As soon as Haley and I met for Mexican food, we just clicked. She didn’t know that tacos are the way to my heart, but they are. We sat at the Downtown Market in Grand Rapids and talked all things wedding, photography, family, and her fiancé, Tim. When I finally got to meet Tim at their engagement session, it was so apparent that they were made for each other. They’re both so kind and compliment each other so well.

A few months later in September, during a hot Indian summer, they wed. As soon as I got there, I could feel the love and the joy from everyone in Tim and Haley’s life. Getting ready was CHAOTIC, but I mean that in the best way. That’s how it goes when you have so many people around you excited to see you marry the love of your life. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a family of all boys, but I just love a big family with a bunch of sisters. It was so fun to watch them all get ready together, running around making sure everything was done. Haley’s mom finishing the wedding dress while her daughter curled her hair. Haley’s other sister doing her makeup with the other sister did her hair. Everywhere I looked was a train of women helping women and it was so beautiful. Haley’s mom even gave me a cutting of her Christmas cactus to take home and propagate! (I’m happy to report it’s doing very well.) They kept apologizing for the mess, the chaos, the timeline being way behind, but to me, that’s what makes a wedding day memorable. That’s real life. It’s not perfect. It’s messy and you can’t control everything. And that’s marriage too. But when you can smile through the madness and say “It’s fine, don’t worry about it! We’ll get there when we get there.” that’s how you know you found the one. Because things like being 20 or so minutes late to your own wedding, or a less than perfect, magazine quality getting ready room, mean nothing when you get to marry the love of your life.

Vendor Love!

Florist: Cheryl Mast

Cake/Dessert: Lynn Meyers

Second Shooter- Courtney Klok

DJ: Micah Vandermuelen

Hair & Make-up: Elizabeth Ackert at Phases Hair Salon

Catering: Family

Wedding dress: Renee Austin

Jewelry/Rings: Custom engagement ring by Dave Kamp

Groom's suit and shoes: Men’s Warehouse