A little over a week ago Eileen & Dustin celebrated their wedding day in Niles, Michigan at the Morris Estate on May 5th! Jenny and Eileen originally met back in 2005 while they worked nearby at Juday Creek Golf course in Granger, Indiana often catering weddings. (Jenny's family also often shopped at Eileen's family's furniture store in Dowagiac, Michigan!) We knew we'd all get along well at our first wedding meeting though when we chatted for literally hours laughing the entire time. It's only fitting that 13 years after Eileen and Jenny worked weddings together as bar tender/ caterer that we capture their wedding day! If you remember, we photographed these two in St. Joseph, Michigan for their Engagement Session at the end of summer (2017) last year amidst plastic flamingos, the gorgeous beach, and some beautiful buildings in downtown St. Joe. We even got to create their Christmas card with a photo of they and their two kitties Hops & Barley at their home! Along with that we created their Save the Date cards (complete with a photo of them from high school) and their Guestbook that wedding attendees signed throughout their wedding day! And we may have also provided 150 sparklers left over from Jenny's sister's wedding.
May 5th, 2018 just a little over a week ago started off with Eileen in Dowagiac, MI getting "wedding ready" with her bridesmaids and mom and Dustin getting ready with the men in Niles, Michigan in the wedding chapel of the Morris Estate. Dowagiac is where Eileen's family's business (Imperial Furniture) is located, so between Jenny's parents living just one city over in Cassopolis and us having brought Engagement and wedding items up to Eileen in Dowagiac, we've been well acquainted with the city and absolutely love the cute historic downtown area of Dowagiac where Eileen and her ladies got ready. The preparations were relatively casual with some light refreshments and snacks throughout getting prepped and before we knew it, it was time for Eileen to also head over to The Morris Estate to get her dress on! ((During this time Dustin and his groomsmen (and groomswoman) casually rolled into the Estate many hours later, played some video games, and relaxed in their comfy clothes.))
Luckily the entire rest of the wedding day all took place at The Morris Estate (with the outdoor reception under a grand tent just steps from the chapel), so once Eileen, her bridesmaids, and her mom made it over to The Morris Estate after hair and makeup, everyone stayed there the rest of the wedding day!
Prior to the ceremony we captured images of everyone getting prepared for the ceremony and also some formal group photos outside of Eileen and her bridesmaids, Dustin and his groomsmen, and a few family photos of they and their immediate families, but we made sure that Dustin and Eileen's paths never crossed because they didn't want a First Look before their ceremony.
Taking these fun group photos prior to the ceremony helped to free up some time for post-ceremony "newly married" greeting of all of the attendees, formal group photos in the chapel with family, and the limo trip to downtown Niles for the bridal party photos and individual portraits of Dustin and Eileen just before being announced in to the reception!
Everyone packed into the little white chapel as the ceremony was set to begin. Dustin and his groomsmen came to the altar at the head of the church via a side door and awaited their bridesmaid counterparts to make their way down the aisle. Once all the bridesmaids had come to the front of the church, the doors to the chapel were closed to build the anticipation to between Dustin and Eileen who had not yet seen one another that day. The doors opened as Eileen and her father began their walk down the aisle as a giant smile came across Dustin's face at the sight of his beautiful bride.
The two met at the front of altar of the chapel before the officiant (Eileen's uncle) shared a short story of how Eileen and "Baby Eagle" first met. After the story the two exchanged their heartfelt, handwritten vows to one another followed by the exchanging of rings. They then were pronounce husband and wife, shared a kiss, and were welcomed as a married couple by all in attendance as they made their way back down the aisle.
After the ceremony Eileen and Dustin greeted everyone who attended the ceremony one-by-one with their parents and then we captured some more family portraits inside the chapel. After were wrapped up with the final essential family portraits, we hailed the stretch hummer limo to head to downtown Niles for a couple more bridal party photos and some portraits of the bride and groom together and by themselves. Fun Fact: Eileen and Dustin's limo driver was actually the previous owner of their home in St. Joseph, Michigan!
Once we got to downtown Niles, we were a bit strapped for time (i.e. technically only had about 5 to 10 minutes, but we took a little more to ensure we captured the bridal party, portraits of the two of them, and individual portraits). We captured these two at all 3 locations we'd planned on taking them to before heading back to the reception for them to be announced in!
If you didn't realize how awesome Eileen & Dustin are via their Engagement Session or Christmas card, just know that they were announced into the reception via the introduction song from the t.v. show The Office. It was definitely one of the most memorable songs announcing a bride and groom in that we've heard in our 9 years of wedding photography!
