Cranbrook Engagement Session

Thursday, September 22nd, 2022

Anytime I get an email from Jennie from Beautiful Day Planning, I get excited. She helps plan some of Detroit’s most beautiful weddings. When she emailed me asking for my availability of a date and followed it up with, “it is going to be a good one ;)” I knew I was in for a treat. I got a taste of that treat the moment I met Carly and Alex for their Cranbrook engagement session. High school sweethearts, they graduated from Cranbrook a few years ago so it was the perfect location for their engagement session. I have shot there once before, but they showed me several spots that quickly became my new favorite. We started their Cranbrook engagement session in the Japanese gardens before heading to the Upper School campus to wrap up their session.

A couple, dressed in blue, sits on a step at Cranbrook Japanese gardens.
A couple, dressed in blue, kiss on a small bride on Cranbrook's campus in Bloomfield Hills.
A couple embrace and hug during their Cranbrook engagement session.

One of the iconic spots on Cranbrook’s campus is the red bridge in the Japanese Garden. The exotic plants and calm waters add to the peaceful scenery.

A couple holds hands on a small island in the Cranbrook Japanese Gardens during their Cranbrook engagement session.
A couple hug with a red bridge in the background during their Cranbrook engagement session.
A couple hug with a red bridge in the background during their Cranbrook engagement session.
A couple hug with a red bridge in the background during their Cranbrook engagement session.
A couple hug with a red bridge in the background during their Cranbrook engagement session.

After the Japanese Gardens, we visited some of their other favorite spots on campus. Hidden throughout the campus are beautiful features and art that deserved to be captured.

A couple look at each other with a blue fountain behind them during their Cranbrook engagement session.
A couple look at each other with a blue fountain behind them during their Cranbrook engagement session.
A couple, dressed in blue, hold hands and walk during their Cranbrook engagement session.

Our last stop was Cranbrook’s Upper School campus, where Carly and Alex would often visit for lunch. It was fun walking the campus and, in turn, walking through their memories together.

A couple stand in the arches at the Cranbrook Institute or Art during their engagement session.
A couple stand in the arches at the Cranbrook Institute or Art during their engagement session.

I walked away from their engagement session dreaming of the fun we will have and the images we will create later this year when they get married at the chic Daxton Hotel in downtown Birmingham.