Loving Day Detroit 2013 in photos!

Earlier in June, multiracial couples, families, and individuals gathered in Detroit to celebrate Loving Day, the anniversary of the 1967 court decision that found interracial marriage bans to be unconstitutional.

Children played, children’s stories were read, many arts and crafts projects were constructed, photos were taken at a photobooth, and most importantly, stories of couples and families were shared in a dialogue. Click here to read the original LoveintheD post about Loving Day Detroit.

Below are some photos from the event that speak for themselves!

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During the event, one individual spoke about reactions from other people to his being in an interracial relationship – gauged by looks and glances when seen in public together or some individuals “checking it out and then being positive.” Another participant spoke about how being in an interracial relationship and multiracial family has opened her eyes to dynamics of race in today’s society: “It’s also enriching, because I see a whole world that I never knew existed.”

“Raise your children in diverse areas.” One individual at the event spoke about growing up biracial in an area that was not diverse and about the experience of having parents who did not discuss issues of race openly. A woman in an interracial marriage spoke about the dynamics of raising biracial children and never being able to predict when a conversation about race in her family would come up and how to respond to questions. The conversation turned near the end toward school diversity, environments and choices in Detroit for biracial or multiracial children.

Readers: What are your experiences with interracial marriage in Detroit? 

[photography] By Ryan Southen: Lauren & Tyler’s Colony Club wedding

Are you ready for some more Detroit wedding photography? Check out these lovely photographs from Lauren & Tyler’s Colony Club wedding. The Colony Club is located in downtown Detroit and was at one point a women’s club. Sean and I held our wedding reception at this gorgeous venue in 2011. The images are by Ryan Southen Photography.

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 Readers: Which of these photographs is your favorite shot? 

Don’t forget to take two to three minutes to fill out the anonymous LoveintheD reader survey! I would love to hear from you about what you’d like to see more of on the LoveintheD blog. Lastly, please consider following LoveintheD on Twitter here!

LoveintheD reader survey!

So the LoveintheD blog has been up and running for about four months now. I would like to learn more about YOU, the blog readers. Can you take three minutes to fill out this really short survey? By doing so, you will help me understand what it is you are looking for in the blog.

Created using SurveyMonkey.

Thank you for your time! Happy blog reading! Are you following LoveintheD on Twitter yet? If not, click here to start today.

 

Handmade weddings – Interview with Indie Detroit Wedding Ring

In February of this year, not one, but two Detroit area wedding blog/websites launched into the blogosphere! LoveintheD came online as a socially conscious Detroit wedding blog. And Indie Detroit Wedding Ring also launched as an online and event resource for brides and grooms in the Detroit area looking to use locally sourced handmade goods in their weddings!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Angela from Indie Detroit Wedding Ring for coffee. We chatted about our love for weddings, ways to support one another, and, you know, other bloggy stuff!

Check out my interview with Angela below.

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A Fox Wedding

How did the idea of the Indie Detroit Wedding Ring come about?

It all started at a craft show at the Loving Touch. Other vendors at the show asked me how I started to break into the wedding business with my company, Moving Beauty. We realized that while handmade weddings were popular here, it was really hard to find local vendors. Also, vendors had no where to promote themselves to engaged couples other than mainstream wedding sites, which may not be economical for small vendors. Thats when we first had the thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a wedding craft show?!” Shortly after that, Indie Detroit Wedding Ring was formed with two goals, to create an online resource and to host in-person events.

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Indie Detroit Wedding Ring is hosting a showcase on June 28, 7:30 p.m. at FLIP Hair Salon, 251 W. Nine Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI 48220. What should brides or grooms look forward to at the showcase on June 28?

We have hand picked a group of artists to give couples inspiration for their upcoming weddings. The IDWR team will also be on hand to meet soon-to-be brides and grooms and answer questions they might have as well as build the DIY wedding community here in metro Detroit.

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Describe the kind of Detroit bride or groom who chooses to have a handmade/indie wedding.

The ideal IDWR couples are people who want a wedding rooted in the values of handmade goods, whether they make it themselves or purchase from area artists and makers. They want their wedding to be a true reflection of themselves and would rather spend their money on experiences and items to make their wedding more special and authentic, not flashier.

What are your three top reasons why handmade is the way to go for a Detroit wedding?

1. Detroit is filled with artists and makers who want to collaborate with brides and grooms to make their weddings special. Its a great, hard-working community to support.
2. Handmade weddings are a great way to show your individual personalities and your relationship. It’s a lot of fun for your guests to learn more about you as a couple.
3. Planning a handmade wedding means you become part of the DIY community, where you are exposed to so many economical ways to recycle and reuse.

