I had to take some time to blog about this beautiful Mackinac Island wedding!  This is the first time that Marie and I had the opportunity to photograph in Mackinac Island.  I did not remember the island at all, I was there when I was young.  I am going to share with you our experience with a Beautiful Mackinac Island Wedding & Do It Yourself Makeup Tips from the bride.

A Weekend at Beautiful Mackinac Island for a Wedding

Intro: A bit about the Bride and Groom

We met on our first day of medical school at CMU College of Medicine. We became close friends but didn’t fall in love until a few years later. Eventually we graduated medical school together and matched into our number one residency spot together at CMU. A few months later we decided to get a puppy together, and when I walked in to the breeder’s house, Craig had flowers and balloons everywhere and there was a collar on our new puppy that said will you marry my dad? I had no idea he was proposing because I was so focused on the puppy that I didn’t see the big sign that said “Will you marry me” in the background and didn’t realize that was why he was down on one knee! It wasn’t until his friends popped out and started taking pictures that I truly realized what happened. It was perfect.

Day 1:  Marie and Jamie’s adventure

We arrived in Mackinac City to catch the Ferry across.  If you are a bride getting married, check into a ferry discount for your guest.  It was a short boat ride to the Island.  We got off the Island and we carried/dragged our luggage and bikes to the Small Point Bed and Breakfast. In this, I learned a lesson, hire one of the folks that have a bike with a safe cart for transporting your luggage.  It will be well worth it!  We arrived at the Small Point Bed and Breakfast, which was lovely.  The hospitality and cooking is wonderful. They are also available to help with any questions or even if you need an umbrella.

We were anxious to bike beautiful Mackinac Island and also to eat.  We went and grabbed a burger at the Pink Pony.  Then we started our tour of Mackinac Island.  We were clueless and ended up on the harder path to find one of the landmarks, the arch. If you cut through the center, it is very hilly and wooded. It normally would be no problem, but after a greasy burger and lack of water, it was a little difficult.

The houses and the landscaping are amazing.  Stunning, eye candy everywhere!  I was in good company because Marie equally appreciates the same things I do!  It was also fun to scoop out some possible photography spots.  Everywhere you look, it is beautiful for a wedding and wedding photos.  After about three to four hours of biking, we went back to the B&B, recharged and then went out to dinner and looked in all the adorable shops.

Day 2: Wedding Day Showtime!

After a lovely B&B breakfast, we headed to the Mission Point Resort.

Craig and Olivia were originally having their wedding and reception at Mission Point Resort, but they were effected by Covid and had to adjust their plan.  They decided to have a small wedding in 2020 and a big party in 2021.  Olivia and Craig and their families are so awesome. Marie and I really did feel a part of the family, their hospitality and friendliness made us feel at home.  Olivia is not only beautiful but extremely bright and talented.  She is a doctor by profession, but also proven this day to be a talented beautician. Because of Covid, her hairstylist and make up artist were not able to be there.  Olivia did it all herself and it was impressive!   We spent quite a bit of time at Mission Point Resort, where we decided to do the first look. I am a big fan of first looks, read about why on my blog post.

After the first look, we went to St. Anne’s Catholic Church by carriage.  It is another beautiful gem of Mackinac Island.  I love that the priest gave them a Bible and also had a fun-loving attitude when one of the nephews went rouge and hid under the alter.  I love small intimate weddings because they are comfortable and often filled with personality and much laughter.

After the ceremony, we started our tour of the island.  The title of this blog is named Beautiful Mackinac Island weddings because I have never been to a place that has beauty on every corner.  The flowers are magnificent. The old architecture and homes are so well kept, surrounded by beautiful Lake Michigan. And NO CARS anywhere.

The Grand Hotel Stables

One perk to it being an off year because of a Covid is the The Grand Hotel Stables were available for a reception.  It is very hard to get reservations at The Grand Hotel. Rumor has it, that it can be two to three years to get a reservation.  So this was very exciting to be here.  To say that it is neat place, would be an understatement!  There are live horses on the premises, running around outside.  There are dozens of old carriages made and built throughout time, adding charm and decor all over the place.  The meal and service was fantastic, everything was perfect, even the temperature!

