Laura and Jeremy are troopers! When I looked at the weather for Saturday, I was almost certain that we were going to get rained out on top of it being VERY chilly!

I just LOVE this image of Laura’s smile-she just glows when she’s with Jeremy

So this squirrel was sitting there, watching us…and not moving away as we got closer and closer to it! I think he was taunting Dan…

It was so fun to explore Old Town Lansing with these two! I’m glad the rain held off as long as it did so we could go exploring.

I am totally in love with these last two images-the way they look at each other, totally smitten just melts my heart! And how fun is this metal sculpture/frame?! I want to play with the entire series but the rain started and we had to book it back to the cars in hopes of squeezing in a few in their jerseys. (Which we did-before the sky opened up and began its big downpour!)

Thanks again for inviting me out to Lansing with you two! It was great to see a part I haven’t visited before and have fun with you guys

Wow-the last time I saw Kristen was at her baby shower and it’s hard to believe that Elijah is already 5 weeks old today!

So crazy how fast time flies! I still have to share the photos from her adorable shower at Circa1843 right here in little old Almont. (Totally a hidden gem!)

I was beyond thrilled when Kristen told me she and Derek would be making the trip up from Indy to visit family and wanted to meet up for some heart-melting photos of their little one.

What a heartbreaker he’s going to be!  It was absolutely love at first sight. He’s perfect in every way and was an absolute gentleman for the entire session + evening.  He’s got great parents-I can tell already.

So cute! Sure babies are a lot of work but they are completely adorable and their cuteness keeps you going  I don’t know how you’d get anything done anyway-I’d be staring at the adorableness around the clock, never getting anything done! So soft and snuggly too. Nope, no hope of working with that much sweetness within arms reach.

Love this next series of their family-the love they share is palpable.  Totally melts my heart how much they not only adore Elijah but are still head over heels for each other! I love watching couples I had the pleasure of photographing their wedding expand their families and it makes me so happy to see Kristen and Derek this happy already 5 years (really? is it really 5 years you guys???) after their blissful fall wedding at the First Congregational Church here in Almont (and awesome reception out at Fore Lakes Golf Club near Port Huron)!

I think Elijah makes a pretty awesome 5 year anniversary present.

Love this last shot of the proud parents. I love how loving and adoringly they gaze at little Elijah! He’s totally stolen their hearts in their entirety.

Enjoy the photos-I can’t wait to share them all with you, Kristen + Derek!

It seems like just yesterday that Olivia was born and already she’s sitting up, enjoying green beans, and laughing hysterically at her dad when he sings “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”!

It was so nice to catch up with this entire family many of whom I hadn’t seen since Dana and Eric’s wedding back in 2009 at The Grosse Pointe War Memorial.

This past weekend we met up at Pier Park in Grosse Pointe Farms to capture everyone from baby Olivia all the way up to the great grandmothers! It was so much fun to see everyone play with her and be completely enthralled with her beautiful face and joyous laughter!

She is absolutely adored and she totally melted my heart as usual! So.ADORABLE!!

Look at that laugh! So overflowing with happiness

Get a load of that green bean sucking face-absolutely hilarious! She kept the group laughing with her antics.

I can’t wait to see Olivia turn 1! I know it will go way too fast (right Dana + Eric?) but it will be so.much.fun!!!

Enjoy the little taste of our perfect spring morning by lake St. Clair We really couldn’t have asked for a more lovely day!

Cory and Ian are one amazing couple!  Even t hough it was solidly raining ALL DAY, they braved the weather and we had a great time capturing their engagement session.  Armed with several umbrellas, we headed to downtown Rochester for this part of their story.

Home for their bridal shower, they squeezed some time into their busy trip home for us to do their engagement session and I’m so glad they did!

Isn’t this red umbrella just awesome?! I love it and don’t get to play with it very often so I was excited to dig it out of the prop closet to bring a little more color into their session.

This cheery yellow sweater was the PERFECT choice-it compliments the green of spring so wonderfully and really brings some light and happiness into their rainy engagement session!

It rained the ENTIRE afternoon so we kept switching it up with different umbrellas. This is my personal favorite-I absolutely ADORE the shape of this black umbrella which I had to have when we were in Dublin, Ireland and needed a new umbrella for our exploring. I just couldn’t pass it up and have loved it dearly ever since!

Cory and Ian are really sweet together and I can’t wait for their DAC wedding in just about 6 weeks or so!  I know it’s going to be a night to remember as they’ve been hard at work planning all the details with the ever lovely Ana of Two Foot Creative. They actually came from the DAC and previewing their centerpieces where they spent a few hours perfecting the display. I can’t wait to see all their hard work come together!

My husband loved Ian’s shoes which apparently are very water friendly having been through plenty before!

I am so excited for your wedding Cory + Ian and I can’t believe it’s just around the corner! I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek

Yesterday was the most perfect day for our first wedding of the season!

I couldn’t believe how absolutely GORGEOUS it was.

Jen and Rob are such a cool couple-the first time we met, we shared an AMAZING meal at their then favorite restaurant The Forest Grill in Birmingham. Not only were they great company, but they know the chef there so we were treated to a tasting menu that Chef David prepared for us.

Fast forward to last night where Chef David planned and created a spectacular 5 course dinner for all of their guests!  Being food lovers, Jen and Rob gave him carte blanche to create a masterpiece.

I have so much more to share about their wedding from their ceremony at St. Perpetua’s in Waterford to their lantern release at The Wyndgate but for now, here’s a sneak peek into the beauty of their day!

Special thanks to my team for making this day run smoothly. Amanda + Dan-I couldn’t do this without you!!

To see more from Jen and Rob’s beautiful wedding, click on over to my facebook page. 

