Hello, and welcome to the second post of our Throwback Series. It’s Thursday again, and today we’re going to reminisce about a past wedding of ours that took place in Detroit’s Guardian Building.
This beautiful wedding took place in the middle of winter, and happened in Downtown Detroit. The ceremony took place at the Guardian Building, while the reception took place in the now closed Coach Insignia restaurant that used to be located within the Renaissance Center Building, or GM Building. I started the day with the girls getting ready inside of their hotel room, near the top floors of the Ren Cen, while Jeff met with the gentlemen at the Guardian building.
The ladies and I enjoyed the view from the hotel room window, and after they were ready, we headed on our way to meet up with the guys at the Guardian Building. They had some time to get everything ready for the ceremony to come and once the girls and I arrived at the Guardian building, we started to set up for the first look between Lisa and Rob.
The first look was amazing! Lisa walked up the stairs of the Guardian Building’s lobby, to come into the area that the Guardian Building seems most known for, their shopping area with a giant mural of Michigan on one wall. They were both glowing during their first look. And, could you honestly blame them? I mean, just look at how amazingly thrilled they were to be seeing each other before their ceremony!
Immediately after their first look, we jumped right into the ceremony. This is a bit different from our weddings that have a first look, but it was thrilling none-the-less. Their ceremony had everything! A beautiful location, a couple madly in love with one another, a unity candle ceremony, live musicians, and even a duet between Lisa and Rob! That doesn’t include the cool part of the ceremony with a beautiful bowl used to make sounds. Now, it’s been a couple of years, so I don’t exactly remember it’s purpose, but I do recall the sound. It was quite peaceful, and almost ethereal in quality, but rang beautifully inside the tall Guardian Building. Everyone who was a part of the ceremony took a turn ringing this metal bowl (except us, but we were capturing it all lol), and it really spoke to how intimate this ceremony was for Lisa and Rob.
After the ceremony itself, Lisa and Rob, now husband and wife, took a moment to dance together, before signing their marriage license and preparing for the family formals of the evening.
After the family formals of the evening, we took Lisa and Rob outside for a few shots in the nighttime atmosphere of Downtown Detroit. It was quite cold, as Detroit can be a bit of a wind tunnel, especially in winter. So, our time was short, but still quite nice and different from what we are used to capturing.
Finally, we came to the reception location of the Coach Insignia restaurant inside of the Renaissance Center. Here, we were able to enjoy an intimate dinner reception with everyone, as toasts abounded, presents were exchanged, speeches were given, and happiness ensued. It was quite dark inside, but we made the most of it, and had a blast spending this precious time with the new husband and wife, and their family.
Finally, when it was time for us to go, we said our farewells and well wishes to the couple and their family, and we thanked them for allowing us the honor and the pleasure of spending so much time together with them. We truly love smaller, intimate weddings the most, as we can truly connect with all those around us, on a completely different level than at the bigger weddings we photograph. We truly felt a part of of their family on this night a few years ago, and that feeling with always remain with us.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of our Throwback Series! And as always, if you’re planning a wedding in Downtown Detroit, we would love to photograph it for you, so you and we can enjoy for many years to come.
xoxo,
Jess
