My time off from weddings comes to an end in exactly one week and I’m definitely ready to be back in the saddle shooting again. Before things kick off I’m pushing myself to blog more of the amazing weddings I got to photograph last year and it’s more than overdue that I share Maisie and Robbie’s Ann Arbor backyard wedding with you.

This wedding day started with a downpour. When I parked my car the first thing I did was pop my trunk and scoop out the stash of umbrellas I keep there. I was expecting potentially low spirits because of the rain, but when I arrived, spirits were high. Maisie definitely had an ‘it will all work out’ attitude and her family and friends stepped up to make sure it did, spreading hay over puddles and directing guests to high ground.

As often happens, things worked out just right. The rain stopped just before their first look and held back for the rest of the day. As tends to happen with Michigan summer storms, we were even treated to a pretty beautiful golden hour as the sun was setting. Robbie is from Australia and so were about half of the wedding guests and I’m glad they could get the full Michigan experience of bipolar wedding patterns.

I talk often about my love for the backyard wedding, after all, I had one myself. I think my favorite thing about them is just how much people have to pull together to make them happen, to take a space that was once just grass and transform it into someone’s best day ever. Maisie and Robbie’s wedding was handcrafted by their loved ones, from flowers to cake. It’s a lot of work pulling together an event like this, but I’m sure if you asked the people there on this day, they would all say it was worth it.

There are lots of moments I love from this wedding, but I’ll just say this when it comes to a favorite: I’ve never had a groom be so excited during his first look that he literally danced a little jig until Robbie.