Tell us a little about yourselves!
We’re both Midwest natives—Clay from Detroit, Michigan, and Heather from Chicago, Illinois. In December 2015, career opportunities (Clay is a software product manager, Heather is an interior designer) led us both to San Francisco, though we had no idea how close we were to crossing paths. We worked less than a block apart at different startups in the small neighborhood of Potrero Hill, but fate waited until 2020 to bring us together.
We were a pandemic setup. We had both ended years-long relationships during the summer of 2020, and although we each lived in San Francisco, we were spending extended periods of time with our respective families in Michigan. Clay’s sister-in-law’s mom, Jill, who grew up with Heather’s stepdad, Bill, suggested that Clay meet her friend's daughter who also lived in San Francisco. Clay, who thinks the world of Jill, agreed, thinking it might at least lead to a new friendship.
When we both finally got back to San Francisco in September 2020, still at the height of pandemic lockdowns, we agreed to meet in Lafayette Park in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood for some socially distanced wine. We met and talked for hours, neither wanting the date to end, even though the city’s infamous fog rolled in and drastically dropped the temperature. Almost 3 years later, Clay proposed to Heather at Lafayette Park, recreating their first date.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
In short: the design and the food.
We debated having a ceremony at all – neither of us envisioned ourselves having a large or extravagant wedding, and until the end of 2023, we strongly considered a courthouse marriage. We were engaged in June 2023 and immediately moved to Detroit, Michigan, from San Francisco, California – a pre-planned move that ended up being far more stressful and eventful than we expected, which only compounded the initial desire to have a legal marriage without much fanfare. The deciding factors that ultimately led us to having a ceremony & reception: 1) getting everyone we love together in one place for one night, 2) sharing Detroit with friends from out-of-state, and 3) sharing our “big day” with Heather’s 96-year-old Grandmother, Audrey, who grew up in the city.
Not being totally familiar with event spaces or traditional wedding venues in Detroit, we toured all the spaces we could, but nothing resonated. Too specific; too limiting; too defined. Most of the venues felt as if they were pushing us towards having the wedding they wanted to throw, not the wedding we wanted for ourselves. We also wanted to make the most of our wedding budget. So, we expanded our search to atypical wedding spaces, including restaurants.
When we first moved to Detroit, good friends invited us to dinner at BARDA in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood - Heather immediately fell in love with the design, and Clay immediately fell in love with the food. The interior of the restaurant is covered floor to ceiling in cobalt blue tiles; the dishware and the flatware is modern and fresh, with unexpected pops of color; and the sunken bar in the center of the restaurant is flanked by long stretches of built-in banquette seating.
When we were thinking about restaurants for the reception, BARDA was top of the list. Once we met with the General Manager, Francesca, and Chef Owner, Javier, we knew it was the place – they were genuinely excited to host the reception, accommodating with the menu and drinks, and flexible with our requests. We can’t speak highly enough of those two and the entire BARDA team. The icing on the (wedding) cake: BARDA is formerly a car radiator shop and Heather’s grandfather, Dikran Mooradian, started and operated a car radiator manufacturer in Detroit, so choosing the spot for the reception felt like fate.
For the ceremony location, we initially looked for inspiration on the Michigan Architectural Foundation website and were primarily drawn to private residences, which we considered writing letters to owners, but decided against it. Thankfully, owners of said houses were spared from our fan-girl letters, and it was our wedding planners who noticed McGregor Memorial on the National Register of Historic Places, and the second they sent us the images, we were sold.
The McGregor Memorial building is on Wayne’s State’s campus and one of four buildings designed by world-renowned architect, Minoru Yamasaki. The space is breathtaking. The natural light, the reflecting ponds outside with striking sculptures, every single detail and angle of this place is jaw dropping.
Our design intent for the ceremony was minimal to let the architecture shine. Heather had a vision to use benches for seating and she was hell-bent on finding a modern rental bench. Her inspiration came from John Pawson’s minimal restoration of St Moritz Church in Augsburg, Germany. The benches that she originally found were 4x the budget we had in mind and thankfully our wedding planners to the rescue again found a vendor in Grand Rapids, MI, that had the perfect modern wood bench for the space.
We knew our creative vision was realized when one of our friend’s said, “I didn’t know Wayne State had a church on campus.”
How many guests did you have?
We had a little over 100 guests.
Tell us about your outfits.
Clay –
Wedding suit is from P. Johnson Tailors. I knew I wanted a green suit for the ceremony and admired P. Johnson’s suits and clothes for a while. I worked with Daniel in the New York showroom and couldn’t have asked for a better experience, honestly. The quality and cut of the suit is unlike any other I’ve worn.
