Grand Rapids Wedding Inspiration at New Hotel Mertens

Today I am sharing with you an incredibly unique styled shoot put together with a team of AMAZING vendors at the most unique wedding venue in Grand Rapids: New Hotel Mertens. You might have seen this published last year on Wedding Chicks. If you missed their post, see it here.

Getting around to blogging this styled shoot from last winter gave me all the feels. Together, we created inspiration for the bride looking for something out of the “norm”. We call this “The Modern French Palatial” wedding inspiration.

The inspiration from this styled wedding comes from the historic venue itself. After walking into New Hotel Mertens and hearing about the history of the building, our modern french palatial wedding started falling together with ease. New Hotel Mertens was opened up to the public as a hotel in 1914 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After more than 100 years the building has kept many of the hotels original features. The original tile floor is to die for and it naturally became a large inspiration. With the venue itself being so rich in history and having so many unique and beautiful aspects; myself (the photographer), Joan (the florist of Merci Beaucoup), and Holly (vintage dish rentals of Gigi & LeClede) moved forward with a simple design; from the brides dress, to the minimal table designs, allowing the space to speak for itself. The greens and mustard yellows are a unique combination especially in today’s wedding industry. We jumped at the opportunity to deliver something different; and we couldn’t be more pleased with the way it all came together.

We invited in wedding guests to enjoy a delicious meal to create the feeling of community in a space of rich history. We ended the meal with a delicious croquembouche as a nontraditional wedding cake. Not only does New Hotel Mertens have an event space, restaurant, cafe/bakery, but they also have a rooftop view of the city.

The bride rocked three different bridal looks with a Casablanca Bridal lace gown, then added a long bridal jacket (yes it was amazing!), and she ended with a fun tea length cocktail dress.

The bouquets were put together with Spring blooms by the AMAZING Merci Beaucoup; some being white lilacs and Fritillaria.

I feel like I could go on and on about all of the details; but I hope you are able to dive in deep from seeing the images yourself.

Lastly, I would just like to say THANK YOU to all of the amazing models that came together to create the largest styled shoot I’ve ever been a part of. It couldn’t have been done without them (big shout out to the ladies at Renee Austin for being bridesmaids on top of picking out dresses). It was such a joy and I have created friendships with so many of these people I met through this experience and I am so thankful for that.

If you haven’t found all of your vendors for your wedding yet; RUN to these incredible vendors:

Photography: Alyssa from Mae Photo Co.

Floral Design: Joan from Merci Beaucoup Floral

Vintage Dish rentals: Holly from Gigi & LaClede

Venue, food, dessert: New Hotel Mertens

Bride’s dresses, bridesmaid’s dresses, brides earrings, veil, brides shoes, brides hair combs, bridal jacket: Renee Austin (bridal shop)

Linens: Special Occasions West

Makeup: Annie Keith

Hair: Lauren Deboer and Lyndsey Huver from Heidi Christine’s Salon

Calligraphy, Invites, menu, name cards: Eliza of Eliza Ann Designs