… sometimes, you leave your wedding reception in a squad car.
<insert cliche about being sentenced to life here>… We should all hope to be so lucky.

I recently spent the week back out in Michigan. This was my second of three trips back out to the midwest this year. I was in town to shoot the D’Orazio wedding. I had been looking forward to this trip for quite some time. Mike and Christina booked me nearly a year and a half ago. Last summer I even had the honor of shooting their engagement photos while in Michigan shooting the DeLand wedding.
It’s always nice to hear any feedback on my work. I would say one thing for me that disappointing is that I never usually get to see my clients reaction to the photos I create of them. However during this trip I heard from both Mike and Christina’s families that they all loved the work I did for the engagement shots – and that they were all excited to see what I would do with their wedding day.

So, Mike and Christina… I hope that I don’t disappoint!

I have over 100 images in this posting. There were so many hilarious shots from the weekend that I had a hard time trying to narrow it down. So, hopefully you guys take a few minutes to look through everything. It should be quick to get through them. And, as always, I would love to hear any feedback from you readers about everything. Also, click on my Facebook fan page on the right hand column to stay updated with what I’m doing.

My weekend with the D’Orazio family was a blast. Spending time with Mike again was funny in the sense that Mike’s attitude was “do whatever you think will look good, John” every time I asked “So what are you thinking you want from your wedding shots?”.
Both the D’Orazio family and Vilk family said they had heard a lot about me. So, obviously I had the bar set pretty high, lol. But they warmed up to me fast, and ignored me taking pictures just as quickly. That’s always helpful since all my wedding work has a journalistic approach.

Anyway, I’m going to continue this blog post with a number of captions. There are so many small comments and stories to tell about the weekend that it’s better I do it with the photos that they relate to.
So please read on! Enjoy the photos, and leave your thoughts at the end!

Let’s get started…

The church. One thing I love about Michigan summers… bright blue skies, green grass, and all the girls wear sundresses. You don’t get that in Socal – but I always notice it in MI.

Jake was awesome. He could barely see over the podium (It’s a tall podium, he’s an average height kid). But, he caught me trying to get this shot and threw up the eyebrows! Haha!

Mike gettin instructions on how to not light Christina’s wedding dress on fire after lighting the unity candle.

Mike giving Paul the wedding band for Christina. I’m really glad I got this moment on camera. Their expressions really add a lot to the tone of this moment. Mike explained that Christina doesn’t know that he had the ring. He had some last minute work done to it… something that I’ll come back to later in this blog.

Mr. D’Orazio (right) and two of his sons, Paul and Mike, chattin in the morning before breakfast.

Picking up some last minute tuxedo adjustments that were done. Mike’s reaction to when his dad asked “aren’t you going to check and make sure they’re right?” was awesome… he simply said “What doe is matter? Can’t do anything about it now if they’re wrong..”

Christina’s dress was beautiful. I’m not sure my photo does it justice. However, she looked incredible in it.

Christina’s aunts startin to get ready that morning. I loved this shot where they’re doing each other’s make up.

Cinching the corset up on the dress!

Come on… how beautiful is this design?

Christina, and her matron of honor, Christina, doin some last minute makeup touchups.

Mike got really emotional as soon as seeing Christina walk down the aisle. It was actually very touching.

Caught! Tried to get a shot of the girls… they saw me immediately. Ha!

However, they were bored of me after about two seconds.

Deacon Rich was great. Such an upbeat and positive guy to have doing the ceremony.

Telling stories, using a louder voice, and I would even say entertaining everyone as he spoke was a great way to keep everyone’s attention.

Exchanging vows..

Exchanging of rings

Husband and Wife!!

There was a short Catholic mass after the ceremony.

I thought this moment was so cute! Deacon Rich blessed all the little girls at the same time.

This is why I chase the bride and groom as they leave.. the second kiss is nearly as important as the first kiss I feel.

