Vendor Spotlight: YellowBird Wedding

We’re super excited to introduce a brand new segment of the Ayres Photography blog: Vendor Spotlights! After being in the wedding industry for over 10 years, we’ve worked with tons and tons of amazing wedding professionals. Florists, bakeries, DJs, you name it! So often we get asked by our couples, “Hey, who’s your favorite so-and-so??” that we even have a Preferred Vendor List. We send it out to all of our couples for easy at-your-fingertips access to a handful of our favorites in each of the planning categories. Well, we’ve finally decided to take it a step further and really take the time to introduce you all to some of our absolute favorite local wedding people! These people are not only the best at what they do, but they’re also just amazing individuals. It’s time we let the cat out of the bag and share them with our other favorite people… you!

So without further ado, we are over the moon to introduce all of you our very first ever featured vendor: Michelle Snyder, officiant and founder of YellowBird Wedding. Our relationship with Michelle goes way back, (we even photographed her own wedding a couple years ago)! She’s been officiating weddings since 2008 and in 2012 she decided that it was time she officially start her own company. We LOVE Michelle and are always so excited when her name comes up in conversation with our couples. She’s a genuinely kind human with a beautiful soul and an extra large heart; the best kind of person to be officiating the union of two people who are madly in love! What more could you want?!

Being the sweet and generous person that she is, Michelle took the time to answer a plethora of questions all about herself, her profession and her love of weddings! Read on to get to know all sorts of great stuff about this amazing woman and her craft! We know you’ll love her just as much as we do!

How would you describe yourself in three words or less?

Funny, generous, curious

What got you interested in becoming an officiant?

Friends of mine were getting married and were having a hard time finding an officiant. They felt like they were able to choose every aspect of their wedding, but didn’t have much of a say in the most important part, the person who married them. They felt that since I had a theater background and was a librarian surrounded by books and words, I would create a ceremony that really reflected them. I was honored to be asked so I got ordained and never looked back! The day before their wedding I was on an airplane coming home from a trip and ended up sitting next to a minister. He gave me tips and told me I was doing this for the right reasons and I’ve always held onto his words.

Tell us a little bit about YellowBird Wedding!

Our motto is “because simple is beautiful,” and we stick to that. You don’t need an overblown, long ceremony, filled with this and that. It can be clean and precise and exactly what matches the couple. The business is small as well. It’s just my sister and me, and another officiant who sort of retired after she had kids, but is around as an emergency backup. While I could expand the business, it worries me that I could lose some of the intimacy, so it doesn’t seem worth it. Forever keeping it simple.

What is it about Buffalo that makes you love living and working here?

I’ve lived in Los Angeles, so I love that it takes me no time at all to drive places in Buffalo. I can have friends that might not live super close to me, but it’s no big deal to reach them. I would meet cool people in LA and once I realized they lived 10 miles away, I knew we were never gonna hang. Also I’ve lived in Tokyo, Japan, so I appreciate the space Buffalo has. I can have a house with a yard and can bike for a few miles and find a space that’s just for me. It’s the perfect mix of city and small town. I can know my neighbors as I garden, but can meet all new people at a Canalside event.

Summer or Winter??

Summer. Always and forever.

What is your favorite thing to do in Buffalo?

I’m a big fan of riding my bike to a park and reading in it. Buffalo is amazing in the summer because we have so much cold weather, that when it’s nice out there’s a party everyday. From art fairs to festivals, I try to take in as much as I can in the summer and fall, and then I get to eat myself silly and binge on my shows and books in the winter as I hibernate in front of a fireplace. Can’t beat that.

What sets you apart from other wedding officiants in the Buffalo area?

I don’t know too many other officiants, but I know that YellowBird is open to anyone getting married. I’ve married many same sex couples, people of different ethnicity, different religions, even a couple of vampires! I’ve had couples tell me that they didn’t necessarily trust some of the officiants they met, that they wouldn’t be true to their vision, but I know it’s a big day for a couple and want it to be exactly as they envisioned it. I’m an open-minded person and that’s how YellowBird is run.

