Christopher claimed he would be happy if we got one single good image from our shoot today - hopefully he'll agree we managed more than one :)  We wandered around the Grand Basin in Forest Park, getting a little hot and sweaty in the process, for some fairly last-minute engagement portraits (no worries Jenn, there are worse offenders yet to come!)  Towards the end they agreed to make some weird faces to make a kind of series.  I'm not showing most of them in case Christopher wants to hide the evidence...The wedding is in November, so I'll be seeing these guys again soon - looking forward to it!

Allison and Scott's wedding last Sunday was one of the best parties I've been to this year.  The reception was at 9th Street Abbey in Soulard, and all the guests were having an awesome time.  They were all on the dance floor almost immediately (I've never seen a group of people so excited to hear Journey!) and they never left.  Because everyone was having such a great time, my second shooter Chris and I took a TON of photos.  You can see their epic SLIDESHOW HERE (it's huge!)  We also did a Day After shoot in their hotel downtown, which was fun.  These two were a lot of fun - congrats to them both!

The rain around here is getting a bit nuts!  We rescheduled Sarah and Kevin's photos twice already, so when the weather looked threatening again this week, we just decided to chance it.  The rain stayed away, but it was a bit muddy in the park.  Fortunately these two didn't seem to mind - they still sat in the grass when I asked them to and didn't complain. They were too busy smooching the whole time to worry about things like mud :)  Thanks to Kevin and Sarah for being such good sports - I look forward to shooting their wedding this August!

The longest day of the year brought plenty of sunshine for Jessica and David's wedding last Saturday.  They were married at the Jewel Box in Forest Park, with a reception at Windows off Washington.  When the sun finally set, we got some great shots off the balcony overlooking the city (Jessica gets credit for that idea!)  Check out their SLIDESHOW HERE to see some of the highlights from the day.  The newlyweds are enjoying some rest and relaxation in Michigan this week - best wishes to them both upon their return to real life!

These two met while running in Forest Park, so for on their wedding day we had to return to the trail where they met for a photo or two.  I couldn't resist making them run in their wedding clothes, and I think it looks adorable.  They were married at St. Roch in the Central West End, and had the reception at Randall Gallery downtown.  The wedding party was enormous (10 on each side, plus some kiddos), but we managed to get them all in line for photos.  The groomsmen gave me a little trouble for picking such an odd location downtown (I guess not everyone sees the beauty in a totally rundown building), but we were going for an urban look.  Hopefully the couple loves it.  See their SLIDESHOW HERE.  Congrats to them!

As a side note, I'm starting to understand why people say St. Louis feels like such a small town.  At the wedding last weekend I ran into one of my yoga students and a friend from college I hadn't seen in years.  At Rebecca and Ryan's wedding I ran into a couple whose wedding I shot last year, the parents of a couple whose wedding I'm shooting later this year, and another one of my yoga students (and my second shooter, Chris, ran into her old hair stylist.)  Such a small world!

It's definitely fall around here.  Poor Laura had a dress on at first, and with that wicked wind that was blowing through Forest Park, I think she was completely freezing.  Thankfully they had a second outfit with sweaters and jeans so we could keep going.  All of you who still have portrait sessions to come this fall, keep that in mind!  We found a few more trees with color than there were last week, so you can actually tell it is October in their photos.  Laura and Bryan are both really nice, and so easy to work with.  I'm sure their wedding next year will be just as great!

Lindsay and Dan are hilarious.  They were dancing, jumping, throwing each other around, playing in the fountain, and making the best expressions.  The shot of Dan cheering on the bridge happened after he beat Lindsay at that hand slapping game....what is that called, anyway?  It was so fun playing around with them in the park.  But before we headed to Forest Park we took a few shots at Dan's firehouse - he's a fire fighter in Granite City.  They had a bit of an audience, which means Dan will probably never live this down with the guys he works with.  I know the over-the-shoulder shot is a little bit of a repeat from the other day, but I could not resist it when Dan was in his work garb.  A family friend already snagged the job of shooting their wedding next September - I'm a bit bummed I don't get to work with these guys again.  Oh well, it was a fun afternoon!

Like most people this time of year, Tracy and Jason were desperate to get some fall color in their portraits.  Unfortunately, we only found two trees turning color in the area of Forest Park where we went today.  We made the most of those two trees, though!  At least we had sunshine and warm weather - that fall chill is coming quickly!

Anne and Adam were married at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood this past Saturday.  While this chapel is very nice, and well lit, it posed quite a challenge to photograph.  The giant windows at the front of the church provided some significant backlighting for the 3pm ceremony, and just outside the window was a bright red mini van parked in a neighbors' driveway.  It was a challenge to shoot (no one wants a minivan in their ceremony photos!), but I think I pulled it off in the end.  The ceremony went very smoothly, and the reception at the St. Louis Zoo went according to plan as well.  In fact, everything went so smoothly all day long that when we couldn't take photos with the polar bears at the zoo (they were hiding in there somewhere) Anne commented "Well, something had to go wrong!"  It was a good day for these guys - which is good because they waited 11 years for it!  You can see the SLIDESHOW HERE.  Thanks for being so relaxed and fun Anne and Adam - congratulations!

I had never met either Mindy or Matt on their wedding day - that was a first for me!  I worked with Mindy's Mom before the wedding because the couple lives in New York, so the day of I had to introduce myself (after I sorted out who they were!)  They were married at the Graham Chapel on Washington University's campus with a reception at Windows on Washington.  At the reception they gave everyone an Absinthe shot instead of champagne for the toasts (they met in Prague, so it seemed fitting.)  I think maybe they should have warned everyone what they were drinking before they took the shot, though.  There were a lot of audible groans in response to the flavor :)  They also seemed to dislike slow dancing.  After about 10 seconds of their first dance, Matt busted out a matador outfit and Mindy ran at him like a bull as the song "Matador" played.  And for the father-daughter dance they spent about 10 seconds slow dancing before they broke into "Footloose."  It was all pretty entertaining - you can view their SLIDESHOW HERE.  It was nice meeting you guys finally - best wishes!

I don't think I've ever worked with a more laid-back couple than Cindi and Jim.  We met before the wedding to take photos in Bee Tree Park, and Cindi was wandering around through grass and leaves with no care about her dress getting dirty.  The weather was quite cold, too, and they never complained.  The whole time they were just laughing with one another, having a great time.  And the ceremony and reception at Windows on Washington were the same - all smiles, no stress.  It was a very calm and beautiful party.  You can view their SLIDESHOW HERE.  Thanks to Michelle Williams for second shooting for me at the last minute, she did a great job.  And thanks Cindi and Jim for being so easy to work with!

All three of these little cousins have sweet faces - they are so cute!  We made a quick trip to Forest Park for some portraits of the three girls and their families, and the weather was perfect.  The girls were playing in the leaves a bit when Carter found a giant stick bug - you can see it on her hand in one of the photos.  They were having a great time with that bug while all of us adults made faces about not wanting to touch it!  I'm so glad that these families came out for their first family portraits.  Hopefully they'll make it a yearly tradition!