Jess + Steve

11.13.2022

Dino-scored the day they met each other.

When couples reach out to us about helping with a couples session, engagement session, or wedding, we always want to meet up and chat first. Even after we have met we have questionnaires too, because, well, we love to get to know the people we photograph. I'm a firm believer that getting to know people at least a little bit helps capture their personality in photos, and after all, we do say our words are, "radiant, lively, and real." Plus, it's just really neat to hear people's stories!

After every interaction with Jess + Steve, I couldn't stop talking about how much I adore them, their personalities, and their stories. And the fact that we both are fans of silly salt + pepper shakers. They're just those special kinds of people that you feel like you can talk to about anything, the people you can have honest, good conversations with that could just go on for hours. Even with her writing, in the answers to the questionnaires, Jess could make me laugh out loud because she writes with the same tone she speaks in as if you can hear her speaking and aren't just reading her writing.

So it makes complete sense that amazing people like Jess + Steve have a great love story too.

They met at a Jimmy Eat World Concert... Well, not really, but they COULD have met at a concert. They had a lot of close misses, where they were both at the same concert, but just didn't cross paths yet.

After they had met and had been dating for a while, Steve would tell Jess that when he proposed he would jump out of a hot-air balloon with fireworks. While that's not exactly what happened, it's close... How Steve really proposed to Jess is actually even cooler.

Steve made a 7-level video game based where the levels were based on different moments in our relationship. In the end, his character jumped out of a hot air balloon, with fireworks and the character proposed and so did he.

A sight for saur eyes.

Something that Jess + Steve like to do together is try new breweries, so it was very fitting that their wedding was at Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

We met at their venue, to set up their first look, where Jess was able to show off her beauty in her David's Bridal gown and Steve was able to show her how dapper he looked in his Manno suit.

But the best part was that they were just able to see each other and take in that it was finally their wedding day. Hearing Jess say after their first look, "I feel so much better now that I've seen him." is just another reason I'm such an advocate for first looks!

Hair + Make-up by: Pretty Committee and Leah Nicole Bridal
Shoes: Custom Vans, work by After August Co.

A love of Jurassic proportions.

Thinking back to their day, there was so much symbolism. We did portraits with a mural, just like during their engagement session. They were married on a stage where so many inspiring musicians and artists had been before them, and their such music lovers. How Jess had her sister officiate their wedding, when not too long before, Jess had officiated her wedding. Even Jess walking down the aisle, to Jurassic Park, with all their dinosaur nods throughout their day. To me it shows how much care and emotion these two take in their everyday moments and things. They truly appreciate all the little things and what makes them who they are. ♥

Love Finds Away.

They told me they envisioned their wedding day to be laid-back, nothing too fancy, but to still have some traditional elements. What was most important to them was to have the people they loved enjoy themselves and celebrate with them. They had exactly that.

They had wonderful food, delicious cakes, and cupcakes by Stud Muffin Bakery, and even a cake smash cake for their nephew who shared the celebration with his first birthday! And of course, a little bit of dancing for their traditional elements. Jess and Steve shared their first married dance, Jess and her Father and Steve and his Mama.

A few of my favorite notes from the dancing are; during Jess + Steve's dance, I overheard Steve say something along the lines of to Jess after they continuously giggled about how awkward they felt, " I love dancing with you, but not alone with everyone watching.". This is just very much their personalities, they're not people who want the spotlight, they prefer to be the people to shower the love on their favorite people instead.

Jess's sentimental side during the dance with her Father, while he whispered how much he loved her and other happy words.

Steve chose his Grandma's favorite song to dance to with his Mama too. Which, anything Grandma-related always hits me in the feels.

They really had a perfect wedding day and I'm not only incredibly honored to have been there to help document it but to know these two wonderful humans.