Melissa & George’s wedding day the Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks Michigan was a windy, blustery day overflowing with a special kind of love!
Melissa & George are a salt of the earth kind of couple. Their first date consisted of bonding over their mutual admiration of food, family, music, travel, football, dancing, reading, and more food and family!!
Seeing the way that a couple loves one another and feeling the way that a couple loves one another are two totally different things. The depths of the love that Melissa & George have for one another comes through with feeling when you watch their wedding film. Their wedding ceremony at the Journeyman Distillery is filled with vows that are carefully curated with intentional words of purpose and the bride and groom look at ease with the windy elements of their wedding day encompassing them at the altar.
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The bride and groom said that they chose to hold their wedding day at Journeyman Distillery because of its chic industrial vibe, and it’s close proximity to Lake Michigan. Both the bride and groom recall fond memories of trips to Lake Michigan with their respective families throughout their childhood, so having their wedding nearby Lake Michigan was an absolute must!
Scroll down to read more of Melissa & George’s love story, including the full details of their proposal, and the journey to their wedding day at the Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, MI!
What’s your story? What are ya’ll into? How do you spend your days? Whats in important in life? etc, etc…
We are one of those couples who probably should have met earlier, but the timing had a mind of its own. We grew up 15 minutes from each other. George’s friend from childhood and now is someone Melissa hung out with in high school. George’s cousin went to school with Melissa’s younger brother, and therefore Melissa’s parents know George’s aunt and uncle. We both graduated from the University of Michigan. We both spent multiple Halloween’s hanging out at the same local bar. Our first date was initiated after meeting on a dating app called Bumble. We met at a coffee shop in the evening because Melissa was working night shifts at the time, where we each independently ordered tea. It was two days before Valentine’s Day, so Melissa made plans to go out to a ‘single lady’ dinner with her best friend (and now bridesmaid) Liz after meeting George. Liz, however, had gone out on an unplanned bar hop that night – and after Melissa reviewed a slew of text messages left on her phone, realized that Liz should not be driving to the agreed upon dinner location. This left Melissa with an open seat to a fancy dinner reservation across the street from the coffee shop, and a date that she did not want to end. Melissa explained the situation to George, swearing up and down that her friends weren’t normally such lushes, and asked him if he’d be interested in extending the date to dinner. George accepted and we had a beautiful meal talking about our shared interests of food (cooking and eating), family, music, travel, football, dancing, reading, and more food and family. To this day, George isn’t sure if he fully believes Melissa when she says that the dinner reservation was truly meant for her and Liz – and not as a potential cop-out for a crappy date. These days some of our favorite dates are spent over a split bottle of wine and a competitive game of Skip-Bo. Or discussing our dreams for our next vacation. Or purchasing some unique and fresh ingredients to prepare dinner together in our kitchen before watching a movie – even if agreeing on the movie seems to take longer than preparing dinner. Sometimes even just finding a place to cuddle together while reading our own books. We are lucky to live near our families, making regular family events another important and cherished part of our lives. From baptisms to birthdays to weddings to holidays, we try our best to be present and involved. We were both raised in households that put family first; we plan to continue to live our lives by that example and pass down that tradition as we create a family of our own.
Why do you want to capture your wedding on video?
People always say that the wedding day goes by so quickly. We feel that videography, in conjunction with appreciating moments throughout the day, is the best way to make our wedding timeless in our mind. Still, photographs are beautiful and a wonderful thing to have, but a video can touch on both sound and sight, making the recall of a memory that much more complete.
Why did you pick us to create your wedding film?
We really appreciated the quality of the image and the use of light; the artistry in the color and angles of your videos is beautiful. We enjoyed the visualization of the succession of events for a wedding day, never feeling the need to hit fast forward while watching your work. We had a few videographers we were looking into (all of which offered drone and raw footage), however, after speaking with you on the phone, it was obvious to us that you were the right choice. You were easy to talk to, confident in your art, and genuinely seemed to want to create something for us.