We enjoyed a carriage ride back to the room after the evening was over.

Day 3:  Departure

Again, we woke up to an amazing breakfast and nice company at the Small Point Bed and Breakfast. He advised us to have an escort to safely carry our equipment back to the ferry. We were able to keep our stuff there until we were ready for departure. We did another bike ride, this time around the island. Of course, we had to grab some Mackinac Fudge on the way out.   After a really tough Covid wedding season, with so much change going on, this was a breathe of fresh air to visit the Island and have an adventure and something fun to do.  We loved being there. I am truly blessed to do what I do and share in these unforgettable moments with people.  Community and fellowship is what life is all about and if 2020 taught us anything, it is that!

Olivia was so kind to share her makeup and makeup tips with us!  Olivia is beautiful without makeup, but her makeup looked professionally done after! It was impressive.

Do It Yourself Makeup Tips

The photos are the collection of our iPhone picture adventure: 

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It was a super rainy day, relentlessly raining!!!  We were fortunate to find a great spot to take pictures indoors.  I was happy that the park had an indoor shelter for the ceremony.  I love this family. They are always so warm and welcoming. It is like hanging out with old friends.   Britney looked stunning in her bridal gown!  Kellen was grinning ear to ear, the whole night, as was Britney. I love all of animated expressions! She makes me smile. Hope to see you again! Best Wishes to many happy years!!!

On a side note, we are very experienced with grand rapids weddings.  There are tons of beautiful options.  This day was a really bad, rainy, dark day, and we were still able to take advantage of the architecture downtown and get some wonderful photos.  We have lived around the area our whole lives, so we are very familiar with how to navigate. I have even had brides have us pick where to go for the whole day!

Strategies on handling a rainy day:

1. Don’t panic, it always works out

2. Be OK with getting your dress a little dirty

3. Have umbrellas for a cute back-up prop, you can always take them back.

4.  Maybe have a white sheet to lay down on the ground under your dress.

5. Hire a experienced photographer that knows how to handle any weather or lighting condition.

Do view our pricing ,click here

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Taylor is so smiley and bubbly. She and her girls were a blast to be around.  It was wonderful that they did a first look, one of my favorite things to do on the wedding day.  Greg was all smiles when he saw  Taylor for the first time. And how about that lipstick on Taylor, gorgeous!   Everything went smooth all day and it was a beautiful night for a wedding.  They ended the night sending off some lanterns.  Best Wishes to you both! Wishing you many more years together!!! xx0x0x0

Railside Golf Club Wedding Review

• Golf courses are always a good choice.  My experience as a wedding photographer is golf courses are always a wonderful choice to get married. The grounds are kept up immaculately.
• Railside has lots of photo locations and opportunities. They had a lot of great variety in walking distance, fields, bridge, barn, flowers, bridges
• White tents. I love white tents, it provides beautiful lighting even in darker situations
• Wedding coordination support. There was staff on-site to help with the wedding
• Overall, I really liked this venue and hope to visit there again!

To learn more about investing in your wedding photography, click here

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Real Flowers vs Fake

1. Real flowers! If you can do it, do it.  Even make your own if you have, too.
2. Fake only option. If fake is your only option, go lighter.  They look more real the lighter they are.
3. Eucalyptus makes everything smell good. Another simple solution is look online and find a retailer that sells eucalyptus and line your tables with them.  It makes the whole venue smell amazing!
4. On a budget and want the real stuff. Baby’s breath is a very simple solution to real flowers that you could put together yourself and not cost you a lot of money

This wedding reception was lavished with real flowers everywhere and it was so impressive and beautiful.

That was one of the many beautiful details at this gorgeous wedding. Spread throughout the whole reception area, big, beautiful boutiques of flowers done by Shelly’s Designs Florist.  And the cheesecakes! Did you know they make cookie dough cheesecake, with a scoop of cookie dough on top of the cheesecake, fantastic!! Okay, so I loved Molly’s details a little, OK, A LOT!  Another totally awesome fyi, is that Charles and Molly’s mothers are best friends.  I have never seen two moms so happy for a wedding, ever!  They were so cute, they kept looking at each other and becoming teary.