Readers: What handmade elements are you thinking about including in your wedding? 

Giving a great wedding toast: 6 do’s and 6 don’ts

In 2004, I gave the maid of honor toast at my sister’s wedding. I cried and rambled quite a bit. I would like to blame that on being only twenty years old at the time, but I am not sure that blame would be accurately placed…

Over the years, I have heard some great wedding toasts and I have also heard some not-so-great toasts. Below are six DO’s and six DON’Ts from LoveintheD for any of you readers who might be giving a toast at a wedding sometime soon! But first, here’s a photo by Orris Photography of my sister, Josie, giving her matron of honor speech in 2011.

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DO

1. Introduce yourself. Who are you and how do you know the bride/groom?

2. Keep it short. Read your speech to yourself a few times and cut out pieces that distract from your main points.

3. Make your toast personal – share a personal memory of your newly married friend or your first time seeing the couple together, etc.

4. Think about the range of family members and wedding guests present at the reception. After you write the draft of your toast, think: What will grandmother/uncle think?

5. It’s fine to joke around, but please keep it classy and refer to “DOs” #4 and DON’Ts #4,5,6.

6. Be clear when you are ending the toast. “Now let’s all raise a glass…”

DON’T

1. Talk for a long time about just one member of the newly married couple without talking about BOTH individuals and how happy you are about their commitment to one another. The wedding is about both people, not just your friendship with one of them.

2. Make the toast about yourself or use too many inside jokes. Not everyone at the wedding is in the inner circle but everyone is there because they are happy for the couple

3. Give a toast while you’re drunk.

4. Mention any previous significant girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses of either of your newly married friends.

5. Try to make the toast something that doesn’t fit your style. If you don’t normally use a lot of fancy quotes, don’t feel compelled to use a quotation in your speech. If you normally don’t open a speech with a joke, you don’t need to do so at the wedding!

6. Think that the goal of a toast is to embarrass the bride or groom. You are giving a toast, not a roast.

Readers: What do you remember about the best wedding toast you’ve heard? What about the worst wedding toast you’ve heard?

Freedom to Marry – Celebrate Loving Day in Detroit

History was made on June 12, 1967. Can you believe that interracial marriage bans were struck down in the United States only less than fifty years ago?

The Loving v. Virginia decision anniversary is directly relevant to my life for several reasons.

First, my husband Sean and I are in an interracial marriage. The challenges that we have faced as an interracial couple are not anywhere near the institutional barriers that existed during the Lovings’ time. We owe a debt of gratitude to them for their courage.

Second, I worked for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan for a time, and am proud of the work that the ACLU does to defend our constitutional rights and civil liberties. ACLU lawyers Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop represented the Lovings in their court case.

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Richard Loving (who was white) and Mildred Jeter (who was Black and Cherokee) were married in Washington, DC fifty-five years ago today, on June 2, 1958. They actually lived in Virginia, but interracial marriage was illegal in that state along with twenty other states. After returning back to Virginia, the Lovings were arrested, tried in court, and convicted of miscegenation.

They decided to leave the state, so that they would not be sentenced to a one-year jail sentence. They contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, which decided to take on the case. The case wound its way up to the United States Supreme Court. After nine years of a legal battle, the Supreme Court justices unanimously decided in favor of the Lovings! Interracial marriage bans around the country were found unconstitutional.

Chief Justice Earl Warren said in the 1967 opinion:

“Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides within the individual and cannot be infringed on by the State.”

With those words echoing today, decades later, what can we expect or hope to read in the Supreme Court’s upcoming decisions this summer about same-sex marriage?

So how does Michigan fare in the history of interracial marriage laws? Interracial marriage was illegal in Michigan from 1838 to 1883. The Michigan Compiled Laws of 1857 included this language: “No white person shall intermarry with a negro…” In 1883, Michigan was one of 17 states that allowed interracial marriage. [Source]

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On Sunday, June 9, 3 – 6:30 p.m. at the Cass Corridor Neighborhood Development Center, check out the second annual Loving Day : Detroit celebration! Join us for children’s games, story time, discussion, a showing of The Loving Story, and a potluck!

LoveintheD will have a photo and story booth at this annual celebration. Come take some photos and also share your story as a multiracial/ethnic person, couple, or family. Maybe you’ll see your face and story up on LoveintheD in the future! I cannot wait for this photobooth.

Happy anniversary, Richard and Mildred Loving!

Readers: What are your reflections on interracial marriage, multiracial identity, and multiracial families in your own life?

