Kalamazoo wedding photographer

Erin and Athens - Sundance Secret Garden Wedding Photos

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I’ve been pretty excited to share a full blog from this ultimately colorful wedding, and today seemed like the perfect opportunity to spread some Love.

A few things that I adored about Erin and Athen’s big day that were sweet, and unique:

1. They had a list of VIP guests as opposed to a traditional wedding party. Everyone got to choose a cool outfit, and we took a singular group photo which left plenty of time for partying.
2. They hired THE Dj Myint (If you know, you know.)
3. They decided to both change their last name, giving them the opportunity choose one that really meant something to the both of them. The announcement was a surprise during the reception, revealing that they had hidden it in decor and teased it all over the wedding. That Name? LOVE.
I died.

The day was genuinely all smiles. These two are the best people, and they attract the best people, and I left absolutely grinning from ear to ear.

Congratulations Erin and Athens!

Haily and Sean - The Union at Railside wedding photos

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With active work always taking priority, I haven’t been blogging nearly as much as I’d like from finished portrait sessions, and especially wedding days. Lately, I've felt motivated to revisit and share some of the past weddings that absolutely deserve to be appreciated, so buckle up for more throwback days filled with gorgeousness and inspiration.

So with that, another one from the archives, here’s Haily and Sean’s colorful day at The Union at Railside!
They added personal touches to everything, which I love, and the team at Alder Hair studio killed it as they always do. It was a great day.

Ariana and Chris - Grand Rapids Engagement Photos

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Ariana and Chris are absolutely effortless to be around, and it makes perfect sense that these two wonderful people ended up together.
We started the engagement session in the backyard of Ariana’s parents, and I can’t believe people get to live with daily sunsets like this. After a lot of genuine laughter and these two looking like movie stars, we moved on to the Ada covered bridge where we ended the day.
They are some of the kindest, most thoughtful humans ever, and I can already tell their wedding is going to be full of people celebrating who they are as individuals as well as a power couple.

Congratulations, and I can’t wait for the big day!

From the archive: Casie and Matt - Blue Dress Barn wedding

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The crazy thing about wedding season is it’s just that: a little crazy. There’s a lot of photographing, backing up files, editing, answering emails, and delivering galleries.

I love it. I definitely feed off the momentum, but it means that I prioritize doing the immediate tasks, and have to decide what can wait until a little later. Blogging has become the thing that I know will still be there, and because of that, I haven’t yet gotten to share some of my favorite weddings, portraits, and couple’s sessions even dating back a year or two!
Well, the time has come, and I’m excited to start rolling out a little bit of past work from the archives that still deserves it’s spot on the website, starting with Casie and Matt’s gorgeous Blue Dress Barn wedding from 2021 in Benton Harbor, MI.

Enjoy the summer vibes and the lovebirds being gorgeous.

Dani and Zach - Grand Rapids engagement photos

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March in Michigan means never really knowing which season we’re going to experience on any given day. As Dani and Zach’s engagement session date approached, a flash blizzard decided we would be working with winter, and they both rose to the challenge.
Location one looks like it could have been a nature preserve, but it’s actually the land where their home together will be built. It’s so cool to me that they’ll be able to look back at their engagement photos and see how different the property is through the years, and that’s a huge reason why I love including personal aspects into the portraits.

Location two was a bonus for me as someone who lives off coffee as my number one source of fuel. We ventured to Lantern Coffee in downtown Grand Rapids for a latte break from the cold, and then wrapped up at my favorite GR parking garage for some golden hour magic.

Spring is almost here, but I didn’t at all mind one final winter session. Congratulations you two!

Alex and Nick - Kalamazoo moody engagement photos

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Alex: "We already had traditional engagement photos taken when I proposed"

Me: "Okay cool, how about we do ultra-moody UN-traditional engagement photos then?"

I’m a huge fan of alternative engagement portraits, and Alex and Nick were absolutely up for the challenge. I completely embraced the opportunity to go full “fine art” mode, and sent them a mood board with style inspiration in preparation. When going for a more monochromatic look, I want a simple, usually urban, location that doesn’t have a lot of color naturally. A parking garage is one of my favorite go-to spots for this reason, but this time around, I wanted something new with lots of leading lines, and this set of bleachers completely spoke to me.

