Choosing a Location

I met Megan and David at a wedding expo last year at Packard Proving Grounds. We connected quickly and it was a no-brainer to say yes when they asked to hire me for their October wedding! I absolutely can’t wait to see them get married, but first we had to celebrate their engagement.

We decided to break up their engagement session into two locations- Goldner Walsh and the cemetery nearby. When we were discussing engagement locations, Megan really wanted to utilize their venue since it’s where they are getting married. They have family that have worked at Goldner Walsh for years, so using them as a venue is super special to them. The nursery has actually been on my list of “places I want to photograph” so I was ecstatic when they told me that was their venue!

Megan also really wanted to incorporate some architecture and nature that the nursery just didn’t have. After looking through her Pinterest inspiration, I suggested finding a local cemetery with the architecture she wanted. I found that she was drawn to the look of the stone and more gothic architecture but with nature still around- stairs, benches, walls, mausoleums. It was definitely a gothic vibe (something I’ve never done before) and I was up for the challenge! Neither of us imagined an engagement session happening at a cemetery, and because it’s so different from others we were drawn to it even more. My tip for couples: do what makes you happy and express yourselves.

I always like to caution my couples with Pinterest. Pinterest is a fantastic resource, and honestly is where I found a lot of my own wedding inspiration and bridesmaids gifts. Sometimes though it can be responsible for sticker shock when you go to inquire about certain things. I’m looking at you floral industry. I LOVE florals and now knowing the work that goes into setting up florals for weddings, I understand why the cost is what it is. But man if I wasn’t shocked and unprepared when I got quotes for floral arches for my own wedding.

Booking at a venue like Goldner Walsh definitely has its benefits. A location like a greenhouse or a flower farm (read about a flower farm wedding I did here) can usually provide florals. Sometimes having more things in-house rather than being brought in from somewhere else can help you budget differently. It also provides you with a unique opportunity to use what’s already available at the venue. Not every venue provides florals or catering in house so you really have a chance to kick back and let your venue truly handle it all.

A Goldner Walsh Engagement

This summer I hired an assistant to take Behind-The-Scenes and be an extra hand for me on session and wedding days. I’m so glad I decided to do this because I really had the opportunity to share what it’s like to work with me through video. My assistant took lots of behind the scenes for this engagement session and it’s posted on my Instagram! You can find it quickly by checking out my BTS Highlight on my profile!

When we arrived to Goldner Walsh, we found that we had pretty much the entire property to use. I honestly could have spent our whole hour there. There was just that much to utilize! For the sake of time, we stayed in areas with lots of greenery and empty greenhouse buildings. It was that weird time of the year where we’re starting to head into fall but summer is also over and dead. Not many of the leaves were changing quite yet, but the florals were starting to prepare for the colder weather coming.

We decided to stick to the areas with greenery and architecture. Ferns were a plenty in the greenhouses and I met a tortoise who’s name I can’t remember, but he was so cute. I was told he lives there year round and if that’s not cool, then I don’t know what is. Goldner Walsh has a colorful mural on the front of it’s building that we of course had to use as well. Overall, I highly recommend using this nursery as a photo location and I can’t wait to go back in October for the wedding.

Spooky Engagement in Pontiac

As mentioned before, the second half of Megan and David’s engagement session took place in a local cemetery. When choosing this location I really wanted to focus more on the architecture rather than the actual gravestones (although we did use a couple). I’m not into spooky things and I hate scary movies. I’ve seen plenty of them, and the thought of messing with someone’s eternal place of rest was just not really a good idea to me. We made sure to be as distanced as we could to give the background that spooky flair without bothering anything. It really was giving Addams Family vibes and now I would love to be Morticia and Gomez’s photographer.

Just like Goldner Walsh, I probably could have spent the entire hour at this cemetery. We were very intentional when choosing this one. The cemetery was very large with wide open spaces and lots of interesting mausoleums. I studied architecture in high school, so when I enter a space the designs are usually the first thing I look for.

Let’s Connect

I would love to photograph your dream engagement! I offer engagement sessions in my wedding packages, but I also offer these separately for those just wanting a single session! If you’re nervous because you have a vision but don’t know any locations- don’t be! I work with every single couple to get an idea of their vision and help them choose a location (or two) that will be perfect for them. Some other locations I’ve used include Belle Isle in Detroit, Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, and Sharp Farm in Swartz Creek. I truly travel all over Michigan to capture engagements and weddings! Contact me to schedule your engagement session- I’d love to work with you!