Crystal Mountain Family Photographer | 50th Wedding Anniversary | Extended Family Photos

When Staci reached out to us about planning a surprise photo shoot for her in-laws who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, we were all about it! Everyone gathered outside of The Thistle Pub at Crystal Mountain in beautiful Northern Michigan for an unforgettable family photo session.

The happy couple knew that they were getting family photos with their children & grand children. I'd like to take a brief moment to stress the importance of doing this. Life passes by so quickly, and if you don't take advantage of the opportunities to take nice photos together as a family, the moment will pass you by without the chance to relive it. Please. PLEASE. When you're all together, call a professional photographer (preferably Exposures by Rah!) to make sure there's photographic documentation of your bloodline. Think about it - how many photos do you have with your grandparents? Do you wish you had more? Me too. Don't let this happen to you if you can help it!

Okay back to the story line - We broke the smaller family pods out to do smaller group photos. Once we got through each family, we had to do a little stalling which made for some very memorable moments 😂

What grandma & grandpa DIDN'T know was that their daughter in law, Staci, arranged to have their siblings arrive about half way through our session to surprise them! The looks on their faces were priceless.

After our session was over, the entire family enjoyed a meal together in celebration of 50 years of wedded bliss. When I asked what the secret to a long healthy marriage was, they both chuckled and seemed to agree that patience was key.

If you'd like to see all the portraits from this Northern Michigan family photo session, please click on any picture in this blog post to be redirected.