Welcome to LoveintheD! I am thrilled to launch a socially conscious Detroit wedding blog!
Why did I start LoveintheD?
Thanks for asking! I married my husband Sean on October 14, 2011 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church. We celebrated our reception at the gorgeous Colony Club. I enjoyed planning and, of course, had lots of fun on our wedding day! However, mid-way through the planning process, I realized that I wasn’t having much luck on mainstream wedding planning websites finding many vendors based in the city or vendors owned by women of color. I also wished that I had started thinking earlier in the process about making the wedding a socially responsible one.
I looooooved looking at the plethora of wedding blogs already existing in the blogosphere, but became frustrated that hardly any of the wedding blog posts I saw (of course there are exceptions – some blogs do include great Michigan weddings!) were from Michigan, let alone Detroit.
I love Michigan. I love Detroit. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit and have lived in the city for a little over seven years now. Detroit is where I met my husband, have continued to grow as a woman and as an advocate and organizer, and have learned many things about struggle, hope, and love. Sean and I plan to raise our family in Detroit. After we got engaged, there was no question where our wedding should be held. Of course it would be in Detroit!
In the months after the wedding, I had some thoughts about starting a Detroit wedding blog, because I figured: “Well, if no one else has done it yet, I might as well start one!” A year and some change later… here we are!
Photo credit: Orris Photography
What do I mean by “socially conscious” and why is that important?
Social conscience. An attitude of sensitivity toward and sense of responsibility regarding injustice and problems in society. [Source: dictionary.com]
Basically, a socially conscious bride or groom might consider the workers that prepare or serve the reception meal, the effect of various aspects of a wedding on the environment, same-sex couples who may not be able to enjoy the benefits of legal marriage, or small local businesses in the city. Of course, it is probably impossible to be conscious of all these things and pull off a perfect wedding that is 100 percent socially responsible. But one could try, right? Here on the LoveintheD blog, I plan to blog about weddings that include at least a few socially conscious elements.
I decided that if I were to start a Detroit wedding blog, it would have to have some element of social consciousness in order to stay true to my passions.
What will I blog about?
LoveintheD posts will include: real Detroit weddings, local vendors, ways to incorporate Detroit into your wedding, style and music (occasional posts from my husband), Detroit happenings and social justice topics from the frame of “lovin’the D.” This is all new for me, so we’ll see how it goes! I would really appreciate your comments, feedback, and ideas.
Thanks for stopping by! Check out LoveintheD this Thursday for the first Real Weddings post.
What kind of stories, tips, and resources would you most like to see on the LoveintheD blog?
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Stephanie, this is a great idea! Thank you for starting this blog.
Cheers,
teresa
Thank you Teresa!!
welcome to blogging world!!
can’t wait to read your posts!!!
Thanks Twinny!! <3
Awesome idea! Will definitely let all of my friends who are in the wedding planning process know about your blog!
Staci
Oooh! That would be awesome! Thanks Staci! Are any of those friends planning weddings in Detroit? I’m looking for a few currently engaged people to do guest posts.
I wish this would have existed when we were planning our wedding! GREAT idea :O)
Thanks for your support Dessa!! Lovely to have you this weekend
Yay! Congrats on your blaunch! I’m so proud that you made the transition from talking about it to doing it. It’s funny that you mention that there was “no question” where our wedding would be held as this it the first time I’ve ever pondered any other possibility–there was literally no question and we were on the same page. There you go again, teaching me to view the world differently and giving me things to reflect on.
Love you!
Love you!
I love this idea! I’m in the planning process for my wedding right now, and it absolutely is hard to find things. Between being committed to having our wedding in Detroit and working with Detroiters as much as possible, being true to our values, being on a budget, and being a same-sex couple, almost everything that is traditionally and obviously marketed as WEDDING STUFF is out of the question for us. I’m happy that we’ve found some great, less-traditional, solutions, but I will certainly be following your blog and looking out for additional resources!
