Sam & Dave

I’d had a lot of contact with Samantha (or Sam as she’s known to just about everyone) before the wedding, yet we’d never actually met! I got there early since it was in Adrian and since I’ve been paranoid about all those orange cones all over the state of Michigan, I gave myself plenty of cushion time. Sam is hilarious. Anything and everything the comes into her mind shows up on her face, so watching her navigate the treacherous waters known as getting into your wedding gown were pretty funny. They also had a ham of a flower girl who seemed quite convinced the day was really about her! Dave was pretty laid back, go with the flow kind of guy. I was pleased I could light the gigantic Adrian College Chapel with my lights bounced off the ceiling. It was a dark day with threatening weather with dark approaching quickly and I was able to make the church look just like what your eye was seeing so you wouldn’t miss any of the details. The reception was just down the square at what is probably usually called Adrian College’s student union, but had a fancy, shmancy name instead. Nice DJ, good food, loved the individual cakes at each table and everybody who wanted to got to dance. Sam wanted a sparkler send off, so they left while there were still guests and that effectively ended the celebration. If you'd like to see more fun images from Sam and Dave's Adrian College wedding, please go to my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com.

Sarah & Jeff

Great, fun couple. Full of lots of artistic energy and they made just about all of their own details. Jeff is an artist and had lots of ideas to personalize their entire wedding day. They pretty much kept the traditions they liked, chucked out a bunch and made some new ones up (like break dancing at the wedding reception!). This is the kind of couple that everybody who comes in contact with them feels like they’re one of their close friends after about two minutes! I loved the wooden squirrel cake toppers he made along with fantastic save the date cards (which I posted a few months back) and invitations. Everything about this wedding was theirs alone and I got to cover the wedding along with about a dozen other photographers which made for a very familiar feeling for me. It was just like the good old days of covering presidential candidates for the Associated Press back in New Hampshire. The more the merrier, I always say! Thanks for a great day! If you'd like to see more of my favorite images, please check out my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com.

Bridget & Brian's White House Chapel & Andiamo's Wedding

Both Bridget and Brian share an affinity for details. I've never seen so many useful ziplock baggies with ALL the essentials in it! The White House Wedding Chapel runs a tight ship... you can't come in a second before you're supposed to and you start getting the "you need to leave now" about 5 minutes before you need to. That's fine... they've got a very tight schedule to maintain, just don't tell all your couples, "we're doing this for you because we like you so much". Doing what? Letting us in when the contract says we can be there? Pah-lease! No fake nicities please. Oh, and fix your entire wall of outlets that don't work. You're only two years old and to not be able to plug in supplemental lighting really makes it tough to light the place. Okay, enough moaning. Brian and Bridget were great, the wedding went off without a hitch. We were able to get into Bridget's super secret work place and have a guided armed escort watch us while we took photos underneath the sign where Bridget and Brian met. I can't post any of those photos cause apparently I was privy to a LOT of really cool secret stuff. Personally, I did notice Canadian geese AND some orange construction cones, and since we have lots of those here in Troy, I'm feeling pretty special! Okay, so the reception was at Sterling Heights Andiamo's. Great food, fun crowd. Grandpa paid me a wonderful compliment, slipped me a $20 tip and proceeded to make me his photo slave the rest of the night! Thank God he was just about as cute as the Dickens! Now here's where things got a bit Dicey. My very own "Best Sports Award" of the year goes unquestionably to Bridget. Brian's Swiss German boss decided to integrate his favorite Swiss German tradition into the wedding. Now I've seen this twice before (oddly both this year!) at German weddings and since I lived in the French part of Switzerland, I can assure you they DON'T do this there! Brian pretty much had to go along with all of this since his very cheerful boss has obviously planned this out well in advance. The only hitch is that the log his boss brought along was about four times the diameter I've ever seen before. This was a tree, not a log. Bridget, bless her heart, went along with it forever with a big smile on her face. Both the boss, the groomsmen AND the groom were sweating buckets trying to saw this tree. It symbolized that sometimes couples have to work together in order to reap the rewards of marriage. Yeah, but not for a very stenuous 20 minutes! Bridget kept smiling until she gave one short "oh brother" look. What sports they were! Made the rest of the night go by easy peasy! Kudos for NOT losing it, Bridget and Brian! If you'd like to see more photos from this wedding, check out my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com.

Sarah & Jonathan's Detroit Athletic Club Wedding!

I finally got to meet Sarah a few weeks before the wedding. She's calm, super organized and both she and Jonathan are very musically inclined. They had some fun, interesting photo requests to the day and a full choir serenading them both before and during the ceremony. They are a very calming couple, very precise about what they want, but also very easy going... a rare and nice combo! The Tigers have played a big role in their romance and I was sorrier for them that the Tigers lost the game that day! If you'd like to see more photos from this DAC, or Detroit Athletic Club wedding, click on over to my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com.

John & Christine at St. John's Inn in Plymouth Michigan

Christine and John were loads of fun. Being a Friday wedding with questionable weather, we did as many photos ahead of time (even though they were apart) because I was worried we'd get bombarded by rain if we waited. The guys were hilarious. I haven't shot that many silly, goofy guy photos in a long time. They had lots of ideas and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves shooting those. So much for deer in the headlight looks I often see if we try to get photos beforehand! Turns out the rain backed off after the ceremony, but since we're heading into serious fall, we lost our daylight very quickly, so we didn't spend too much time outdoors after all! If you'd like to see more photos, please check out my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com!

Rob & Monica's Livonia Wedding and Meeting House Reception!

I love the photos taken at Monica's childhood home where the dress is hung up and I was able to put her in the same spot. When we walked back in her doorway, I saw her reflection in this cool antique and somewhat distorted mirror. Rob (or Bob depending on which family member you talked to) was hilarious as was his brother. I loved that all Monica's hard work and planning paid off and that she was able to really get down to the business of enjoying her wedding day. Great families, lots of fun. I've got more photos from their Livonia St. Michael's church wedding and their Meeting House reception in downtown Plymouth, Michigan at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com.