&MRS.VOLUM E 3 | NO. 1 8

RU S T I C W E D D I N G S | G R A N D R A P I D S , M I C H I G A N | FA L L I S S U E 2 0 1 5 | M R & M R S .

Having the opportunity to capture such a beautiful day is an honor. Being by the couple’s side from the beginning of hair and makeup, to the first sight, and then hearing the exchanges of “I do’s” between husband and wife is a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. I delight in knowing that I am able to preserve those memories that the new Mr. and Mrs. can look back on and remember the day that they became united, and one.

Photographer | Designer

WEDDINGS

LAWSON 1 MOREHOUSE 9 RINNELS 17 ROBINSON 25| | |

WELCOME LAWSON | OCT. 18

LAWSON WEDDING | 1

So I’m not a girly girl at all!

Never wanted the fairy tale wedding, the poofy

dress none of it! Swore up and down I was never

going to get married! Then I met Noah...

Things changed, and from day one I pretty much

knew we would be together for ever! After 6

years of living in sin, as we called it, we did

everything backwards, First kids, then bought the

house, then we decided to get married... On our

defense they say it takes 2 years fully living with

someone to truly know them... So after 6 I know

him pretty well! Then came the dress shopping...

I had a dress in my head and a budget! I went

and searched out the style I thought I wanted

and in the right price range...

None of it worked... Looked horrible wasn’t

feeling it, not me at all... Then my mom picked

out this poofy, sparkly over the top, everything I

hated princess dress! Three times my budget! To

please her I tried it on, Fit like a glove perfect to

a T! The moment I walked out of the fitting room,

My Sister, Best Friends, Mother and soon to be

Mother in law all started to cry, at that moment

we knew it was the one!

FOREVER | LOVE.

“You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.”

Jodi Picoult

I never believed people when they said you will

know what dress is the one, until that zipper

reached the top and it was perfect! I knew it was

the one! We ordered our bouquets through a

local company, when meeting with then for the

first time realized they have the perfect setting

for pictures! Two huge barns, perfect Romeo and

Juliet balcony, beautiful wild flowers everywhere!

It was just simply perfect! It had been misting all

day, Said for weeks it would rain the whole day.

But for that hour or so we were out there taking

pictures it was amazing! No rain at all, the sun

was just peaking through making the shots in the

barn wonderful! On the way back from the barns

found a perfect spot on the Grand River to get

some of my handsome man and I! Just us two...

those are by far my favorite!

We had the ceremony and recep-

tion at the same place, Its called

the Waddell Center just outside of

downtown.

Some think it was small but it was perfect for us.

Just the right amount! We had roughly 125 guest,

we actually got to sit and talk with everyone!

It was convenient for all the out of town guest

we had! The ceremony was short and sweet, my

cousin was the officiate so that was a special

touch. I do remember my walk down the isle

being a little long, I don’t remember even seeing

the people as I walked past them I was focusing

on not falling!

“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

WELCOME MOREHOUSE | SEPT. 5

LOVE | I DO.MOREHOUSE | 10

Growing up, I was never really the type to

“dream” about the princess wedding I would

have when the time were to come to marry

the man of my dreams. Of course, I had

thought about what the day might be like. The

“dreaming” didn’t really come until I had finally

started spending more and more time with

the man I knew I wanted to marry. As the years

passed, I knew he was the one and just antici-

pated the day that we would become husband

and wife!

Finally! The day had come, my man proposed

after 5 wonderful years of being together. We

started the planning right away even though

I had not a clue what to do. I had never been

in a wedding before, nor had I come close to

planning one. It was so much fun in the begin-

ning stages together, then it turned to stress!

One of my favorite parts that took

away some of the stress was picking

out my very own wedding dress!

I had watched so many shows about “saying

yes to the dress” and was so excited that it

was finally my turn. I tried on about 5 dresses

at the first place that I had always dreamed

about wearing and none of them felt quite right.

Well, at the next place that we did not have an

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

Robert A. Heinlein

appointment at, I tried on the first dress we saw

that was completely different. I walked out of the

dressing room and turned to look in the mirror

and knew right away that it was the one! All of

my bridesmaids and my mom started to cry and

that just reassured my feelings. I felt amazing! It

was a beautiful dropped waist gown with just the

right amount of ruffles and it was unique in style.

Thank goodness for that moment of feeling stress

free! It was all I had ever imagined it to be.

In the final months of planning, I felt as if my

head was going to explode. Even the hours and

minutes leading up to the moment I would stand

in front of my groom saying our vows, I felt as if

my head was spinning. There was a brief moment

after getting the ceremony put together on the

morning of the best day of my life that everything

just didn’t seem to matter anymore. Today was

the day I would marry my best friend and that

was the only thing that mattered to me from that

point on. I was about to marry a man who was

more caring, loving, kind and passionate about

life than anyone I had ever met.

I had my family and friends surrounding me in

my house, craziness happening all around. I

was getting pampered left and right, hair and

makeup getting done, my mind going crazy.

The time came when I could finally put on the

most beautiful dress I could have ever dreamed

about. Everything was becoming so real and I

could not believe the time was finally here! The

time came when I was all done getting ready to

go see my dad. I walked out of my house and

turned the corner to show my dad how I looked

on my wedding day. That was one of a very

few times that I had ever seen my dad cry, with

actual tears! He was so surprised and so very

happy that his daughter was having the best and

most beautiful day of her life in every way.

