I was looking forward to Julie and Andy’s wedding. Julie is a program chair at the college where I teach and asked me to be their wedding photographer in Royal Oak. I was delighted! This couple is really funny and cracking jokes made the long day much more pleasurable. They have an interesting story. They met on an online dating site (which seems to be quite normal nowadays) but there’s a twist: it was Julie’s sister who actually connected first with Andy – on behalf of her sister. Julie is a fashion diva and a seamstress while Andy loves golfing and poker. So it was no surprise that their reception was at a golf course. And there’s a story behind that, too. Red Run Golf Club is where Andy spent his teenage years as a caddy. How cool is that! It was a very nice venue. The church where they got married was even nicer; beautiful St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Royal Oak.

What was supposed to be a nice cool mid-June day turned out to be a sweltering and humid one. I felt so bad for the bride who must have been dying under that big heavy dress and her makeup melting. It was a touching moment when we stopped at the hospital to say hi and take photos with the groom’s grandmother (who unfortunately passed away a couple of weeks after).

We also stopped by Mr. B’s bar and restaurant in Royal Oak since that’s where this couple had their first date. The reception party was a blast. Andy’s family are huge Central Michigan fans (and alumni) while Julie’s side roots for Michigan State So it was only natural for both sides to sing CMU’s and MSU’s fight songs.

Here are some of the photos I had the pleasure of taking at their wedding in Royal Oak.

A couple of months after I shot their engagement photos, it was time to be Becky and Lirjon’s wedding photographer as well. The weather was fantastic this wedding. After the ceremony at their church in Detroit, we spent a couple of hours taking bridal and wedding party photos at a park in Grosse Pointe. This was the largest wedding party I’ve had to shoot so far (8 couples, plus the groom and bride, plus flower girl and ring boy) but I was happy with the results. Bride and groom looked fantastic, as if they’re models for a wedding magazine. During our engagement photo session, I had mentioned to the bride it would be a cool idea to bring some umbrellas as a prop – and she did. That was a surprise to me – especially since they were purple, her favorite color. Lirjon had brought some “props” for his groom’s men as well: aviator sunglasses. After that, they had a half American-half Albanian wedding reception at the Royalty House in Warren. There was plenty of dancing and fun till the wee hours – and even the bride learned how to dance Albanian style!