Megan + Donovan - An Exquisite Evening Wedding at Historic Bowers Harbor Inn, Mission Table - 9/9/23

Chloe Leach October 11, 2023

In 2016, Megan and Donovan were strangers attending different colleges on opposite sides of Michigan. Summer break brought them both to Clarkston, MI, and the same local country club, where they took seasonal jobs at Oakhurst Country Club. During a staff training, Megan caught her first sight of Donovan, and was smitten. Acting in stark contrast to her usual shy demeanor, Megan approached him and offered to cover his shift. They exchanged numbers, which opened the door for conversation to continue. It wasn’t long before they began spending time together outside of shifts. It was a summer romance that swept them both up in its warm embrace.

Life would take them both in different directions over the four years that followed. Both of them continued to date other people, but every relationship lacked that perfect connection they had felt with each other. One night, Megan recalls scrolling Hinge to give the dating app one last shot. Donovan’s name popped up.
”He had been on my mind a lot lately, so I took it as a sign”, she remembers. Two minutes after her right swipe, both of them sent the same message at the same instant - “I still love you”. The very next night, Donovan made a dinner of “Marry Me Chicken” for the girl who almost got away. He texted his mom to let her know that Megan was coming over, and that his plan was to propose in just 6 month’s time.

July 4th rolled around - the same date on which they shared their first kiss four years earlier. In their back yard with their pup Stella happily observing, Donovan made good on his plan and put a ring on Megan’s finger.

The two lovers chose to celebrate their wedding with a small group of their closest friends and family, at Traverse City’s Historic Bowers Harbor Inn. The ceremony took place on the property’s rolling great lawn, overlooking the calm waters of Grand Traverse Bay. The celebrations continued into the evening with a merry candlelight dinner in the Inn’s front room.

Brittany + Donald - A Beautiful Beach Wedding at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, 6/18/23

Chloe Leach July 27, 2023

On a warm summer evening in 2019, Brittany and Donald were introduced by mutual friends over what seemed to be a casual dinner like any other.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, this meeting was far from coincidental. Having discussed their plans at length, these mutual friends had decided that the two would be a perfect match for each other.

Though native to the state of Michigan, Donald was living in LA at the time, visiting home to be with friends and family. As dinner came to a close that night, he mused out loud what a shame it was that Brittany didn’t live in LA. The two had quickly hit it off, with Brittany enjoying Donald’s easy personality and lively conversation. The two exchanged socials and contact info before parting ways that evening, resigned that the 2,000 miles between them meant they might not meet again.

Fast forward to November. The two had lost touch since their meeting. Donald was tagged in a post on Facebook that Brittany commented on, which prompted Donald to send her a text. They continued talking after that, deciding to meet up over the holidays the next month. Sparks flew. Brittany made the trek to LA from Michigan to visit Donald in January, and they took turns visiting one another each few weeks during the next couple of months. March of 2020, during the last half of a visit to LA to meet Donald’s family, the rise in Covid cases was causing widespread alarm, and lockdowns began. Rather than be separated, Donald and Brittany decided to “flatten the curve” together in Michigan for the next two weeks. Two weeks turned into several months, and the two lived together in Brittany’s Michigan bungalow until June. At that time, Brittany downsized her possessions to 2 suitcases worth of things, and relocated to LA with Donald. After three years together, Donald proposed. 6 months into their engagement, they both decided to bypass the big wedding in favor of an intimate beach celebration. In just 30 days, they planned and coordinated the whole celebration exactly as they had hoped.

With Northern Michigan holding a special place in both their hearts, it was their first choice for location. They found their perfect venue at Grand Traverse Resort’s Beach Club. With a picturesque views of East Grand Traverse Bay, Brittany and Donald exchanged vows under the summer sky on June 18th, 2023.

Briana & Kit - A Beach Wedding in Traverse City, Michigan

Chloe Leach July 19, 2018

Sometimes, the greatest blessings in life come out of the hardest circumstances.

Kit and Briana became that unexpected blessing to each other the day their paths met, and a steady source of renewed hope and joy for one another. Their first meeting came in September of 2016, after a mutual friend set them up for a date. They spent the afternoon hiking with their dogs and enjoying one another's conversation. They would soon discover how many separate occasions they'd been in the same place at the same time, as far back as an 8th grade dance! The connection was strong and the hikes continued over the course of the next year. Kit joined Bri and her family on a Christmas trip to Florida in 2017, carrying something small and sparkly along with him. It was over family dinner one night, earlier than he'd planned, but seizing the perfect moment, that Kit made his proposal to the love of his life.

6 months later, on a similarly balmy day back home in Northern Michigan, Kit and Briana read their vows to one another on the beach along Grand Traverse Bay. With their toes in the sand, and surrounded by their closest friends and family, it was truly a beautiful start to a great new chapter for both of them.