Michigan: wedding photo & video
Troth Weddings introduces couples marrying in Michigan to an independent partner photographer, starting with Grand Rapids, with one team for photo and video and travel built into the quote. Michigan has a three-day waiting period for a marriage license, which then stays valid for 33 days after the application1.
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Wedding photo & video across Michigan
Troth Weddings is a network of independent wedding photographers and videographers. In Michigan we start in Grand Rapids, where on June 15 the sun sets at 21:23, the latest sunset of any month in our table2. A summer wedding there runs well into the evening, and we build the timeline around it.
Photo and video come from one team, so you speak to one partner from the first call to the delivered gallery, and the people who plan the portraits also plan the sound. We send that partner's recent galleries and films before you speak. If your date is elsewhere in Michigan, name the town on the form. Travel is built into the quote.
Locations in Michigan
In Michigan we shoot in Grand Rapids. Its page covers the river, the gardens and parks, the City's wedding permit and a June timeline built around the sun times, with the county clerk's rules and the local weather averages cited line by line. For a wedding elsewhere in Michigan, tell us the town on the form and we will reply within one business day.
Michigan marriage license basics
In Michigan, marriage licenses are issued by county clerks. There is a three-day waiting period that includes the day you apply, and the license is valid for 33 days after the application1. For good and sufficient cause, the clerk may deliver the license immediately after application, for a fee set by the county board of commissioners1. We do not quote a county fee here, because the figure belongs to the county; ask the clerk when you apply.
The ceremony needs two witnesses besides the officiant3. No particular form of ceremony is required: the couple declare, in front of the officiant and witnesses, that they take each other as spouses3. For the City of Grand Rapids permit that applies to parks and bridges, see our Grand Rapids page.
Questions couples ask
01How far in advance should we book a wedding photographer in Michigan?
Book when you have a date. The three-day wait counts the day you apply, and a license stays valid for 33 days1, so the license fits into the last month before the wedding. The photographer's date is the one that needs lead time; a deposit holds it once you have spoken.
02Do you travel to Michigan, and is travel included?
Travel is built into the quote, not added later. Our Michigan pages are written for Grand Rapids. If your wedding is somewhere else in the state, tell us the town on the form and we will say whether we can match a partner photographer to it.
03Can we book photo and video together?
Yes. Every collection comes as photo, video, or both, with the same team on the day. In Grand Rapids a 6-foot path must be kept clear on the Blue Bridge and the Gillett Bridge4, and one crew that plans its positions together is easier to fit around that than two.
04What happens if it rains on our wedding day?
October is Grand Rapids' wettest month in the normals, at 4.02 in5. We plan for rain from the start: a sheltered option for each portrait stop, a second portrait window later in the day, and a decision made together in the morning rather than at the gate.
Check your date
Sources
- Michigan Compiled Laws 551.103a (delivery of license; 33-day use) legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-551-103a
- Computed with suncalc (NOAA algorithm) for the 15th of each month, 2027, at 42.9634, -85.6681, local time (America/Detroit) github.com/mourner/suncalc
- Michigan Compiled Laws 551.9 (solemnization; witnesses) legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-551-9
- City of Grand Rapids — Apply for a Wedding Permit grandrapidsmi.gov/explore-and-play/special-events/apply-for-a-wedding-permit
- Wikipedia — Grand Rapids, Michigan: climate table (1991–2020 NOAA normals) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Rapids,_Michigan