A Laid Back, Blue Lake Celebration: The Real Wedding of Marisa and Alex Potestivo

Photos ByAlasandra Photography

Written By

Allyson Hutchison

Date

April 13, 2025

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When their first date after matching on Hinge felt natural from the beginning, Marisa and Alex knew that they had found the one. They often spent time at Alex's family's lake house on Torch Lake, and they would frequently visit a beach nearby. After they had been setting up for Alex's dad's birthday party at the lake house, Alex suggested he and Marisa go for a drink. On the way home, they stopped at that nearby beach, took a sunset selfie, and walked for a while. That's where Alex got down on one knee and asked Marisa to marry him!

Unlike some brides, Marisa didn't fall in love with the first dress she ever tried on even though she had a clear vision. "My only requirement going into looking at dresses was a form fitting dress and no lace. We went to three different bridal salons, and I didn’t fall in love with any dresses I tried on," Marisa admits. "I randomly went to Norah’s the next week with my mother-in-law, mom and grandma. My dress was the first dress I tried on there and I instantly fell in love!" We are obsessed with the beautiful bow on the back of her gown! We love the way it modernizes this otherwise classically elegant dress.

Since their wedding story started up north in Michigan, Marisa and Alex knew they wanted to host their guests in one of their favorite places. Though they didn't have the clearest picture when they started planning, the happy couple knew they wanted to capture the laid back feel of being up north. Like many couples, they started with finding the right venue. "We had looked at a handful of venues near the Torch Lake area, but none of them gave us the laid back vibe we were looking for," Marisa shares. Alex's mom actually ended up pointing out the venue they chose when they were on their way to another scheduled venue tour, so they decided to check it out and fell in love!

Picking a theme and color scheme was easy for Marisa and Alex. Marisa explains, "Our color palette was light blue, and was inspired by the color of Torch Lake! It only made sense that being on a lake, we do different hues of blue to match!" The venue also had plenty of hydrangeas on site, so Marisa knew she wanted to incorporate those in their florals. They also wanted to create a garden-esque vibe since they'd be having the ceremony and reception outdoors. We think all of their ideas came together to create an absolutely stunning wedding!

What we Love

Alex's family is French, so they offered macarons as their favors to honor his heritage and celebrate their guests that managed to come all the way from France to celebrate. Marisa and Alex also created opportunities for their guests to share their wedding through their eyes. "We had an old VW Photo bus to take pictures in, and guests put one in a photo book for us to look at later. It was so fun looking at all the funny photos the next day! We also had a QR code that guests could upload their own pictures to our shared gallery. We loved looking at the pictures that our guest took from our big day," Marisa gushes.

Advice from the couple

Marisa and Alex advise, "The one piece of advice that we received before our wedding that we now tell all couples getting married is to stay by each other's side the entire night. We stayed by each other’s side the entire night, and it was so special because we have the same memories
from our big day and didn’t have to waste time looking for each other. Another piece of advice is to keep in mind your circle of control. There are so many things on your wedding day that are out of your control, and instead of worrying about those focus on the important things, like marrying your best friend! It rained and was insanely windy the entire day of our wedding. A lot of our decorations couldn’t be set up because of the wind, and instead of stressing about it, we just focused on what we could control...us getting married!"