The Big Day: Sasha + Corey

Venue: Strongwater Food and Spirits

Music: Donnie Mossman

Dress: Rue de Seine

Suit: River Island

Cake: Kay Eby (bride’s grandma)

Rings: The North Way Studio on Etsy (engagement)

Flowers: Bear Roots

Decor/Tablesetting: Bear Roots/Auburn & Ivory

Ever the popular wedding venue, Strongwater’s industrial vibe has been the backdrop of countless weddings in the past few years.

Within such familiar confines, it can be hard to put a new spin on the space.

We’ve got to give credit to Corey and Sasha, whose photos look like they and their friends moved into the former factory and immediately settled in and made it their own. The casual dress and comfortable chic—accentuated by the bride’s stunning macrame gown— combined with the Big Day’s charming animal skull décor and deep burgundy tones made for a personable and memorable ceremony. Cheers to keeping casual style in your Big Day. •

Give us a range of your budget. Did you go over? Or stay under? I didn’t have a strict budget, but I wanted to try to keep things under $15,000. We ended up going over—mostly attributed to our bar bill.

What do you wish you had spent more money on? I do wish we’d had a live band. Our DJ was phenomenal, and I didn’t miss live music in the moment, but looking back, I think it would’ve made the night even more fun to have grooved to some live funk music.

Was there anything that you wanted to avoid when you envisioned your wedding? I wanted to avoid the wedding feeling impersonal. It was very important to both of us that our ceremony be a reflection of the things we love and our love for each other and our guests. Our ceremony program book featured a drawing of Corey and me getting married done by my little brother when he was five (he was 11 at the time of the wedding). A friend, Jessie Remnant, played the ceremony processional song, and we had friends read a favorite poem and officiate. In the end, we felt like the day successfully conveyed what matters most to us—each other and the people who we are lucky enough to have in our lives.

Where did you honeymoon? We did a honeymoon before the wedding due to our work schedules. We spent a week in Seattle exploring and went whale watching on Orcas Island off the Washington coast. Seeing orcas in nature has always been a bucket list item for me, so it was magical.

What’s one thing that made your Big Day unique? Because our wedding was on Halloween weekend, we played that up and had a tarot card reader. Guests had fun stepping into her private tent for readings.

Tell us the story of how you got engaged/the proposal.  By the time we got engaged, we had been dating for five years and talked openly about when we would get married. I had shown Corey (my husband) a ring with a large central geode surrounded by opals that he could buy online to propose with, and when I was unexpectedly home from work one day, a package was delivered that was clearly from that website. I knew immediately what it was, but didn’t tell him that I’d seen it. A couple weeks later, he proposed in the Whetstone Park of Roses with our friends hiding in the bushes taking photos. Even though I’d seen the ring, the proposal was still unexpected and special. •

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