A few weeks ago I had the honor of traveling to Gaylord, Michigan which is located in Northern Michigan for my bride Brittany. Since being in Southwestern Michigan I planned to make this weekend special while planning around my bride’s big day. I planned to visit Mackinaw Island for the first time with my husband who was traveling with me! I know, I’ve lived in Michigan all my life and had never been to the island! We arrived at Gaylord, Michigan very late Friday night and got checked into my hotel. We had ran a little behind our scheduled plans due to making sure we had everything packed and the fact that I had to make a pit stop in Big Rapids, Michigan since it was along the way.

I went to college at Ferris State University and wanted to visit since I haven’t been there in a few years. I wanted to eat at my favorite old spot Schuburgs but they were crazy busy! I was so disappointed because they have the greatest fried pickles!! Anyway, from there we decided that we would try Cranker’s which was not my top pick but it did bring back memories of the crazy all-nighters of studying I would do. I was reminiscing about that and mentioned the “stinky cheese” which my husband noted he had to try! In all those late night study sessions I had there, I never once tried the stinky cheese. I just remember it being set on fire and the waitress would scream OPA!! Let me tell you….. I had been missing out!!! lol

The next morning I started bight and early as I had to arrive at the venue at 8 am to start makeup applications. I did my makeup with my Kryolan Nebula Airbrush (which is the same I use for my brides), Sugarpill Feline Fancy Palette, and I wore Jeffree Star Cosmetics “Candyass” on my lips. My husband was awesome enough to drive me to the venue and helped me with my makeup bags. Brittany’s venue was the Sonshine Barn, Wedding and Event Center in Gaylord, Michigan. It was such a beautiful venue with a rustic feel to it. The bridal suite was amazing!!! They spent special time working with people in the beauty industry to design the getting ready vanity. The vanity had three stations with salon chairs, large mirrors, with excellent lighting. While I provided on location makeup for Brittany and her bridal party my husband took promotional photos and video with my bride’s permission! Brittany and her bridal party were amazing!! I had a blast providing makeup for these ladies and even discovered that Brittany’s MOH attended Ferris State also!!

Brittany went with a semi-natural look for her wedding day. I used my Kryolan Nebula Airbrush foundation. For her eyes, I used colors from a few different Urban Decay Naked Palettes. Brittany’s bridal party and the bride’s / groom’s mothers looked amazing as well!

When I completed everyone’s makeup I started to pack up and by this time it was Brittany and her father’s first look! <3 I snuck out just when her father was coming in to see Brittany for the first time in her dress. Thank you, Brittany, for having me part of your big day and allowing my husband to work on promotional photos as I worked. I hope your day was amazing and you looked absolutely beautiful!

After I completed this wedding my husband and I head on North! We planned to go stargazing at the Headlands International Dark Sky Park from Saturday Night until Sunday morning. We often love to travel and stay in our “Hotelement”, we’ve talked a lot about “van life” and traveling the country doing photography and makeup in different areas. This isn’t the first time we have stayed in our Honda Element. We’ve traveled to New Orleans and Flordia while camping out in the “Hotelement”. The sunset was beautiful but stargazing on this night wasn’t the best as the moon was almost to the full moon stage. We did get to see the International Space Station travel past. The next weekend the Headlands had a dance party planned to celebrate the harvest moon.

The next morning we woke up, “showered up”, and headed to Mackinaw City where we had breakfast at Pancake Cheif <3 Most of our trip photos are on polaroids as my husband enjoys taking them.
We drove over the Mackinaw Bridge and got on a ferry to Mackinaw Island. The Island was fun but we only had an hour and a half to explore but we differently plan to return! On our way home we visited the Tunnel of Trees!
I have to say that I love Michigan so much! It’s always so beautiful.