Summit Park Ludington Beach Wedding-Amy and Joe

Summit Park
Ludington, MI

Congratulations to Amy and Joe!! What a cool, cool couple. Wow. This day was so beautiful. Calm waters, all the way around, in Ludington.

Amy and Joe met in college and have actually been together for TWELVE years. Yes, twelve. Joe proposed on a Michigan beach at sunset, just the two of them. They actually live in Westland, but knew they wanted to get married where Joe grew up, with the beautiful water being a part of the big day.

I met Amy at her aunt's house, where she was getting ready. What a gorgeous bride! Her mom actually made her wedding dress, with the lace from her own. Incredible. I do love that dress.  We drove to a nearby beach where Joe and Amy would see each other for the first time. Amy hid in the sand dunes by the water and waited for her groom. Joe was nervous and excited, chatting about his amazing new wife. They were adorable. It was a perfect place to start the day. I loved getting the chance to chat with the bride while we drove through Ludington. The ceremony and reception took place at Summit Park, right on the water. It was a happy surprise to find the driftwood tee-pee below the ceremony spot! We found more on our walk along the water. What an amazing start to their adventure together!

Thank you so much for choosing me to capture your story. I am honored and so glad that I met you two!

I wish you the best of luck! Congrats to Joe, Amy, Drew, and Peyton. That's one happy family. Enjoy the preview:

Bissell Tree House John Ball Zoo-Kara and Coleman

Bissell Tree House
John Ball Zoo
Grand Rapids, MI

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Baar!!! Coleman &  Kara met at a Memorial Day party, which Kara was hosting at her Chicago apartment. They met through mutual friends. His fraternity brother Rich (who was their officiant) is married to Kara's college friend Krysten (who was a bridesmaid). At the time, they were engaged and planning to go watch a band they were considering for their wedding after making an appearance at the party. Coleman went to watch the band and then insisted that the three of them return to the party because he wanted to spend more time with Kara.

They ended up spending the remainder of the weekend together & every weekend after that... Coleman lived in Michigan and Kara was in Chicago,  so they did the long distance thing for about nine months before deciding to buy a home together in Grand Rapids. They spent their first anniversary moving into that first house.

The second anniversary was at Cedar Point and that is where Coleman proposed!!  They planned the wedding day to take place on their third anniversary. Needless to say Memorial Day Weekend is a significant weekend for these two because of all of these important relationship events occurring in May.

Coleman & Kara have a dog named Eileen and a Juliana pig named Ramon! Yep! (Lots of pig jokes at the reception). Ha! They started a small business together and have gone on a few vacations.

Their big day was soooooo fun, laid back, and upbeat!! They really are a cool couple. I had a blast! I was so impressed with the dancing! I mean, Kara and Coleman did an awesome upbeat number, but the guests were doing swing dances and all sorts of other numbers too! Props to everyone on that. It was a great celebration. Thank you so much for choosing me to capture the big day! Enjoy the preview:

CityFlatsHotel-Sarah and Greg

CityFlatsHotel
Grand Rapids MI

Congratulations to Greg and Sarah!! What a beautiful celebration for these two!

The couple met, back in the day, working at TGI Fridays. Sarah was wooed by Greg's tacky excuses to keep talking to her and hanging around her hostess stand. They have been together for five and a half years. Greg proposed on a bitterly cold December night. After strolling through downtown, checking out the new fudge shop that just opened, he brought Sarah to the top of the hill by the skating rink and Christmas trees at Rosa Parks Circle. He bent down on one knee and had a speech prepared just for her.

In case you missed their engagement session, you may view it here: http://lookatthebiggerpicture.com/engagement-session-sarah-and-greg/

The entire wedding day was absolutely stunning. The shots of Greg waiting for Sarah down the aisle are priceless. They were only possible because City Flats allowed me to go anywhere I wished during the ceremony! So nice!! I was so happy that the rain held off for us and we could stroll through downtown and go back to the place where Greg proposed to get some beautiful shots around Rosa Parks Circle. I love the images around the GRAM. We ran into my new friend playing the sax! It was perfect! I met him when I was scouting weeks earlier for Sarah and Greg's big day. Nothing like taking a stroll downtown with sax music playing on your wedding day... Back at the venue, the lighting was really fun to play with all through the dancing. Again, so many favorites and I couldn't post them all. I tried. There is a limit on this thing...

Please enjoy the preview:

Special thanks to all the vendors who were sooooo amazing to work with for this wedding!! Thank you to the wonderful and talented make-up artist, Allison Bowers- www.allisonbower.com,  for being patient and letting me interrupt her a wee bit, Matt from Moments In Time Disc Jockeys- www.mitdj.com, and Morgan and Katrina from City Flats Hotel!! The day went smoothly because of all of these awesome people behind it. I love vendors who are fun to work with and care about the overall day-- Brides, I highly recommend these guys.