Wedding Photographers Lansing / Shinola Detroit

Ugh, Emily and Matthew. Ugh, the Shinola Hotel. UGH, bucket works florals. UUUUGHHHHH Vine Event Planning! I love Detroit weddings. Literally, I don’t know how I got so lucky. The vendor team was incredible, the venue was stunning and the couple was a dream. They just wanted me to do my thing all day, that’s all I need. And, honestly, to be a Lansing wedding photographer asked to travel with a couple to a city like Detroit, saturated with wonderful, talented photographers— I mean, Emily has fantastic taste. She could have chosen anyone! How honored I am! So over the moon that I was the one who got to be at their side on this day. Nothing beats that feeling. I’m one of the luckiest wedding photographers in lansing. maybe the world. 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! As Emily tried to keep herself cool in the bathroom while she did 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. Wedding days can totally be the best day of your life, but they can also be incredibly stressful, rigid, not what you expected or anticipated. Chelsae (my bomb second shooter, view her work here) and I were ready pivot, ready to handle whatever– 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.

Emily and Matthew’s main priority was to have fun. They were profoundly stressed during the planning process and sooo nervous 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 not only poured so much into but had been looking forward to for their entire lives! 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 is crazy. It’s bullshit. Your wedding day should first and foremost be FUN. and it should be created based on what YOU want. These two didn’t have any dancing, for example. 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! They also completely skipped posed family portraits, and encouraged me to instead get ample candids of everyone there having fun, enjoying themselves and being together. In their words “that’s 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.