Wedding day at Meijer Gardens and Mangiamo's

Congratulations to Jaime & Dennis!!

Amway Grand Plaza Pantlind Ballroom Wedding Reception

Congratulations Greg & Holly!


From the vows to the honeymoon, WE'RE THERE!


Okay, seriously, the entire day was way amazing, from the ceremony at Mayflower in EGR to the opulent recepion in the 95-year-old Pantlind Ballroom at the Amway Grand Plaza. The Pantlind Ballroom is one of our favorite place to shoot!

Click the PLAY icon to enjoy the sneak peak Greg & Holly's friends and family enjoyed.

As you can see, it was a day filled with joy, romance, fun, adventure, and even a unique opportunity to renew vows. I mean really, how many can say they did THAT on their wedding day!

- Jon

Wheatfield Inn Wedding

Tying the Knot on the Muskegon River

Well it's a Labor Day Weekend -
Not sure what to do.
How about tubing the Muskegon River with a downstream heading
and while we're there we'll crash a wedding!



Okay, so I'm not a poet.

That Wedding would be Matt & Leigha's. I joked with Matt before the ceremony, "you should have had the reception here too, with a cash bar. You'd have made a fortune!"







These shots are just a small handful that portray not only the love and romance of Matt & Leigha, but an exciting evening of dining, dancing and celebration with friend and family. Congratulations Matt & Leigha!

More awesome wedding photography at Muskegon Wedding Photography by Picture Michigan!

- Jon

Inn at Stonecliffe Manor - The Essence of a Mackinac Island Wedding

Congratulations to Dr. and Mrs. Salas!

They had complete confidence we would document their wedding day in the splendor for which we are known. The only thing Chris and Lynda requested was to capture the essence of Mackinac Island for their wedding day. Well, I've been capturing the essence of Mackinac Island all my life, so this was a piece of cake. Or a piece of fudge in this particular instance.


Making fudge on Mackinac Island


We prefer our Brides like we prefer our fudge; really sweet and a little nutty! :)
(disclaimer: Lu does not think Lynda is nutty)
(disclaimer: Jon dissents -- she's a LITTLE nutty -- I mean really, she's mixing fudge!)

The ceremony and the reception were held at The Inn at Stonecliffe, a beautiful and remote location of Mackinac Island. The front porch overlooks the blue waters of the Straits and the mighty Mackinac Bridge.


Inn at Stonecliffe



Ceremony at The Inn at Stonecliffe



Ceremony at The Inn at Stonecliffe



The Inn at Stonecliffe



Strolling the porch of the Grand Hotel


It was a beautiful and glorious day for a Mackinac Island Wedding! The Bride & Groom were super cool for letting us take them in a fudge shop and traipsing down Huron Street where the horses leave their little deposits.

Did we capture the moment? Well, we captured the essence. And after the capture, we barbecued it over an open flame and wrapped it up in a flour tortilla!

The entire sneak-peak slideshow can be seen by clicking the PLAY icon.





- Jon

Go to Mackinac Island Wedding Photography for more information!


A couple of random vendor reviews:

Mackinac Island is my absolute favorite place on the face of the earth! We always enjoy returning to the Island -- meeting up with old friends and making new friends. There are a couple of old friends we need to give a special shout...

The Inn at Stonecliffe:



Michelle at The Inn at Stonecliffe


What can we say about Michelle! There are good site coordinators and great site coordinators. Michelle is one of the few truly great ones! This particular weekend was a hot and humid one. The Bride and Groom requested some water as they were leaving the site for the night. Within sixty seconds, Michelle was there with ice-cold bottled water. Such an uncommon gesture that could have otherwise gone unnoticed in any situation. And this is just the tip of the ice burg.


The Mike Davis Trio:


The Mike Davis Trio

Professional. Versatile. Talented. Way-cool. I love jazz and I love classical music. Mike specializes in both. It's amazing how the trio changes gears so easily from the structured sounds of classical at the ceremony to the improvisational mood of jazz at the reception. And not only are they a mainstay on Mackinac Island, they are based in Traverse City. The Mike Davis Trio is the perfect addition to any event in Northern Michigan.

Castle Farms of Charlevoix -- A Fairy Tale Wedding

Her dream came true. Literally! Based on a premonition, she had the airline ticket before he called, inviting her to North Carolina.

And here we are in Charlevoix, at the French Renaissance Revival chateaux, among the green grass and field-stone walls and guests from around the world. It's not Tony & Eva. It's Jeff & Kristy beginning their lives together in an historic castle this weekend!







Click on the Play icon to view the entire Sneak Peak slideshow.

When Creative Professionals commission Picture Michigan for Wedding Photography

Bill & Marie's wedding ceremony was at St. Isidore Catholic Church in Grand Rapids and the wedding reception was at the University Club in downtown Grand Rapids.



Is it any wonder that a creative professional such as Marie entrusts Picture Michigan for wedding-day memories?

Marie, an art director for an advertising agency, is the second creative professional (Rex, a graphic designer at a different agency, was married two weeks ago) to be featured on the Picture Michigan BLOG this month.

It is an incredible honor to have participated in this event and especially with clients that have exceptional taste and a meaningful appreciation for the arts. Clients that allow us to articulate our creative and artistic expression. Clients that will forever remember with style the day they threw one helluva party. Absolutely!