What is your favorite part of a wedding ceremony?

I’m lucky because I get to check in with the bride and groom before the ceremony so I can see their nerves and emotions all over the place, which is great. But my absolute favorite part is something that only I get to share with the couple. When we’re on the altar there are things that happen quickly and quietly that no one else sees. Little jokes that are made, small touches, words of love that are whispered or mouthed. And I get to see it all! I have emotions of steel at this point because I’ve trained myself to not cry no matter what. But it’s not easy!

What is it that keeps you coming back to this job day after day?

Well I do work a day job, but it can’t compare to marrying people. Like most people I think, you go to work and the days are long and people can feel negative and grumble. Weddings are a magical moment. It’s a special time when everyone you’re surrounded with is happy and loving and it creates an energy you can’t find anywhere else. I keep coming back for the sheer beauty of it.

How would you describe your business style and relationship with your couples?

A bunch of my couples have become my real life friends, which is amazing. We find after we meet that we have so much in common and end up talking afterwards. The biggest compliment I get after the wedding, is that guests thought I was a close, personal friend to the couple, not someone who only met them one or two times. I think that comes with being judgment free and accepting that all people are different and fascinating in their own way.

What type of client do you typically find yourself working with?

I work with everyone. For real. Couples who only want the two of them in their living room, couples who want to get married at 6am with the sunrise, or want to hike into the woods and get married in a creek! I’ve had couples who have huge blow outs or wanna get soaked on the Maid of the Mist. I feel like creative and open-minded couples end up finding me and those are my favorite people in general.

What do you love most about working in the wedding industry?

I like the positive energy that surrounds everyone. Because we all work with people who are sharing a moment of love, everyone I meet is joyful and kind. I love seeing the same vendors over and over and creating a relationship with them as well. Also, since I stand around places in a black suit and binder, I love how many people I’ve helped by pointing out where the bathroom is. It’s the first thing I learn about every venue I visit because inevitably, someone will ask me.

When meeting with brides and grooms, what is the biggest piece of advice that you find yourself giving out over and over again?

I tell them not to sweat the small stuff. Nothing can actually go wrong at a wedding. Everything that happens is special and unique. Forget what you see in the movies. If you wanna change it up, go ahead! All it can do is make the moment more memorable. And I tell them not to skimp on photos. You won’t care about the money in a few months, but you’ll have the photos forever. It’s not because this is a photography site, it’s just that I’ve seen a lot of pictures over the years, and the bad ones break your heart. Get your moments captured. It’s worth it.

What’s the best compliment that you’ve ever received from one of your couples?

I’ve had some incredibly kind things said about me. It’s always interesting reading about yourself because it might not be how you see yourself. So it’s surprising and refreshing and embarrassing in a good way. Some of my favorites that I’ll take right from my testimonials page have been that I have a wonderful sense of humor and infectious smile, an openness to the world, that I’m intuitive and insightful and my words are heartfelt and genuine. One couple told me they felt like they were having an intimate conversation with me, even though there were 100 people watching. I’ve been called down to earth and easy to talk to, and the one I love the most is when guests ask the couple how long we’ve been personal friends for, even though I only spoke with them a few times. And that must be the longest humble-brag I’ve ever written!

What’s your favorite color?

I don’t like to pick favorite anythings.

Any real life officiating stories you’d like to share with us? Your most favorite ceremony ever? The most heartwarming vows you’ve ever heard?

