Kevin and Leslie :: engaged

Last week, I had the privilege of photographing the graduation at Covenant seminary, and when Kevin walked across the stage to receive his diploma for completing his M.Div., I was snapping photos like crazy. But that wasn't the first time I've shot photos of Kevin...

I met up with Kevin and his lovely fiance Leslie at the Landing in St. Louis for engagement photos a few weeks ago. We walked around on the cobble-stone streets and ended up at the under the arch. I just love all the though that Leslie has put into the wedding. They've been very intentional so many of the details and I just can't wait until their wedding in the Loop in August!
Here are some of my favorites from their engagement shoot:

Favorite!  Doesn't Leslie look fierce here?

Favorite!  Ok, I know I just said that, but I really love the emotion between them in this photo. 

the arch not only looks super-cool from far away, but close up, it gives such a nice, textured background.  Lots of love written on that side of the arch :)

And get that sunflare!

Emily and Mark are married!

While we were waiting for the wedding party to arrive at the church, I saw this bag of goodness in the lunch spread the bride's mother had laid out. Yeah, I knew it was going to be a good day :).

preparation

loved the all the bright colors

So Emily and Mark are seriously one of the sweetest couples I've ever met.  They've been dating since the middle of high school and from the way Mark couldn't take his eyes off Emily all day, I'd say their love is still as vibrant as it was in high school.  

Emily and Mark opted to see each other before the ceremony. They had a private moment together that Jon and I captured from two different angles.






Because Emily had allotted ample time for photos before the wedding, we headed to Bee Tree Park in south county for some outdoor photos. We couldn't have asked for a better day.












take a look at the hops on the guy on the left!


super fun wedding party


recognize these two? This is Pat and Jill, whose wedding I shot last year. Jill is Emily's sister and I so enjoyed working with their family again.


the big entrance


and some mid-ceremony sweetness


After the wedding, we took a quick stop by the location where Mark proposed to Emily and caught this beautiful light. Possibly my favorite of the day.


Emily and her brother Andy tearing it up on the dance floor


And my trusty assistant caught this awesome photo. This guy caught the garter and made a run for it ;).

Marvelous Monday #9 :: Who knew

Who knew a puppy would be so much work!  
When she yawns, she looks like a snake


But I still think she's pretty cute.

Nicolle :: Wedding Consultant Extraordinaire

Let's face it; planning a wedding is tough work. While I was planning my wedding, I scoured the web while I was at work and spent meant late nights (and early mornings) researching different locations, florists, DJ's, stationary stores, photographers, bakeries... there's just so much to do and I had never planned a wedding before, so I was pretty clueless. If I had to do it all over again, there are a lot things I would have done differently. The first one would be to lay off on the caffeine right before the wedding. I had a frappacino (make that a venti, please) and the caffeine jolt pushed me to nearly run down the aisle.

Another thing I would have done differently would be to hire a wedding coordinator. More than just a planner, a wedding coordinator is a limitless wealth of information on-all-things-wedding. And if I could have hired just one coordinator, it would be Nicolle.

I've worked with Nicolle on several photoshoots and she's one of the most organized, fashionable, and personable people I know. In addition to working as the head wedding coordinator for The Journey, Nicolle also works for Alred Wedding Consultants, a St. Louis based consulting service providing as little or as much assistance as you desire. She needed some new headshots for the updated Alred website, and I was happy to oblige.

We started off in the Clayton for some quick headshots




And since we were there... I took advantage of the gorgeous light and got me some sunflare:)


And since she was game, we took Nicolle up on the roof of a luxury Clayton hotel for some more shots




... and since we were there, we decided to shoot a little more :). Love the vintage feel here.




And in addition to being a wedding consultant extraordinaire, Nicolle is also a pretty fierce model

Marvelous Monday #10 :: Let's Do Lunch

No matter what time of day it is, I'm pretty much always ready to eat. When I'm smacking the snooze button on the alarm on Monday morning, I bet I wouldn't be so bitter if I had something to look forward to... like lunch at a yummy place. Unfortunately, I'm on a diet, so I have a Lean Cuisine for lunch every day. And maybe some broccoli or celery for a snack later on. Yeah, it's real fun.

So if I weren't on a diet and I wanted to go out to lunch, these are places that would be make my Monday marvelous:

Pei Wei


Simply delicious and fast. This place is like Q'Doba, but with oriental food. It's actually owned by the same people that own P.F. Chang's, so they have that yummy brown rice and awesome spicy chicken.



Provisions


LOVE this place. It's a gourmet food market PLUS Fresh-Made Salad & Sandwich Stations, a grill and an awesome beverage selection. Coffee, smoothie's, local microbrews... they've got it all. AND, it's right next to the camera store, which makes my frequent trips even better.



Cyrano's in Webster Groves


We went to Cyrano's for a business lunch last week and I just can't stop thinking about it! I NEVER have dessert with lunch because, well, that doesn't go very well with my diet of pain, but I DID have a dessert the day I went to Cyrano's. Best bread pudding ever. EVER.



the Old Spaghetti Factory


Ok let's be honest... I don't care if it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I'm pretty much always in the mood for Spaghetti Factory. I LOVE the mizithra with browned butter, and I always order the hearty portion so I can have some for the next day.



All of those places are taunting me right now. Any of them would make a great lunch. Or snack. Or anything. But instead, here is what I'm dining on today.
Grilled Chicken Caesar

"Doesn't this look yummy," I said sarcastically to myself this morning, trying to convince my stomach that this frozen delight would be just as good as something from Cyrano's.

Yeah, that didn't work too well.
I'm headed to the microwave. Hope your Monday is Marvelous.

Natalie :: Class of 08

When I was talking with Natalie and her mom about a location for her senior photos, one of them mentioned that Castlewood State Park would be a great place for photos. Since I'm always up for shooting at new places, I was pumped to visit Castlewood for the shoot. I, however, did not pick the best choice clothing or footwear. My cute little kitten-heeled sandals did not do very well coming down this hill:


But it really didn't matter about my choice of shoes once we got started because I don't think I've had a shoot where the sun looked more brilliant. And Natalie pretty much rocked it. Don't you agree?







Take a look at that gorgeous light!


Natalie watches a lot of America's Next Top Model, so she had these seriously, pensive poses down :).








I LOVED LOVED LOVED shooting these photos! In addition to the amazing light and rockin subject, this was one of the first sessions I shot after I upgraded all my gear to Canon, which was a great decision :). Best of luck to you, Natalie, as you embark on this new adventure!