Wedding Photographer Does Well By Doing Good

November 16, 2015

By Laura Brauer

Wedding photographer Dana Gruszynski has leveraged a charitable photo session’s viral success into newfound business success.

It all started when Gruszynski heard of an unfortunate mishap at the wedding of Heather and Matt Koehler–the Koehler’s photographer was a no-show on the wedding day, leaving  the couple without any memories of the big day.

Gruszynski heard about the incident through her cousin and contacted Heather to arrange a “stylized bridal shoot” for her and the groom, free of charge. What she didn’t tell the Koehlers was that she was planning to recreate the entire wedding, down to the flowers and cake and a number of key guests, to give the couple the photos they were deprived of on their wedding day.

(C) Dana G Photography

(C) Dana G Photography

Pulling off that surprise was so small feat, as MLive’s Andrew Dodson recounts:

The photographer scoured Facebook, looking at cellphone photos from Koehler’s big day, and used those photos as research for the surprise shoot….

Gruszynski reached out to Koehler’s sister, who helped track down bridesmaids, groomsmen and family members. Using photos she found online of the floral arrangements, she contacted Bay City florist Country Garden Flowers, which created near replicas of the bride’s bouquet, also free of charge…

The only thing left was the cake. Gruszynski’s boyfriend’s sister, Nicole Fike, of Midland, is a talented baker and recreated the cake for the shoot.

The end result wasn’t simply a truly gratified bride and groom but a viral sensation for Gruszynski as the story of her late October shoot was picked up by the Daily Mail, CNN and others.  Since then, she’s seen a flood of emails and requests for bookings. The tide has been so high that Gruszynski  has been able to transition from her day job as a receptionist/admin and focus more fully on her growing photography business.

(c) Dana G Photography

(c) Dana G Photography

(c) Dana G Photography

(c) Dana G Photography

(c) Dana G Photography

The photographer herself. (c) Dana G Photography

Read More:

How to Make a Photo Go Viral

These Nuptials Went Viral For a Cause

Portrait Photographer’s Motherhood Series Goes Viral

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