The weather may have felt super inhospitable when the shoot day arrived, but they came prepared with all the moody layers to fight even the coldest winter day. This was also the perfect trial run for their January wedding photos (Pocket warmers are key), so win-win all around.

Thanks for being rockstars with hearts of gold you incredible humans!

Olivia and Garrett - Al Sabo engagement photos

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Olivia and Garrett’s engagement session had all the necessities (specifically flowers and wine). They were already so sweet and natural in front of the camera, but it is definitely a portrait session pro-tip to have a sip of something before, or during your session to loosen nerves and just generally make photos more of a complete activity, or maybe even a date night.
It was a fairly hot Michigan fall evening when we adventured around Al Sabo preserve looking for the best photo and picnic locations, and we were certainly not disappointed.

Congratulations you two!

Britt and Zach - Blodgett Wedding Barn wedding photos

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Zach and Britt are genuinely some of the best people you will ever meet in your life. They love their friends and family so big, and deserved the best of wedding days, which thankfully, they absolutely got.

They had all the perfect midwest touches, like microbrewery growlers to hold the floral centerpieces, classic cornhole boards (“Bags” for those who like controversy), and a “Flower Bro” with a fanny pack who took his job very seriously. Britt did the cutest thing for the bridesmaids preparation outfits, and made it into a Goodwill challenge. Each girl was given a small, specific budget, and had to grab whatever they wanted to wear during hair and makeup within a few minutes of being in the thrift store. This resulted in some pretty fire looks, and no two will ever be the same.

They opted for a touching first look, which gave them a ton of time to just focus on partying with their favorite people into the reception.
I wish you both the most happiness for all of the years, I’m so glad I got to be a part of your day!

Whitley and Chris - Ludington wedding portraits

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Whitley and Chris had the coolest idea for wedding portraits.
Rather than choosing between either:
1. Taking a ton of time out of their wedding day to have photos done away from guests

or

2. Missing their golden hour beach portraits

They decided to get all dolled up a few days before, and head to a few of their favorite spots around Ludington (With us playing paparazzi of course). Often wedding vendors will do hair and makeup trials to make sure you’re super happy with the look before the wedding day, and this can seriously be the perfect opportunity to document the fabulousness.
The past year has really shone a light on cool couples that want to do their own thing and choose their own priorities on their big day, and these two are no exception.

Congrats beautiful people!

Lindsey and Mike - Downtown Kalamazoo engagement photos

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Lindsey and Mike are the epitome of balancing each other in all the right ways. They met through teaching, and it didn’t take long for the sparks to fly. Lindsey is such a bright energy in every room she enters, and Mike is a steady source of support.

I adore these two beautiful humans, and I could not be happier for them!

Kylie and Evan - Downtown Kalamazoo engagement photos

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I attempt every year to take advantage of all the blooming trees in downtown Kalamazoo, and every year I typically miss the peak of them by about a week.

This year, we finally won when Michigan finally blessed us with something other than snow in mid-April! Kylie and Evan were super open to ideas when it came to engagement photo locations in the area, and so we adventured around some particularly bloomy blocks of downtown. They were all genuine smiles and laughter, and it makes me all the more excited for their October wedding.

Congrats lovely people!

Best of 2020 wedding photos

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Oh 2020, what can I say about you that hasn’t been said already?

There is no doubt that one year ago, none of us had predicted what we would be put through, but sitting here on New Years Eve, waiting to wave goodbye to 2020 with only the middle finger on each hand, I am truly humbled at all the wonderful moments this year also contained.

I wanted to share some of my personal favorites of the 2020 wedding season. Some of these photos represent what the year was, some show my progression as a photographer wanting to take more unique and risky portraits, and some just show the amount of love that continued to show itself through a historically challenging time.

I grew in a lot of ways this year, and I thank you all for growing with me.

Here’s to you beautiful people making the most of it, Happy New Year.

