Mulberry & Sage

Author: Megan

Marine City Wedding Photographer | Hilary & Ken – Starville Church

We first met Hilary and Ken a couple months ago, thanks to Hilary’s mom diligent research for the perfect Marine City wedding photographer for their May 4th wedding. Hilary and Ken’s love story is one that dates back 25 years, and it was an honor to watch the two of them finally marry each other and tie the knot at Starville Church last weekend. Hilary has a long history of pilots in her family, and Ken currently being a proud pilot fits right into the story. Hilary’s dad was a pilot for years, and her grandfather was too. Their travel theme wedding was perfectly executed in every single direction that you looked in. The entire church had vintage luggage, globes, memories and photos, and tons of tiny details like we’ve never seen before. We could have just photographed the details for hours, because there were so many of them and you could really tell all the thought and effort that Hilary and her church/friend community had put in to decorating for their special day.

We started the day by having an intimate first look right outside the front doors of the church. Starville Church is so beautiful and quaint! We love first looks because they really seem to relax the timeline quite a bit, because it allows for all the portraits and bridal party photos to be done ahead of time; that way we can just focus on the formal family photos immediately after the ceremony, and you could even enjoy your own time together while your guests relax during the cocktail hour before the reception officially begins. We then caravanned to downtown Marine City and did some photos in front of the Lester House in Marine City. Their back “carriage house” was seriously the perfect location for bridal party photos. Then we scouted out a beautiful magnolia tree that was perfectly blooming and did some romantic photos by that, since all of their florals featured magnolias (we love it when all the little details come together!)

One of the most unique and fun parts of the wedding was when their officiant (who also just so happened to be Hilary’s brother) said, “May I have the rings, please?” They had rigged some invisible line running from he balcony to the front alter area, and sent their wedding rings flying down the line tucked inside of a paper airplane. No one was expecting it, and it was awesome to capture the awe of that moment, and see how they made it special to them and their theme.

We had a wonderful time being Hilary and Ken’s Marine City wedding photographer, and hope you enjoy this small preview into their special travel-themed day. If you’re in the Metro Detroit or Port Huron area and are looking for a local Marine City wedding photographer, we would love to connect with you! Our 2020 is quickly booking (crazy, right?!)

May 9, 2019
Rustic Theme Engagement Session | Lisa & Matt

Lisa and Matt booked Mulberry & Sage Photography earlier this year to be their upcoming Shelby Gardens Wedding Photography team, and in meeting with them, we got to learn about their relationship, and love for each other, and their adorable furry children. Matt and Lisa have two dogs: Mia and Bella, and wanted to schedule a rustic theme engagement session for the spring time to get a photo they can use on their save the date card.

In Michigan in the spring time, the weather can be super hit or miss, and we luckily dodged the rain (by maybe 20 minutes!) on the evening of their scheduled Rustic Theme Engagement Session. While all the foliage is just on the verge of emerging for the spring, everything is still pretty brown and bare, so we were thrilled when Lisa and Matt wanted to add a splash of color into it and embrace the spring weather right along with us. Every season and every session has something unique and fun to offer, and we love couples that roll with the flow and appease our (sometimes crazy) ideas (that may or may not involve ladders and tons of PDA.)

Mia and Bella brought their A- Game and loved being included into the photos. We loved commenting about how they appear to be smiling in the photos, as if they are so proud of their parents and their wedding bells scheduled for this September. Their wedding is scheduled to take place at the Shelby Gardens Banquet & Events Center, in Shelby Township, Michigan. We know that they will be adding in lots of flair and fun aspects to make their wedding unique and fun. Their colors are blush/rose gold and navy blue, and we love how they subtly wore those very colors to their Rustic Theme Engagement Session to incorporate them into it.

We love when couples are open to ideas and suggestions for those tricky outdoor engagement sessions in the chilly months, and love how willing and excited Matt and Lisa were for their engagement session. The rustic theme of the barns and the fields and trail was perfect for their laid-back and fun loving attitude towards each other, and we were all cracking up the entire time. We hope you enjoy this small preview into their Rustic Theme Engagement Session in Clyde, Michigan. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer, we still have some 2019 dates available, and are also quickly booking into 2020; we’d love to discuss how Mulberry & Sage can be your ultimate photography team.

