Centennial Barn Wedding in Wayland, MI | Melissa and Matt

Melissa and Matt’s wedding was the first one I’ve photographed at the Centennial Barn in Wayland, but I can’t wait to go back for another. It’s a gorgeous venue with lots of rustic charm and beautiful locations for photos.

I began the day with Melissa and her bridesmaids. The bridal suite is a lovely space with plenty of room to move and large windows with lace curtains that made for a great high key backdrop for some portraits of Melissa and the girls.
When I saw this great vintage couch I knew I wanted to do something a little more dramatic with it, so I used flash to light up the bride’s face with a narrow beam of light and photographed from the balcony to frame her face in the center section of the couch back, before moving in for a close up to showcase her beautiful eyes.Meanwhile the guys were hanging out and playing cards in the groom’s room while Matt got dressed.A large overhead door to the room let in some beautiful natural light for a portrait of the groom… then for a different look we went out to the barn and used the red barnwood as a backdrop for a more dramatic image.Melissa and Matt decided to do a first look so that we could have plenty of time to take photos before the ceremony and go straight to the reception afterward. The lights on the inside of the barn walls make a great backdrop for bride and groom photos and the open barn doors on either side light up their faces perfectly.After some portraits in the barn we headed to the ceremony site at the rear of the property.
The ceremony site is great because there are lots of overhanging trees providing shade even on a day without cloud cover like this one, which creates great lighting for portraits and group photos.After making use of the wonderful natural light I decided to mix it up by spotlighting each couple individually and combining the images later in Photoshop for a more surreal, dramatic look.The ceremony location was gorgeous with rustic benches, vintage decor, and sunlight streaming through the leaves.Melissa waited for the ceremony to begin in the bridal waiting area, and once the guests had been seated her father walked her down the aisle.After the ceremony it was back to the barn for cocktail hour and the reception.After the entrance the maid of honor and best man gave speeches, followed by a blessing from Melissa’s father.One of the great things about the Centennial Barn is all the great natural light for taking beautiful photos of guests. The barn doors let in lots of soft indirect light for beautiful candid shots and as the sun gets low it creates lovely golden light outdoors.Lots of joy evident on their faces in these first dance photos.
The barn is surrounded by open fields which makes for great lighting at sunset. We took a break from the reception for a few minutes to take advantage of the excellent photo opportunity.
When we headed back inside the party got started on the dance floor.
As the light faded people gathered around the fire pit outside and made s’mores.Before I left for the night we made sure to get a few night portraits. The corral area with string lights and a white picket fence was the perfect spot for this.