Kristin and Will - Downtown Grand Rapids engagement photos

The day before Kristin and Will’s engagement session was mid sixties and sunny, great photo weather you might think! The day of our shoot comes around and the springtime air was replaced with low forties and enough wind to ruin just about any mood. You would never know it to look at these two. They took the whole thing in stride, laughing through the entire session, and joyfully pointing out every dog we saw along the way (I care deeply about that, Kristin gets me).
We wandered around ta few of the great locations downtown Grand Rapids has to offer, and then finished up with a pint at City Built Brewing. Honestly, it was perfect.

Congratulations Kristin and Will! Your October wedding is going to be magnificent.

Tammy and Paula - South Haven engagement photos

Tammy and Paula are the perfect example of people who are completely complementary to each other. We chose two locations that are special to them in some way, and the rest was just letting them be who they are together. At one point during our shoot, I asked each of them what they loved most about the other person and their answers almost had me in tears. They truly notice and appreciate the little things about each other, and that’s so special to see.

You two are so great together, and I can’t wait for your wedding this summer!

Stephanie and Ryan - Three Rivers engagement photos

Winter is here, and soon the blog will be filling up with snowy engagement sessions. I live for getting to know people while shooting, and I’m so looking forward to the next two months of doing just that!
In the meantime, I want to share with you a throwback to one of my favorite engagement sessions from before I was any good at consistently updating the blog: Stephanie and Ryan.
Stephanie is energetic, adventurous, and sweet. Ryan is equally energetic, thoughtful, and would literally do anything for Stephanie. Oh my goodness, I could tell from the first meeting with them that the attitude of mutual love and respect they had for one another would set them up for so much happiness for years to come.
Their wedding day was no exception. It was full of the sweetest first look, loads of laughter, and even fireworks (Check it out here)
I will forever adore these people.

Melanie and Michael - Kalamazoo engagement photos

I’ve known Mike for almost 10 years now, and when he found Melanie, it became clear there couldn’t possibly be a better match. He’s steady and outgoing, she has an unbelievable energy that can make anyone’s day better. On top of all that, Mel likes puns (winning) and is probably the biggest Disney fan on the face of this earth.
Their wedding will be the party to end all parties, and I’m so stoked to be a part of it!

Natalie and Libby - Kalamazoo Asylum Lake engagement photos

When we first arrived for Natalie and Libby’s engagement session, it didn’t take long to feel like everyone had already been old friends. Asylum Lake preserve holds a lot of memories for these two, and so we hiked around to their favorite spots, probably spending no more than 30 seconds not laughing.
You two are so incredible to spend time with, and your life is only going to get more awesome with one another in it.
I can’t wait for your wedding next year!

Hannah and Zach - Fort Custer engagement

Hannah and Zach moved to Michigan from Colorado, and brought their adventurous nature and love of the outdoors with them. Genuinely wonderful people who enjoy craft beer, snowboarding, and the Denver Broncos (Our Sunday engagement session meant we were all keeping tabs on the score via Zach’s cell phone updates. Zach knows what’s up).
After a week straight of rain, we ended up with the most perfect, sunny golden hour just in time for them to kill their portraits like pros.

We had a fantastic time, and I am wildly thrilled to celebrate their Bell’s Brewery wedding next year!

Montana

If you follow the blog, you'll know David and I don't stay in one place too long. We love Kalamazoo, and call it home, but there's way too much of the world left to see, so every so often we plan an adventure. 
This one had been in the works for over a year, but I had no idea just how special it was going to be. David had lived in Montana for a bit previously, and had been compiling a list of must-see places since we first started dating, knowing someday he would be able to show me around Kalispell and the Glacier National Park area. When wildfires halted our plans last September, we decided to try again for June of 2018. 

It was everything I could have ever hoped. The natural beauty was every photographers dream, but the company was the absolute best. 
We started the trip off with his favorite breakfast spot in Kalispell (Split Rock Cafe) and then toured a few the top breweries (Bonsai Brewing Project was pleasant as heck), and finished up on Flathead Lake, boating with one of David's best big sky buddies. 
 

Day number two held things I didn't see coming from a mile away. 

David took me on a hike to Holland Falls, knowing the entire time I would want to take photos at the top, so we packed a tripod and remote (on top of that, I looked like a hot mess, hiking with a boots/sundress combo that I swapped out for flip flops when the walking was done.... for the photos sake of course). 
We had been planning on shooting frame-able photos at some point this trip, so I thought nothing of his insistence I make absolutely sure to have the wireless remote in the bag.

