Archive for the ‘Weddings’ Category

I love working with people like I do.  When I get together with clients to create portraits for them, they are ‘up’, happy, and excited.  Even when they’re nervous, it’s something we work through very quickly.  New clients often comment on how painless their portrait session is in comparison to what they thought it would be.  So many of my regular clients have become friends. 

As a photographer, I get to be ‘inside’ the most wonderful moments of people’s lives; whether it’s a wedding, an engagement photo session, or parents with their newborn baby.  I LOVE it! 

People talk about retiring.  I can’t imagine.  I am blessed to love what I do enough that if I couldn’t do it for a living, I’d do it for free.  I hope to keep photographing like Ruth Bernhard, until my hands can no longer hold a camera because I’m 92!

We photographed a beautiful wedding recently and my clients sent these flowers with a lovely note that made me cry as well as leaving me a message on my cell phone that I will keep always. 

Thank you to all of you who believe enough in me to let me do what I love and share it with you. 

When I married my husband nine years ago, I hired a wedding planner. We had a big wedding. I worked full time and was trying to make wedding plans with 90 miles separating me from the groom AND the place where our wedding and reception was being held. It was the smartest thing I ever did.

Crista Tharp's Book

So whether a  bride that works with J. Love Photography hires a wedding planner or not, I have been thinking that I would really like to provide a special gift to help make the entire process of planning a wedding easier. I began searching for a book that I could give the bride and talked to a few wedding planners I know and trust.

To my surprise, so many of the books out there are painfully out of date not addressing so many of today’s bride’s needs (multiple sets of parents, outdated traditions and how to update them, stepchildren, etc.).  I also got tired of  the ‘weddings on a shoestring’ mentality. We all like to save money and get as much bang for our buck as possible, but creating a wedding on a shoestring budget is NOT the only kind of wedding.  After all, this is the biggest day of our new lives together! 

Today’s couples are very busy, holding down jobs, going to school, sometimes already raising children, etc. They don’t have time or the interest in making paper flowers for the tables and research, buy, and then MAKE all the invitations either!  There had to be a happy medium.  And I think I found it…

In my research, I came upon a wonderful wedding planning guide for brides called Blissfully Simple: Wedding Planning for Real Couples with Real Budgets. It is written by a savvy wedding planner named Crista Tharp to help brides; whether they have a wedding planner or don’t!  It’s a functional, three-ring binder system filled with tips, forms, lists, and problem-solving guides! It retails for $24.95. But any bride that books their wedding with J. Love Photography receives this planner absolutely FREE! So if you are bride getting married in the Dexter, Ann Arbor, or Metro Detroit area, or even considering a destination wedding, give us a call and see why hiring J. Love Photography as your wedding photographer will be one of the smartest decisions you make.

When our daughter, Michelle, got married a few years back, she hired a wedding photographer who was the ‘best man’s father who was a professional wedding photographer.’ Reminds me of the ‘my friend has an uncle…’ I suggested she look closely at his wedding album sample understanding that the best images a photographer takes are in their albums, of course.

I hadn’t begun doing wedding photography at the time. I even had the foolish notion that I would end up photographing most of it myself so it didn’t matter who they hired. Big mistake!! I am not, and never have been, able to wear two hats at one time. And the most important hat for me to wear that day was that of the ‘mother of the bride.’ I was so busy with the bride, guests, and details that I didn’ t pay any attention to the photographs. Hard to believe, but it’s true.

Not only did this ‘professional photographer’ (I use the term sooooo loosely) not get any good shots of family members, but there is not a single, salvageable image of the bride and groom in his work. Thank goodness I had a nature photographer friend  there who got a few lovely images of the kids (thank you, Lu). The disposable cameras on the table were also a waste of money and time, unfortunately.

So when I attended a seminar talking about these unfortunate brides who hire a photographer ‘on the cheap’ and end up with no images of such an important day, the idea was suggested to create what is known as “I do Redo” sessions. We rent a tux, recreate the flowers, and put the bride back in her dress for a fun day capturing beautiful, missed images for a couple. No, it is never the same. But in some ways, it’s better!! Couples are more relaxed, they have fun, and we can concentrate on really creating beautiful portrait art to commemorate their day. 

