Matt and Jade had their Presque Isle Park wedding on a beautiful Saturday in July. They brought their family and closest friends north for a destination wedding on the shores of Lake Superior. They planned the perfect easy-going wedding day centered around celebrating with their loved ones, many of whom they hadn’t seen in more than a year!

Jade and Matt have been living across the country for the past year on a travel assignment for work, so they were excited to spend the weekend catching up with friends. With their busy schedules, the timing worked best to plan their engagement session for the same week as their wedding. We quickly fell to talking and laughing with them, comparing which national parks we’ve been to and which are next on our lists. Jade went to school at Northern Michigan University, so Marquette holds many special memories, and it felt like the perfect place to gather their loved ones for their weekend of celebration.

Matt and Jade designed their wedding timeline to utilize photo time centering around people. We loved this intentionality! While it’s always fun to capture details and flat-lay images, that’s only a small part of the day, and when the images you really value are the ones with your friends and family, those are the ones we want to spend the most time on with you.

First Look and Portraits at Presque Isle Park

We jumped right into the day with Matt and Jade’s first look at the meadow above the gazebo. This area gave us a beautiful, clear area without a lot of extra clutter in the background since the ceremony chairs were already set up, and the lighting was perfectly diffused through the tree line. Matt waited by the water while Jade was dropped off near the top of the hill.

Wedding Party Portraits

After bride and groom portraits were done, we brought the rest of the wedding party up to take portraits ahead of the ceremony. This was the perfect size wedding party – not too large, but great for dynamic moving portraits!

Presque Isle Park Wedding Ceremony by the Gazebo

Matt and Jade’s friend Lily officiated their ceremony. We love it when couples have a friend officiate. Having someone who’s watched the relationship bloom speak about the couple adds an incredibly personal touch.

Their ceremony was filled with laughter and a few tears. Matt and Jade each read their own vows, recounting their adventures exploring the national parks and moving across the country together. Notably, they each mentioned how they felt the other made them whole. That’s exactly how it should feel when you find your soul mate. ❤️

Reception at the Presque Isle Pavilion

Jade and Matt decorated each table with mason jars filled with baby’s breath and pictures from their travels. Each table was marked with a jar of homemade strawberry preserve (the best type of favor!) Guests played cornhole and other lawn games and snacked on hors d’oeuvres before dinner catered by Border Grill, a local favorite. Matt and Jade also made all the cookies themselves the day before in their AirBnB!

After dinner, Matt and Jade shared their first dance to Banks by NEEDTOBREATHE. This was a new song to us but an immediate favorite, and we’ve been playing it on repeat in the weeks since their wedding.

“It doesn’t matter if we win or lose
Oh, I could stay or I could come no matter where you’re coming from
I can be the one to let you choose
I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
Just like the banks do the river“

After their first dance, they combined the parent first dances into one song. This was a sweet way to honor both mom and dad, and also allowed them to laugh and talk together on the dance floor.

After that open dancing started and the floor was filled all night!

Evening Portraits

In closing,

Matt and Jade, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your Presque Isle Park wedding day! We so enjoyed meeting your friends and family and getting to know everyone. Your weekend was full of so much joy and laughter, and we loved being there to capture it all!

Marquette Wedding Vendors

Photography Enjoy the VU Photography
Catering Border Grill & Velodrome Coffee
Bridesmaids David’s Bridal