Molly and Charles got married at St. Alphonsus Catholic church. This church has so much history in the architecture with the beams and the beautiful windows.  After we headed into downtown Grand Rapids for some pictures in the city.  We were on a bus with this large wedding party and there was never a dull moment!  Of course every one danced the night away. Wishing you many more happy and healthy years together!!!! x0x0x

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I have known Lisa and Jeff, parents of the groom for some time, they were trusting, open-minded people that trusted a girl, young in her 20s to sell their home.  They are so uplifting and kind, and I was thrilled when Erica, the bride, reached out to me to photograph their  wedding.  It is always nice to have referrals from friends and family; really it is the only way that you can be sure you are doing a good job for people.

To me, referrals are one of the kindest acts shown to me with being self-employed, because you then know people care about you, too.  That being said, the day was like hanging out with family, I love all the familiar faces and catching up with them all.  Erica has been the most ambitious bride I have seen yet. She was savvy in her wedding planning. She found a wonderful spot for all the lodging and the wedding and reception to take place, with beautiful views of Lake Michigan.

I also am a big fan of these three things:

1. White tent weddings

2. Weddings and Receptions at the same location

3. And beautiful flowers.

All the above were true of this wedding.  These curly things you see in the wedding flowers….. yeah, those are real. It is called curled ferns. So cool.  Wishing you both many more happy years, I am so excited for the both of you!!! xoxoxo

Do it Yourself Weddings

If your going to do a lot of the wedding details and props yourself make sure you have a good team. The last thing you want to be doing on your wedding day is worrying about every little detail.  Erica was a amazing with the details and had a lot of clever game ideas and props.  She made all the flower boxes herself, too.

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Liz and Matt!  Love these two.  We started the day at the downtown condo.   I loved the exposed brick and built in cabinets, such a cool spot to take pics.  There were lots of laughs and tears, as Liz and her bridesmaids got ready for the day. Next was the ceremony site, St. James Church. The Catholic church had the most beautiful architecture and I love all the doors. It was a lovely place to get married.

We made many stops along the way to in between the ceremony and the reception. This was the first time I took pictures at the Grand Valley State University, downtown location. I loved it there!  We did the normal spots, such as the blue bridge, but never have I navigated up to the top of a building. It was a blast to have so much time with Liz and Matt and to get so many awesome pictures, plus did you see the sky that day?! Just perfect.  They are good company and we had many laughs.  Of course the party was just getting started as we headed over to the reception at Studio D2D  for a bunch of crazy dancing and a lit up dance floor! Wishing you many happy more years Matt and Liz! It was a pleasure. xoxox

What I loved most about this wedding…

Liz and Matt had a lot of time in between the ceremony and reception to take pictures.  We were able to get so much variety and they focused the majority of time on themselves as a couple.  We stopped at the Blue Bridge, GVSU, around Rosa Parks and to the top of a building!

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Grand Rapids Wedding Photographer at Bissell Tree House by West Michigan photographer at John Ball Zoo.

You always can confirm it is a small world, when think you are meeting people that wouldn’t know you or your family since they are not from Grand Rapids, and you start conversation and find out their oldest son was friends with your cousin!   All of this being unknown to any of us at the time.  That being said, the whole day felt like we were among friends.  We had such a wonderful time!!!  In addition, it was the first time I have photographed a wedding at the Bissell Tree House . Of course, this was a lovely location.  We even got to pet a snake and a rabbit!  I am thrilled for this sweet couple.  I especially loved how everyone danced down the aisle for the processional.  Too fun!!
Wishing you the very best! x0x0x. For more information and pricing, check out this link

Grand Rapids Wedding Photographer at Bissell Tree House, some facts about the venue:

1. It is tucked away at the John Ball Zoo.
2. You may see animals
3. Good space in the venue
4. The ceremony site in the back of the venue is narrow and long
5. Something different
6. Overall, I did enjoy photographing at this venue.

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