I have heard the most amazing engagement stories. Take the time to think of a special way to ask someone to marry you. You might only get to do it one time in your life! I can’t say I have a favorite ceremony, but the ones I tend to love the most are the ones where the couples are more relaxed. They don’t ask if they should hold hands or worry about if someone is standing in the wrong spot. They are just there, in the moment, in love, and it makes not having a weekend off for the last six years completely worth it. It’s scary to write your own vows, but I’ve heard some of the most amazing words ever spoken at weddings. Make yourself vulnerable and tell your person how you feel. And if you happen to have saved a note they gave you years ago and you read it, you’ll probably make me cry. Oh, and don’t lock your knees, or you just might faint ;)

And lastly, share some fun facts about yourself! Anything that will amp up how awesome we already know that you are!

Well I don’t know that I have many fun facts about myself, but I am a big traveler. I’ve been to Thailand, Cambodia, Morocco, Amsterdam, Nicaragua and many other countries. I’m a voracious reader. There isn’t a moment in my life that I’m not reading two books at a time, but try to make time to go to movies as often as possible. I love tea and hate coffee, have been to over 130 concerts, and have green eyes (which only 2% of the worlds population does). Oh yeah, my mind is full of useless trivia knowledge like that. And also like, did you know that your eyes see your nose all the time, but your brain chooses to block it out? Yeah. I’m full of that.

Want to see more of Michelle in action?? Click here for to see a gorgeous outdoor Yellowbird Wedding ceremony!

natalie + erik // Downtown Buffalo and Hoyt Lake

Natalie and Erik met because of a shared friend, two ironic re-locations from Buffalo to Chicago and a dive bar. Oh, and a yellow shirt. How much can you really credit a shirt for a relationship? Well, that’s debatable. If you ask Natalie she’ll say that, sure, she noticed the yellow shirt, and the fact that the guy wearing it happened to be pretty cute. End of story. If you ask Erik, it’s because of the yellow shirt that their first meeting ended up being so memorable. Either way, we’re pretty happy that Erik chose to wear the now famous yellow shirt that day back in 2013. And we’re even more happy that these two ended up together and chose us to document their happiness :) Natalie and Erik are outrageously adorable and also happen to both have great storytelling skills. We are so excited to photograph their wedding this August!

Natalie and Erik were kind enough to share all the details about the yellow shirt as well as some other sweet tidbits about their relationship and growing love for each other. Read along as you check out their super cute engagement shoot from Hoyt Lake and Downtown Buffalo! We know you’ll love these two just as much as we do by the time you reach the bottom!

Natalie: “It was Lollapalooza weekend 2013 and I was living in Chicago. My cousin, Andrew, was visiting from Buffalo and staying with friends who also happened to be from Buffalo. We made plans to meet up, and like any group of 23 year olds, landed at a dive bar not far from their apartment. After meeting all of his friends, I made a comment to my friend that I thought that ‘yellow shirt kid’ was pretty cute. Lucky for me, ‘yellow shirt kid’ turned out to be Erik and not too long after making that comment he offered to buy me a drink. We started chatting and didn’t stop for the rest of the night. He actually claims that I made a few digs of said yellow shirt, but I think his memory is a little fuzzy. ;)“

Erik: “One of my best friends is actually Natalie’s cousin. Despite this, we had never met when we were younger in Buffalo and our first meeting didn’t come until we were both living in Chicago. My friend came to visit for a weekend and mentioned that his cousin also lived in Chicago and we should all hang out. My friends and I were having a few drinks in our apartment when Natalie and her friends arrived. That was the first time I saw her, but we really didn’t start talking until a little later on in the night when we were all at the bar. Now Natalie might kill me for writing this, but she actually called me out for wearing a ‘stupid yellow shirt’ and was spotted dancing on the bar – so it’s safe to say it was a memorable first meeting. We spent the rest of the night talking, laughing and dancing (I’m sure we had some great moves at that point in the night). Now the bar we met at and the yellow shirt I was wearing no longer exist, but we still do!“

