Our Wedding Pt. 1 by Boy Girl Beauty World
On Friday, September 27th, 2019, Dustin and I exchanged our marriage vows beneath a cathedral of red pines at the Mouth of the Huron River.
I’ve been dying to share our images with you all since we’ve gotten them back from our incredible photographer duo, Dylan and Marisa, at Boy Girl Beauty World! We broke our wedding shenanigans up into two separate days (more on that in my next post coming out next Wednesday), so I’m sharing our wedding in a two part series as well.
Dustin and I have always dearly loved living in the forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, both as individuals and now together as we grow our family. When choosing our locations for getting ready, photos, and our ceremony site, we knew the woods needed to be involved. We feel most spiritually moved with lichens and mosses beneath my feet, and a mosaic of coniferous and deciduous as a canopy above. For our engagement photos, we galavanted around the Baraga Plains and Canyon Falls, places I frequented growing up. We chose to get married in the remoteness of Skanee, where the Lindemann family camp stands just a couple miles from roaring Lake Superior.
My bridesmaids and I spent the night at the Lightfoot Bay cabins, owned by Keweenaw Land Trust. You donate as much as you wish to stay, and all profits go into the cabin and the protected wetlands surrounding. I slept in a twin bunk-like bed with my sister the night before, making it feel like the days we used to share a room, but maaaybe the bed wasn’t quite as roomy now as adults. The men and our parents met us at the cabin for an egg bake and Hilltop sweet roll brunch, and we played hacky sack in the morning mist. The first few images in the set were taken by my dear friend and bridesmaid, Bryana, before our photographers arrived.
When our photographers arrive, the guys left and the ladies zoned in on getting ready. I am SO obsessed with our florals from Protea Floral Design!!! Bobbi at Protea was so accommodating in making my floral dreams come to life!! She took it upon herself to make sure local Keweenaw bearded lichens were harvested for both my bouquet and Dustin’s boutonniere.
The guys got ready at the Lindemann camp. I LOVE camp, and camps in general for their rustic and quirky nature! I think my favorite image from the guys getting ready is the second one below… someone asked what they should be doing, Dustin’s face is the response… hahaha.
Dustin and I chose a first look location near the base of Bald Mountain, a part of the Huron Mountains.
…scenes on the way to the location.
Driving in my wedding dress, hahaha.
I honestly expected us both to be crying for our first look (the aisle moment was when the tears were flowing for EVERYONE!). Instead it was pure elation and giddiness, trying to process the fact that today was the day we’d be soulfully bound forever.
We leapt around the rocks on the Huron River…
A couple of hours before the ceremony, we met up with the bridal party at the Lindemann camp to round everyone up for photos.
We headed to the ceremony site to knock out wedding party photos ahead of time while there was ample light.
This is one of my favorite moments that Dylan and Marisa captured: my cousins Sam and Kelley seeing each other for the first time in 13 years!!!
A few family photos on the shores of Lake Superior…
At 6 pm, our ceremony began. My Grandpa Dale agreed months before to marry us. It’s sort of an inside joke. He initially attended seminarian school to become a Catholic priest, but when the university caught wind that he was romantically writing letters back and forth with my grandma, he left and married her. We told him he would have his shot at being some sort of minister at least by marrying us, haha!!
Our dear friend, Ellen, played her guitar and sang out her heart and soul. Fun fact: Ellen is my sister’s boyfriend’s sister, and was also neighbors before with one of our photographers! While the bridal party entered, she sang Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley. When Ayden and my father walked me in, she switched to Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart. I looked up at the swaying pine boughs above, and then my dad leaned over and asked, “Are you ready?” The happy tears didn’t stop after that. As we walked down the aisle, nearly all of our friends and family were crying with us. If you look closely, you can see the tears streaming in most of the photos.
As the ceremony site was packed up and guests headed to the Lindemann camp, we ran around on the beach for a few more minutes before night completely fell.
We had a small reception for our families at the Lindemann camp. We have an inside joke in Dustin’s family about eating hotdogs at the Mouth of the Huron. Once on a winter night after a few beers together, one of Dustin’s uncles kept insisting that we go out to the Mouth to cook some f****ng hot dogs. We HAD to make this actually happen.
Before I wrap up this post, here’s the link to our video. Our videographer, Sam Ozanich, absolutely killed it!!! I cry every time I watch or simply listen. It’s hard to hear my grandpa’s words over the wind and the lake, but if you listen closely, he says, “I would suggest that everyday you say to your partner three words, ‘I love you.’ And do this everyday, not only for your love for each other grow, but it will impact those that surround you.”
Our wedding part 2… coming next week…
Stay tuned!
Photographer: Boy Girl Beauty World | Videographer: S.O. Photography | Ceremony venue: the Mouth of the Huron River | Officiant: Grandpa Dale | Florist: Protea Floral Design | Hair: Alexandrea Larson @ Hairitage Salon | Bride’s sweater: Covington & Co. | Bridesmaid sweaters: Aerie | Bride’s shoes: Keds | Bride’s jewelry: back necklace and earrings - Barks & Roots Basketry, pearl bracelet made from mother-of-the-groom’s dress | Something blue: Ihana Jewelry | Dress: Dan’s Bridal | Bridesmaid dresses: Birdy Grey, BHLDN, Lulu’s | Groom’s suit: Express | Groom’s shoes: Carhartt | Ayden’s suit: H&M | Ayden’s shoes: Merrell | Rings: Etsy | Musician: Ellen Jarvis | Bridesmaid coffee mugs: Anthropologie | Flower girl dress: Etsy