Jazz and Steve have been one of my most memorable couples to date. They were married July 6, 2018 at Southern Exposure Herb Farm in Battle Creek, Michigan. I’ve been wanting to write this blog for quite some time now but I’ve had serious bloggers block. I got caught up on how to perfectly articulate into words just how beautiful their day was. I realized in the end the images will speak for themselves.

Jazz and I spoke for the first time over the phone and I remember thinking I could listen to her talk for hours, she is from South Africa and has the most alluring accent. That paired with her fiery red hair and vibrant personality, it is no wonder Steve fell head over heels in love. She was eager to tell me about all her plans for what she hoped to be a “fairy twinkle land” wedding. One important detail to know about Jazz is how thrifty she is. I could hear the excitement in her voice while she was telling me about all the sticks she was collecting that would later become part of her bouquet, the boutonnières and the table centerpieces. Her dress was made up of different pieces she found online that she reconstructed and transformed into a one of kind dress that took on different looks for different parts of the day. Jazz did her own hair and makeup and even helped the girls with their makeup. She made her own flowery crown headpiece. The wedding cake was even baked by the maid of honor! This was a perfect example of how weddings don’t have to break the bank to be gorgeous.

Mother nature blessed Jazz and Steve with literally a perfect summer’s day. I was nervous leading up to that Friday because we had been stuck in a week of extremely hot and humid days reaching the high 90’s. The day before the wedding a huge storm rolled through and cleared the path for blue skies and sunshine topping it off with a photographers favorite golden hour! Southern Exposure Herb Farm was the ideal backdrop for these two. The guests were encouraged to stroll through the lush gardens surrounded with colorful flowers and all sorts of hidden gems sprinkled throughout. I can’t wait to go back and explore some more!

Some other intimate details worth mentioning are how Steve and Jazz wrote their own vows. Steve accidentally wrote his letter to Jazz on the backside of the paper the vows were on and you’ll see in one of the images it says “vows – don’t read!” Jazz was led down the aisle by her brother Kirk (her dad unfortunately could not make it from South Africa) however, Kirk was holding his phone with their dad on Skype so he could walk down the aisle with Jazz and still be a part of his daughters wedding. I also thought it was very sweet that Steve’s dad was the officiant who married them. At the reception, Jazz and Kirk rocked out an epic dance to a montage of their favorite songs and really stole the show!

Jazz and Steve are both very comfortable in front of a camera and I was honored to capture stunning images to remind them just how amazing they are as husband and wife. This wedding was the perfect balance of elegance, intimacy, fun and flirtatious energy that all came together seamlessly. Enjoy!

-Charlene