Orchard Mini Sessions: Dailey Family (Grand Rapids Family Photographer)

October 9, 2016

This fall, a friend of mine organized some really quick mini sessions that I helped out with and they were a hit! I hope to make this a mini tradition (with more fun styling starting next year!). So let's kick off mini-session week on the blog with our first family...

These two brothers were lucky enough to welcome their brand new baby sister this year. All of them were more than happy to smile for me and get cuddly with Mom and Dad for their photos. I'm sure Ethan and Hudson will be amazing big brothers to little Claire, since it seems they already are. Lucky girl!

^Daddy loves his little ones!

^Yay! I love it when a Mommy finally gets a girl :D

^She looks pretty happy with those boys though!

^Claire, you are so sweet!

^Bodyguards.

Elliott: Turing "1" (West Michigan Children's Photographer)

October 7, 2016

This little guy has been to see me quite a few times now! I met him for his newborn photos about a year ago (yay for celebrating a first birthday!!!), and then again this past spring when it was time for his 6 month photos. This time, we met back where his mom and dad did their maternity photos... full circle! Back at Verhage Farms, we got quite a few fun shots of Elliott playing around the orchard and pumpkin patch. Though he wasn't in the BEST mood for photos, he still gave us a few cute smiles. Such a cutie.

Elliott was rewarded for putting up with all our photo taking by getting a donut to eat! It's not easy with so few teeth, but he managed just fine. Of course! Happy birthday, little guy!

^Hooray for your birthday, Elliott!

^Kids always love a bunch of balloons ;)

^I love his photos with Mommy. Especially this last one!

^Mom and Dad dubbed this the "llama face" that he kept making. It's  new development, just in time for photos. Of course ;)

^SMOOCH!

^Trying to recreate a similar shot from the maternity session. A little trickier with a wiggly one-year-old.

^Donut time!!!

^I think he liked it.

Skip & Carla: An Up North Wedding (Northern Michigan Wedding Photographer)

September 4, 2016

The best thing about a small wedding is the opportunity to really get to know the people that you are working with. Skip and Carla recently purchased a cabin about three hours north of their home in Ohio and spent the summer making it their very own. They finished the summer season over Labor Day weekend celebrating with some family members and friends by getting married. What a great way to finish the summer. It was a gorgeous day when Kristin and I arrived. First thing Skip did was give us a tour of the place. They are a short walk from the docks and their backyard is a cute little up north paradise. I'm sure the summer they got to share there was amazing.

The wedding was short and sweet (with quite a few tears and tons of smiles) and the food was amazing. To top it off, Skip and Carla created a wonderful dessert spread for us all (Kristin and I made sure to take a lot of samples!) that they made themselves. We finished the day by doing sunset photos out on Houghton Lake and continued the evening with a bit of a backyard dance party. What a great day.

My only regret? That we missed dinner at the rehearsal the night before! Skip and Carla know to COOK like nobody's business!!!

Invitation: www.zazzle.com
Ceremony and Reception: Skip and Carla's vacation house, Houghton Lake, MI
Caterer - BJ's Restaurant, Rental & Catering, Gaylord, MI
Flowers - The Posie Patch, Houghton Lake, MI
Desserts - Carla and Skip (great job, you two!)
Officiant - Rodney Sedgeman via Wedding Minister 4 U

^Their little oasis in northern Michigan.

^So many adorable backyard details.

^Adding some bright summer colors into the flowers.

^He was pretty excited for his big day!

^Grandson... so adorable!

^Lots of laughs and tears throughout the day.

^Tears ;)

^The bridal party was made up entirely of Skip and Carla's kids. A good way to go!

^Such an adorable little guy.

^One of their summer projects was fixing up this shed in the backyard, which is now basically a great mini guesthouse!

^Awwwww!

^Loving the sun coming through the trees!

^I heard Skip plays a little, though we didn't get to hear it. Shoot!

^Seriously, AMAZING.

^Bedtime for the little guy.

^Ahhhh sunset. They must have had so  many beautiful ones this summer!

^Love these details on the left that Kristin caught while we were at the dock.