I will always look back on my wedding day

and have happy memories and know that

every moment leading up to my big day was

truly worth everything I put into it. I was finally

married to the man I know was always meant for me.

RINNELS WEDDING | 17

WELCOME RINNELS | SEPT. 22

My wedding day began... in a suite of a hotel with all of my bridesmaids

and two flower girls. I remember waking up and

not knowing what to expect, yet having so many

expectations. I felt nervous, giddy, thankful and

most of all excited to marry my best friend of

7 years! I wanted to take in every moment, I

wanted to embrace it, cherish it, and remember it

forever.

After a morning of coffee, hair, makeup, my girls

and many smiles and laughs we were off to the

venue. Brandon and I enjoy the outdoors and

have never been into anything really fancy. We

are both pretty simple and both wanted our day

to be about celebrating with family and friends.

Which is why we choose an outdoor venue with a

picnic style dinner. Charlton Park was the perfect

location with beautiful landscaping and a fun

atmosphere.

When I pulled up I got to see the

work of art created by my florist.

She did an amazing job creating and

setting up all the centerpieces.

My flowers were a variation of types, ranging

from lilies to orchids, and different colors of

orange and grey. Again with the simplicity but

with a pop of color. I couldn’t imagine them

ALWAYS | LOVE.

looking more beautiful and fresh. They were

more than I could of asked for and the set up

was beautiful. I remember feeling like it was all

coming together, this vision I had for 2 years.

At this point it was time to get dressed!

Unzipping the bag that had carried my dress

was really emotional for me. It was almost time

to see my best friend, to walk down the aisle to

the man of my dreams, to tie the knot officially

and combine 2 families into 1.

My girls helped slip my ivory, satin dress over

my big hair and zipped me up. It felt like a

fairytale, but each moment that passed made

me realize it was real life. My dress made me

feel complete, made me feel beautiful. My best

“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”

Maya Angelou

friend was the one who picked it off the rack and

I remember saying “yes” to this one because it

felt comfortable and fit me like a glove. It was

simple but elegant and made me feel amazing.

Before I knew it we were only a couple hours

from wedding time. I couldn’t wait to see my

future husband! As I walked across the lawn to

meet him I still had all the same feelings running

through me but I was starting to not be able

to wipe the smile off my face. This was really

happening!

When I saw Brandon’s smile and he kissed me

on the forehead, like he always did, I couldn’t

help but feel like the most beautiful girl. I was so

incredibly happy and in love with this man.

When it came time to walk down the aisle I

couldn’t believe where the time had gone!

As my Dad began to walk me down the aisle I

remember seeing all the faces of friends and

family, it was surreal. Brandon and I began

reciting our vows, that we picked out together,

exchanging rings and actually tying a knot! We

had done it, we had gotten married!!

It was time to party! The rest of the night

was filled with amazing food, cake, pictures,

dancing, drinks, and more dancing. We had an

amazing time with all of our guests that shared

our special day. We still have people tell us

how much fun they had at our wedding. We

credit that to our relaxed theme and venue. We

couldn’t have asked for a better night, it was all

we ever asked for.

RINNELS WEDDING | 24

WELCOME ROBINSON | AUG. 3

My wedding day was not your typical fairy tale wedding... More twine, less sparkle.. To me it was perfec-

tion. 50 of my closest family and friends waiting

outside in the beautiful garden planted and

cared for by myself and one of my closest

friends.

I was nervously waiting inside along with my

father who could barely hold back tears for he

was about to walk me down the aisle and hand

me off to the care another man.

The music began and my flower girl excitedly

rushed toward her uncle Jake to give him the

little note I wrote him before she took her seat.

My song started. Nervous as all get out, I take

my dads arm and away we go. Wow, I can’t

even put into words the way my future husband

looked as we met eyes for the first time in over a

day. He was so handsome, and so mine. Hearing

those vows come sweetly off his lips, I was

hypnotized in awe that this day was really here!

“Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet under-standing, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses”

Ann Landers

Being so young, only 20 at the time while my

husband was 22 I never thought I would find this

kind of love so soon.

The crazy, mad, endless laughter kind

of love. It was deep and so so real.

My badass tattooed biker boy whisked me off in

my dress and all on his Harley and we’ve lived

happily every after! It’s been a year and a half

since that day and I still remember it like it was

yesterday. It was everything I could’ve wished for

and more.

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

Dr. Seuss

YOUNG | LOVE.

Let us always meet each other with a smile,

Mother Teresa

for the smile is the begging of love.

xoxo.

D A N I E L L E R E I D S M A | P H O T O G R A P H E R & D E S I G N E R | D A N I E L L E R E I D S M A @ G M A I L . C O M

Coming January 2016

In this Winter edition of Mr. & Mrs. we will be featuring cakes,

center pieces, and a variety of indoor venues. Readers will follow a

number of brides as they plan their winter wonderland weddings,

snow and all! We hope that our readers feel included in their

special days throughout the issue, acting as an unofficial guest at

some of the most beautiful weddings of the season. Brides to be,

rest assured that if your special day will take place in the winter

there is no reason to be overwhelmed. You will be amazed at how

the snow can add just the right touch to your picturesque winter

fairytale, and create stunning memories that will last a lifetime.