I met Leann and Michael this past summer, about five months before their wedding. Every so often, I meet clients who you can tell are a perfect fit. They are in-sync with one another about everything, including what they are looking for in a wedding photographer! This was the case with Leann and Michael. They were happy to be meeting with me, they were excited about their wedding, but mostly, they just seemed happy being together! Those are a great combination of qualities that tip me off to knowing that a great wedding is on the horizon and these are great people to have as my clients! From that meeting to the end of the wedding day, I was right. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of their New Year’s Eve wedding! It also gave me a chance to end 2010 working with Carolyn Hefner of the China Closet, the top wedding coordinator in Michigan and my wonderful friend!

The wedding day definitely required two photographers. Rudy Ortega, a photographer that has worked with me now for several years, was assigned to photograph Michael and the groomsmen before the ceremony, and I photographed Leann and her side. We all began the day at The Henry Hotel, the former Dearborn Ritz Carlton for all of the getting ready photos. From there, we traveled to downtown Detroit for the ceremony at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is interesting how I end up with clients using the same churches and venues one given year, and then I don’t photograph a wedding there for another two or three years. That was the case this year with the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. I can’t remember the last year I had been there, but Leann and Michael’s wedding became my third ceremony at that church this year! It definitely felt like I was in familiar territory!

After the ceremony, the wedding convened at the historic Lovett Hall in Greenfield Village. This venue is such a great place to have a wedding reception! It is a huge, ornate ballroom with beautiful chandeliers and columns, a hard wood floor and dripping with history! It also gave me a chance to work with the Henry Ford Museum’s wedding coordinator, Christina Dodge, my friend from other Henry Ford weddings of the past! One of the benefits a couple receives is the use of the village for additional portraits. Leann and Michael jumped into their own horse-drawn carriage and my team and the video team followed behind in another. After the romantic photos – it was time to get inside and let the partying begin! The photo above is of the couple dancing in the open ballroom without any guests. We were able to sneak into the room so that Leann and Michael could see the ballroom before the guests were seated. You can see how beautiful it is decorated by the extraordinarily talented Ralph Bellisario of Bellisario Florists.  Finally, the guests were seated, and the band, Scoot Magoo, MC’d the introductions and kept the party dancing the whole night long. I had never worked with this band prior, but I was very impressed! They were perfect for a New Year’s Eve celebration! They were not the typical wedding band at all. There music was polished and fresh and they performed as if they were giving a concert. I loved them just as did the guests! If you are looking for something a little different, definitely check these guys out!

Finally, midnight came, the party favors in place and the first kisses were given to bring in the New Year! It was a very memorable wedding celebration to say the least! Check out some of my favorites from the day above and below as well as scroll down to the bottom to check out the highlight slideshow set to music.

I have been very fortunate for the last string of six years. I have been selected each year with having one or two of my clients’ weddings featured in bridal magazines. 2009 was a great year in terms of my having the honor of photographing several beautiful and elegant weddings. Several of them, in my opinion, were worthy of magazine publication. My clients, Rosemarie and Sam D’Angelo, was certainly one of those weddings and the magazine, Metro Detroit Bride agreed. In fact, not only were their images published, but the wedding was the feature wedding and provided us with a two page spread. Click here to see their blog post link from last September, and here to see their wedding highlight slideshow. Congratulations Rose and Sam!!!  One Special Note: Carolyn Hefner, Wedding Planner Extraordinaire of the first class China Closet, was somehow left off the list of vendor credits.  Without Carolyn’s focused attention to details, creative vision, and meticulous planning, the day would have fallen short of the extraordinary event it became.

The all star vendors were a plenty, including the very elegant and palatial Henry Ford Museum, The China Closet for attention to detail and premier wedding planning, the incredible and preeminent Bellisario , and Michigan’s version of Hollywood-precision video with Fifth and Main Productions. Terry’s hairdresser was Birmingham’s Peter Mansoor of Vanity Hair and her makeup by Barbara Deyo of Devo Studio. DJ services was provided by Memory Maker DJ’s and Brian Van Guitar entertained with his classical guitar during dinner.