal
While home from school, Steve wanted to do a Detroit Architecture Tour that included one of Steve’s favourite Detroit buildings, The Guardian. We started the tour and I was focused on the tour, as well as where we should go for lunch after. At the end of the tour, I had requested to take a picture in front a large mural inside the Guardian building. I was fine with taking a selfie but Steve really wanted the tour guide to take the picture. We waited until he became available, and positioned ourselves in front of the mural.  The tour guide took a few pics, when all of a sudden Steve dropped to his knees and proposed. I accepted without hesitation but I was completely shocked and began hyperventilating. Steve slowly escorted me out of the building to avoid causing a scene.

How did you allocate your budget?
Steve and I wanted to pay for the wedding by ourselves with minimal help from our family. We wanted a fun experience for our guests to enjoy which to us meant a great atmosphere, delicious food and drink and amazing entertainment. Therefore we allocated most of our budget towards these aspects of the wedding while doing are best to save on other aspects.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on photography as we valued having pictures that stand the test of time. We saved on stationary, as we couldn’t stomach the idea of paying high costs on something that will eventually be thrown away by our guests.

How did you choose your photographer?
Justine was my sister’s wedding photographer. I loved her style of photography and her easygoing personality.  So when it came time to booking a photographer for our wedding it was a pretty easy decision.

The dress 
After trying a countless number of dresses, it wasn’t until I put on the Claire Pettibone dress that I knew without a doubt that it was my wedding dress. My hair clip was Maggie Wu. For shoes, I chose comfort over heels, so I got my flats at Nordstrom and I was so comfortable throughout the day.

The suit 
My husband bought his suit and tie from Banana Republic. We elected to have no groomsmen or bridesmaids. My sister was our officiant and we had four cute nieces and nephews as our ring bearers and flower girls.

Theme or colour scheme
Modern Bohemian was our theme. Our color scheme included dusty blues, sage green, creams with accent mustard yellow.

Flowers
I love mustard yellow, and when I first saw the Craspedia Billy Bob flower, I knew I had to have it as a part of our floral in our wedding.  I gave my florist a couple of inspiration pics and she took care of the rest.

Decoration 
For our ceremony, we embraced the greenery of the botanical garden and added a bohemian rug to enhance the ceremonial space. For our reception, we utilized the industrial space of the contemporary art museum. We added string lights, florals, bohemian rugs, custom-made wood frame that would give a bohemian vibe.

Food 
Our caterer, made an exceptional Mexican inspired meal: for happy hour, a Charcuterie table, chili rellenos, with chips and guacamole set on each table; for dinner, a plated salad, a gourmet taco bar with chicken and vegetarian option, street corn, and potato bravas – it was perfection!

Wedding cake
In lieu of a giant wedding cake, Steve and I wanted an assortment of desserts that we loved for our guests to enjoy. This included cupcakes, donuts, and chocolate chip cookies. We did have a small two-tiered wedding cake made for Steve and I to enjoy. It was a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting – it was heaven.

Entertainment
For our ceremony we hired an acoustic guitar player to entertain guests, along with playing the processional and recessional songs. For the reception we hired a DJ whom we requested to play 80s, 90s and motown, intermixed with some of today’s hits. He was great!

Who supplied the stationery?
Steve designed our Save the Dates. For the rest of our invitation suite we used a design selected from Minted Weddings. I found Minted Weddings to be very convenient in that we had options to customize the suite by adding yellow flowers and to have free guest addressing on our envelopes. In addition, we were able to save through the use of various promotional codes and offers from Minted Weddings.

Personal touches
For a favor for our guests, we had personalized “S+T” cookies with the Detroit Skyline made. They also served as a name card to help our guests find their seats. Some DIY projects included Steve making our Welcome Sign, our table numbers, photo holders, and ring boxes.

Advice for other couples
Though the day is long, it goes by so fast. At the reception, Steve and I got separated many times socializing with our guests and missed some entertaining moments. My advice to couples is to try to make an effort to not be apart from each other very long and take mini breaks to stop and observe the greatness of the day. Or get a videographer to capture all these moments!

Special moments 
When I think back on the day, there are two moments that stand out to me the most. First was walking down the aisle. I remember hearing the cords of  “Here Comes the Sun” as I entered the room. I remember locking my eyes on my soon to be husband and not able to look away. I remember seeing his eyes well up and the smirk he gave me. I felt like I was floating towards him – it was so surreal.
The second moment would be the toast to our guests. Steve and I didn’t have a wedding party and since the ceremony was private, we felt we owed it to our guests to welcome them to the celebration of our day. Steve’s grandpa was unable to attend our wedding due to health issues; however, we still wanted him to be a part of our day since he was on the only living grandparent between the two of us. So during our toast we FaceTimed him and asked everyone to say hello. Hearing everyone unanimously say “Hi Carl” and see his expression of joy to be included on our wedding was such a unique moment for us to treasure.

Biggest surprise 
The biggest surprise was that both of us came down with an awful 24-hour bug for the day. Of all the things, we had heard that could go wrong with a wedding, being sick was not one of them. However, through the magic of IV drips and hydration we were able to forget about being sick and focus on the overpowering joy that came to us with that day.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photographer: Justine Montigny
• Videographer: Narratve
• Co-ordinator: Spoke Events
• Florist: Studio Terrain
• Rugs, table, chairs, wooden frame: Modernly Events
• Hair: Simona Vigh
• MakeUp MakeUp Loft
• Personalised Cookies: Clara’s Crumbs
• Caterer: ChowHound Gourmet

For more information on Justine’s work go to

justinemontigny.com / justinemontigny.com/blog / [email protected] / 1-616-835-6860 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / PINTEREST

I am a photographer based out of Michigan in the United States and I often travel for many of my weddings. I believe that reality – the good, the bad and the weird – is beautiful and moving and deserves to be documented with appreciation and sensitivity. I invite people who work with me to be dynamic and vulnerable, to share their humor. In return, I document all of this without judgment and sincere honesty. My approach does not involve being a loud photographer with an arsenal of camera gear, telling people how to be or how to love – but rather, a quiet old friend documenting a celebration of connectedness, a friend who appreciates quirks and understands the importance of preserving them. This collaboration of willingness and understanding and my non-intrusive approach produces imagery that is familiar, intimate, meaningful and relevant