A quick post for Paulie, having his FIRST Birthday party tomorrow. Yippeeeee!

As I was lying in bed last night, far from sleep, husband snoring so loud it woke up the dog, I started thinking. I have really had some kick ass weddings this year! I mean, one is just as beautiful as the next. I’m feeling so incredibly lucky that it may be time to go buy a lottery ticket! Although now that I’ve said that I’ve jinxed it. Kind of like telling your birthday wish. Oh well. It was a fun thought while it lasted.

Welcome to the beautiful wedding of Erika and Tyler. They had a quaint ceremony at the Missouri Botanical Gardens followed by a very personalized reception at the Grand Hall at the Marriott in Union Station. Let’s put it this way…no DJ at this wedding. You’ll never guess…BLUEGRASS BAND Cumberland Gap! Their love of music carried through to the tables where each one donned a record and matching name. Like the REM and Michael Buble tables. Kate and I had a great time. Thanks to you both for having us! Now on to the photos. I’m making a concerted effort to talk less rather than ramble on and on and on…some call me long winded. I won’t tell you what the others call me.

Paper and wood parasols for guests at the outdoor wedding in the Japanese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

And program fans in a jute basket. They were ready for the July heat!

Thanks to Kate for both of these awesome walking shots! I had the fabulous idea to use the hill and the strong sun flare but then my camera refused to cooperate. These turned out great! Just as I envisioned.

Take a look at the right side of this photo. Due to the slow shutter speed and a slight breeze, it looks as if the greens and yellows have been manipulated and pulled around like paint. No photoshop work here whatsoever! Cool eh? Not that I did it on purpose. Just thought it was sweet.

One of my very favorites from the day. Serene yet strong.

The beautiful Grand Hall at Union Station.

I didn't take a photo of my place card because I am that self involved. It was one of the only ones left! Very cool display.

I have never seen this and I love it! Instead of a guestbook, they had a board with years on it. Guests wrote notes and stuck pins in on the year in which they met or had a specific memory. So very cool.

See? Record themed tables. Genius.

Tyler wrote a song for Erica. It was beautiful and brave of him. He was a wee bit nervous so he sang most of it with his eyes closed to block out the crowd.

The effect Tyler's song had on the ladies. Not a dry female eye in the house.

I think they like each other.

Ceremony: Missouri Botanical Garden Japanese Garden
Reception: Marriott St. Louis Union Station Grand Hall
Flowers: Botanicals Design Studio
Cake: McArthurs Bakery

L Photographie St. Louis Wedding Photography by Liz Sloan and Kate Hayes

It’s been a really tough day for me. My little girl (doggie) Greta is having back surgery as I type.  Just yesterday she suddenly wasn’t walking so well and soon after not moving much at all.  When Steve came home from work and she tried to run to the front door to say hi, she only made it about a foot before she had to sit down again.  On the positive side her tail still worked well!  She was so excited to see him but just couldn’t get there.  So from clinic to clinic we traveled this morning to find out what could be done for her.  Alas, the answer: little doggie back surgery…immediately.  She has an 85% chance of walking again, and I’m hopeful that she will make a full recovery.

Just thinking about her and wanted to share an old photo of my cute little girl!  This was our holiday card a few years back.  She loves Christmas.  Really she just loves opening presents – she seriously rocks at tearing off the paper.

Not being a mother myself (unless you count the dogs – which my husband has emphatically told me I may not), this day is still all about my mother for me. I am a little embarrassed to say that I didn’t really appreciate her when I was growing up. I took TONS of stuff for granted. I didn’t even notice my bed was magically made and my clothes picked up off of the floor until I got to college and for some reason my room was a disaster. Ask any of my college friends and they will tell you “disaster” is a gross understatement. But in all seriousness, my mom did everything for me while I was all worried about myself. So I had two full beings living my life and I still had a tough time keeping up. Well, now that it’s mostly all on me, it is clear that I was better for it. But I didn’t really notice, until a year or so ago when I got to thinking about it.

