Shannon & Jesse ~ The Henry Ford Estate Wedding Photos

With Michigan roads being what they are, I arrived early at Shannon’s Northville home a wee bit, lotta bit early and was able to watch all the comings and goings of the day.... all the bridesmaids coming, the mailbox going (as the limo ran it over!). My favorite part of the day is just seeing that transformation of the bride from regular chick (with spectacular hair!) to the fairy tale bride. It was a great way to get to know Shannon’s family a bit before heading off the watch the guys getting ready. Now there was an entirely unfamiliar scene at the hotel with the guys. They were taking turns ironing, yes, ironing their handkerchiefs when I got there. It was so methodical and surreal to watch all these grown men being so meticulous! Needless to say, we got some fun photos before I made my third stop to the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn, Michigan. This again is one of my favorite places to shoot. It’s a lot of schlepping for me, but I love the surroundings, the old building and like Addison Oaks, the Henry Ford Estate also has a great, attentive staff. They’re always hustling around, yet invisible at the same time. Very attentive and intuitive. The place is gorgeous and again we had fabulous weather and were able to take some great shots before the ceremony. Jesse’s grandfather is German, so they did the traditional log cutting ceremony after their kiss. It’s supposed to signify their ability to do a difficult task together as husband and wife. I’ve only seen this done once before (and they cheated a bit with something that more closely resembled a twig!). Lots of fun to watch and photograph. My slideshow was playing in the room between the dinner and the dancing. All 140 guests stopped into that room to watch the show. Great reactions from everybody... so much so that my night ended with the maid of honor chasing me out the door to see if I had her date available! Jesse and Shannon danced perhaps the most memorable first dance ever... a finely choreographed disco number that had everybody on their feet. Great fun! If you’d like to see more photos from this Henry Ford Estates wedding, please check my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com! I would be remiss if I didn't mention Shannon's florist, Carol Fitzpatrick from Happiness Is... The Little Flower Shop in Farmington Hills, MI. Shannon wanted to create bouquets featuring Michigan flowers and Carol created stunning, colorful, one of a kind bouquets. Shannon's alone had something like 23 different flowers native to Michigan. Unbelievable flowers!

Jennifer & Rick Get Hitched at Addison Oaks

Yay! Finally a wedding day where all the weather Gods didn’t feel like antagonizing the bride and groom! Great weather for my wedding at Addison Oaks (located north of Rochester, Michigan in a town called Leonard, which I’m pretty sure no one’s ever heard of!). At Jen & Rick’s request, I got a few of the photos out of the way beforehand. I don’t usually like to do too many of these because it usually adds to the pre wedding jitters trying not to run into each other, but both Jen & Rick weren’t terribly nervous about that and I only got a few images where you could see the countdown (“I’m getting married in 45 minutes!”) going on in Jen’s face. I figure those will be fun to spot later on and we had great light to work with and Jen was wonderful about plopping on down on the freshly cut lawn BEFORE her wedding! Great group of family and friends... we got a lot of teasing going on. I also got to work at one of my personal favorite locations and with my favorite dj, Dan Nichols (michigan-wedding-dj.com) who just so happens to be a fellow Michigan grad with a BGS. I always know the party is in good hands. He’s perceptive and he really gets the party going strong. It’s sort of magic, but it works every time! Thanks for throwing a great party and thanks for the great weather!!!! If you'd like to see more photos from Jen & Rick's Addison Oaks wedding, please check out my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.com. Thanks!

Rachel & Andrew’s Cherry Creek Wedding in Shelby Township, Michigan

"Just a minute, folks... I'm not quite done yet!"

Sometimes, both the bride and the groom are pretty darn playful!

And sometimes the groom is just plain silly!

I really do hate to sound like I’m cutting and pasting my wedding blogs, but really.... what is up with this weather!!! Each and every Saturday is moody, broody and would give most couples the willies! With thunderstorms predicted and downright gruesome clouds moving in half an hour before the ceremony (I know... this all sounds hauntingly familiar!), neither Rachel nor Andrew gave the thunderclouds more than a cursory “gee... I hope it doesn’t rain” sort of off hand remark! Ten whopping raindrops later, it blew over, the sun came out for the entire ceremony and as soon as we started taking group shots, in rolled more gruesomeness (nothing like making a group hustle like an imminent downpour!). Again, those blew away and we were left with gorgeous, puffy and cool clouds for an awesome portrait! Andrew is SUCH a ham, so ridiculously silly (as were all of his groomsmen... go figure!), I’m sure all his high school students love him! Rachel was very glamorous and once she got into it... loved playing to the camera and the camera sure loved her right back! We moved into Cherry Creek’s banquet hall which is a beautiful venue in all seasons and easy to photograph to make it look as gorgeous as it is. My only beef (and lack, thereof!) with Cherry Creek is that they treat their vendors very, very shabbily. They insist couples buy us dinner and then give us what ever is left over (always seems to be chicken stuffed with the mushrooms  that I’m allergic to... and never the mushroom free beef!) and always serve us last (which is tough when your food arrives just as the bride and groom are ready to rock and roll!). The management acts like we’re totally in their way and putting them out. Most often halls know we’re all a team with the same goal... making the day 100% smooth and fabulous for our bride and groom! I suppose it really doesn’t matter how they treat us as long as the bride and groom are treated perfectly. Then it doesn’t matter. I just know when I pull up to Cherry Creek that I’ll be pulled six ways to Sunday by the staff and treated like a third class citizen.  I’m hoping all of this never, ever rubbed off on the bride and groom and I don’t think it did... they seemed to be having a GREAT time! If you'd like to see more photos from this wedding, check out my other blog at www.themichiganweddingphotographer.blogspot.com.