Turn up the volume and click the PLAY icon to view the slideshow. And as always, it's a good idea to have a tissue ready!






Random wedding vendor reviews--

Wedding reception: The University Club.

This venue is such a gem! Bill and Marie reserved the entire tenth floor of the Fifth-Third building in downtown Grand Rapids. Cocktails and Hors d’œuvre were served in a lounge-like setting away from the main dining room prior to dinner. In lieu of a receiving line at the ceremony site, Bill and Marie greeting guests as they arrived.

The staff was not only courteous and attentive, the staff was plentiful! The guests never had to wait for the next tray of cocktails and Hors d’œuvre. The Beef Wellington was mouth-watering. Dinner was even better!

The layout of the University Club is such that while there are separate rooms for mingling, these areas are all interconnected, allowing guests easy movement throughout the facility.

Music: Junior Valentine and the All-Stars.

On behalf of Junior and the guests, I would like to personally thank Bill and Marie for hiring a live band. Especially this band!

In the day, I enjoyed Junior Valentine and the All-Stars at the old Rhythm Kitchen Cafe in downtown Grand Rapids. I always knew Junior to be a fine entertainer, and the band rocked each time I saw them. Not only is Junior an accomplished blues and jazz guitarist, he is also a phenomenal MC for the evening's festivities.

Plus these guys are versatile. The opening number was the Beer Barrel Polka for the Father-Daughter dance.

Photography: Grand Rapids Wedding Photography

What can I say. They're the best! Okay, all modesty aside, that would be us, Picture Michigan Wedding Photojournalism. :)

- Jon

Lake Michigan Beach Wedding

A hearty congratulations to Rex & Monica.








The entire sneak-peak can be seen here. Turn up the volume and click play to start the slideshow. It's about three and a half minutes with 77 images.

The entire day was picture perfect! I'll let the pictures do the talking.





- Jon

Visit Grand Rapids Wedding Photography for more information!!

And special props to the Michigan DNR's State Parks for sharing their beach fire with us.

Congratulations Tim & Holly!

I was not really all that optimistic when eight days before Tim & Holly's outdoor wedding, the weather folks were already calling for a 60% chance of rain. Maybe I was a little optimistic. And there's still that 40% chance on the other side. Right? Plus weather forecasts can change in eight days.



Yeah, it changed. It went from 60% to 70% to 80%. By Saturday I was thinking, "that 80% chance is a bit of an understatement!" A 200% chance of rain would not have been hyperbole.

So here we are, on location between the ceremony and reception for a shoot. The location is that wonderful business park at Kraft & The Paul Henry near Caledonia. And perhaps this is the soaked photographer in my saying this, but was I disappointed that we didn't get a picture of the Bride & Groom with the tornado in the background.

Unfortunately, we never learned of the tornado warning until we returned to the reception location. It touched down just a few miles away. I'm guessing that the torrential downpour prevented us from hearing it and would have impeded our view.



I predict that there is an 80% chance that this wedding will never be forgotten by Tim & Holly. And I may be understating that a bit. :-)

The only true glitch was the rain, and maybe the guests enjoying the beverage service early and quickly. I say, those two cancel each other out, so it was a picture-perfect wedding celebration!

When it was all said and done, the happy couple was, well, happy, the food was delicious, the dance floor was swingin', the fireworks were breathtaking, and oh, what a marvelous night for a moondance!

- Jon

Click Play to view slideshow

A Mackinac Island Wedding for Ben & Kristen

Rain rain, go away ... okay, thank you!

They say it never rains on Mackinac Island. I think what happens, is when the sun returns, you forget it ever rained. Such was the case this past weekend for the wedding of Kristen & Ben.

It will be one of the most memorable weekends for friends and family celebrating the union of two great families! We met a number of great people from around the country enjoying Mackinac Island for the first time ever. Thank you to all that celebrated. It will truly be memorable for us too. In fact, we even met some cool Secret Service guys too! (thanks for holding the ladder for me) :)

Looks like dry pavement to me!

Click the PLAY icon to view a slideshow complete with music!

Random vendor reviews:

Mackinac Island is our favorite place on earth. We love traveling there for whatever reason. It's always a pleasure running into old friends and making new friends.

Coordinator: Carole Erbel is second to none on the Island. Perhaps the top coordinator in the entire state! We cannot recommend her enough. For The Love Of Mackinac

Flowers & Cake: Weber's Floral and Bella e Dolce always exceed already high expectations!

Some new friends along the way are Omega Video and Life Support. Both exceptional talents and we enjoyed working with them. Life Support, by the way, is a musical band based out of nearby Lansing! That is, nearby to our home base of Grand Rapids.

And it wouldn't be right to forget a special thank you to Greg at the Mackinac State Historic Parks. Though not involved in this particular wedding, he was a tremendous help two weeks ago at Mission Church and Fort Mackinac.

Disclaimer: It is important for us to note that Picture Michigan passes along such reviews only because we believe these vendors are worthy to hire because of excellence in multiple areas. Not only are their services and/or products superior, but we believe you will find them a pleasure to work with, and we enjoy working with them. Absolutely no considerations were exchanged for these reviews!