April 11, 2019
A Polar Vortex Winter Engagement Session | Katie & Josh

Josh has known Courtney for quite a long time, and we were thrilled when they contacted us to be their 2019 Michigan wedding photography team. They wanted to also do an engagement session to use for their save the date cards, and we set up their Winter Engagement Session on the scheduling books for late January. The time came around, and, Michigan being what it is, we were greeted with the coldest days known to mankind during the week of their session. We quickly brainstormed some indoor photography options around the downtown Port Huron area, and came up with some great places that also hold sentimental value to the two of them. Katie told us that she was going to wear a formal gown, and so our minds immediately went to inside the Ladies of the Maccabees building, conveniently where our photography studio is located. The lobby has an old school charm and has the original tile flooring, a beautiful wooden banister, and marble walls. I wish we could also find a way to capture all the details that this old building really has- including the original crown molding that is huge and detailed in the charming early 1900’s way.

We also did a couple photos outside on the steps of that building, and the sun was shining and it made us forget that the windchill was negative twenty degrees. From there, we headed over the The Vintage Tavern, which holds a special place in their heart because that’s actually where Josh proposed to Katie. They love going there when they get their date nights, and the old building is beautiful on the inside. We always suggest incorporating a shared interest into your engagement session, so kicking back and having a wine and a beer during their winter engagement session was my favorite part of it, because it captured some totally natural and organic moments shared between the two of them, that were full of love.

We can’t wait until their September 2019 fall wedding, and hope you enjoy this small preview into their winter engagement session. We always recommend an engagement session with us prior to your wedding, because it gives us the perfect opportunity to get to know each other and hang out before your big day. We would love to connect with you, if you’re looking for a 2019 or 2020 Michigan wedding photographer team.

February 5, 2019
Team Member Spotlight: Meet Serena

Those of you who have worked with Mulberry & Sage in the past may have heard us casually refer to our friend and coworker Serena. We thought that now would be the perfect time to fully introduce her, as her name keeps coming up both in in our reviews, and also in future couple consultations. While Courtney and Megan are the key partners in Mulberry & Sage, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is being submerged fully in our community around the Metro Detroit area of fellow photographers and business owners. After all, being involved that a photography group is originally how Courtney and I (Megan) met 3 years ago. Being a business owner in the photography realm was once described to me as “the loneliest, most social job ever.” And that completely rings true. Outside of photographing the weddings together, most of our jobs are spent in our separate homes, editing, marking, writing blogs, and parenting our children (while also simultaneously hinting to them that they are next in line to take over our gig when we’re old and crusty.) Obviously since Courtney and I tag-team the business owning title, we communicate with each other pretty much daily.

While we do our best to always photograph weddings together, sometimes we need to split up and divide and conquer. We do offer intimate wedding packages with only one photographer, rendering the other of us available on certain days. Or, it may be a birthday weekend or family vacation weekend for one of us, leaving the other one of us available for photographing weddings. All of this is my long, drawn out way of saying that, sometimes, you may not see the Courtney & Megan duo, and in those cases, we rely on our amazing network of fellow professional photographers to seamlessly step in and fill our shoes. Serena has been a professional wedding photographer for over 5 years herself, and is someone that we constantly call on to be our trusted stand-in. And that relationship goes both ways fairly often; I will always be Serena’s second photographer for weddings days that she books through her own business when I am available. We’ve photographed many (many!) weddings together, and we always showcase the exact same look and feel that you’d be used to with any other Mulberry & Sage wedding. And that’s exactly why her partnership with us is so special.

When Courtney was out on maternity leave last fall, Serena stepped in and photographed quite a few weddings with me. Heck, she even showed up one day with a 6 pack of Ginger Ale in her camera bag because she had literally gotten food poisoning the night before, and she was still there. (And you would have never known by looking at her.) We acted silly trying to get people on the dance floor. We learned line dances. We took blackmail photos of each other’s dumb photography poses/antics to entice laughter. If you can’t have fun with the people you work with….well, I don’t really know a cute answer to that, but I would imagine that it sucks. You’ll be seeing more from Courtney and Serena’s weddings this spring/early summer as well.

