French Valley Vineyards are a romantic, stunning location for any rustic, farm loving barn wanting to incorporate this style into her wedding photography. Located on gorgeous rolling hills with beautiful cherry tree orchards, this venue could not disappoint for gorgeous wedding photos – and for bride, Courtney, they didn’t! Their destination Michigan wedding was planned from afar, but Michael and Courtney feel in love with the rustic elegant barnyard wedding out here in northern Michigan. Their details and decor were all locally crafted and DIY inspired, which was perfect to keep their dream wedding simple, yet tasteful. All in all, they just wanted to have fun with their destination wedding guests, and boy did they ever! Afterwards, Courtney was lovely enough to share some of her tips for having the perfect destination wedding in northern Michigan. Brides – they are MUST HAVE secrets from one bride to another!

Scroll down to find her destination Michigan wedding tips below, and get a wedding photography visual to go along with Courtney’s dream wedding!

SECRET 1 – KEEP DECOR SIMPLE! Unless you are renting everything from your venue, which is usually very costly, you can make or DIY your own reception centerpieces and decor. But that can sometimes be a lot to carry around, especially if you have to travel far for your wedding. The solution? Once at the wedding venue, go to your local craft store and pick up different sizes of mason jars and spray paint in the colors of your wedding style. Paint all the jars from the INSIDE. Wrap with string, hay, or burlap to get that country style feel. After the wedding is over, you can simply recycle the mason jars, and leave them behind!

SECRET 2 – FIRST LOOKS ARE A MUST! There is a lot of excitement and nerves on the day of your wedding. And a lot of brides are concerned that they will loose that “special look” from their husbands as they walk down the aisle, if they do a First Look. But bride Courtney suggests that a First Look is actually really helpful, because it calmed the nerves and allowed her some private time with her future husband, which most brides never even get. The moment will be special, regardless of where it occurs.

SECRET 3 – PICK A FUN WEDDING PARTY! This one is pretty self explainable, but because you are having a destination wedding, it usually requires a lot more commitment from your guests and your wedding party. It also means more money for those involved. So make sure when selecting your bridal party, that they know this ahead of time, are willing to commit, and more importantly, will still have fun and not be bitter about it (yes, I have seen this happen.) A fun, light atmosphere will do wonders and truly MAKE or BREAK your reception fun!

SECRET 4 – MAKE SURE YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY PROPS MATCH YOUR WEDDING STYLE.  In this wedding, the bride and groom loved the barn yard wedding feel. And they were completely hooked on having a vintage truck on their venue property, to accent this love. It made their wedding orinigal, unique, and amazingly fun! When choosing your venue, and the props to go along with it, make sure it clearly defines who you are as an individual, who you are as a couple, and what your relationship is now going to be like! This will help you love and remember your wedding photos forever!

A big thank you to bride Courtney for her expert advice on planning her barnyard wedding in northern Michigan. French Valley Vineyards is a stunning wedding venue for wedding photography and any couple who adores a rustic elegant wedding!

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