Check it out…no white, off white, diamond white, ivory, rose, champagne…nope. The bride wore RED! How cool is that? I am so late on this blog that Amy & Brad are actually picking up their photos tonight but I had to at least get a few up! And of couse to go along with the red (which I’m about 99.5% sure is Amy’s fave color) they are big Cards fans. That’s one of the few conventional things about this couple and it’s always nice to see people really bring their own personal style favorite things into a wedding. We started out with the girls at Busch Stadium and had some fun. I had Amy act like she was taking her ring out of a Cracker Jack box (classic!) and the girls chew on some wads of bubble gum (haphazardly hilarious!) The ceremony was at the Lemp Mansion with the reception at the Lemp Grand Hall which even included an Elvis impersonator appearance. Leaving me to wonder…what could possibly happen next?! Enjoy!

I think it had been awhile since these gals tried to blow bubbles…

We ended up with more laughter than bubbles…totally ok by me!

I asked Amy to try to fake “surprise” and that ended up with more laughter than surprise. Once again – love it!

These are REAL WOMEN. A nice round of shots at McGurks pre-ceremony.

Wait a sec – I take that back. No one is making the Mr. Ick face…must have been a girly one. Ha!

An accidental Marilyn Monroe moment on the way out the door.

Even the boys wore cool shoes! Since she knows my love affair with shoes, Kristie made sure to take this one for me.

Red paper fans for guests on a warm August day. But they looked really cool all folded up in the basket.

I like the halved wine cork as a place card holder!  I may have to steal that idea for my holiday dinner party this year.  And how about this cake topper – they had it custom sculpted just for the occasion!  If you can’t tell, someone likes to ride a bike, Brad is a big Guinness fan, they have a dog and someone likes Snoopy and soccer.  Love it. 

Congrats!

I had the toughest time narrowing down blog photos for this wedding! I feel like I’m getting to say this a lot lately which means my couples rock. Blue was everywhere! For their August wedding, they made sure their guests stayed cool with program fans and custom bottled water. All kinds of little extra treats such as “something blue” favor boxes and a retro candy bar filled with hues of blue made the event extra special. But the best part was how happy these two were all day. Bobbi has the most expressive eyes I have every seen. “They” (whoever they are) say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I’ve always felt they were important facial features, but now I get it. And Tyler has this adorable little sideways smirk. So freakin’ cute these two!

If anyone out there is planning an outdoor wedding…consider SUNSET. It is the most beautiful time of day to take photos…besides sunrise which is equally beautiful but crazy early so no one ever gets to see it. Or at least I don’t. Not a morning person. So I have Bobbi and Tyler to thank for choosing a wonderful time of day to get married making my job that much easier! Enjoy the photos!

I really love doing these! It’s fun to come up with different locations and scenarios that are a little bit out there but not so much that everyone is completely freaked out. I think these are liberating and maybe a little bit exhilarating for the bride. At least that’s how I feel about it. There is always something extra fun about doing something that seems kinda bad…like hopping in a fountain in your wedding dress.

I really wish the term “trash the dress” hadn’t ever been coined. You can do things in your dress that you wouldn’t have done on your wedding day for fear of getting dirty without TRASHING your dress. Basically, we try not to do anything to your dress that a good dry cleaner can’t handle. I remember my mom freaking out and lecturing me about how wrong it was to ruin (aka trash – see why I don’t like that word?) a perfectly good dress when there are plenty of less fortunate people out there that would love to wear that dress. And then she saw the first round pictures and stated that it wasn’t as bad as she thought and that they were actually really cool (and it’s rare that you get mom to admit she might have been wrong!)

This is first time we have done a session plus groom. Pat made a fabulous accessory! And Sarah looked gorgeous as usual. Kristie and I do these together, but since she’s on vacation you’re getting a preview of just mine this time around. Once we made it into the water we started to lose Pat’s attention. Turns out he’s a bit of a water bug. We were taking serious and sexy shots of Sarah while we was just splashing around in the background like a 5 year old. Classic! I know Kristie has a great shot of just him striking what looks like a Michael Jackson pose with water pouring over his head that she really should share with you as it is downright hilarious. Off we go…enjoy!

I threw in this next shot so that you can get a feel for what the scene looks like outside of the shot. We were in the old riverfont, industrial warehouse area…pretty much the opposite of suburbia. A random guy on a crotch rocket dropped by to tell us it was a really beautiful shot. I think he actually used the word beautiful. Such an odd moment in time.

Since these shots are so “bad ass” sexy and sultry they all seem so serious. So I threw this one in to prove that we were having fun!

Ok, so check out Pat in the background splashing around. I’m pretty sure that Sarah made that face in the right photo after we told her what her new husband was up to in the background.

Another one to give you an idea of the situation. We had Sarah and Pat jump in the center of the fountain while it was low and as soon as they did, well, you get the idea. Not exactly the scenario we had in mind considering we couldn’t even see our subjects. It got MUCH better after that though…as you will see!

I have so many faves from this session, but I think this is my very, very fave. Everything came together at just the right moment for a fabulous shot. Thanks Sarah and Pat for being great sports and playing along while Kristie and I asked you to do seemingly nutty things!

So who do we get to throw in next?! I’ts getting a little late in the season for water (BURR!) but we are well into booking 2010 stuff. It’s never too early to call! Did I mention I LOVE doing these?

I was just editing some photos from the next wedding I will blog for you all, and these two made me stop and exhale. In all of the crazy business that is our lives, these moments really stand out. Sometimes it’s just a matter of taking the time to enjoy them. I LOVE taking photos of all of the pretty things, funny guys, crazy families, etc, but this is why I do what I do.

One serious moment…I think I may be PMS-ing which means those ASPCA Sarah McLaughlin commercials could bring me to tears in seconds. Thanks for indulging me!