Heather –
For each outfit, I knew I wanted a classic look with a modern feel—understated yet refined. I had a short list of designers that I wanted to source from. The internet was my best and worst friend from April to August. Thankfully, I pulled each look together at the eleventh hour and it worked out exactly how I had envisioned.
I also had the pleasure of working with Daniel at P. Johnson Tailors in New York. We had so much fun. The showroom had just started carrying some products from their Femme line that I was able to try on. The pieces in their Femme collection are tailored and classic with a modern feel – exactly what I was going for. The materials are high quality, and the pieces can be dressed up or down, mixed and matched, and I loved the idea of being able to wear the pieces again beyond wedding events. We paired a long dress with pants for the night before look. Our guests were equally obsessed and perplexed by the outfit, which was amazing.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
The people, the environments, the food.
The people - above all else it was crucial to have everyone we cared about from various parts of our life included in the wedding day. No matter what else happened during the wedding day or weekend, as long as we had each other and the people we cared about, it was going to be perfect.
The environments - having the wedding in a city that we love, and incorporating culturally, architecturally and historically significant venues, was important for us. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but what’s the point of having everyone you care about travel to your wedding – many of whom are visiting Detroit for the first time – and have the entire weekend’s events limited to a hotel or venue hall? Experiencing the city, and likely doing away with some preconceived notions, was key.
The food - both the quality of it and quantity of it. We wanted the reception to feel like a dinner party with friends, and serving everything family-style, it was critical that everything tasted great and everyone had their fair share. BARDA absolutely delivered. We may be a little biased but it was not only the best wedding food we’ve ever had, but also some of the best food, period.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
It was important for us to use vendors local to Michigan and Detroit. We wanted to highlight the talent and creativity coming out of the area.
Any tips for couples getting married?
Open yourself up to receive all the love and support. All your guests are there for you.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
We are immensely grateful for all our vendors. We couldn’t have done it without them.
Rebecca Overmann Jewelry – Rebecca and Lauren were patient, helpful and kind throughout the custom engagement ring customization process.
Mother of Pearl – our florist! Bree! Her energy, her creative vision, everything she touches turns to gold. The arrangements she created for the ceremony were show stopping.
The Bench Bar GR – Not only were the benches perfect for the space and ceremony, the team at Bench Bar GR had the benches removed after the ceremony to clear the space for the cocktail hour in minutes - we were supremely impressed with their efficiency.
Wayne State Catering (part of McGregor Memorial ) – our vision for the grazing tables for the cocktail hour was one of those areas that Heather was determined to make happen. Special shoutout to Ann Mason, Heather’s mom, for buying (literally) into the vision – she acquired 30+ pieces of second-hand silver and pewter across the entire state of Michigan to make our vision come to life. Wayne State Catering took on the challenge to incorporate all the pieces and produced grazing tables that were beyond our expectations.
Not a vendor but our welcome drinks were at Paramita Sound, a record shop and bar, that perfectly describes itself as “an access point to maintain and build new personal connections in a space deeply rooted in Detroit’s past and present music history.” It was the ideal location for welcoming our guests to Detroit. Founder, Andrey, was incredible to work with and provided sage advice to Clay ahead of the wedding day.
Saving the absolute best for last: our photographer, Justine Montigny. The moments, emotions, joy and love that she captured will be cherished for the rest of our lives. It’s always a little strange to have pictures taken and feel like you have to pose a certain way or present yourself in a certain way, but Justine was able to effortlessly take us out of that headspace, put us at ease, and allow everything to be natural. Justine allowed us and our guests to live in the moment, and the images she produced reflect that.
Photographer: Justine Montigny @justinemontigny | Planning: Meriwether Social @meriwethersocial |
Flora: Mother of Pearl @motherofpearl.design | Ceremony Location: McGregor Memorial | Reception Location: BARDA @barda_detroit | Celebrant: Clay's Brother Jake | Makeup: Josh Thiel @jt_mua | Hair: Jessica Johnson @yessicayohnson | Catering + Beverages (Cocktail Hour): 313 Dining Co. (Wayne State University catering) | Cake: Louisa Detroit @louisa.detroit | Stationery: Art Problems Studio @artproblems_studio | Ceremony Dress: Jil Sander @jilsander | Reception Dress: Toteme
@toteme | Suit: P. Johnson Tailors @pjohnsontailors | Engagement Ring: Rebecca Overmann
@rebeccaovermannjewelry | Wedding Rings: Ahee Jewelers @aheejewelers | Shoes: The Row @therow (Heather) & P. Johnson (Clay) @pjohnsontailors | Jewellery: AGMES NYC jewelry @agmesnyc