So earlier I mentioned how Mike had some work done to Christina’s ring…

Well, he had the inside engraved without telling her.
As it turned out, Christina did the same thing with Mike’s ring without him knowing about it either! How perfect are these two for each other?!

So while we were doing some portraits of Christina all the girls decided to compare shoes! I look up and they’re all posing like this on their own. Awesome!

The ladies wanted a shot lookin tough with Mike, so we took a few real quick while we had some time.

Casey (my assistant) took photos of the groomsmen holding up Christina. Mike was watching and said he wanted a shot of him like that…

I asked if the guys could lift them over their head. They did!

How many bridesmaids does it take to bustle a dress? Apparently six – and a set of printed instructions.

Sharp!

They had a beautiful wedding cake.

These girls were great. They stuck together most of the night. Here they’re waiting in line for the photo booth.

I had maybe three minutes to get a sunset portrait of these two. Worked out pretty nicely.

First dance as husband and wife.

You can tell how much love there is between these two when you see them interact. Especially moments like this when it’s just the two of them… no one else in the room mattered.

Mike dipped Christina at the end of the dance. I really like Christina’s full smile here.

Paul had a long speech prepared, but he kept everyone laughing the whole time with stories about growing up with Mike.

Christina carried around a locket on her bouquet that day. Inside are photos of her late father and older brother. Christina’s other two brothers assumed the fatherly duty of giving her away during the ceremony earlier that day.
I wanted to make sure that the locket was in this shot since I knew it meant a lot to Christina having her family right there on her bouquet.

As I mentioned, her brothers gave her away. So, they stood in during what would typically be the Daddy-Daughter dance. It was a mix of tears and smiles throughout though.

A little later the tone changed to laughter and cheering when it came time for the garter.

Mike gave Christina a lap dance in front of everyone!

I’m posting a number of shots from this because between Mike’s poses and Christina’s expessions, they’re all hilarious!

Success!
Didn’t even use his hands!

I think this little one was Vanessa… either way, she was adorable.

One of my favorite moments with these girls. I was on the dance floor and said “Hey girls! Lemme take your picture!” and they posed like this immediately.

I don’t think she digs your moves, Mike…

Casey, Christina, Mike, and myself.
Casey was my assistant for the wedding. It was actually great having her there to cover everything I couldn’t get.

Mr. D’Orazio and his son Mike talking at the bar.

Christina and Christina… breakin it down!

Last dance of the night..

So after the reception ended we were all waiting to make sure everyone had rides back to the hotel. While outside a police officer rolled through while on patrol. He just saw everyone standing there at 1am and wanted to make sure that everything was ok.
Typically I’m not a fan of cops “coming to check up” when you’re just standing there minding your own business. However, he ended up being a really nice guy… and let us take a few photos..

We were able to shoot in the squad car!

So much fun! And something that typically never happens during a reception.

As they climbed out, the officer said “Do you want me to ‘cuff them?”
I think my response was “Hahaha! Could you!?”

Mike crying and Christina’s “Uh oh!” expressions are great.

I liked this moment.
This was actually on our way to the hotel!!
The officer offered to drive them to the hotel. I asked if I could possibly ride in the passenger seat, he said “Sure can.”!

Police escort. And arrival with the lights flashing! How cool is that?!

What a fun weekend! I had such an incredible time and I want to send a huge Thank You! to both the D’Orazio and Vilk families for everything. It’s always a huge compliment when someone flies me across the country to photograph their wedding day. I hope you guys are excited as I am about these shots.

Seeing the engagement photos we shot used in your wedding announcements/etc means a lot to me. And hearing from both of you and your families about how those prints are in your home is quite humbling. I hope that these photos make it onto the mantles of your family members as well as yours!
Thank you both again! I wish you guys the best.

Next week I will post up previews from shots I took of my friend Theresa when I attended her wedding. I wasn’t the official photographer, so I just took a small handful of shots for myself. But, those are coming soon.

Thank you to my readers if you made it this far. Please feel free to share these photos via the Facebook link below! Or post a response with any feedback you have.