Shannon and Christopher’s Wedding at Fox Hills

Our Real Detroit Wedding: August 15, 2020

“Of course we would recommend Mike Staff! Our photographer, videographer, and DJ were all amazing to work with. Everyone was so friendly and very accommodating with anything and everything. They always had a plan and were so professional. Mark, Heather, Dustin, and Bob were all so friendly and they made sure our day turned out perfect! We love our photos and video and will cherish them forever. They made sure to capture our most important moments of the day and we are so thankful!”

– Happy Bride, Shannon

Our Love Story

The reason Chris and I met is because of Rocco (our fur child). Rocco was a 4-month-old Chihuahua and only about 3 lbs the day we met. Chris happened to live in the same apartment building as one of my friend’s while we were at college. My friends had actually been crushing on him for awhile, however I was completely uninterested in the “hot guy in apartment 1”. Well one day he had Rocco outside without a leash. Baby Rocco decided to run after me while I was walking up to met a friend to study. If you can imagine this tiny little puppy trying to run as fast as he can across the yard and up the stairs and Chris running after him, it was an adorably funny sight. I picked Rocco up and there was Chris running up behind him. Chris of course apologized for his dogs “behavior” (I still think to this day he taught Rocco to do that- Chris denies it lol). But we actually became friends first and didn’t start dating until a little while later.

Chris used Rocco also in the proposal. Chris, Rocco, and I were at an apple orchard in October 2015 and Chris was insistent to go walk through the apple trees, I of course said I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch but gave in because he was so focused on these apple trees. Well while we were walking through the apple trees, Chris and Rocco disappeared. I kept walking expecting that he was going to jump out and “scare” me. Well I heard the metal sound of Rocco’s collar – there was Rocco running up behind me like he always does. I picked him up and noticed that he had a pink collar on – not his usual collar. I flipped the collar over and it read, “Will you marry my Daddy?” I looked up and there was Chris walking up with a ring in his hand! I of course said yes! This is why Rocco was our Ring Bearer. He has been there for every big milestone of our relationship so we could not imagine our wedding day being any different!

Our Wedding Vision

Chris and I had been engaged for 5 years. When he proposed to me I was still in nursing school and we had the agreement that we would get married once we both had our careers grounded and a head start on our life goals, so 2020 was always our wedding year. We had been planning this little by little for 5 years. Our vision of our wedding was to have all of our closest family and friends (about 250 people) be there to celebrate such a beautiful important day with us. We loved the outside ceremony idea, with blue skies and lots of flowers and beautiful scenery. We would have our ceremony and reception at one location for convenience purposes for our guests. We had hotel rooms blocked, a shuttle to and from the hotel for our guests to enjoy the evening without having to worry about driving, etc. Our families and friends from out of state that we don’t get to see as often would fly in as well. Mainly our vision was good weather and a big celebration with all of our favorite family and friends in our lives having an amazing time at our wedding.

Like a lot of couples this year we had to adjust and adapt. Two months before the wedding our venue told us that we needed to restrict our guest list by about half. We were able to comply and make some adjustments. Then three weeks before the wedding our venue contacted us again to inform us that due to pandemic restrictions in our state that we could no longer have our guests dancing or congregating, no wedding cake on display, and our guest count would need to be restricted even further, etc. The restriction list became way to long to be able to properly plan a safe evening for our guests so we had to make the toughest decision to cancel our big reception at our dream venue and create other plans. We then had to send out change of plans notices to all of out loved ones. We had to decrease our guest count again to now less than 100 people, and many of our family and friends from out of state had decided not to come due to safety for everyone. We came up with the plan to keep our ceremony at the same venue, and found a cute indoor/outdoor venue for the reception! This was the first wedding this venue has hosted and it honestly turned out perfect! There were a lot of little details that we had to rearrange and re-plan also. All in all the weather stayed beautiful and when the actual day came, the only thing that we focused on was the fact that Chris and I were finally married and that we were happy.

Our Wedding Photography

Wedding photos are probably the number one important part to me. It’s the part that lasts forever after the wedding. There are so many details and the day goes so quickly, we are glad that we invested in our photos to allow us to relive our special day. Our photographer was absolutely perfect! He was focused, creative, and fun! He was so kind and accommodating to every request that I had. Mark would see me have an idea in my head and asked me “ok what are you thinking and how can I make it happen”. And then just like that he made it happen! I loved it! All of our photos turned out so amazing, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Our Wedding Videography

We went back and forth on trying to decide if we should get a wedding video. I never saw myself as being that person who would want to watch my wedding video over and over again. A week before the wedding I called the office at Mike Staff and told them that we had made a last minute decision to have a video, and they made sure to make it happen! My thought process was that the day is going to go so fast and I know that I am going to want to relive the events of the day more than once. There was so much planning and so much detail that we had spent so much time on, and we wanted to be able to remember all of it because each part was so special to us. It was all a part of our love story and we wanted to have those memories. Well I am glad I had that last minute thought because it turned out SO amazing and I turned into that person who watches the wedding video over and over! This was probably one of my favorite last minute decisions.

Since we had more than half of our guests not be able to attend because of pandemic restrictions, our video and photos are even more special. Chris’s grandparents were able to come to the ceremony but not the reception out of concern for their health, so our photos of the reception are so important to share those moments with them. My godmother lives in Florida and was not able to travel during that time, so we are so excited to show her our pictures and video when she comes to visit next. The photos and videos are priceless memories and they help us share our special day with those who weren’t able to be physically present, and I think that is so important especially this year with all the distancing. We want to be able to share our moments with those we love and our photos and video allow us to do so.

Our Wedding DJ

Our first dance was Marry Me by Train. Chris and I have very different tastes on music, and we respect each other’s different options. So we were listening to various songs for different parts of our wedding day. When Marry Me started playing we both loved it right away, so it was kind of a sign that needed to be our first dance song.

Our Wedding Memories

Our favorite moment from the wedding was the first look with each other. It was the cutest location that seemed so secluded and hidden from the rest of the world, it was just the two of us in such a special moment and it was perfect. Our second favorite moment of the wedding has to be when our dog Rocco walk up the aisle as our ring bearer – the cutest moment and it turned out so perfect.

Shannon and Christopher’s Wedding Vendors

• Ceremony Venue: Fox Hills Golf and Banquet Center
• Reception Venue: Robin Hills Farms
• Florist: Silk Thumb Florist
• Dress/Tuxedos: White Arbor Bridal
• Hair: Hair 1
• Make Up: 24 Luxe
• Mike Staff Productions: Wedding Photography, Wedding Videography, & Wedding DJ

Don’t trust your wedding to anyone else. Mike Staff Productions would be honored to bring your vision to life. Let’s get started!