Millennium Park Wedding - Amanda and Matt

St. Jude / MillenNium Park
Grand Rapids, MI

Congratulations to Amanda and Matt! So much laughter. So much love. So many happy tears and full hearts. All against a background of the beautiful Millennium Park in West Michigan.

Maybe the perfect sunny day was to balance out the not-so-perfect-but-memorable engagement story, which I have permission to get into here ;). Matt planned a weekend trip to Manistee. Friday night , after dinner at a seafood place downtown, Amanda got food poisoning! Incidentally, that's not the first time she had gotten food poisoning with Matt at the most INOPPORTUNE time imaginable.

Matt suggested to take it easy, but they rarely take vacations for pleasure and Amanda knew in her bones that he was going to pop the question, “so nothing was stopping us from having a delightful freaking day”. They had a full day of activities planned: farmer's market, walk the downtown area, lunch, hike along Lake Michigan- the works. She was a trooper. They eventually made it to a trail with a breathtaking view of the lake. Matt made a teary and heart-felt speech and she couldn't say yes fast enough.

Amanda proceeded to shout/blurt out at a passer-by on the trail that they had just gotten engaged. This person happened to be a photographer. They got their photo taken on the spot, but due to reception problems, they have never seen that photo.

That night they had dinner (successfully) and watched the sunset on the beach. The next day, they stopped at a golf course to play a round of 9 and Amanda still proceeded to tell everyone they came in contact with that they were just engaged. They called their loved ones when they got home aaaaaand then waited two years to start planning the wedding.

So funny.
Well, you may never see that photo of the engagement moment, but here is a preview of your beautiful big day, with a few hundred more coming…. ;)

The Cheney Place Wedding- Jesse and Matt

The Cheney Place
Grand Rapids, MI

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Middleton!!! We had so much fun at The Cheney Place, celebrating these two choosing each other for the rest of their lives.

Matt and Jesse have known each other for ten years. They lived on the same floor in college, did the long-distance thing in grad school, and both ended up back in Michigan years later. They reconnected at a Christmas party, and while they had seen each other a few times over the years post-college, this was the catalyst that led to an actual relationship.

Fast forward to July 2021, Matt took Jesse and Stanley to the Indiana Dunes National Park. Packed away in his camelback was the ring and two small champagne bottles. “After a longer-than-anticipated hike, a narrowly avoided snake attack, and climbs over multiple dunes, they made it to the shores of Lake Michigan. While possibly suffering from heat sickness, Jesse agreed to marry Matt.”

The couple recently bought their first home! Their adventures just keep on going-from a ton of vacations to national parks, to traveling all over Michigan, some hot shows and breweries, to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

In case you missed their beautiful snowy engagement session with Stanley, you can check it out here:

https://lookatthebiggerpicture.com/blog/lenderink-tree-farm-session-belmont-michigan

Thank you so much for choosing me to document your story! Best wishes to you in your new adventures! Thank you to Emily Betcher, for second shooting and having fun with us.
Enjoy your preview of the big day…