One day I had a million errands to run and as I was getting out of the car for close to the 8th time I rolled my eyes and let out some sort of a groan. I was so tired of getting in and out of the car and driving myself all over all day long! And then it hit me, I’ve always been this crazy busy body person and MY MOM used to have to drive me around like this all the time. If I’m annoyed doing it for myself, how did she do it for ME all of those years without a single complaint? She is a saint and so many of the little things I took for granted I don’t anymore. And I owe her a great big thank you! I actually owe her an infinite number of thank you’s so Mothers Day seems like a good time to take care of one of them.

Ok, new topic…will this be the day Kristie gives birth to her new little boy?! Call me I’m taking bets.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there! And here’s a quick little pic of the vanilla cheesecake I made yesterday for the occasion…yes, a food picture. Rare on this blog not to see a person or at least a shoe – I know.

Liz Sloan L Photographie St. Louis Wedding Photography

I don’t have a big photo blog ready, so you get a little random tid bit about me today!

Last October hubby Steve and I took a little weekend mini-break and headed down to Memphis. And did we test our livers! We expected them to function as if they were twenty-something vs. thirty-something year old livers. Seeing as I work most weekends, the poor thing is a little bit out of shape! And the hangovers are brutal. But there is one thing I ALWAYS crave after a night out on the town (or a whole day out on Beale Street!)

A fountain Sprite. Every time I’m feeling a little under the weather the next morning, nothing tastes better than an ice cold Sprite. And it is always the best Sprite I have ever had. Every time.

So instead of putting up a really cool photo of Beale Street on the wall, I decided to put up a couple of photos of Sprites I had that weekend…aptly titled “The Best Sprite Ever” and “The 2nd Best Sprite Ever.”

Steve and I’s little inside joke hangs on the walls of our upstairs bath and always brings back memories of our crazy weekend.

L Photographie Wedding photography by Liz Sloan

I don’t get to use the other side of my brain all that often in this job. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing (I’m definitely not complaining!) but the other, more structured, logical side is always trying to find reasons to come out and play. A select few of you may know that before I decided to try and be artsy photographer girl, I managed to get myself a minor in Chemistry. I’m sure you see the relation! Any-who, I have since forgotten pretty much everything I ever learned of that discipline (sorry for the money down the tubes mom and dad!) but something must have stuck.

Last weekend I had the honor of shooting my cousin Niki and Ronnie’s wedding reception at Palladium St. Louis (photos to come in a week or two!) It’s a cool, new reception venue down near Soulard as part of the City Hospital redevelopment. And I thought to myself, I’m pretty sure Palladium is an element. And I was taking the below photo of the Palladium logo at the entrance when it hit me…

I wonder if all of those dots in the logo have anything to do with the electron shells corresponding with Palladium? So when I got home that night I looked it up and sure enough – they do! Quick science lesson – electrons float around the nucleus of an atom in shells. The first shell can hold up to 2 electrons, the next 8, and on and on. Now, let’s pull it all together. Below is a diagram of palladium’s electron shells.

See the resemblance? Props to the creator of the Palladium St. Louis logo for pulling science into a very nice modern logo design! I’m pretty proud of myself but I’m also positive I’m not the first to figure it out.

Ok, enough science for the day…back to non-linear creative thinking!

L Photographie Liz Sloan St. Louis Wedding Photographer

For the sake of getting to the photos I will save you all from my usual lengthy ramblings this time around! Here are some basics…Kelsey and Andy were married at Sacred Heart church in Crystal City followed by a beautiful reception at the Ninth Street Abbey in Soulard. I can’t help but tell everyone that the Abbey was my next door neighbor in Soulard for 3.5 years. It’s so strange to look over at my old apartment and just say “Hi apartment! Long time no see!” And I think about how crazy it made me to have to park 4 or 5 blocks away if I came home while an event was going on at the Abbey so we have a bit of a love hate relationship. But it is such an awesomely beautiful place!

