Riverside Park Engagement Session- Katie and Jeremiah

Grand Rapids, MI
Riverside Park

Congratulations Katie and Jeremiah! This cool couple met at ONU as freshmen. Katie and her roommate went to the dining hall and she asked where they should sit. Katie looked around and noticed this blonde with “oh shit blue eyes” and said, “Table 10 next to that guy.” Jeremiah was with his roommate and they tried to impress the ladies by talking about past surgeries they had from different events. Jeremiah ditched a dorm party to play Hakki sack with them in the quad, and the four of them were inseparable after that. Their roommates starting dating and pushed Katie and Jeremiah to date as well. Anything they did turned into a bet. They played pool ALL the time. So one day, their friends said if they lost, Jeremiah had to take Katie on a date. She is pretty sure he lost on purpose.

Their first date started with mini golf and bets. He asked Katie what sounded good for dinner and she wanted a McChicken. They walked by the football field and kept walking into the night at Perry Farms. It was a great night.

The four friends ended up leaving school and the two roommates got engaged. Jeremiah moved from MI to IL, where Katie would visit and play endless hours of Mario Party and Spades. Jeremiah came to visit Katie’s family one weekend and then just never went back. They’ve been together over 10 years now. There’s nothing they can’t  overcome. 

This past Christmas they went out to Seattle to visit his brother. They were standing on the beach, whale-watching, looking across the Canadian snow capped mountains, turning to see the Seattle skyline, and then more, to see Mt Rainier popping through the clouds. He said they should move there. Katie said she wouldn’t move across the country without getting married. She told him they could elope. There in the mountains, with just their parents and a photographer. He said no, they should get married back home with all their family and friends because he knew that’s what she really wanted. That would give them time to save and have a year before they moved. So, it was more of a mutual agreement that they should get married. Haha! It was romantic all the same. So now the wedding is the perfect fall weekend and their honeymoon is a two week camping trip traveling the country out to Seattle.

When it’s not COVID, they love going to the movies or Netflix binge-ing. Popcorn is normally a main food group. They play disc golf, darts, pool, bowling... Obviously disc golf. That is everyday, every weekend if they can. They like hammocks and hiking. Again, disc golf and popcorn. Haha!

We had so much fun at their engagement “date”! What a cool cool couple. So excited for the wedding in the fall in Mount Pleasant!! Enjoy this little preview:

Blodgett Barn Wedding

Schoolcraft, MI
Blodgett Barn

Congratulations Jessica and Eric! These two met five years ago, when Jessica was the new girl to an all male department at work. Eric was hopping between shifts when their paths crossed. She mentioned how nice it would be to grab breakfast after getting out at 6:30 am, but didn’t have any friends who would be awake at that time. Eric managed to hear this and they exchanged numbers, and the following morning, she forced him out of bed at 6:30 am to grab breakfast at Crow’s Nest in Kalamazoo. From that point on they were pretty content with spending all of their time together. Being on separate shifts, she would call Eric every morning, and he would reluctantly wake up to grab breakfast.

Eric proposed a few years later on a backpacking trip on North Manitou Island. On the ferry to get to the island, a storm was slowly rolling in. They made a plan to set up camp at the first good site they could find, just as it started to rain. The mosquitoes were AWFUL without the wind blowing off the lake, and they spent the better part of the night dousing themselves selves in bug spray, although they managed to eat dinner on the beach in between the rain showers. The rain started to pick up in the middle of the night, with the loudest thunder ever, along with a slow leak in the tent. The following morning they watched the sun rise, and hiked out. The mosquitoes were still persistent, but they had fun joking and hiking along, given the lack of sleep the night before. They set up camp on the highest dune they could find with nice tree cover, overlooking Lake Michigan. They walked down to the beach and spent some time watching boats out on the water, and marveled at how drastically the weather had changed from the night before. It was at this point that Eric got down on one knee…

They are backpacking around New Zealand for their honeymoon!! Amazing, right?

In case you missed their adorable engagement session at Townsend Park, you can check it out here:
https://lookatthebiggerpicture.com/blog/townsend-park-engaged-jessica-and-eric

Enjoy the preview of their big day!!
Thank you to the fabulous and talented Emily Betcher for second shooting with me! We had so much fun!