Wedding | Lily & Matt

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Matt and I met almost a decade ago in our art school cafeteria in Ohio. It’s crazy to look back and think about how young we were at the time. Hanging out for hours in Matt’s screen printing studio, him tricking me into attending punk shows, and planning picnics for us in Hocking Hills.

We’ve had countless adventures since then, our latest and greatest one being our move to Berlin in 2022, cat in tow. We’re both graphic designers now and love to fill out weeks with group bike rides, dinner parties and sunsets at Tempelhof.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We didn’t originally plan on having two weddings, but one day while biking around I said to Matt, “ugh, I wish we could just bike somewhere and get married” and he said, “well, why can’t we?” And that’s how we came up with the idea of biking from Berlin to Copenhagen with a wedding at the end. We had only visited the city once, but had fallen completely in love with it. There’s a well established cycling route between the two cities and Copenhagen is also notoriously known as the “Vegas of Europe” since its pretty easy to get married there. We loved the idea of spending some really meaningful time together before our wedding, almost like a pre-honeymoon. Except you’re riding 90km a day and battling headwinds. So maybe more like one final test to make sure you’re ready!

We knew it would be too complicated to get all of our friends and family over to Copenhagen, so we also wanted to have a wedding/celebration in the US. I grew up in Northern Michigan, where my dad is from, and it has always held a very special place in my heart, especially with my dad passing in 2018. I had always pictured us getting married in late August, it’s one of the most beautiful times on the lake, the cusp between summer and fall. We knew we wanted to find a place where all of our friends and family could stay together and we didn’t have a huge budget. A while back I had saved Anchor Inn, a 1940s refurbished roadside inn on Lake Michigan. The craziest thing was that when I sent it to my mom she thought she recognized it. Turns out her and my dad had stayed there back in July of 1990. It felt meant to be.

How many guests did you have?

In Copenhagen we only had 10 guests. Our friends from Berlin and my two brothers who live in Frankfurt.

In Michigan we had 30 guests. Just immediate family and close friends.

What was your budget?

Our total budget was $25k and boy, did it go quicker than we thought. Most of it went towards our Michigan wedding. Our biggest priorities were eating amazing food and having amazing photos, so that’s what we splurged on. Everything else was quite scrappy and DIY. Our friend Nicole made all the arrangements and my bouquet using flowers from a local farm. Our friends Josh and Scotty hand poured us candles. My mom and I thrifted most of the decor, flatware and glasses. Matt and I designed and printed our own invitations and wedding favors. Friends and family performed live music after our dinner and we showed a screening of our Copenhagen wedding video on a bedsheet movie screen.

We kept the Copenhagen wedding really true to us and as inexpensive as possible, spending under $3k. Us and our guests took public transportation to the city hall (very fun to see the looks from strangers). After the ceremony, we bought everyone tickets to our favorite museum, Louisiana Museum and went swimming. We ended the night at Åben, a brewery with an affordable set menu, beautiful interior and a DJ. There wasn’t any budget for a second photographer so we bought a bunch of film and handed them out to our guests. It was so cool to see our day through their eyes. This wedding felt like a great example of how you can make your day include whatever you want and at a small price.

Tell us about your outfits.

I found my Michigan wedding dress by complete surprise. As a plus size bride living in Europe, I set my expectations very low. I assumed I would have to order a dress online and call it a day. However on a whim I booked an appointment at Anwe Bridal, a size inclusive bridal shop in Hamburg. The co-owner Anna made me feel so comfortable being that she was a similar size to me and didn’t put any pressure on the day. She ended up pulling a silk Bon Bride gown that I fell in love with immediately. It felt like butter and made me feel so beautiful. It was completely out of my budget, but later I found out that it would be 50% off as part of their sample sale and that felt like the universe telling me to splurge on my dream dress. I ended up pairing it with a Bon Bride overlay that felt so dreamy and romantic.

I had two dresses for Copenhagen. My ceremony dress was very affordable, from A Fashion Brand Company. Jennifer, the owner of Gemme Atelier, did an incredible job altering it closer to my taste. She chopped off about 5in from the bottom and made it feel so fresh and fun for a city civil ceremony. My second dress was made by my very talented friend Cassie. I had sent her some sketches and reference photos and she made the most “me” dress ever for our dinner. It even came with a surprise oversized bridal scrunchy. I wore a simple pair of butter yellow heels from Everlane and paired it with a matching yellow GANNI bag that I found on Vinted. I topped it off with a pair of freshwater pearl earrings as a nod to my birth stone by Danish designer Caroline Ohrt.

Matt’s outfit journey was a lot simpler and cheaper (lol). He found an amazing dress shirt on sale at Samsøe Samsøe, which I added some red stitching to the back of. Got a pair of Dr. Martens that he had been eying. And a pair of black slacks. He looked amazing and totally true to himself.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We wanted to make sure our wedding felt deeply personal and special to us. I was an assistant wedding photographer throughout college and had seen dozens of weddings that felt exactly the same. I wanted to toss all tradition out the window and simply think about what we love to do and what makes us happy. Matt and I love to throw dinner parties together and so, at the end of the day, we wanted it to feel like the best dinner party we had ever thrown.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

With my dad passing, I wanted to make sure to include him and feel his presence on the day. Waking up on my wedding day and getting to watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan, a place that he loved more than anything made me feel so connected to him. Besides that, my mom and I came up with the idea of making his famous granola and leaving a jar of it in everyone’s room. This was our breakfast the morning of the wedding.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Go with your gut! This ended up being huge for us planning two weddings in only nine months. I think this lack of time ended up being a huge blessing because we just didn’t have time to second guess any of our decisions.

And hire a day of planner. I almost didn’t because I’m a type A do-everything—myself type of girl, but it was the best decision ever.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Our photographer Justine Montigny was absolutely amazing. Matt and I both love taking photos, but are a bit camera shy, so we were nervous about finding a photographer. Planning from abroad was tough because we couldn’t meet any of our vendors in person, but we hopped on a video call with Justine and immediately felt at ease. She completely understood our vision and we felt like our values perfectly aligned.

We weren’t planning on having a videographer because it wasn’t in our budget and we didn’t want to feel surrounded by cameras. However, Justine Montigny introduced us to her friend Hailey Jansson who was wanting to break into the wedding industry and was offering to film a wedding for free. We met her and she was also amazing, so we said yes and thank god we did. Hailey shot the most beautiful video, including lots of super 8 footage and it’s something we will cherish forever.

Photographer: Justine Montigny @justinemontigny (Michigan), the couples friends captured the Copenhagen ceremony | Day Of Planning: Lyty Gathers @lytygathers | Floral: Michigan Flower Barn @michiganflowerbarn | Copenhagen Bouquet: Rhod Flowers @rhodflowers | Videographer: Hailey 

Jansson @tinycinemas | Ceremony Location (Copenhagen): Helsingor City Hall | Reception Location (Michigan): Anchor Inn @anchorinn_tc | Hire: TC Tented Events | Wine: Ritual Wine @ritualwinesgr | Catering: Chef Sarah Welch & Cameron Rolka UMBO @umbotraversecity | Ceremony Dress: A Fashion Brand Company Cassie’s Shop @cassies_shop | Reception Dress: Bon Bride from Anwe Bridal @anwebridal | Matt’s Shirt: Samsøe Samsøe @samsoesamsoe| Engagement Ring: Nicole Bean @studio___bean | Wedding Rings: Made by couple at Jose Anglada @_joseanglada | Shoes: Everlane @everlane | Pearl Earrings: Caroline Ohrt @caroh.jewelry