Katie and Philip had a beautiful, smaller wedding in Rockford (just the right size, in fact, for a perfect reception on the top floor of McFadden’s in downtown Grand Rapids).  We’ll be sharing lots more in a few days, but for now, here are two favorites:

I’m a gift person.  I really get into it.  Whether it’s a Dove bar (or a Chocolove bar, if I’m feeling extra-in-love) snuck into the groceries or a book (the last one I bought her), or flowers, or a grande peppermint mocha on the way home from wherever I’m coming back from, I love getting gifts for Leandra…it’s the most second-nature activity for me to show her how much I really do love her.

Now, I don’t care if it’s not one of the 5 love languages or Dr. Phil-endorsed… Marissa and Jeff’s love language has to be something like laughter.  When we do engagement sessions, the directions we give couples is something along the lines of “sit this way, get comfy, and ignore us.”  When we told this to Marissa and Jeff, it wouldn’t take but a few seconds for Marissa to have both herself and Jeff laughing and smiling.  Combine their infectious smiles with the oh-so-beautiful green-yellow spring leaves and an empty, beautiful beach that had me channeling a park ranger (and Leandra teasing me for it), and you get this:

Leandra’s favorite set.  She’s so good at thinking of little series like this:

You both could get married in a Sam’s Club, and you’d still look good (just don’t blame us for the gallons o’ mustard backgrounds…)

My favorite–I love the simple lines.  You can’t see it here, but about 15 minutes before it set, the sun fell behind distant clouds, and the horizon disappeared. The lake and sky just melted into one simple wash…

…and the only way you could tell the water from the sky was a perfectly-drawn scratch on this end of the beach.

Congrats on your graduation, Marissa!  You both were so easy to photograph and a joy to be around.  We can’t wait for your wedding in September!

Last weekend Grant and I had the pleasure of photographing Jeff and Jill’s wedding. The day began with sheets of rain falling from the sky, but as I stepped into the salon from the rain, Jill greeted me with a big smile on her face. No bad weather was stopping her from enjoying her wedding day! All morning she chatted and laughed with her bridesmaids, complimented the flower girls on their newly curled hair, and excitedly told me about her surprise for Jeff– a Notre Dame ice sculpture at the reception. Both she and Jeff stayed relaxed and content all day, happy to be spending such an important day celebrating with family and friends.

I love this image of Jill just after getting her dress on and smoothed out. Jill, you were a beautiful bride!

Waiting…

Moments before walking down the aisle…

The reception was held at the beautiful Hawk Hollow golf course.

Grant’s favorite:

Jeff and Jill had mini wine bottles from this winery placed at each [adult!] place setting. They used pictures from their engagement session at Notre Dame on the custom labels.

I love this picture from the first dance:

…and the other first dance… (this couple stayed on the dance floor all night long!)

Jeff’s dance with his mom was one of the most fun mother/son dances we’ve ever witnessed– they danced a polka and then invited everyone to join in halfway through the song!

The ice sculpture:

Jeff and Jill, thanks so much for inviting us to spend the day with you, your friends, and family. We truly enjoyed capturing such a fun celebration. Hope you had fun in Vegas!

We so enjoyed our engagement session with Marissa and Jeff at PJ Hoffmaster State Park on Tuesday that we couldn’t wait to share two of our favorite photographs…

We’ll post the rest soon!