Natalie: “After a week of texting following our first meeting, Erik asked me out to dinner at Orso’s, an Italian restaurant here in Chicago. This was my first sign that he was a keeper, since unbeknownst to him, Orso’s was already my favorite Italian spot in the city. It was a warm summer night so we were able to sit underneath the grape leaves on their gorgeous back patio. I remember feeling at ease around Erik almost immediately and our conversation flowed easily throughout the entire date. So easily, in fact, that our dinner ended up lasting three hours. I left that night already feeling that there was something different about me and Erik’s connection. I knew really early on that I had found something special with Erik and couldn’t wait to spend more time with him.“

Erik: “Now there are some disagreements on whether or not Natalie was on time or late for our first date, but there’s no disputing I was quite early, so I took a seat at the bar and learned some interesting historical facts about the restaurant from the bartender (have to keep some conversation starters in your back pocket for a first date!). Luckily, I didn’t need to use them. It was a great night and left no doubt in my mind that there would be many more to come.“

Natalie: “I remember we were down in St Maarten on vacation, a trip that we had been talking about taking for years and finally pulled the trigger on. We had spent the day relaxing at a nearby beach and were back at the house before dinner in town. The house we were staying at was right on the water and had a gorgeous view of the sunset from the back patio.“

Erik: “There was no better setting for a proposal. I had told Natalie I wanted to get a picture of us with the sunset in the background, and I think she can attest that I was ‘toe tapping’ as I was urging her to get ready in time to get the perfect shot and get the ring out of my pocket and onto her hand.“

Natalie: “I was taking my sweet time reading in my beach clothes next to the pool instead of making myself presentable. Luckily, I did get my behind in gear because instead of just setting up for a photo, Erik was setting up for a proposal.“

Erik: “As a true millennial, I setup my iPad and set the timer as the sun began to set, dropped to one knee and asked the love of my life to marry me. And the rest is history!“

Natalie: “I said ‘YES!’ and haven’t stopped smiling and giggling since.”

Natalie: “We love making dinner and then sitting on the couch, drinking wine, while watching a Dateline Murder Mystery on TV. Maybe throw in a couple rounds of the game Head Bands. We pretty much exclusively play the ‘Act it Out’ or ‘Accents’ decks. The latter always ends in laughter because we’re both terrible at accents.“

Erik: “Depending on how much wine we’ve had there’s usually some music and/or dancing to close the night out. ‘Hey Alexa, play Elton John!’”

Erik: “In the summer, date night definitely starts with dinner on a patio. If we’re lucky there’s some live music as well. After that we might head to The Lodge for a drink (my favorite bar in the city) and end the night either meeting up with friends or heading to the lakefront for some fireworks.“

Natalie: “It’s a must that the bar we meet friends at has excellent music, with added points for a Jukebox or live performers.“

Erik: “We love exploring our city as much as we can. Whether that means taking a day to visit a neighborhood we haven’t been to, trying a new bar/restaurant, or simply taking a walk around our neighborhood.“

Erik: “I truly value the relationships I have with people and the experiences I share with those close to me. Natalie and I have great families and friends and the experiences we’ve shared with them over time are irreplaceable. I’m truly lucky to have these people in my life and cannot wait to share the future with them.“

Natalie: “Erik is my person in every way. He truly makes every day of my life a little better just by being a part of it. I know that I can always count on him to support me and encourage me to be my best self. He is one of those genuinely good people who brings out the best in everyone around him. One of the things that really impresses me about Erik is his ability to truly listen to others and make sure that they feel comfortable and included. Even when challenges come our way, and I know they will, I have the extra vote of confidence knowing that we’re going to get through it together.“

Erik: “There are many things that make me want to spend my life with Natalie, but one has to be just who she is as a person. She has a contagious happiness that makes me smile when she smiles and laugh when she laughs. She’s always up for a new adventure and I love being by her side each time. She’s also always been a strong support system for me. I know there’s always going to be ups and downs in life but knowing that I will always have someone like Natalie by my side, supporting and encouraging me, means the world.“

Loving the urban vibes in some of Natalie + Erik’s photos? Click here for another city based engagement session!