funny story. after shooting joe + julie’s engagement session, we really wanted to go out to eat with joe and julie, but decided we really needed to get back home to spend some time with the kids. until we changed our minds! so mindy picks up the phone to give them a call to say, “hey, let’s eat!” but then we hung up before it rang. we really needed to get home. until we changed our minds. mindy grabbed her phone ready to make the call. then we changed our minds. and we decided to go home. responsibility won! ugh.

sometimes we just want to have fun!! and bottom line, an evening with joe and julie is a ton of fun!!

now here’s a few of our faves…and we’re not gonna lie they are big time faves…this is one crazy beautiful couple don’t you think?!! [jaw drops].

jason and kayla have a strong connection with grace adventures camp.
mindy and i love grace adventures.

jason and kayla are both very active in youth ministry.
ben’s undergrad was in youth ministry and actually interned as a youth pastor up in cadillac michigan.
and mindy’s a big kid

the list could go on on how many things we have in common with jason and kayla. so naturally, we’re pretty darn excited to be shooting their wedding this august.

and speaking of excited…we were also pretty excited to get our colored doors outside for some field/tree shots. i mean, what else says “the great outdoors” like a bunch of vintage colored doors (that we now have behind our newish 1970’s green velvet couch in our living room, btw). character. color. bold. yet natural. sounds a whole lot like jason and kayla to me

so you two, we can’t wait for your wedding!!! now here’s a handful of our faves from your session.

it’s 90 degrees today. what i wouldn’t give to go back a few weeks to this breezy spring day! it kind of makes me chuckle a bit thinking back to it…. “hold on, wait till the wind stops….hold…hold…shoot, shoot, shoot [fix your hair] and shoot.” there’s pretty much only two times we love on our rapid fires. during the wedding kiss. and in between gusts on windy days.

now i have to give a little shout out to nick the rebel. that’s right…the rebel for our engagement sessions, we typically encourage the couples to avoid too much white in their shirts. it helps us expose their faces like we want without blowing out their shirt. well…nick brought it and we said we’d give it whirl. and then he busted out the cool purple tie… nick, your stylish rebellion totally ended up making some of my favorite pictures from your whole session. kudos to you. kudos to you.

and can i tell you how much we love meeting the couple that wants us to take risks and try new things. we typically have a handful of shots we’re wanting to try but we have to wait for the right couple. see for instance…the retro gas station below. i don’t know how many times we’ve driven by it thinking, ooh…that would be fun to shoot. but we never did. until nick and laura who rocked it out. booyah for sure.

nick and laura are getting married on september 4th up in cadillac, michigan. and i have a hunch that with these two calling the shots, we’re in for a stylish, cool and crazy party. we honestly can’t wait!!

first bowling alley session ever!! and isaac + renee were the perfect couple to pull it off!

there’s a crazy long story behind how lucky we are to be able to shoot isaac + renee’s wedding on july 31. that date was without a doubt the wackiest date for booking weddings for sure but the saga had the best ending possible with isaac + renee.

and so it comes to our first time meeting at the studio. renee walks in. we all hug. very nice. then isaac walks in, looks at mindy and says “i know you.” to which mindy replies, “i know you too.” and so goes the next 30 minutes. did you go to this school? do i know you from church? yada yada yada. we finally figure out that isaac lived by mindy’s aunt while mindy was living there for a bit. crazy.

traipsed all over for this shoot…then ended up at what we think is pretty much the coolest, most retro bowling alley around GR. with the coolest, hippest couple to boot.

so here’s a few of our faves…

anyone in GR remembers the weather last weekend. the winds were blowing 30-40 mph. and it was freezing. seriously -what the heck was that all about? so we call phillip and karen with our best “we’re not sure this is the best day for your shoot” speech. but after chatting for a bit, we decided to give it a whirl anyway…and we’re so glad we did!! it didn’t take too long for them to just get numb from the cold wind, and then it wasn’t so bad

but seriously… it was like the red sea just parted. the winds stopped (well, sometimes) and we were even able to shoot at the carnival that was in town — something we had been DYING to do!! friday turned out to be the perfect evening for a shoot.

so let us introduce you to phillip and karen. phillip is studying literature at michigan state. and karen is wrapping up law school this week (i think). yeah, that’s right. they’re smart!!!! and cool. and classy. but i’m not gonna lie, they’re good at getting goofy too so their engagement session turned out to be a great night of hanging with fun new friends. and oh yeah…we took pictures too! here’s some of our faves…

oh..and p.s. these two know how to kiss too. wow!! you should have seen them in that red spinning thing at the carnival. just sayin.

