September 1, 2011

Kara + Jason {by liz}

This post is chock-full of all kinds of goodness! Kara and Jason were married on Sunday, July 3rd at the Four Seasons St. Louis. And although the fireworks were cancelled, the photos we were able to take because of the storm that blew through were even better. Beautiful and personal details, lots of laughs, a teary-eyed dad, smiles from ear to ear and one hell of a party make this into a pretty awesome day if you ask me. Great work by my friend Shayna owner of St. Louis Wedding Consultants!

Shall we? We shall!

Starting, as has become my own personal custom, with the pretty “girly” things.

Although their rings are pretty…

…the INSIDE is just totally cool. Each of their rings is engraved on the inside with the other’s fingerprint. I have never seen anything like it!

A little something blue…well, ONE of Kara’s something blues…and this one is shiny.

Girls have candle parties and boys have cufflink parties! No, not really, I just think it’s funny that they all decided to work on the cufflinks at the same time. Perhaps I made them nervous? Nah….

I love Jason’s best man smiling behind him.

The Jason on the left is a badass and the Jason on the right is the coolest, most laid back guy I have ever met. :)

Headed back over to the ladies to get Kara into her dress!

I LOVE that at the Four Seasons in St. Louis all of the rooms have an entire wall that is a window. Windows are great for a couple of reasons: A) They provide light! And seeing as photography is the art of capturing light, this point is just about as important as they come. B) By having a giant blown out background window, I don’t have a bunch of “stuff” in the background taking attention away from Kara (purses, shoes, leftover lunch plates, a bottle of Windex, bag of gummy worms…you never know!)

Kara and her mom having a moment! Love that color MOB…looks stellar on you.

Kara’s skin may be even more smooth than a porcelain doll’s. Stunning.

Love these…

Picture perfect!

Kara’s father…you can tell she is daddy’s girl for sure. Dad’s eyes were welled up to the brim all day. May have overflowed a few times…

The beautiful ladies!

Jason seeing Kara for the first time.

Kara’s proud parents looking on…

Time for some classy portraits around the hotel. Side note: it is bright and sunny at this point in the day! More on that later.

Off to Wash U! Where most of the wedding party attended school together. I remember there was at least one non-Bear in there… :)

Of all of the times I have shot at Wash U (gorgeous architecture), not once has anyone ever asked if we could get into a classroom. That being said, I have had a multitude of wedding parties try to break in to take advantage of some air conditioning (due to St. Louis 110 degree summers) and found doors all locked. However, that was not the case this time! And I love these shots. The red chairs, the window light, it pushed the abilities of my lenses down to the last stop but in the end it all worked together perfectly! I like a good challenge from time to time. No, that is not a dare people. :)

Thanks for the idea Vicki!

Ok so now, now is when things get weird! Seriously, we leave Wash U and drive maybe 1 mile to Forest Park. In that time, the temp dropped at least 10 degrees, the sun disappeared, winds had to hit gusts of 30 mph and the equivalent of The Nothing started taking over the sky. (Does anyone else want to start singing the theme song from the Neverending Story? Am I giving away my age again? Crap.)

That being said, I LOVE this next series of images. No artificial lighting or crazy photoshop work. And Kara and Jason – you two handled it perfectly. Although we were kind of in a hurry to get the shots before the rain, and the wind was threatening to blow Kara’s veil into the Grand Basin, you stayed completely relaxed. And that is what makes these shots phenomenal.

I know, you probably don’t believe me about the weather. They look so calm right? Well, I’m putting this one in here to prove it. I believe Jason’s face says it all!

Working with the elements can make for some of the best photographs of your day. Instead of looking worried that her hair was going to get messed up and running for the bus, Kara relaxed and took it in.

Thanks for playing in the “almost” storm with me guys! This shot was taken less than 30 seconds before the torrential downpour began.

Back at the Four Seasons with a few minutes for some touchups post wind and rain!

I love the looks Kara and Jason were flashing each other during the Ketubah signing.

Programs/place cards by M Haley Design.

Beautiful Chuppah. This is what is created when the masters work together. Exclusive Events and Artistry Florist.

More pretty little Artistry Florist bouquets all in a row…

So happy! Smiles and more smiles all the way through…

Love these faces.

Mazel Tov!

Gorgeous centerpieces from Artistry – love mixing heights.

Die cut round menus by M Haley Design in more hues of blue on silver dot chargers.

Ok, I’m unsure of the meaning behind these guys but totally adorable cake topper.

Very, very cool cake with some fancy fondant work by the chefs at the Four Seasons! And instead of a guestbook, Kara and Jason had a thumbprint tree! Guests stuck fingers in ink pads to make leaves and signed them.

Kara and Jason walked in straight to the their first dance and cake cutting.

Toasts and more dancing! Actually, I have never seen such a full dance floor BEFORE dinner. I mean between the salad and dinner the dance floor was packed. I came home and talked about it all night. Never seen anything like it. This group was ready to boogie. Way to go Griffin and the Gargoyles!