Shortly after being announced in, Dustin's dad gave the blessing and delicious salad was served. Shortly after salad, speeches were given by Dustin's brother and Eileen's sister drawing a few tears. When dinner was served Jason headed over to photograph the close- up photos of Dustin & Eileen's rings on her bouquet and then we enjoyed a bit of dinner which was delicious pork and chicken with a caribbean twist as well as amazing fried potatoes and an amazing elote Mexican corn mixture as a nod to the fact that it was Cinco de Mayo this day they got married! (Anything Mexican food-wise is amazing in our book! We photographed two weddings back in early 2015 in California that had literal authentic Mexican taco stands, so we were thrilled with Eileen & Dustin's delicious elote in a cup!) After dinner, Eileen and Dustin did their first dance and wow was it amazing! After the traditional regular first dance, different music kicked in with a medley of songs and Eileen and Dustin busted out their choreographed surprise dance! Eileen teaches dance to young women, so she and Dustin collaborated on an amazing dance to do together! Out of all of the choreographed dances we've seen, these two knocked it out of the park! Usually the groom or father of the bride struggles a bit with the dance moves, but BOTH Eileen and Dustin perfectly executed the moves amidst the laughter and cheers from the guests!
When dinner was served Jason headed over to photograph the close- up photos of Dustin & Eileen's rings on her bouquet and then we enjoyed a bit of dinner which was delicious pork and chicken with a caribbean twist as well as amazing fried potatoes and an amazing elote Mexican corn mixture as a nod to the fact that it was Cinco de Mayo this day they got married! (Anything Mexican food-wise is amazing in our book! We photographed two weddings back in early 2015 in California that had literal authentic Mexican taco stands, so we were thrilled with Eileen & Dustin's delicious elote in a cup!) After dinner, Eileen and Dustin did their first dance and wow was it amazing! After the traditional regular first dance, different music kicked in with a medley of songs and Eileen and Dustin busted out their choreographed surprise dance! Eileen teaches dance to young women, so she and Dustin collaborated on an amazing dance to do together! Out of all of the choreographed dances we've seen, these two knocked it out of the park! Usually the groom or father of the bride struggles a bit with the dance moves, but BOTH Eileen and Dustin perfectly executed the moves amidst the laughter and cheers from the guests! After the speeches and blessings Eileen and Dustin headed over to cut their cake! Since there was still the tropical theme we started with with the lawn flamingos during their Engagement Session, of course there were flamingo cake toppers! There was also another cake- a Corvette with a license plate on the back with their wedding date.
Eileen and Dustin then did their first dance and wow was it amazing! After the traditional regular first dance, different music kicked in with a medley of songs and Eileen and Dustin busted out their choreographed surprise dance! With Eileen being a dance coach, she put Dustin's skills of coordination to work through their amazingly choreographed first dance (one that they actually collaborated on choreographing prior). They definitely made a memorable impression to celebrate their first dance together as husband and wife. Out of all of the choreographed dances we've seen, these two knocked it out of the park! (Usually the groom or father of the bride struggles a bit with the dance moves, but BOTH Eileen and Dustin perfectly executed the moves amidst the laughter and cheers from the guests!)
Following the First Dance, Eileen danced with her father for the Father-Daughter dance which evolved into Open Dance shortly after!
Open Dance started and everyone busted a move! The "Longest Married" game was played and more music blasted. We took Eileen & Dustin off for some last portraits of the two of them from the day since we didn't have much time for that prior to the reception. We captured them in the chapel together and again outside of the reception on their awesome Imperial Furniture green couch! Shortly after it was suddenly time for the bouquet and garter tosses! We captured those and then it was nearly the end of our 10 hours. We headed home to let our dog out as planned, then came back a couple hours later just in time for their Sparkler Exit!
For their grand Sparkler Exit a bit before 11 p.m., Eileen and Dustin came out as everyone cheered, then they did a dip, kissed, and then played with some sparklers. We bid them farewell afterward and wished them the best honeymoon in Jamaica! Eileen's mom even gave us one of the pineapple with a gorgeous tropical bouquet (and tiny pineapple) in it! That wasn't the end of their night, though! Eileen and Dustin then headed over to the casino to hang out for a bit before officially calling it a night and heading to bed before post-wedding brunch the next day!
Congratulations, Eileen and Dustin! We hope you two had a blast during your week-long honeymoon in Jamaica and officially Welcome Back home!! We hope you two are having a great first week back as a married couple in St. Joe, Michigan! Once we finish editing all of your wedding photos over this month, we can't wait to fill your engraved Keepsake Box that we've made you with your hundreds of prints and also design and put together your physical wedding album!! It's going to be a fun June of bringing you all of your beautiful wedding printed linen photos and album! Congratulations again and we can't wait to see you next and hear all about how amazing Jamaica (and the post-wedding casino fun) was!!
In just a few days Mike and Amy's outdoor wedding and barn reception all at The Blue Dress Barn in Benton Harbor, Michigan is finally happening! We cannot wait to photograph them in just a few days! Mike and Jenny met during their Italian Language Study Abroad back at Miami University of Ohio (fantastic 209 year old university above Cincinnati, Ohio) in Urbino, Italy a whopping 12 years ago where they lived in apartments for a few (surreal) months! We've all come such a long way since then, but have kept in contact over the years and have hung out in Chicago in the most recent years since we've settled only an hour and a half away! Amy is a fantastic match for Mike and we're so deeply excited for them! Check back next week for their Wedding Teasers!