Thanks Katherine! I definitely had a hard time finding vendors too… and my wish to be thorough in my search process sometimes meant that I would literally meet with 8 potential vendors before deciding! Yikes. I am excited to learn about your less-traditional solutions. I hope that the “real weddings” post coming this Thursday and blog posts to follow can spark some additional ideas for you and your partner!
Great idea, Stephanie! Another element of “socially conscious” you might want to consider is keeping the expenditures on a wedding to a reasonable level in order to maintain (or start!) a couple’s commitment to donating to good causes. In that same vein, I’ve really appreciated invitations I received that requested that folks donate rather than giving a gift. Of course, some couples really need the gifts to set up house–but many already have enough “stuff” and would appreciate donations in their name.
One idea I heard about years after my wedding that I loved was to give seeds or tree seedlings as wedding favors.
Thank you Tova! That’s a great point. I hope to do a blog post on that sometime soon! I have seen the seedlings idea — it’s a great one! There actually are plantable wedding invitations with seeds in them too!
wooo! welcome to the blogging world! *throws confetti*
Thanks Lydia!!!! Not sure how this comment got into the spam box for some reason, but I’m glad I fished it out of there!
Congrats, Steph !
I look forward to checking out your blog, esp as a strong supporter of love and marriage, and a fan of the D. <3
Some resources/stories…
-how to stay warm for a winter Detroit wedding?…
-a lot of coworkers and friends in my hood choose not to get married/have a wedding, partially because they cannot afford it… What to do here?!
-wedding songs/love songs from Detroit musicians
meow
Thank you Amy for your comment and for your love for the D:)
Love your ideas! Thank you and I’ll see what I can do!
Saw the link for this on a friend’s facebook post and had to check it out! Love the idea for the blog & I’m looking forward to “staying tuned”! Congratulations!
Thank you Sara! I welcome any suggestions you might have!
Congratulations Steph! The blog looks great and I’m so proud of you for starting it! I don’t know how you have time to fit in blogging along with saving the world, you are just amazing! I really don’t know how you do everything so well! You are truly an inspiration and I know your blog will be as well. Love you!!
Thank you Melissa! <3
I’m subscribing!
Yayy!!
You did it! And not a single cat reference =) Seriously though, great job! Looking forward to reading and keeping up so that if/when I get married, you can be my socially conscious wedding advisor. Looking forward to more posts!
Thanks! Haha… ooooh I am so down for helping with your future wedding although you’ve got that social consciousness embedded deeply in your brain already!
(meow)
I’m thrilled for you Steph! Taking that awesome intellect, keen sense of detail and socially conscious heart of yours and putting it toward something as joyful as a wedding blog is a wonderfully creative outlet for you and an enlightened approach for brides and grooms planning their special day.
Thank you Becca for all your advice! I am sure I will be coming to you with more questions soon!!! I am excited about this new journey and hope to take your challenge of going deeper on a personal level when appropriate for the blog.
This is a great idea! For our wedding (it was up in Frankfort) it was important to us that it be wheelchair accessible, near the water, zero waste, and we worked with our rabbi to take the opportunity of our wedding to acknowledge that not all couples have the rights we so easily take for granted. We both poured wine from our cups to signify that our cups can’t be totally full until we allow all loving couples the right to marry. It meant a lot to us.
Love your blog! Great idea!
Great site! My husband (Charles Saadiq photographer/owner of Introvert Images) and I went through so much trying to plan our wedding in Detroit a few years ago. And like you, looked endlessly for the right venue. It was originally going to be at the Renaissance Club inside the Ren Cen (its now closed) but there were too many complications. We ended up getting married in Chicago at the Palmer House Hilton, where we fell in love. How can we subscribe to your site? Best wishes!
nevermind…duh! Reading is fundamental LOL.
Love songs can be found in the histories and cultures of most societies, though their ubiquity is a modern phenomenon. A highly controversial and startling explanation of the genesis of love songs can be found in Denis de Rougemont’s “Love in the Western World”. De Rougemont’s thesis is that love songs grew out of the courtly love songs of the troubadours, and that those songs represented a rejection of the historical Christian notion of love. .^’:
Have a good weekend
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