Today, I set out on the near impossible journey to look over each session and decide try to make a highlight blog post. I use the phrase “near impossible” because cliche as it may sound, this whole year has been a highlight for our business. The dream of owning a photography business became a reality this year and for the past 6 months, I have been formally operating under the name Jennifer Pierce Photography. In this short time, it has been such a blessing to form relationships and friendships with each of our clients. As I was going through the images from the year, I couldn’t help but smile, laugh, and look in awe from all these amazing people and the beautiful stories that we were so lucky to capture.

The year started off with one adorably sweet couple who will also be our last wedding of the year on the 30th. As we were planning their engagement session in early January, Emily was really hoping for some snow and at that point it didn’t look promising, but as quickly after that conversation, it snowed and snowed some more. We had multiple snow storms where we would have over eight inches at a time, so we had plenty of snow days and as teachers, we were really excited to have the extra days to sleep! In March we had an amazing wedding of two of our closest friends and every single moment of this wedding is still fresh in my mind. The absolute joy Bekah’s mom and sister showed throughout the whole day, the tearful daddy-daughter reveal that still brings us all tears when we look at the pictures, and the hilarious bride and groom portraits that we took while Bekah was snacking on animal crackers to sustain her in the cold! As we moved into the spring, we had the privilege of serving one of the sweetest couples ever, Ilove and George whose love story is so intentionally crafted by God. We had such a beautiful engagement session with them and their wedding in the fall was filled with so much love, joy, and Jesus.

This summer brought us the most beautiful of weddings for Alex and Eric and even though it was nearly 100 degrees, these two were as happy as could be and their love for one another was so deeply obvious in each of their images! They also had the best dance moves we have yet to see at any wedding, hands down! On another unseasonably hot summer day, Nick and Johanna had a blessing ceremony which was inspired by her mom and dad’s blessing ceremony for their wedding. It was so thoughtfully done with details including her mother’s wedding dress and cherries from Traverse City where Nick proposed. We also traveled to Chicago for Brett’s board examination and met up with Sam and Nosa for a fitness photo shoot which was an absolute blast! I also traveled over to Arizona to meet with industry leaders, Amy and Jordan Demos and got to capture, alongside amazing photographers that I am now lucky enough to call friends, a gorgeous couple in a monsoon! It was a crazy experience and something I will never forget! Abigail and Mark who are so much fun and full of laughs had a beautiful engagement session at her dad’s house that had the most magnificent willow tree we have ever seen! It was such a meaningful location and we are so excited for their upcoming August wedding. The end of summer was a busy time as I was getting ready to go back to school, but it was filled with happy memories for the Meyer family who were celebrating Krista’s recent engagement and family time all together! The summer ended with the most adorable of proposals and then an engagement session with Olivia and Evan who we just love to pieces! These two just make you feel like you are part of their family and we are so excited for their August wedding!

As summer wound down and the beautiful fall came out, senior session was in full swing. We had five incredibly sweet and stunningly gorgeous seniors this year and it was so much fun getting to know each of them! From Aradia and Anna who I’ve had the privilege to serve as their teacher, to Kari, Kaela, and Kaylee who are all from a beautiful small town in the thumb of Michigan that has the most gorgeous views, senior season was truly one for the books and I cannot wait to see all the amazing things that are in store for these young ladies and their futures.

We also had the joy of serving three different couples for maternity and newborn photos! The most inspiring of stories this year, is from Luke and Ashton who spent more time in the NICU than at home this year with their two little miracles, Grace and Olivia. We also got to spend time with Kolleen, who grew up a few houses down from me, and her husband Ben as they were anticipating the birth of their little boy Noah, who is now a couple weeks old and is the cutest thing! Taryn and Ethan are expecting a little girl and we can’t wait to see her cute face later in 2017!

After Ilove and George’s fall wedding, we thought for sure the winter season that was just around the corner would be a slow one, but boy were we gladly wrong! We had  a wonderful late fall session with the sweethearts Kelsey and Craig at U of M’s Law Quad and it felt like we were at Hogwarts! So much fun! We also had a blast with Sarah and Carter at their fall engagement session and we are absolutely thrilled for their August wedding to see their amazing dance moves! We were even able to sneak down to Washington DC and spend some time with Jof and Riza which was an absolute blast! Jof was kind enough to take updated head shots of us for the new website and it was so much fun to reunite with an AJWorkshop friend!  Finally, right over Thanksgiving, we were able to spend time with the Warren family as they celebrated being all together!

Then as we entered winter, it  was the season of proposals and beautiful anniversaries and we couldn’t help but get in the Christmas spirit right away with all the twinkly lights and decorations. First we had Nancy and Michael who are so kind and had a great time walking around Frankenmuth to celebrate their anniversary! They were such naturals and I am convinced they belong on the cover of a Macy’s ad! Then we headed down to Detroit to spend time with Lauren and Matt who are so sweet and adventurous and we got to take some of the bravest photos ever as we ran to a median to get those gorgeous twinkly lights! We wrapped up the year with a super fun surprise proposal!
We are so truly blessed to have had the year that we had! A huge thank you to all of our friends/clients who made this year absolutely incredible!