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

A super quick post for little Maggie that I photographed a few hours ago. She wins my best sleepy baby of the year award!! Apparently the secret to a sleepy baby photo shoot is…
doctor in the AM, lunch with friends outside, a shopping trip to Target, then some food = knocked out baby.
I love it!

Hope you enjoy your quick sneak peek Mom & Dad while I sneak out of town for a bit…

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

Welcome baby Paulie! This little cutie is as sweet as can be. At only 6 days old, he tried to stay awake for most of his session, but we got him sleepy after a while. (and I have a feeling he slept the rest of the day after I left). I can tell Mom & Dad are so happy and proud that he is here. Congrats you two! I’m very happy for you : )

this awesome painting was made by Paulie’s Grandpa, who he’s named after…

love the nursery decor!

I knew I was in for a good day when I turned onto Liz’s parents street. They had these hand written signs going down the street that started with “Today’s the day, to start a new life” and ended with “Jeff and Elizabeth, Husband and Wife.” Nothing like kicking things off with a smile! I shot Liz’s cousin Valerie (& Bob’s) wedding last year so it was nice to see a few familiar faces.

Liz’s dad was cracking me up all morning. The girls had taken over the house with hair, makeup and all things wedding and girly, and he was just quietly padding around trying to stay out of the womens’ way and yet keep himself occupied. That nervous energy will get you every time I tell ya! The church was Ste. Genevieve which is quaint and beautiful. Jeff and the guys seemed relaxed and in good spirits. These two are just so easy going together!

Jeff coaches soccer and we did some shots of Liz kicking a ball at him (hilarious) and then Liz handed me the ball and told me to hold it hostage from the guys or they would never stop playing with it all day. I still have it. Ha! And I saw what she meant about the guys when a couple of them climbed up on some REALLY high rocks at Tower Grove Park and started reaching over to a tree and pretending to be monkeys. No I’m not kidding or exaggerating – that is exactly what happened.

The reception was GORGEOUS. I have never shot at the Missouri Athletic Club before but I’ve got to make it back sometime. The ballroom is absolutely stunning. The ceiling is full of architectural details that capture the light at different angles and it feels as if the entire ceiling is made of a giant wedding cake. You can see it in my room shot below. Such a great wedding and lots of heartfelt, happy tears. Beautiful day you two!

I think that I’ve done enough talking and probably haven’t done anything justice so let’s see if the photos help!

What do we love? Birdcage veils! Honestly, they are fabulous and not that easy to find. And when you do, depending on your wedding budget (and whether or not you spent your entire bridal budget on the perfect dress!) the price tag might make you gag. However, I just came across the great find! Etsy is becoming increasingly popular for talented (and some not so talented unfortunately) crafty people to sell their wares. You must check out Brenda’s Bridal Veils Shop on Etsy! If you like bridcage veils and feathers at a VERY resonable price this is the place.

I know, not really photo related but I was thinking about buying one just as an accessory for trash the dress sessions and HAD to share. I really love excuses to shop.

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

We met in Anniversary Park where her parents are hosting her 1st Birthday Party. (what a cute idea!) She is as sweet as can be… I have no other words, so on with the photos…

P.S. Her Mom is a fellow Mizzou alumn (who just killed IL in football this past Saturday. Go Tigers!)

Don’t forget … leave a comment on the blog and get entered in the drawing to win a $50 GIFT CARD for L Photographie Portraits. Use to buy prints, towards a future session, or give to a friend! It’s my Thank You for voting L Photographie as St. Louis’s Best Family Photographer.

I have taken FOREVER to blog this wedding because it was too overwhelming for me! Seriously, I just couldn’t figure out where to start so I kept putting off starting. Some people would call that procrastinating but I like to think of it as carefully plotting out my attack strategy (Kind of like a game of Battleship! Does anyone play that anymore?) Do you know how difficult is is to pick about 20 photos to represent about 1000?! Sarah & Pat are so great together. The wedding was a beautiful ceremony at the Basillica followed by a get together at Pat’s parent’s house in Clayton and a hip reception at Lumen in the city. Kristie and I have gotten to spend so much time with these two and it’s been a blast. I was just telling them the other day that I think I’ve seen them more than some of my closest friends lately! If you enjoy these then you will certainly enjoy the trash the dress photos we have coming up pretty soon. Pat came along for the session and it’s the first time we did both together. Check back for those in a couple of weeks!

Side note – my favorite photo below is the one of them standing face to face in the doorway – it was one quick quiet moment in the madness of the wedding day. The perfect moment. And hopefully their lives will be filled with perfect moments for years to come!

One more little thing to share (look – I’m racking up the blog points!) from the latest Saint Louis Bride Magazine! Jessi and Dan were married last November and had a really classy fall-ish wedding with the reception at Moulin – one of my faves. And if you haven’t eaten at Vin de Set you MUST make it there. I am yet to taste any dish that has not been fabulous and the roof top deck is especially amazing with the current stellar August weather we’ve been having. Their beautiful wedding is featured in the magazine…check it out! PS – LOVE the pinecone place card holders. Genuis.

Workey-work busy bee!!! The good news is that Kristie and I have been crazy busy this year and the bad news is that finding time to blog and share all of the cool stuff we have going on is nearly impossible! As you can see by scrolling through below, Kristie just a wee bit better at it than I am. I mean just barely…it’s almost a tie when you look at it closely. I swear.

So a few months ago Saint Louis Bride Magazine had Kristie and I shoot the tablescape feature showcasing tables by a variety of fabulous wedding planners, florists, rental companies, stationary design and more. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet it’s a must! Saint Louis Bride Magazine truly does have the most comprehensive info for any newly engaged couple in St. Louis. I scanned in the layout of the tablescape to share with you all here. Enjoy!