Crystle + Craig Brooklyn, NY

Hello & welcome to a new & fresh look for Mishelle Lamarand Photography in 2016.  I’m so happy you’re here!  And I’m even more happy to be here.  2015 was another year of change for myself & my family.  But that didn’t stop me from filling my calendar with some incredibly AMAZING weddings, clients & projects.  2015 brought me to Brooklyn, New York to shoot Crystle & Craig’s wedding in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  To say it was an incredible experience would be a gross understatement.  It was one of the most exciting, challenging & magical weddings I’ve ever shot.  These two came to me from a former client and now dear friend, and when I initially met with them for their engagement shoot here in Detroit, all they had at that time was a vision.  No location, no date, but a photographer who had both her fingers and toes crossed in hopes that they would hire me for their wedding day, too. Fast forward to almost a year later, and Crystal revealed their plan to me to marry under the Brooklyn Bridge.  The Brooklyn Bridge, y’all!  New York City, The Big Apple, the works. I was beside myself, and most importantly honored to have them bring me there from Michigan.  I took one of my nearest & dearest along for the ride, Meg Darket and together we had the time of our lives.  When we arrived on Friday, the sun was shining and it was 70 degrees in mid-September.  We met Crystal & Craig at their ceremony site at Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO, with a straight shot of the NY skyline & the Statue of Liberty, and some of the most epic light I’d ever seen.

We settled into our adorable Air B&B in Brooklyn, and woke up the next morning to another perfect fall day.  We met up with Crystle & Craig in their suites, and sat back while they laughed and took in all the moments of their wedding day.  Crystle’s details were simple and with an iconic art deco meets Brooklyn vibe.  I was smitten with her that day, and honestly Meg & I felt like the luckiest photographers on this side of the Western Hemisphere. We shot their day with both our Canon/Nikon full frame bodies as well as our FujiFilm mirrorless cameras.  This setup allowed us a good variety of formats and looks for their finished images.

After everyone was ready, we all jumped in limo’s and headed down to Brooklyn Bridge Park for their vows & ceremony.  What an incredible view we had of the NYC skyline, and it was a perfect match for these two.  Together, they are some of the most laid back, stylish & loving people I’ve ever had in front of my camera.

After the ceremony, more limos and we navigated our way to Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge along with their wedding parties and hundreds of by standers.  It was so incredibly challenging & exciting and chaotic.  Meg & I worked at light speed (or so it felt) to get our shots and let these two have fun with their bridal party in one of the busiest spots in the city.

And our last stop was at Atrium, an incredible restaurant that these two had booked privately to dance the night away and celebrate with their family & friends.  A roomful of tears, heartfelt toasts, and handmade deserts by Crystle’s talented mom were some of the highlights of the night.

And of course, Meg & I couldn’t resist sneaking these two away for just a few minutes of night shooting under the Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges.  Just around the corner from Atrium was one of the most iconic shots of the Empire State Building.  We arrived to find that there was a line about 15 photographers deep waiting for their shot! So I patiently got in line and lined these guys up for a few of my own.

This wedding was easily one my favorite weddings that I’ve ever had the honor of shooting.  Crystle & Craig along with their families were a joy to work with from start to finish.  They made Meg & I feel like family, and I can’t thank them enough for bringing us all the way to New York City for their big day!

We also had some time set aside the next day to do some shooting down in Central Park, Grand Central Station.  Trust me when I say everyone was in recover mode from the party the night before, but I’m so glad we had the chance to meet up with everyone one last time.

And then it was just Meg & I in the Big Apple for some touristy stops, lunch and shutting down Little Italy.  I woke up the next day in Brooklyn – on the morning of my birthday – feeling exhausted, and utterly happy for an incredible weekend and the coolest clients in the world.