Intimate Ceremony in St. Clair

I had the opportunity to capture an elopement for one of the sweetest couples this summer. Bill and Diane wanted an intimate ceremony and lunch with their closest friends and family. I have been loving all the intimate ceremonies this year. Elopements are so special. Getting married to your spouse with just your closest people with you is just so incredible. This elopement just goes to show that you don’t have to go anywhere. You can get married locally with it still being special!

Bill and Diane’s intimate day started with a quick rehearsal on the dock right outside The River Crab. My family loves The River Crab! It’s a very nice restaurant right off the St. Clair River (located in St. Clair). The windows all throughout the restaurant give you a fantastic view of Canada and all the boats going by. It’s the perfect place for a summer lunch or an intimate dinner! I highly recommend checking it out! During rehearsal, I met the cutest kids. The ring bearer and flower girls had to practice walking down the aisle, and they were just the cutest. I love when couples incorporate their youngest family members into these roles! Bill had matching Crocs with his grandson. They decorated them with wedding day Jibbitz- while you may think this is an odd choice in footwear for a wedding, it was something special Bill and his grandson would share for so many years to come.

After rehearsal, Bill and Diane went to go get ready. There was a short cocktail hour while guests were arriving- a violin player was entertaining guests as they arrived and all throughout lunch. He was a personal friend of the couple and the music was just beautiful.

The ceremony was equally as sweet as the couple. Family is so important to Diane and Bill that they really tried to incorporate them into their ceremony as much as they could. Their adult children prayed and read poems and readings throughout the ceremony. It was a beautiful way to have the whole family involved! Once the “I Do’s” were said, we retreated into The River Crab for lunch and dessert.

Celebratory Lunch at The River Crab

The staff at The River Crab had beautifully decorated Bill and Diane’s event space. Each table setting had a photo of Diane and Bill as well as a menu. Each table had a beautifully decorated cake as the centerpiece. This is an Italian tradition, and it’s one I love! The couple chooses 3-4 flavors of cake and the tables will have a cake with one of those flavors at each one. You never know what flavor is at your table until you cut into it. The coolest part of this tradition is that it actually is supposed to encourage you to visit other tables to socialize and try each flavor. For an elopement of this size, it was the perfect tradition to incorporate!

Another newer tradition I am loving is when couples want to take photos with all their guests. With bigger weddings, this can take awhile so I always suggest table hopping. The couple and I will visit every table and I’ll snap a quick photo of them with their guests. It’s usually a quick way to make sure you interact with everyone and get a photo with them!

Associate Photography

This summer I did a lot of associate shooting and I’m just now able to start sharing all the weddings and events I worked! Associate shooting is when I step in for another photographer who’s unable to photograph their event. Usually this is reserved for last minute illnesses or family circumstances, but there are photographers out there that regularly contract out weddings so they can take multiple dates. I personally don’t do this often because I love working all the events: weddings, elopements, baby showers, etc. I won’t say I’ll never have an associate team because I don’t know what the future holds, but for now it’s just me! For this elopement, I was shooting on behalf of Hollie Vitale Photography. It’s common courtesy to wait to post any images until the client’s full gallery has been delivered and to tag the photographer you worked for so people know!