We shot at a beautiful park, traintracks, made room for a custard stop and spent a few minutes down on the landing for photos. And the little doggie that made it into one of these preview shots is Milo. It is questionable whether Kelsey loves Milo or Andy more – you should see how her face lights up around both of them! Andy – you’ve got your work cut out for you if you’re going to keep favorite status. (wink!) You two looked gorgeous! Enjoy!

My second Cohen sister of the year and her new husband Buddy showed up to play and didn’t disappoint on this beautiful fall day! I use the sports reference because I must. You see, Buddy and his groomsmen (some or at least most) apparently went to Florida for college. AND there was a big Florida game on that day. So all of the men sacrificed their love of football for their love of Buddy that day…well sort of. More on that topic below. The wedding and reception took place at the Marriott West in Maryville Center. After some final getting ready shots with the ladies, Megan and Buddy saw each other in their wedding garb and we headed out to Faust Park for a few shots. It’s funny – I used to get out west more but lately most of my weddings have been in the downtown/central St. Louis region. So I haven’t gotten to use Faust much but it has some great spots. Like this old home and barn you’ll see below. And wedding party really didn’t complain when I asked them to walk on the equivalent of mush. We are talking mid October here and if you St. Louisans remember correctly, we broke all kinds of rain records by about mid October. So although it wasn’t raining, we were dealing with it’s mushy aftermath. BUT I’m certainly not complaining and you’ll see why below…enjoy!

Let’s start with a pair of the most beautiful earrings I have ever seen and a fun pair of shiney shoes. Megan – I was serious about that offer I made for the earrings.  Some girls have bag envy…I have shiney thing envy.  And I know shiney isn’t spelled with an “e” but I like it better that way so I’m going with it.  

This is the side detail of her dress – more shiney!

Shiney things are everywhere!

Megan – you are beautiful.

And this is the beautiful bracelet Megan received as a wedding gift from her thoughtful groom. It even color coordinates!

Off to the mushy park! Totally worth it.

On the way back down Olive I noticed this field…right next to Ya Ya’s. It looks like we are in the middle of the country on a serene day doesn’t it? Nope – cars zipping down Olive about 20 feet away.

Oh happy day! FLORIDA WINS! FLORIDA WINS! Now we can finally start this wedding thing about 10 minutes late. Ha!

Yay – married!

Beautiful reception details. Mmmmm….caramel apples.

I had to put a shout out to the parents of the bride in here. BOTH daughters married within 6 months of each other. And they still look happy! It’s a wedding miracle!

Sistas.

The toasts did not disappoint. Props to the best man and maid of honor. I had a very tough time deciding which of these to put on here…so many good ones. However, this one is here for a different reason. I feel like I ALMOST got the perfect shot. You see there on the left is speak no evil and the dude in the middle is see no evil. If only the guy on the right had done his part and gone the earmuff route. Maybe next time. This time we have a double blind. Love is blind you know…

Congrats guys!

I had the pleasure of shooting another great wedding at Oliva! Laura and Dave are awesome together…fun, comfortable, laid back and natural. You can tell they just mesh together. Laura isn’t the kind of girl who likes to do things just like everyone else. Her wedding dress was handmade just for her…she was actually sewn into it after she put it on! The simple bouquets of calla lillies contained peacock feathers and were equipped with stretchy crystal bracelets and placed on the bridesmaids and bride’s wrists. The blue silk ribbon was carried through everything including the bouquets, programs, invites and cake. And it all came together perfectly! I’m going to keep my commentary short on the photos this time and let them speak for themselves. Congrats you two!

Starting it off with…what else?! Shoes!

Cool bouquets as described above.

Laura’s skin is creamy and beautiful in black & white shots!  I probably have more black & white photos in this wedding than most because her skin is just perfect for it.

I think that she is just plain regal here.

And this is one of my favorites.  When I was editing the photos and saw this one I turned the computer to my husband and said “I think he loves her…what do you think?”

Such a great space…

Oliva has these fabulous walls that I just LOVE shooting against.  They are kind of a terra cotta color but the lighting makes for great black & white shots too.

Just relaxing and soaking in the day…

And one of my other major faves! 

An all around fabulous evening.  Thanks for letting me be a part of it!