A stunning bride in a fitted lace dress with a long train and a cathedral veil. A dapper groom whose eyes welled with tears as he saw his bride walk down the aisle toward him. A perfect, private estate on Lake Michigan for portraits. A bridal party entrance by boat. And one of Michigan’s gorgeous sunsets over the water. They say nothing can ever be truly perfect, but Brooke and Jake’s wedding day certainly was!
Brooke and Jake met one summer when they were both camp counselors at Gull Lake Ministries. Jake was living in Indiana and Brooke was from Michigan. Jake had his eye on Brooke, but Brooke wasn’t interested. She thought he was just another jock (he played baseball in college) and didn’t want to get involved with that. Brooke, however, thought he would be perfect for her good friend, Molly (who was actually one of Brooke’s bridesmaid and Brooke’s, Maid of Honor, Jessica pointed this out to everyone during her speech and the whole room was laughing) and wanted to set her up with him. Jake had other ideas though and continued to pursue Brooke even though she wasn’t initially interested in him. They kept hanging out and eventually Brooke started to fall for him. After dating long distance while they were both finishing up college, Jake proposed to Brook and asked her to spend forever with him. She said yes and these two were married a little over a week ago in Holland, MI.
Their wedding day was filled with so many sweet moments. Before the ceremony, Brooke’s bridesmaids prayed over her to give her a special blessing for the day and for her marriage. I couldn’t help sneaking a few peeks back at Jake as Brooke walked down the aisle and he became overwhelmed with emotion at seeing his sweet bride. One of my favorite moments of the day was after Brooke walked down the aisle and joined hands with Jake, her younger brother was so moved, he started crying as well out of happiness for his sister as family members comforted him.
After they were officially pronounced husband and wife, we headed off to a private estate on Lake Michigan to take portraits. Brooke was game for anything and climbed down an eight foot aluminum ladder in her wedding dress to get to the private beachfront and I’m so glad she was up for this and getting her dress a little sandy because these are some of my favorite bridal portraits ever! There’s something about that blue lake water, the movement in her wind blown veil and the sun shining down that was the perfect trifecta for photos.
The party got started when Brooke, Jake and their bridal party arrived to their reception on the water at Boatwerks in Holland via a floral decorated pontoon boat! After Brooke and Jake shared their first dance, Brooke shared a special dance with her dad where he balled into her shoulder as they danced. It was such a special moment between them and I was even welling up behind my camera too.
Brooke & Jake, thank you for inviting me into your family for the day and allowing me to document day one of your marriage. It was a beautiful day between two people with beautiful hearts and I’m so happy I was able to capture it for you. I hope you and your families love and cherish these photos for generations to come. Much love, Jen. xx
