Dr. Chris and Taisha Shreve got married at the Wayne County Clerk's Office, then spent their wedding evening doing something no other couple had done before: hiking 1.5 kilometers up a steep bridge walkway in full wedding attire to pose for photos at the exact midpoint between the United States and Canada. The Friday, August 21 trek made them the first couple to take wedding photos on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a landmark that only opened its pedestrian path weeks earlier.
As reported by MLive.com, the couple was accompanied by photographer Montez Miller and an assistant, Purdy Williams, on the walk to the border line. Miller has documented the bridge since construction began and photographed the Shreves at the apex of the walkway, calling the shoot a historical moment. She also photographed the newlyweds on the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts and at Greektown's new Monroe streetscape earlier that day.
Getting to the top wasn't easy. According to Bridge Michigan, the multi-use path rises 150 feet above the Detroit River along a 5 percent incline across 1.8 miles from entrance to exit, a one-way walk that typically takes pedestrians around 45 minutes. Taisha Shreve told MLive the climb amounted to a full workout, and she experienced roughly 85-degree heat during the walk. Dr. Chris Shreve said he wasn't about to risk finding that out on the wedding day itself: “I knew I had to test it out to see if we could actually make the walk,” he said, having tested the route himself beforehand. He credited Miller with carrying her equipment up the incline while capturing the shots.
Standing in Two Countries at Once
At the apex, the Shreves stood in both the United States and Canada simultaneously, marking a spot that has carried personal weight for the groom well beyond the wedding-day novelty. Dr. Chris Shreve has deep Canadian family heritage in Windsor and Chatham, Ontario, with ancestors who escaped slavery in the American South via the Underground Railroad, according to the seed report drawing on coverage that ran in outlets including WNDU. He considers himself half-Canadian because of that family history, making the cross-border bridge shoot personally meaningful rather than just a striking backdrop.
The couple has a history of picking elevated landmarks for milestone moments. Two years before the bridge shoot, Dr. Chris Shreve proposed to Taisha while the two were mid-air on a ski lift at Skybridge Michigan in Boyne Mountain, a prominent pedestrian suspension bridge in northern Michigan. Still, both told MLive that making history wasn't the intention when they set out to take the photos — it was simply the setting that meant the most to them.
A First Since the Ambassador Bridge Closed Its Walkway
The Gordie Howe International Bridge's walking path, which opened August 5, became the first walkable and bikeable international crossing between the U.S. and Canada since the Ambassador Bridge closed its own walking path in 2001. The new span itself opened to traffic on July 27 after eight years of construction. The 12-foot-wide multi-use pathway feeds directly into Sandwich Town on the Windsor side, opening that historic neighborhood to international foot and bike traffic for the first time in roughly 90 years, according to Bridge Michigan's reporting.
The bridge is a $6.4 billion CAD structure with an 853-meter main span, making it the longest cable-stayed bridge span in North America and the tenth-longest in the world, per Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. Getting to this point required Michigan and Canadian officials to acquire more than 600 property parcels across 160 acres in southwest Detroit while fighting off eminent domain lawsuits from the competing, privately owned Ambassador Bridge — litigation that didn't end until 2021, when the Michigan Supreme Court declined an appeal, according to Zausmer.
What Walkers Need to Know Before Trying It Themselves
Anyone hoping to follow in the Shreves' footsteps needs more than good shoes. Foot travelers crossing the multi-use path must carry valid international travel documents, such as a passport or enhanced driver's license, and clear dedicated pedestrian border inspection facilities separate from the vehicle lanes, per Bridge Michigan's guidance. Detroit-side pedestrians must enter at 6366 W. Jefferson Ave., with parking recommended at the Clark Park trailhead since none is available directly at the port of entry.
The bridge deck's status as an official, secured Class A port of entry has mattered before. Back in March, months before the public opening, a 28-year-old Canadian citizen bypassed site security and walked across the unfinished span into Detroit before U.S. Customs and Border Protection took him into custody, as Hoodline previously reported. The Shreves' walk, by contrast, came weeks after the crossing's formal public opening and authorized pedestrian access.
As for whether she'd do it again, Miller isn't so sure. She said she may never walk the bridge again after the demanding trek up its incline — even if it did produce, in her words, a historical set of wedding portraits unlikely to be matched anytime soon.
