Soft, colorful portraits and intimate, emotional candids made with care and passion.
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After taking off most of March and April to spend some much-overdue time with my family, Mikaylah and Ian were my first wedding of the busy season, and it could not have been more of a dream! The bow detail on the back of her dress, their adorable chemistry, the idyllic venue, and a million more things—it reminded me all over again why I truly love what I do. It’s gonna be a good year, friends. ♥️
While it’s critical to make sure your wedding photographer can create compelling photos in any light, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be intentional with your lighting choices.
One way to help your photographer, especially during the reception, is to light from within your design, rather than just shining lights onto everything. One delightful way of doing that — lamps! Sophie and Pierce wanted their reception to have the feeling of one of those grand NYC libraries, and the unstoppable team at Ines & Marie did just that with these perfect little dome lamps.
Incorporate more lamps in your wedding, and your photographer will love you forever. 😊
You’d be hard pressed to find someone who appreciates natural light on a wedding day more than me. And yet, every time I work with a couple who leans into a darker, glowy, candlelight aesthetic, I become obsessed with the results. So here’s to a 2024 season full of finding the beauty in all of it.
Featured on
Event planning and design:
Few weddings can really live up to the idea of "attention to every detail" and "no expense spared", but Mark + Krista's opulent yet incredibly inviting wedding did it perfectly. Truly luxurious, whimsical, and spectacular in every way. And if you're going to pull that off anywhere, no better place than Cabo.
So much love for the entire team.
Venue: Las Ventanas Al Paraiso
Planning: Claudia and Pamela of
Rentals
Photography
Flowers
Video
When I ask clients how big their wedding party is, they always get a pained look on their faces when they say "10... on each side 😬". But here's the thing: there is no wrong number! There are no wedding laws, and there is no wrong way to create a wedding party.
You can have 10 bridesmaids, or 5 bridesmen, or 7 groomsfolk, or no one but the two of you. You can have the same number on each side, or totally different numbers. You can have all of your people stand up with you, or you can divvy all of the tasks and responsibilities between all of them.
The point is to surround yourselves with the people you love most in the way that is the most fun and the least stressful. Any other "rule" is made up, and you needn't concern yourself with it. ♥️
Planning:
Regan + Kevin
Everyone has a different relationship with being in front of a camera, but by the end of your wedding day, my goal is for you to feel like you belong there, with more confidence than you realized you had. For some, that can take a little work, and for others, they were born for the spotlight. I'll let you guess which one Amanda is.
Venue:
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” ― Ernest Hemingway
I found this quote fitting for a Hemingway House wedding in Key West... because weddings are about trust. Trusting a team to bring your vision to life. Trusting your photographer to capture your most important moments of the day. Trust is the foundation of every relationship- romantic and otherwise.
Venue:
Wedding days are full of fleeting moments between a couple that most of the guests won't ever see or experience. They're shared between the couple, just as the everyday moments that created their relationship are shared. Trying to capture every one of those during your wedding is a genuine joy and a thrill every time.
Venue:
I always tell couples when I first meet with them that, in a way, my number one priority on their wedding day is actually their experience above all else. A day full of genuine joy has to be your starting point, and then we can take beautiful photos within that. Mary's expressions during her and John's intimate New York City wedding is my current favorite example of exactly why I find it so important.
With Spring being two weeks away, I can’t stop thinking about that moment when suddenly one Michigan day, all the trees are green and the flowers are in bloom, and you forget that winter ever happened. These photos from Azba and Jeff’s July wedding really make me excited for that. 🥰
When your guest list is small enough to all fit at one dining table, you can focus a lot more energy on creating beautiful little details. So much respect for Adria and Bob for creating the intimate, meaningful wedding of their dreams. And a special shout out to for perfectly putting it all together.
There are timeless weddings, and then there is Emily and Tom's summer celebration at Greencrest Manor. With it’s elegant tablescapes accented with golden pears and tapered candles, and the bride styled like a perfect combination of Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly, this one sets the bar high.
This is my new inspiration for couples looking to achieve a classic look. ♥️
Mornings are often a crescendo of chaos for brides, so I try to advocate for some quiet moments where they can finish getting ready in a more peaceful space. It’s ideal when that peaceful space just so happens to be in front of a large, leaded-glass window. ✨
When a photographer as talented as asks you to photograph her wedding, you know you have to bring your A-Game! Fortunately, she and Sean are incredibly warm, kind, beautiful people who held the whole beautiful wedding at their gorgeously renovated , so it was easily one of my favorite weddings of all time.
I didn't know that I needed an all-glass ceremony space filled with light blue and gold chairs, but damn, I do now. 👏
Kudos to our fearless bride, Devin, for having the vision and dedication to curate the perfect wedding.
