Documentary Wedding Photographers / Lansing to Detroit!

Listen, I love Lansing and I know how to make magic in our city. But, when given the opportunity to work somewhere else, I’m excited to explore what each new place is about. I love to travel with a couple to a historic spot like Detroit, the experience is always something special. The city is so full of life. There’s a sense of small town community that you typically don’t feel in a big city.

Ugh, Emily and Matthew. The Shinola Hotel. Bucket Works Florals. Vine Event Planning! What an incredible team that came together with the same shared goal.

Chelsae agreed to assist as my second Documentary Wedding Photographers perspective on this gorgeous day and we had a beautiful, peaceful drive to the Shinola Hotel in Detroit, where we arrived and found the hottest room on the hottest day with 10000% humidity and a broken thermostat! Quite stunning aesthetically, but still, the bride was melting.

As Emily tried to keep herself cool in the bathroom while doing her makeup, her parents decided they’d switch rooms to keep her comfortable. this set the day off on a really sweet foot, for me. I was quickly able to see the gift of we had in front of us.

At the core of weddings, that’s what it’s all about. Community, sacrifice, love. Not thinking twice to make this couples day better, more comfortable, less stressful. A beautiful gesture.
This day can totally be the best day of your life, but it can also be incredibly stressful, rigid, not what you expected or anticipated. Prepared to pivot, I was willing and ready to handle whatever came up, which is a big plus why I think Documentary Wedding Photographers are the best choice for your wedding– but for the family to transmute that stress without needing to be asked… that anticipation and attunement was exactly the energy I love to work with. That’s my approach, too. Anticipate, attune to what I can. Serve well above all. That energy surrounded me all day.

Emily and Matthew’s main priority was to have fun. For them, the planning process was so profoundly stressful, they ended up being almost overtaken by the anxiety and fear that they’d spend the entire day just adding more stress and being stretched thinner and thinner, unable to enjoy this day that they had poured so much into and looked forward to for so long. I agreed with them wholeheartedly: your wedding day shouldn’t suck.

Sometimes I look at how we used to do weddings and I’m like “wow, this seems like it’s awful for ONLY the couple getting married. Kinda awesome for everyone else” This idea is crazy. It’s bullshit. and I think it’s weird that we’ve only just started to question it. Your wedding day should first and foremost be FUN. And it should be created based on what YOU want. For example, these two didn’t have a dj for a dance party, but instead wanted him to play their favorite chill songs while they enjoyed dinner, drinks and mingling. They’re not big dancers at events and pretty much none of their guests get down like that on the dance floor, so! Skip it! Also, we decided to completely skipped posed family portraits, instead we focused on ample candids of everyone in attendance laughing, eating, enjoying themselves and being together. Despite the stress, the bride and groom were able to keep their intentions straight. Their words “the people there are all we care about, anyway”

Dude. That’s what I’m talking about. If you find yourself searching through Lansing or Detroit wedding photographers, looking for the perfect fit– a photographer who wants to document the day as is, direct it when the moment calls for it (like during newlywed portraits or family portraits), who insists that the day should revolve around you and that the timeline TRULY can wait, if you want it to, send me an email. I’d love to talk more about documenting your wedding. Contact me here :-)