To say that we go to a lot of weddings every year is an under-statement. Mulberry & Sage Photography loves seeing all our couple’s hard work and dedication come to fruition right in front of our eyes, and we especially love being able to document it so that all those memories are preserved, and will live forever in photos. With the New Year quickly approaching, we thought it would be a fun addition to put together some of our favorite top wedding trends of 2017 that we saw over the past 12 months. Stay tuned, as well, because we have some predictions of what you’re going to see lots more of in the upcoming year, too.

 

Floral Crowns:

Once again, we cannot resist a good floral crown, and Dani went all out and fully delivered this love by incorporating them into her wedding day with her entire bridal party. The deep red hues mixed with the sage greens were the perfect combination with her rose gold theme, and all the details were seriously stunning. Her September wedding happened at Ruby Lodge Rental and it was the ideal venue for her ultra glam meets rustic wedding theme.

To see more of Dani and Daniel’s wedding, check it out here.

Customized & Personalized Wedding Theme:

Gillian and Charlie met while they were in college at Michigan State University. Gillian is from the Port Huron area, and comes from a long line of sailors. She has her own sail boat, in fact, and her childhood home is located on the Black River. Her family has a long history of sea-legs, so her custom and personalized nautical wedding theme was the obvious choice for them. As luck had it, the MSU themed tug boat was also docked in downtown Port Huron that day, too, so we were able to take some photos with that. We pulled together some of her detail shots at her mom’s house, and used an antique model sailboat that is a family heirloom for her ring photos, and placed her jewelry on top of a book that her Grandfather wrote titled The Cann Boats. During their ceremony, they literally tied a sailor’s knot, to symbolize their union, and the strength of it.

To see more of Charlie & Gillian’s wedding, check it out here.

Spectacular Portrait Locations:

One of the coolest portrait locations we’ve ever done was being granted exclusive access to go onto the Spartan Stadium field at Michigan State University to do Lauren and Brennan’s portrait session with their bridal party. They didn’t get the official clearance until about six days before their wedding, and they purposely didn’t tell their bridal party, because they knew it would be such a grand surprise for everyone. (We were privy to the secret beforehand, though!) Their wedding ceremony was on campus at the Alumni Chapel, so we all piled into the party bus and drove to the stadium. Everyone looked confused, and then Lauren made the big announcement and the bus erupted in hoots and hollers of excitement. Everyone’s face when they walked onto the field was priceless, and it was a spectacular location and experience for our last wedding of 2017. It went out with a bang!

To see more of Lauren & Brennan’s MSU wedding, check it out here.

Intimate Portrait Sessions:

While Hannah comes from a huge family, both her and her husband Devin cherish their intimate time together, just the two of them. Between their Lexington wedding ceremony and reception, we sneaked away to a private little beach and took some portraits of just the two of them, and they were so natural together. It was so laid-back and sweet, and it was great to watch them hang out together, and relax for a while before heading to their reception room full of family and friends waiting to celebrate with them.

To see more photos from Hannah & Devin’s Lexington wedding, check it out here.

Traditional Ceremonies & Portraits:

Ann and Brian’s Catholic faith is very special to them, and their Royal Oak wedding at National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica was gorgeous. They had a special relationship with their priest who married them, and the full mass ceremony was chock full of funny little glimpses into their relationship together, as well as with their priest. He was the first person to stand up at their reception to tell a funny story of the couple. We took lots of photos inside in the chapel, and then headed down the road to the stunning St. Hugo on the Hill for some additional photos on the grounds. The architecture both inside and outside of these historical Catholic churches is gorgeous, so we had to include them into this round-up, for those brides that love tradition and history.

To see more of Ann & Brian’s Royal Oak wedding, check it out here.

Whole Family Involvement:

Beth and Mark are like a real life, modern day Brady Bunch family. They each have 3 children of their own, who were ecstatic to take place in the marriage of their parent and their new “bonus parent.” All three of us got to come in and photograph their wedding day, and we loved breaking up and watching different family dynamics come to life before our lenses. Their children comprised 100% of their bridal party; Mark’s kids stood on his side, and Beth’s on hers. And, when it came to the reception time, the kids gave speeches and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. They also had a sand ceremony, signifying the joining and mixing of their families. Their wedding and reception took place at the McMorran Place in Port Huron, because ice hockey holds a special place in their hearts.

To see more of Beth & Mark’s wedding day, check it out here.

Destination Elopements:

Kat contacted Mulberry & Sage Photography exactly 8 days before her spur-of-the-moment destination elopement, and everything seemed to line up perfectly in the cards for us to photograph their backyard elopement. They wanted to elope and get married in Lexington, because they both love the area and it holds special meaning in Kat’s heart, as she used to spend her summers there. They both live in Western Michigan now, so having their wedding over here was a special destination for them. Their backyard elopement was so sweet and touching, and their love for each other was the main focal point of the entire evening.

To see more of Nicholas and Kat’s wedding, check it out here.

Bold & Bright Colors:

Amanda and Lance planned a fall wedding at the chapel in Goodells County Park, and really wanted to utilize bright and cheerful colors that went with their country-rustic theme. The guys all wore cammo vests, and the entire bridal party sported their best pair of cowboy boots. The real kicker though, is that on this particular day in September, it was seriously nearly 95 degrees outside. Everyone gets a gold star covered merit badge for putting on a happy face, and going along with outdoor photos, despite the intense heat.

To see more of Lance & Amanda’s wedding, check it out here.

A day of friendships:

They say that close friends turn into family, and that was really the theme that we saw shine through at Ashlee and David’s wedding last summer. Ashlee’s bridal party was full of friends, as well as some siblings in the mix, but everyone was so close-knit and tight with each other, you couldn’t exactly tell who was related through blood, and who wasn’t. Which, come to think of it, kind of marks the best kind of friendships, right? David’s groomsmen were the same way; his best man even jumped in on some of the family portraits and everyone kind of just laughed, because that is really nothing new or different. The bromance game was strong, there.

To see more of Ashlee & David’s wedding, check it out here.

 

As you know, Mulberry & Sage Photography is a wedding photography team located in Eastern Michigan. While we were compiling our lists, we couldn’t possibly narrow our weddings from 2017 down any more, so we will be putting together a part two post of Top Wedding Trends of 2017, made up of Courtney’s top picks that she saw at the weddings that she photographed over the past year. Then, as mentioned before, we’ll be back in January with some bold predictions of what we think is to come in 2018. We hope you enjoyed this small preview into what (half) of our 2017 looked it, and the happy couples that chose us to document their special day. If you’re in the market for a wedding photographer team in Michigan, we’d love to chat.