And endless love and respect to for always flawlessly delivering on your clients' dreams. 🪩
Photography:
Planning, Event design, Floral design:
Lead Planners:
Venue:
Videography:
Chairs:
It’s hard to imagine a wedding being more genuine and joyful than Jeannine and Eric’s Northern Michigan celebration. I mean, their ceremony was in the rolling hills of Northern Michigan, in the backyard of his family's Frank Lloyd Wright home, which doesn't hurt. 🥰
Creative Team:
Event Production & Design: I Photography: | Rentals & Decor: .co | Floral: | Entertainment: | Beauty: | Paper Design: | Wardrobe: | Reception Venue:
Great photos don’t necessarily require a great location. Every photograph is a story of a relationship, whether it’s between two people, a group of people, a person to the space they’re in, etc. And the more clearly you can communicate that relationship, the more successful the image.
So a great photograph of a couple doesn’t have to be taken on a gorgeous beach at sunset. But when the story you’re telling is about the boundless love between two people who are about to embark on the journey of experiencing every overwhelming joy and sorrow together as one for the rest of their lives, the endless expanse of ocean behind them and the last bit of sunlight on their faces not only lends itself to that story, but also reminds them of why they’re doing it in the first place.
All I'm ever looking for are soulmates with effortless style. The past has blessed me with more of them than I could count, including Regan and Kevin, seen here walking back down the aisle with giggly smiles and impeccable fashion.
The season has begun! And this table setting by represents the energy I'm bringing to this year: warmth, balance, joy, and abundance.
I am overwhelmed with excitement to be working with so many incredible couples, and I am forever in awe of the talent of my fellow wedding artists.
Cheers to a thriving wedding season! 🥂
There's this gap between how it feels to experience something in person versus seeing it in a photograph. Sometimes it's an energy of a moment that is tough to visualize, or it's the grandeur and scale of a scene that's tough to grasp, but the the goal I'm constantly obsessing over is how to close that gap, and deliver images that capture the scale, energy, and emotion of a wedding day.
Working in places like Casa de Campo with clients like Ally and John, and the dream team at , certainly makes that job easier. 🥰
For a lot of clients, a destination wedding isn't really possible. But for those who still love the idea, I've been offering a destination engagement session. It's a way to capture some of the beauty of the place you were dreaming of, and an excuse for a pre-wedding getaway. And if you're as posh as Alexa and Michael, you can also rent a midnight green 1962 Porsche 356.
One of the things that takes the longest to really master about wedding photography is understanding the incredible nuance of natural light. Even now I feel like I make a new little revelation each wedding. I love finding little pockets of light, like in this photo where one window is lighting Alexis’ face, one is giving her neckline extra dimension, and the little lamp is adding some extra warmth. It's the best feeling when all those things come together and feel natural and effortless.
The incomparable does it again. The matte black cake she crafted for and is so simple yet truly stunning. It is like the opposite of what I imagine a wedding cake to be, but also just as beautiful.
I often tell couples that if an item at their wedding is worth having, it’s worth making it uniquely theirs. Finding the right vendors that support your vision can make all the difference.
In life, there will always be moments of struggle and pain and fear. But one of the greatest lessons being a wedding photographer has taught me is that the joy and celebration at the other end will always be worth it. I can’t wait to celebrate with you all in 2022. 😊
I like to think I bring “best friend” energy to a wedding. I feel like when I approach every person at the wedding as if we’re already best friends, it helps them feel more comfortable with me, but also with each other. Then by the time we’re taking photos of the bridesmaids, even if they don’t know one another that well, that “best friend” energy has rubbed off on them, making photos look and feel that much more natural.
Whenever people ask why I still shoot film along with digital, (17 years after my first wedding), I consistently struggle to really explain why. "Better colors" and "nostalgic feeling" don't really do it justice.
Then I got my scans back the other day from , and this image of felt like it perfectly embodied why. It's somehow more beautiful, and more imperfect, and more tactile all at once. When film nails it, it really nails it.
Digital photography can still be breathtaking, and it will always be a major part of my work, but once I understood what film could do, I knew it would always be in my bag for the right moments.
This wedding season has been as beautiful as it's been hectic, but with only a few weddings left, I'm so excited to start sharing more of what we've been doing! Starting with one of my favorite flatlays of the year, crafted by . 🥰
Some design choices will never get old, and near the top of that list is large scale floral installations hanging above the dance floor. This piece by Modern Day Events and Greencrest Manor is one of my favorites.
Hazel Park, MI
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| Tuesday | 8am - 8pm |
| Wednesday | 8am - 8pm |
| Thursday | 8am - 8pm |
| Friday | 8am - 8pm |
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After months and years of planning, your wedding photographs are the only thing left after what will feel like the shortest and happiest day of your life. I take tremendous pride in creating those photographs, ensuring that they will forever be timeless, intimate, soft, and beautiful. To learn more about the our approach and wedding photography philosophy, check out our introduction video below! Video credit: Amor In Motion
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