So, this past weekend, my daughter and her husband, Steve, put on their wedding attire and became real  examples of what an ”I do Redo” session is all about with J. Love Photography.  Here are a few of the images they will have forever.  It won’t be their actual wedding day, but it is a celebration of their love nonetheless. And now it’s done the way it should have been done in the beginning. We all learned a lot. Our daughter was a beautiful bride, and we now have some lovely images we can not only show people but hang in our own home!

We worked with Darling Bridal in Ann Arbor and Dexter Flowers of Dexter. These people are top notch professionals who helped us recreate this important day. Thanks to everyone involved.  Our kids are most grateful and so are we!

As far as professional wedding photography goes, the attention is in the details.  We look for the light.  We look for the perfect moment.  We love it when we’re working with artists from other professions such as culinary artists, floral artists, and even makeup artists. 

It isn’t just about any one thing that creates a perfect wedding.  It’s the ambience, the teamwork, the attention to detail… let’s face it, it’s hard work to create the perfect wedding!  Our bride last weekend, Julie, is an artist herself.  So she didn’t miss a thing and understood the value of hiring professional artists to help her create her vision.

So when J. Love Photography photographed Julie’s wedding, you can imagine how excited we were when we saw her touches being woven throughout the entire day in a myriad of ways, the artists she hired, and her own lovely work gracing the home where the reception was! A visual cornucopia!

There were candles and flowers everywhere.  Speaking of flowers… Theresa from Dexter Flowers is the most unique, talented floral artist! Her creations everywhere were unique, simple, elegant, and beautiful.

Chefs Matt Swickerath and Stephen Herman came in all the way from Atlanta to prepare the cuisine for this event. I can still smell the grits with bacon and cheese and all of the grilled delectable main dishes like tenderoin, shrimp, and chicken.  It was  fun to watch Matt and Stephen prepare all these dishes right in the center of the reception.  Their artful marriage of foods, flavors, and fun helped make the celebration what it was.

And let’s face it… the star in all of this is the beautiful bride. We spend a lot of time capturing that pretty face. And it’s important that the bride’s face be ready for a long day, with attention paid to every little detail, so 50 years from now she revels at how marvelous and happy she looked!  So Julie hired one of my favorite pros… Rachel, who has been the manager at Macy’s Dior counter forever.  She worked her magic and the bride was a vision of loveliness the entire day!

As I continue to photograph weddings, I learn something from every single one. But I know, that it’s the attention to the details that makes all the difference.  Each one is unique.  In spite of being challenging, it’s a joyful journey I get to share with people on the first day of a new life together.  And as Taylor Swift says, ‘capture it, remember it’, forever.

J. Love Photography had the pleasure to capture the wedding of Julie Stockwell and Dan Schmidt on the first day of spring.

It was a small, intimate wedding with family, friends, candlelight, and beautiful pastel roses everywhere.

The bride was gorgeous.  We had a great time photographing her getting ready with her mom, Mary, and her daughter, Jaelyn while the chefs who flew in from Atlanta prepped the most amazing food in the kitchen.

The wedding was at the classic and beautiful St. Joseph Catholic Church on Fourth Street in Dexter, Michigan.  The service was performed by Father Brendan Walsh.

The intimate and lovely reception was held at the bride’s parents’ home, Bill and Mary Stockwell.  Romance and aroma from that Southern cooking and all the roses filled the air.

Julie and Dan each have one child; Jaelyn and Jack.  Jaelyn was so excited to be ‘getting married’ and ‘getting a brother’ all in the same day!

J. Love Photography wishes Julie and Dan and their new family a wonderful, long life together filled with all the joy their hearts can hold.  Thank you for the opportunity to share it with you. Dawn and I stayed up very late that night going through images and reliving the day.  It was extraordinary!

As artists and photographers, we are always so thrilled when the flowers, food, etc. are extra special. I will post a few images of the ‘details’ that helped transform this wedding into an AMAZING wedding no one will forget!