Click above to see the entire video from Melissa + George’s wedding day!
The proposal? …Tell me everything (all the gushy details)
The weekend AFTER Melissa’s mother got married, and the weekend BEFORE George was having hip surgery, George planned a weekend trip to Boyne Highlands Ski Resort. He told Melissa that he wanted one last weekend of enjoying activity outdoors before he was put on restrictions for many months post surgery. Since it was the end of October, the resort was essentially a ghost town upon arrival. The chair lift wasn’t running and we saw no one else at the resort lodging – we were lucky enough to be staying in a condo owned by George’s family member. All the fall colors were out in full force and we decided to get our hiking boots on to make our way up the mountain. By the time we made it to the top, both of us were out of breath and Melissa was feeling dizzy and admittedly slightly nauseous. We checked out a map that indicated a chapel a short walk away and we agreed to check it out. As we meandered our way around a corner of trees, we found what appeared to be more of a hut than a chapel: triangle in shape, brown shingles, all window on one end and wood doors adorned with small iron hearts on the other. George figured it would be locked and had planned it as more of views along the way – but without second guessing it Melissa swung open the door to walk inside. Inside the chapel was soothingly quiet, with no sound of wind or rustling leaves or electrical devices. You can immediately see a stunning view out the large window, through a frame of fall leaves, and down the mountain to the lake below. We sat in the pew for probably 5 full minutes in silence holding hands and appreciating the serenity of our surroundings. In a somewhat sudden fashion, George stood up and turned to face Melissa before getting down on one knee. I don’t think either of us remembers exactly what was said at that moment – George out of nervousness and Melissa still somewhat in recovery from climbing up a mountain – but the proposal was made, and Melissa happily accepted. Within minutes of the proposal, we saw two women walking past the chapel. Mind you, these were exactly the second and third of the three humans we saw during our entire weekend at the resort – the first being a construction worker at the bottom of the mountain. We quickly ran out of the chapel to call them over because we wanted someone to take pictures of our big moment (probably frightening them in the process). However as soon as Melissa explained to them what had happened, their female instincts kicked in and they were commenting on how good George was to make sure Melissa had her nails freshly manicured and painted for the occasion. They were more than happy to take a few snapshots of us together in the chapel before going on their way. We spent a short while longer soaking up the moment before heading out of the chapel and hiking our way back down the mountain. Melissa loved the proposal and the views at the top of the mountain so much, that she agreed to hike back up the mountain the next morning, despite the grueling hike required. We went back to the chapel and enjoyed some peaceful moments together. After we took in some beautiful views of the sunrise and snapped some photos together atop the mountain, we hiked back down to head home. We were able to enjoy a romantic weekend alone and stopped for a couples massage at a spa towards the beginning of our four-hour drive home. We kept the engagement just to ourselves before sharing with our family and friends on Sunday evening – and we had both our ceremony and reception site selected by the time we made it all the way home!
The Journeyman Distillery … What made you choose this venue over all others?
We both loved the industrial chic vibe at this factory turned distillery. The rustic charm of the all wood floor and the history of the building was immediately appealing to us. Having it be 15 minutes from Lake Michigan sealed the deal.
What experience do you want to give to your guests?
The idea for our wedding stemmed from fond memories of weekend trips with our family to Lake Michigan. We would love to have our guests experience a weekend away from work and stress to be able to really savor life at a slower pace while surrounded by the love and support of family and friends – and hopefully be able to catch a Lake Michigan sunset in the process.
Ready to capture the magic of your wedding day hit the contact button and let’s chat!!
Creative Partners: Chicago Wedding Videography | Hunter Floyd Films Venue | Journeyman Distillery Wedding Coordinator | Judy Benjamin Entertainment | DJ Greg Gurley & Quincy Twymon Bridal Gown | Becker's Bridal Hair & Makeup Artist | Ingmar James Salon Cake | Froelichs Florals | Black Dog Flower Farm