Kayla and Noah - Ypsilanti backyard elopement

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Kayla and Noah’s June elopement was one of the first weddings we documented after the stay at home order was lifted, and it was a small and sweet backyard wedding with the perfect amount of golden hour light.
When they had to shift from a traditional wedding setup, Kayla and her support crew were able to repurpose the centerpieces for a dope geometric ceremony backdrop while keeping all the special details they had woven through their day:

- Game references everywhere, including the vows.

- The cutest ring bearer, Nikko.

- Enough “Painkiller” cocktail to dull even the year 2020.

Congrats you two, I hope you always stay your unique and wonderful selves!

Shauna and Conway - Clifford Lake Inn elopement photography

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Shauna and Conway are super sweet people who had their original wedding plans fall through due to Covid, so when Lindsay from Something to Remember Event Planning reached out to me on Instagram about documenting their elopement in Stanton, I was pretty thrilled I had their new date available.
We customized a short and sweet package for them, and Lindsay absolutely killed everything on the planning side (Which is no small challenge this year).

This elopement has everything from a tear-jerking first look with dad to a scenic lakeside ceremony. All the best things.

Congratulations lovely people!

Brittnay and Brandon - Michigan rose garden elopement

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Brittnay and Brandon have been champions of the year 2020. Their wedding, which was first scheduled for late March, was then downsized to an April elopement, and then rescheduled for later in the year yet again, only to be told that wasn’t possible either.
No matter what life has thrown at them over the past few months, they have been rocks for each other, and completely unwavering in the goal that all they want is to spend the rest of their lives with one another.

When they told me they were finally making it happen, I was completely overjoyed to still be there to document their love!
They gathered close family and friends for a stunning (and safe) elopement ceremony in the middle of a Lansing, MI rose garden, and it was well deserved.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kyles. The party will be so worth the wait!

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Britt and Zach - Warren Dunes engagement photos

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Britt and Zach are easily some of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. They’re both driven and ambitious and spend so much of their time looking out for each other and the people around them.

When we were finally able to get an engagement session on the calendar (Thanks 2020), it was the perfect sunny beach day for a mini road trip from Kalamazoo to Warren Dunes. This spot has always had a million different locations to photograph in, and Britt and Zach were super down to adventure around with us.

Congrats you two! Your September wedding is going to be the stuff dreams are made of (and I’m not just saying that because the wedding meal is tacos).

A quarantine birthday party - Kalamazoo studio portraits (and photography giveaway notice)

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I think we all know at this point that due to the whole COVID-19 situation we’re in, that quite a few birthdays in spring of 2020 are not exactly what we were expecting them to be.
As a human being that loves people, but typically opts for social distance activities on my April birthday (Hammocking, eating charcuterie, petting dogs, etc.) rather than a big party, I didn’t expect many of my plans to change. But the mood certainly did.
It’s so important to be doing what we can to keep others safe at this time, and staying home and distancing is so appreciated by those who don’t have that choice. That being said, I have missed the absolute heck out of shooting! So, I did what any photographer with a tripod, an indoor studio, and a bottle of wine would do: I hosted by own quarantine birthday party.

First of all, if you want to replicate the vintage party vibes, grab that handy 1/2 pro mist filter, and some iridescent cellophane. If you don’t have the filter, a little Vaseline around the edges of your lens is a classic standby to get those bloomy highlights. I also had some pink and coral gels to compliment the foreground, feel free to mess around with whatever color scheme suits your fancy.

Second of all, this mini self-portrait shoot was exactly what my heart needed, and I cannot wait to get back into the world of documenting lovely people. Which brings me to the fun part…

So many incredible humans have given up their birthday celebration this year to keep others safe, and that’s beautiful and worth recognizing. So here’s the Stay-at-home birthday giveaway!
If you or someone you know had their birthday effected by the pandemic in any way, drop their name on Facebook or Instagram and two people will be randomly chosen to be gifted an entire photo shoot to be redeemed safely at a later date this year. Studio, headshots, stylized, outdoor, whatever. Their choice entirely, and their day to celebrate.
The winners don’t have to be a fan of either page to win, and I’ll be choosing one winner from Facebook and one from Instagram, so feel free to throw the same name out twice! Here are the links that matter:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/entradaphotography

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/entradaphotography



Thanks for being fabulous Michigan, see you soon.