If you hear us talking about Serena, rest assured that you are in amazing and capable hands for your wedding day. To see some examples of weddings that she has been a part of alongside us, we’re happy to send you links to wedding blogs we’ve published from 2017 and 2018. Serena can also be found via her website at www.littleanchorphoto.com & about her personally here.

Don’t judge the Instagram selfies. @mulberryandsagephotography

Team Member Spotlight Happy Reviews:

We met Megan & Courtney at the bridal expo in Port Huron. They had the cutest setup and it immediately caught my eye. They were the only photographers we met with and immediately booked with them. They were genuinely so nice and so much fun to work with. They were also so professional and always responded to my emails promptly. We had so much fun during our engagement session! Posing for pictures can be awkward but Megan and Courtney kept us laughing the entire time! Our pictures came out perfect that we had such a hard time picking our favorites! This made me so much more excited to work with them on our wedding day! Courtney sadly couldn’t make the wedding due to her being at the end of her pregnancy but Megan made sure she booked someone else to be the second photographer( and she picked a great choice with Serena). We once again had the best time working with Megan- my bridal party and my parents were raving about her afterwards. Megan fit right in with everyone and she felt like a friend! Our wedding pictures blew us away! They came out absolutely amazing!!! I would highly recommend these ladies to everyone! I hope we can work with them again in the future :-). Thank you again!!! -Theresa, November 2018 Bride

We used these lovely ladies as our wedding photographers and they are absolutely amazing! Megan was our main photographer and Serena was the 2nd, and they were with us every step of the way. She made everything so easy and was so accommodating. We got special access to Spartan Stadium last minute and she came up with great ideas and our photos turned out amazing. Our pictures came fast and turned out stunning! We will definitely use her in the future for our major milestones! – Lauren, November 2017 Bride

January 22, 2019
Solitude Links Wedding Photographer | Theresa & Matt

We waited anxiously all year for Theresa and Matt’s early November wedding, for when they hired Mulberry & Sage Photography to be their Solitude Links Wedding Photographer team for the day. You may remember this couple from earlier this year when we spent the afternoon doing their engagement session in the early spring. We first met Theresa and Matt at the Bridal Expo that we participated in back in January. We knew that their wedding at Solitude Links Golf Course in Kimball was going to be our last official wedding of the season, and couldn’t wait to spend the day with the two of them and see all the hard work that they had put into the day come together for an amazing finale.

Matt and Theresa met 7 years ago at a “drinking establishment” and have been together and unstoppable ever since. They are truly perfect for each other, and compliment each other nicely. Both of them were very laid back on their wedding day, and were up for pretty much anything; even if that meant enduring the frigid cold for photos outdoors in the early evening before the sun went down. Since Courtney was 8+ months pregnant, we had Serena step in and act as my right hand lady, and she quickly got a crash course on how to operate a golf cart properly, and the 4 of us were able to trek into the back part of the course for portraits of the two of them, and we even got to have some snow on the ground, too. As always, we love (LOVE) working with Solitude Links, and love being one of their preferred vendors, and their management and wait staff are always delightful to coordinate all the small details with. (Not to mention, the food is always amazing there. Those things matter!)

Matt and Theresa tied the knot officially around sunset, and then we headed into their fun reception area which was decorated impeccably to the nines with fall decor. The deep red hues of the bridesmaid’s dresses, and the pumpkins and other rustic decor all coordinated with the bright wooden ambiance of the venue, and it was the perfect marriage of elegance and country-chic.

We hope you enjoy this small preview into Matt and Theresa’s wedding day where we had a great time being their Solitude Links Wedding Photographer team. If you’re getting married in the Port Huron area and need a wedding photographer for 2019 or 2020, we would love to connect with you!

Vendor Team:
Venue: Solitude Links Golf Course (Jen & Kaitlyn)
Photography: Mulberry & Sage
Officiant: Corey @ Ultimate Sounds
DJ: Lee @ Ultimate Sounds
Photo Booth: Ultimate Sounds
Pie: Achatz Pies
Cake: Betsy’s Bakes

November 26, 2018