Full recap of Jen and Rob’s wedding will appear on the blog later this week so check back soon or add the blog to your feedly or flipboard account

I fell in love with Printstagram a little while ago so when I found out that they were launching a mobile app, I was ecstatic!

Now you can order ANY photo off your iphone and have it printed on gorgeous stock. Right now they only offer mini-prints that are perfectly sized for a full frame iphone photo but I’m sure they’ll offer more eventually. Until then, you can load up on awesome mini squares at printstagram.com

Ready to get your print on? Just download Social Print Studio from the app store, select a few photos, and you’re off!

At just $15 for 48 amazing little prints, it’s perfect for finally bringing your treasured iPhone photos into real life where they can be shared and enjoyed more often than when you happen to scroll by them…

What are you waiting for?! Go get some!

Your photos want to LIVE!

Sometimes I get caught up in all the ‘fancy’ salads with dried cherries, gorgonzola, pecans, and some amazing vinaigrette dressing. I suppose they aren’t really that fancy but it’s more than just your tomatos and onion with ranch.

This week, my sweetheart and I were feeling less than stellar so we decided to whip up a greek salad. It just sounded SO GOOD!

I often forget about the beauty of a greek salad in its simplicity.  A good dressing (homemade with fresh herbs), sweet and sour beets (for fun), good feta, pepperoncini, sliced onion, fresh cherry tomatoes, and of course, kalamata olives.

Sure, it has more than three ingredients but there’s hardly any prep-tear up some good quality lettuce (we did red leaf and green), slice up a bit of onion and blend a little dressing. The rest is open up the container and toss what you like on!

I’ll be honest, if I hadn’t been so excited to make the salad, I would have been more mindful of how I was making the dressing because it was AWESOME!

All the recipes for greek dressing that I came across in a quick search were all based on dried herbs. Well, I have a well stocked fridge and planter of fresh herbs so I decided to wing it and make my own with what I had on hand. Absolutely amazing and totally worth the three seconds it took to toss it all in the processor.

If you’re feeling brave, you can craft your own fresh greek salad dressing too.

Here’s how I did it:

• olive oil // 3tbls to start
• apple cider vinegar // to taste
• fresh garlic cloves // 3, I like it on the spicy side
• pub mustard // to taste-1 tsp to start
• Few springs of oregano
• 6 leaves of basil
• salt + pepper // to taste

Now-the real question is: how much olive oil and vinegar?  My best guess is to start with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 of apple cider vinegar and then add more vinegar to taste.  I wasn’t measuring so it was all to taste. I’d blend for a few seconds and then taste, adding a dash of whatever seemed to be missing for me.

Someday I’ll do this properly and give you a real greek dressing recipe featuring fresh herbs!

Tell me in the comments whether you prefer the white wood background or blue pattern!

I’d love to hear what your favorite kind of salad is too!

We’re hiring an….

Things are busy around here these days as Jennifer Grant Photo is expanding in new, fun ways!  I have some really awesome projects percolating and I’m looking to add some fun-loving, energetic people who want to grow with me to our team.

It is my hope that you will help me find the perfect person to match this awesome job!  How might you help? Perhaps you ARE the amazing person we need (in which case,  learn more  and apply!). If not, will you help by spreading the word so we can find the person meant for this job?

As a wedding + portrait studio, we focus on working with real people, creating amazing images of their memorable days and moments. We are here to capture the beauty of life for each and every one of our clients all while delivering exceptional service. This summer we will begin launching 1-2 teams of associate photographers to photograph weddings together and with me.

Does this sound like you?

• When meeting up with people do you find you are always early?
• Are you always learning, seeking out information, and looking to grow? Do you find yourself googling questions because you’re curious and always wondering?
• Do you like being independent once you know what you’re doing?
• Do you find that people are more themselves and at ease around you? Do you help people relax
• Do you stay calm in hectic situations?
• Do you like people? We work with people on the best days of their lives but they are emotional days so you have to really love people and their stories.
• Are you familiar with lightroom and photoshop?  Bonus if you’re familiar with InDesign and the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite
• Do you like to engage in conversations with strangers?
• When plans change, are you go with the flow and keep going?
• Do you find yourself reaching for your camera to capture the moment-whether it’s your DSLR or phone?

If this sounds like you, I want to get to know you!   Get to know more about what becoming an associate wedding photographer with Jennifer Grant Photo will look like here

Our intensive 28 day training will begin soon to prepare you for your first wedding THIS season so if you’re interested, learn more and apply asap!

Know someone who might be interested? Share this with them! The more the merrier!

And in honor of this weekends big celebration, I give you Irish Soda Bread!

It’s so incredibly easy to make with NO RISING!!! YAY!!

Irish Soda Bread is my new favorite

It’s hard to believe we’re already breezing through March and nearly at April’s doorstep.

Have you been enjoying the instagram peeks? I’ve been having fun sharing a bit more of my every day here and I hope you’ve found it pleasant as well.

There is so much going on behind the scenes right now.

Usually, I get at a few weeks of down time after Christmas and before spring sets in where I can relax,  rejuvenate , and set in motion dreams for the year.

This year hasn’t slowed down yet! We rolled right into a new year, full speed ahead. Awesome newborns, fantastic engagements and planning has kept me quite busy.

Luckily, I’ve expanded my team so I have the lovely help of Ashley here in the office making things run more smoothly.

Speaking of expanding the team…I’m hiring associate photographers!

I’ll be posting with more info later this week but for now, make note: I’m looking for a few amazing, joyful, awesome people who love photography + weddings to join the JGP team this year.

If you’re interested, make sure to mark your calendars and polish up your resume when the details go live on Friday!

I hope wherever you are, you are warm and cozy. Maybe napping in the sunshine with a furry friend. Or not so furry friend. That would be nice too.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Go ahead, leave a comment or ask a question. I’m an open book!