Once we  fought off the invasive ground squirrels searching for snacks (note that close up shot was not taken with a telephoto lens) we set up the tripod and took a few shots. 

And then he surprised me. 

I had no idea he had been planning the proposal ever since we booked the first trip that got rescheduled, and had kept the ring a complete secret all this time! I've been on cloud nine ever since, this man is my best friend, and my biggest supporter. Life is such an adventure with him, and I can't wait to start the next chapter of it. 

He planned it all perfectly, and even got us THE most beautiful Airbnb in St. Ignatius to spend our first engaged night.

After all that, we spent the next few days camping, hiking, and getting overall publicly unpresentable. One of my favorite hikes from the standpoint of feeling so accomplished when we finished was definitely Iceberg Lake, but there wasn't a single bad day and not one hike I regretted. We spent loads of time outdoors away from cell reception, and it was perfect. 

I have no doubt we will be back to this other-worldly place. Bears and ground squirrels included, there is something special about Montana. 

Abby and Shane - Downtown Kalamazoo engagement

Abby moved to our beloved, but temperamental mitten state from sunny Florida, and it wasn't long before she met and fell in love with Shane. They are both adventurous, love to travel (especially to NY) and complete each other in all the perfect ways. During their engagement session, they let me lead them all over downtown Kalamazoo shooting, and laughing along the way. It's such a thrill to know them, I can already tell that their Skydeck wedding with be the stuff dreams are made of!

Janel and Ben - Grand Rapids adventure engagement

Janel and Ben are with no exaggeration probably the coolest people you will meet. They are artistic, and unique, and very genuine with you right from the first moment. 
I could already tell that their engagement photos were going to be something special, so when Janel suggested touring some of their favorite spots around Grand Rapids, I was so on board!
We started getting some shots in the greenhouse of Horrocks market in Kentwood, then moved over to Vertigo music (where Ben couldn't resist purchasing a record) before finishing up at a personal favorite of mine: Stella's Lounge. If you like whiskey, that is the place for you. 

The locations were amazing, but the people definitely made this session unforgettable. 
 

Tonya and Rick - South Haven engagement

Tonya and Rick are exactly what I'm talking about when I say the best photos happen when two people are just genuinely interacting with each other. There was so much laughter during the entirety of the engagement session, not to mention the way my heart melted every time I saw the way Rick looked at her. These two are very much in love, and I can't wait to photograph their wedding!

 

Molly and Devin - Kalamazoo engagement session

When I first met this couple I could tell they were something special. Molly has such a vibrant energy that compliments Devin's steady personality perfectly. When we were talking engagement photo ideas, they mentioned the restaurant where Devin proposed, and I couldn't have been more thrilled to include the location in their portraits (Also, Principle is flipping fantastic and easily one of my favorite spots in the city). The weather may have been bitterly cold that day but they were both troopers in the outdoors, and you would never know it to look at the photos!

Seeing how easy they were to photograph makes me extra pumped for their wedding in June!

Jyotika and Bhajanpreet

So, I've been going through the photos captured over the past year, and realized just how many of them never got blogged.
Wedding season has me running around quite a bit, and while albums are shared on the Facebook page, and previews put on Instagram, the poor blog doesn't see nearly enough.
That's why this winter I'll be using the opportunity to share some "Throwback Thursday" photo sessions!
Starting off with these two:
Oh my gosh. 
They were all smiles and laughter the whole time we were shooting their engagement session. It was like something out of a fairytale, and I smile every time I see these photos.

Brandon and Kati

Hearing Brandon and Kati's plans for their wedding day next year, I am beyond excited to get to be the one to capture it! They are adding so many personal touches, and really embracing what it means to have their day. It's going to be legendary. 

So glad we were able to get in a fall engagement session while the leaves were still in color!

Kristina and Mike

I adore this couple. 
They are creative, intelligent, and appreciate the finer things in life such as fluffy cats and taco trucks. I am honored to call Kristina one of my closest friends, and I can't describe to you the amount of excitement I felt when I heard Mike was finally going to propose!

He popped the question on the sand dunes of lake Michigan, and there seemed no better place to start their engagement session. Since we're all fans of the craft beer scene in our area, we finished up with brews from Watermark Brewing in St. Joe. Such an amazing day with phenomenal people. 

Congratulations you two, your wedding next year is going to be legendary.