[gifts] Modern housewares — from your Nora wedding registry to your kitchen

Have you done any shopping (window shopping or otherwise) at Nora? Nora is a housewares, home decor, and gift shop on Cass Avenue in Detroit. Among our Lafayette Park neighbors are one of the owners and the manager of this lovely shop, which features Scandinavian housewares, Japanese pottery, and more! I was so excited when Nora launched its wedding registry this spring. If you are engaged, want to have modern, high quality housewares on your wedding registry, Nora is a must-visit.

How will the registry work?

You are encouraged to set up an appointment at the store to select items for your wedding registry. I mean, you want to see these beautiful pieces in person, right? Alternatively, you can set up an online registry. Contact Nora to get the process started. Your guests will be able to make their purchases either in store or online. Gift-wrapping services are available at Nora! You as a couple can either pick up gifts from the store or make arrangements to have them shipped.

What kinds of pieces are available at Nora for a wedding registry?

Nora’s wedding registry items feature three fabulous lines of housewares. Hasami Porcelain, mud australia, and iitala. iitala actually is a combination of the company’s own line and a handselected crew of other Scandinavian brands. If you’re looking for flatware, plateware, glassware, tea sets… you are in luck. Check out the photos below of just some of the items that are available for wedding registries.

First up, mud australiaMy husband and I love tea so let’s start off with this gorgeous tea pot and colorful variety of tea cups.

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Next up is the Hasami Porcelain collection of mug cups, plates, trays, bowls and tea pots. Everything is stackable!

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And last but not least, iitala! The glassware is by Kaj Franck. The vase is by Alvar Aalto. The colored stripe bowls are by Alfredo Häberli. The turquoise, grey and white bowls and plates in the last photo are by Kaj Franck.

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Readers: Which is your favorite piece from Nora’s wedding registry collection?

Vintage bridesmaids looks from the Peacock Room

Did you enjoy the vintage wedding inspired bridal photoshoot last week on LoveintheD? Check out more Peacock Room looks captured by bella moon Photography! These dresses would work wonderfully as bridesmaid dresses for spring or fall weddings. Make-up artistry was provided by Ethereal Beauty.

Marcia (left) and Lauren (right) are both wearing vintage dresses.
Kezia (center) is wearing a new but vintage-inspired dress.

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Okay, okay. These dresses aren’t vintage but I love their simplicity and elegance.

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Consider checking out the Peacock Room’s fascinator collection!

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Readers: Are you thinking about purchasing vintage bridesmaid dresses? Or vintage wedding accessories?

[photography] Michelle & Tony’s downtown engagement photoshoot

Can’t get enough of the Detroit engagement photos? This time, check out Michelle & Tony’s adorable engagement shoot in Hart Plaza and other spots on the Detroit River! Ryan Southen is the talented photographer behind the camera in these shots.

If you missed the LoveintheD post on Ryan’s wedding photography earlier this year, check it out!

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Readers: Which one of the above is your favorite shot?

4 reasons to go vintage … and a bridal photoshoot!

Have you thought about “going vintage” with your wedding? From the decor to the photography and everywhere in between, there are so many options and there is no way I could fit everything about vintage weddings in one blog post. So I’ll focus on vintage wedding gowns!

Why buy a vintage dress?

1. Rachel, owner of the Peacock Room, alerted me to the environmental impact of purchasing new clothing. Did you know that by reusing one pound of clothing, you can save 10,000 pounds of water, a half pound of fertilizers, four ounces of pesticides, and six pounds of carbon emissions? All that water is used  for milling fabric. Gallons and gallons of chemicals are put in into the water supply and those pesticides are, of course, used on crops that are used to create fabric. [Source]

2. Chances are, you probably won’t see your wedding gown on another bride! Why not go for something unique and one-of-a-kind — something vintage? Vintage styles and vintage cuts will make you stand out.

3. Save some money. Buying a vintage wedding gown could save you some serious cash.

4. Quality. Multiple sources indicate that vintage wedding gowns often have high quality construction.

There are several places to find vintage apparel in Detroit, and the Peacock Room is one of them. LoveintheD recently brought some Detroit women of color into the shop to try on some of the vintage and vintage inspired pieces that would be perfect as wedding dresses and accessories. I am excited to share this fabulous vintage wedding inspired bridal photoshoot by bella moon PhotographyEthereal Beauty did an amazing job with the make-up!

Lauren in a vintage dress. What do you think of that lace?

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Lan tried on (and purchased!) this vintage-inspired dress. Also, check out the awesome necklace!

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Okay. I will admit that I was skeptical about this blue vintage dress as a wedding dress but, as Tim Gunn would say, Marcia totally makes it work!

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Lastly,  how amazing is this vintage bridal headpiece?

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Come back next week to check out the vintage bridesmaids looks, also courtesy of the Peacock Room, bella moon Photography, and Ethereal Beauty.