Though technically Eileen & Dustin's wedding from this month should technically be next here on our blog posts, those two are off on their honeymoon in JAMAICA (where they arrived just a couple days ago) and we agreed that we'd post their blog wedding teasers next week (next Wednesday) when they return so that they and their families can see the photos first! Instead we'll be sharing just a few teasers from Esther & Junior's big day at the Stonegate Manor in Michigan from this Sunday May 6th! This time we'll do things a bit differently: We're going to share their story about how they met and fell in love while sharing our favorite photos of them from throughout the day as teasers. Keep scrolling to read their story and check out the beautiful photos from their big day at Stonegate Manor!
Esther and Junior live in Fort Wayne, Indiana (which less than 2 hours from us in South Bend, Indiana) and they have the cutest story on how they met. They've been together for about 5 years and Esther was proud to admit that she is the only woman that Junior has dated in his 28 years (to be fair, they met when he was in his early 20s and when she was in her late-late teens).
These two initially met while working together in the kitchen of a nursing home (cue: "Awww!"). Esther was working in the upper floor kitchen while Junior was working in the kitchen on the floor below. During orientation Esther and Junior caught each others' eyes during a lunch break and it was love at first sight. Though they were extremely interested in one another, they seemed to not overlap on their work schedules much, so they barely saw each other at work. Esther started asking around about Junior at work to the older women and found out that he too was from Africa and she freaked out because she's also African (Kenyan instead of Rwandan like him though). Hilariously there were mixed answers about Junior's age from the ladies when Esther asked, though.
Junior's brother also worked with them, so as Esther was asking around about Junior, his brother started telling his family that there was a girl with a crush on Junior and his brothers started razzing him about not having asked her out yet. Junior claims he had no fear, so after getting heckled by his brothers he made sure that the next time he saw Esther at work, he would go sit down and talk with her (which happened to be right when she was going to pound a lot of food on her break). Esther claims that she nearly passed out when he came to talk to her and she immediately shoved her food away and they talked for a while. They found out later through chatting that some of their family even knew each other (Junior even already knew her dad!). Things grew slowly: Esther went with her parents to the same church his parents attend and noticed Junior on the drums (and was really digging it). After church there was food and mingling, but Esther got bored and started to head to her parents' car. Junior noticed this while he was with his friends and called out to her to stop her from leaving. They then walked off to talk more and at the end Junior finally asked her for her number.
When Junior headed out that afternoon to drive to Michigan he let Esther know that he'd be driving and wouldn't be able to talk. Once he got in to where he was heading in Michigan though, he called her around 10 p.m. and they talked for literally 7 hours on the phone that night/ morning (when he had to leave to head to work that morning). The two talked about their lives, what they were looking for in a partner, and more. Once they made it to their first date they did late night iHop and bowling and the dates never stopped. These two are deeply in love, bring the best out in one another, make each other stronger, and are each others' everything. They're extremely content with how things are right now, though they have thought about moving back to Africa sometime in the far future, but only time will tell!
Congratulations Esther and Junior on such a beautiful and long lasting love! We had a great time photographing your love in Michigan at the Stonegate Manor and wish you two all the best (as we too hit the 5 year mark later this year)!!
(P.S. Here are some of the wedding vendors that these two used up in Benton Harbor if you're interested: Jewelry: Styled by Markle, Bouquet: Flowery Art, Stationery: Veraly & Co, wedding gown: Detroit Bridal House, Hair & Makeup: Brittany Carpenter/ Paint My Mind, & Wedding Planner: Darion Longmire!)
Coming up next week we'll be sharing with you Eileen & Dustin's Morris Estate (Niles, Michigan) wedding teasers! Their wedding was full of fun, pineapples, and amazing Mexican corn for their Cinco de Mayo wedding date! We just checked out the foliage and sun position one last time at the Blue Dress Barn yesterday our way home from Grand Rapids, Michigan to prep for Mike & Amy's wedding NEXT WEEKEND! We love all of the Michigan weddings that we get to capture this year! Michigan is literally only 10 minutes from our home and also studio/ offices in downtown South Bend, Indiana, so it's the most convenient state for us to get to (with Chicago, Illinois where Amy and Mike live also only being close at about an hour & a half from us)! Their venue is only 40 minutes from us, so we're excited to watch as the foliage, flowering trees, and green fills in this week and next!! AND the weekend after their wedding we get to photograph Minnesotans Mikayla & Matthew for their Engagement Session at Purdue University a little over two hours away! Their wedding is coming up in 4 months in September here in South Bend, so we're so excited to photograph them for the first time so soon!! Have a great weekend and we cannot wait to share with you teasers from Eileen & Dustin's wedding NEXT Weekly Wednesday!