Southeast Michigan wedding photography at the St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lake Orion and Great Oaks Country Club provided by Kellie Saunders photography team. A long time ago in a land (not so far away), back in 2008 Allie met Mike while attending Central Michigan University. They quickly fell in long and fast forward six years to 2014, and Mike was proposing to Allie on the bridge over the paint creek trail in downtown Rochester, where the pair grew up. Fast forward two more years, and I was meeting Allie on her wedding day at the Royal Park Hotel. Outside her window was the very spot Mike proposed. That kind of gets me feeling all sentimental and emotional. I'm just that kind of girl I suppose.  Allie was all smiles all day long on her wedding day. From the moment I knocked on the door, she was relaxed and ready to see her groom. She might have been nervous, but I couldn't tell and I can usually sniff out nerves from miles away. Her mom and bridesmaids helped her into her gown (stunning by the way), and soon she was on her way to St. Josephs where they would have a traditional Catholic mass. St. Josephs is one of the prettiest catholic churches in the area. It's really beautiful and jaw dropping to be honest. Had I known about this parish when I was married I might have put in on my short list. That's how much I loved it! When Allie made her entrance into the sanctuary there wasn't many dry eyes, and Mike gave me one of the photos I love capturing. I never can ask for this image - but when it happens it's so beautiful! Look below, you will see what I'm writing about. That is one of my all time favorite images. Mike is one of the friendliest, fun and in LOVE grooms I've ever worked with. He is absolutely one hundred percent in love with Allie and he didn't need or want to hide that on his wedding day. That's all a photographer needs to know and the rest is magic. After the ceremony we headed back to the very spot where Mike proposed by the Royal Park Hotel in Downtown Rochester for their bridal portraits. The entire bridal party was a blast to work with and they all did a great job! One of the things I ask my couples when I meet them is if they've been in a wedding before. Nine times out of ten they have, and then I follow up with asking them how their experiences have been with other wedding photographers. I really listen to the feedback and learn from it. One of the things I've heard over the years the most is that when photographers are posing bridal parties, the bridal party feels lost. They feel unguided and don't know what to do or how to stand so it's the most flattering for their body type. I really try to take my time with my bridal parties (given I have a little extra time that is) to talk to them about posture and how to position their body in front of a camera so they look their absolute best. Even though yes, the pictures are for my brides and grooms, I still want the bridal party to have a good experience and love how they look as well. Once the portraits finished we were on our way to Great Oaks for a fun night of good food, live music, lively dancing and laughter! Of course we started the night with a ride on a golf cart and took some fantastic images on the course. Thanks to Great Oaks for letting their couples out on the course for photos. Not every golf club let's you do this, so kudos to their venue! Also their staff was lovely and attentive to Allie and Mike's family and friends. What a wonderful night that was had by all! Congrats - Allie and Mike!!! Hope you love your preview!

Metro Detroit Michigan wedding photography provided by Kellie Saunders and her team of creative wedding photographers in Southeast Michigan. Alisia and Matt had the most beautiful traditional Catholic wedding! We started the day at Alisia's parents house in Livonia. The house was filled with smiles, laughter and love. Alisia's dad, with his thick Italian accent told me all about Alisia when she was a little girl and how proud he was of her on her wedding day. He smiled through his tears, but I could feel how much he loved her through the stories he told. Her mom helped her into her wedding gown, gently fluffing and making sure it was perfect. When she stood back to look at Alisia all dressed in her wedding gown, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I'm sure she was processing this moment. Her little girl was about to be married. I know that this moment is just as big and important to my couples parents as it is to my couples. Parents put every ounce of love into their children. Every hope, every dream, every good wish - they give to their children. When their children have monumental live moments like this it must take their breath away. Once Alisia was dressed, we headed out to the church where Matt waited patiently for his bride. Just like Alisia's mom, when Matt saw Alisia take her first step down the aisle towards him, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. I can only imagine what he was thinking. This was the love of his life - this was his moment. Alisia was soon to be his wife. After the ceremony we headed to Detroit for a few portraits. It was raining but Alisia and Matt were troopers and were happy to go with the flow of things. We were at the mercy of the weather, but luckily mother nature gave us a few rain free moments at the Detroit Institute of Arts so we could take some portraits of the two of them. Those are some of my favorite images! I'm so glad the weather cooperated. Once we were done, it was on to Laurel Manor in Livonia for the wedding reception. The ballroom was gorgeous, the food was delicious, the friends and family were lively and fun and Matt and Alisia had the best time! Join me in congratulating both of them. We had a great time working with them and wish them the most wonderful life filled with love and happiness!

