Hello everyone! I hope you’re weathering the cold well enough. Not a lot happens for us in the winter, but one thing that did, is a surprise winter wedding in Downtown Detroit for our good friend, Tomi and his beautiful bride, Rebecca. Now, when I say this was a surprise, I mean it… Learn more about the surprise, and see some of the amazing portraits and candids we were able to capture throughout the day in this Downtown Detroit Elopement!
It all started with a text at 10:30pm the night before the big event! Tomi asked if we were available for some photos, and we said yes. (This is why we always keep our cameras ready to go, even in the winter.) He told us to meet him at the Parc restaurant in Downtown Detroit, and we said, “Sure thing, see you there!” What he didn’t tell us however, was that it was for his surprise wedding dinner party with his closest friends and family. You see, they were to elope before we arrived, as they wanted some family pictures and the like only, before they have a beach wedding later on next year. So, when we arrived, we were shocked to see them celebrating their marriage! (We were originally thinking it was an engagement session, so we had to do a gear shift. Lol) We congratulated them, and began capturing the memories of the day. First, was the dinner at Parc Detroit, where everyone was cheerfully gathered, and eating some delicious food. I should also mention, that Tomi and Jeff are fraternity brothers, from the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
After everyone finished eating dinner and dessert, then came some gifts from Tomi and Rebecca and some last minute photos, before everyone headed to their next location.
Once everyone headed to their next location, Tomi, Rebecca, Jeff, and I all went on a little tour of Downtown Detroit for some Bride and Groom Portraits. They were loving all of the winter and Christmas themed locations that were found. We visited the Spirit of Detroit, where Tomi had proposed to Rebecca earlier on, and even found a tunnel of lights and evergreens. We finished this tour, with a stop in the middle of the road (during red lights only), and captured the sunset behind them, between the buildings of Detroit.
Next, we moved on to the “Lodge”. It’s a beautiful place in the Middle of Detroit, in the Campus Martius area, that is basically a tent for the winter months, with games, and sitting areas for the public to enjoy. Here, we captured some more candids, as well as a lot of the group shots you would normally see on a wedding day.
Some other stuff happened at the lodge, but we won’t discuss that here. However, after the lodge, it was time for a bar crawl for the rest of the night. The first place we went (and the last place Jeff and I took photos for the evening), was a place called the Buhl Bar. I would call this place a luxurious hole in the wall. It’s a smaller bar, but very relaxing and their customer service was stellar. We only had a few photos here, as Tomi insisted that we celebrate with them, and that our “official” time with him was done. So, he bought us each a few drinks and we celebrated the rest of the night away with Tomi, Rebecca, and all of their friends.
We truly had a wonderful time, and I’m so glad we were there to capture some of these amazing memories for Tomi and Rebecca to enjoy. We hope to be the ones to capture their Beach wedding too, when it is time for that. But, most of all, we wish them both everlasting happiness in their newfound marriage! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story from this day.
P.S. Some images were removed at the request of the client.
xoxo,
Jess