MIKE + EMILY

it’s crazy fun meeting brides and grooms for the first time. especially when it’s at an engagement session. “hello, nice to meet you. now, don’t mind these two camera lenses that we’re sticking in your face.” such was the case a weekish ago at mike and emily’s shoot.

oh…quick sidebar or ADD moment here…this is one reason why we’re HUGE fans of engagement sessions!! it’s so much better getting used to the lens in the face thing in a casual ‘let’s have fun and take some pics’ environment . this way, you’re seasoned professionals by your wedding day and we can skip past any camera shyness and jump straight to the relationships and fun!!

anyhoo…mike and emily basically rocked. literally. their outfits? perfect. style? impeccable. friends? instantly.

we had a bunch of locations picked out for their session, but when we learned that mike works in realty and LOVES “blown out old buildings,” we knew that we could get aggressive with their locations. and that we did. then, for icing on the cake, mike tells us that he will be our personal guide to amazing locations throughout the detroit area. yes please!! meanwhile, we learn that emily is teacher which sends us down memory lane since mindy was a teacher for 6 years. needless to say, there were not many quiet moments in the car. for sure.

mike. emily. we are insanely excited to shoot your wedding. we’re a bit giddy about your gallery and hope you love them like we do here’s a few that we’ve been dying to share….

we’re beginning to think that grand rapids is our second home and that we really live in chicago…. at a variety of hotels and friend’s houses. scott + brittany are one of our fabulous chicago couples this year and probably the most adventurous duo we have ever met. get this… for their “honeymoon”, they are literally hopping on their boat to sail around the world…….yup, you heard me. they’re sailing around the world!! actually, the goal is not necessarily to make it around the world, but to find places that intrigue them enough to land and stay for a week…month…whatever. how exciting to start your marriage on such a spectacular journey!! we can’t wait to see the pictures you take and the places you discover.

our incredible friends kyle + julie introduced us to scott + brittany and we are so thrilled that they did. they are not only fantastically adventurous, but also fun-loving, kind, and crazy cool. we already love them and are SO excited for their wedding celebration! we shot their engagement session in chicago and started at the boat yard where they keep their boat and then headed out to a few more locations near bridgeport. the textures and colors in the boat yard were magnificent, but it was really the models and their sheer hotness that made these pictures so fabulous. ……… ENJOY!

ok. i’m gonna say it like it is… andy and stacie are just about the nicest people we know. and they’re so much fun. i kinda want to be like them. there i said it

we first met them on the way back from our family vacation in florida last november. we literally got off the plane and drove straight to our favorite starbucks in chicago’s west loop…kids and all! we hooked up our kiddos with crayons, paper, toys and starbucks snacks and tucked them in the corner. “now, we need you to be REALLY quiet while mom and dad meet with mr. andy and miss stacie!” and boy were they ever troopers!! once we met andy and stacie, we wanted to hang all night.

fast forward to andy and stacie’s engagement session last week. we’re meeting in the same starbucks and it’s totally raining outside. andy has to catch a plane in a couple hours and we’re checking the radar on our iphones. and then it stopped raining! perfect timing! and as always, i’m quite sure our time together couldn’t have been any more fun.

andy and stacie… we can’t even tell you how excited we are to shoot your wedding in may! can you believe it’s just a monthish away?!! thanks for being amazing in every way and for being great friends. we’ll see you in a handful of weeks!!

now…some of our faves…

these two are just amazing and fun and sassy and altogether wonderful. ben and josh have way too many interests in common and well…. so do nicole and i. these two also both manage buckle stores which is one of my favorite clothing stores! we asked them to meet us in grand haven to shoot at a random cool spot we found at one of our weddings last august and of course, they were up for anything. we always have so much fun with josh + nicole whenever we hang out! thanks for letting us traipse all over with you! we can’t wait to shoot your wedding….. you two are fabulous!!!

we first met the wonderful ankush + amrita late at night in a diner/coffeehouse in downtown chicago. we sat and talked for awhile over a super yummy dessert and we felt very connected to them both from the start. when we came back to the windy city to shoot their engagement session, we were so excited to see them again and also to shoot at one of our favorite new locations. they had already told us that they wanted artistic and out of the box pictures…. sweet music to our ears! what a fabulous day we had with ankush + amrita and isn’t she just STUNNING!!! so beautiful!!! we cannot wait to shoot your wedding in chicago and are honored you chose us to be part of your day! and now for some ben + mindy faves…… we LOVED this session so much and of course our sweet bride and groom! alrighty………. ENJOY!!!!