Metro Detroit Michigan wedding photography at MacRay Harbor provided by Leah and Aaron, who are part of Kellie's team of creative wedding photographers in Southeast Michigan. Abby and Rob are quite an amazing couple! Believe it or not, they came to me via a bridal show contest! I rarely have contests and to be honest I rarely do bridal shows, but I decided a couple of years ago to test the bridal show waters and what a blast it was! I met some of the most wonderful couples and booked some great weddings. I decided to have a contest and the lucky winner would win wedding coverage. Well, I couldn't have picked a more deserving and humble couple if I hand picked them myself! Abby and Rob not only serve our country proudly in the armed services, but they are just two great human beings! I am one of those people who believe in fate and all that stuff that some people call hooky, and I do believe it was fate that I picked their name in the drawing. I love giving back and it felt really good that the winning couple was a couple who were service members. To top it off, this wedding was shot by two of my associate photographers, Leah and Aaron. I've worked with Aaron (who is a lighting guru) for many years, and Leah is one of my most favorite photographer friends. She's retiring from running her own business, so she's offered to work with me in the interim and I couldn't be happier that my clients are on the receiving end of such talent! Let's wish Abby and Rob the most wonderful life ever! They are deserving and have earned our well wishes, respect and blessings!

Detroit wedding photography at the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Colony Club provided by Kellie Saunders and Dionne Haglund, two favorite Michigan wedding photographers. Can I just say how fantastic Tara and John Henry are? They are an absolutely fantastic couple who are in love with each other and their friends and families! There aren't many images that you will see in this blog where they didn't have a huge smile on their face. In fact, at times I would ask them not to smile so I could get a "more serious" shot, but alas - they could not turn those smiles off. I don't blame them either, because these two were made to smile and laugh. I often say that I can see someones heart when I'm photographing them on their wedding day. I can generally tell if they are good people at heart who are kind, caring and loving. Tara and John Henry, let me just say that you two are made from good stock. You are good people at heart - kind, caring and LOVING! It was a pleasure working with them and I hope to have more clients like them. So let's talk about their wedding day. First - let's describe it with one word - YOLO! You only live once (for those who aren't in the "know"). It rained, and when I saw it rained - I mean it rained. Does this mean bad luck? Does this mean bad photos? Nope. Not at all - as long as you can remember that YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE! Tara and John Henry with their big smiles just ran with it. And you can see below that it was a good thing! I'm so happy with the images we got. We started their day at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. The Marriott staff are so wonderful. Check out the nice champaign gift along with lovely notes the manager left for Tara and John Henry. Score bonus points to the Marriott! After Tara and John Henry dressed and worked out their nervous energy we headed over to the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Woodward for a beautiful traditional Catholic Mass celebration officiated by Father J.J Mech. We had minimal time for portraits and what a bummer to look outside and see it raining. But Tara and John Henry looked at each other and said - let's do this! And so we did! After taking a few portraits outside in the rain (LOVE THESE IMAGES by the way), we landed at the Colony Club (one of Detroit's finest wedding venues) for the reception. We were welcomed by their wedding band Parallel Fifth where everyone danced the night away! If you are looking for some fun wedding photos from the Colony Club, look no further. You'll see some great Colony Club wedding pictures here!

Metro Detroit Michigan wedding photography at the Detroit Athletic Club provided by Kellie Saunders and her team of creative Michigan wedding photographers. What a gorgeous day in the city for a wedding! Molly and Tom went to school together at Grosse Pointe South, where we actually had their engagement session. You can see that HERE. They have been dating since their sophmore year (high school sweethearts!!!). These two are so easy going, gracious and fun that working on their wedding day didn't feel like work at all. I felt like I was hanging out with old friends. When I arrived at Molly's mom's house, the feeling of excitement was buzzing in the air. Molly and her bridesmaids were putting the final touches on their makeup and hair. The girls were laughing and having a great time. Molly kept her dress hidden from the girls. When I say hidden, I'm talking she never showed them a photo or anything. She wanted it to be a surprise. Molly's mom helped her get dressed and after a few moments alone with her mom, Molly had the big reveal to her girls. Their reactions were priceless! I still can't believe she kept it a secret for that long. I can only keep a secret for all of about five minutes. When I saw the girls reactions, I kew Tom's would be even better when he saw her. We headed out to St. Paul on the Lake Catholic church for a traditional wedding celebratory mass. I met up with my sidekick Dionne Haglund who was working with me that day. (By the way - she's fabulous - you can check her work out at www.theshootinggallery.com). Tom wasn't one bit nervous - not that I could see at least. The first thing he did was ask me how Molly was doing. (He is a keeper Molly!!!) They had a lovely wedding mass officiated by Deacon Jamieson and after mass a bagpiper greeted guests as they exited their church. Belle Isle was where we decided to shoot their official wedding portraits. It was a great choice because we were able to snag some gorgeous images for them before heading over to the Detroit Athletic Club for the reception. Tom is not only a member of the club, but he is quite the squash player from what I hear. ;-) I hadn't seen the roof since the DAC remodeled it, but wow - it sure is gorgeous! Join me in wishing Molly and Tom the most happy life together! I'm lucky to have such wonderful clients like them!