Maggie + Bill // St. Louis Wedding Photography
I grew up in St. Louis, but I don't think I've ever lived there. What I mean is that I've never spent more than a few days at a time in St. Louis as an adult. I've never experienced many of the things that make St. Louis the great city that it is. Sure, I've been to plenty of Cardinals and Blues games, and I've been up in the Arch way too many times to count. But there's so much more to St. Louis that I wish I knew. The Hill. The Landing. The Loop. The Rams? If you remember from their engagement session, Bill is the "little" brother of my best friend Joe (the really hairy brother in the group, you'll know it when you see him). Mindy and I both absolutely love the Bubenik family, so obviously it was a huge honor to be there to photograph Maggie + Bill's wedding. It was awesome to catch up with so many old friends too.
We started at Maggie's parents house...
The guys got ready at the church...
As we were scouting out locations, we found this killer little spot sandwiched between a few buildings and a parking garage. We were shooting in the middle of the day, and it was blazing hot, but this little shaded area gave us some great soft light and some relief from the heat.
With the exception of Harrison, the best man, all of these guys are brothers. And they're huge.
Then, across the street, we found the holy grail. This little walkway between two of the buildings had this absolutely killer rainbow awning. And adjacent to that was a great water feature, and some benches, and some shade. It was perfect and really meshes with Maggie + Bill's personalities. They were loving every minute of it, and you could just see both of them relax and come out of their shells a bit. This is them.
Yeah... it was hot.
Joe's daughter Evie was the flower girl, and I swear this little girl cannot get any cuter.
The reception was at The Malt House Cellar, literally one of the coolest spaces I've ever been in. Such a great vibe, with the stone walls and exposed wooden ceilings (it was in the basement), it was an extremely casual reception, but everyone was having a great time (and if you ever go there, you HAVE to try to Beer Cheese Fondue. AH-MAY-ZING).
Maggie + Bill // St. Louis, Missouri // July 9, 2011
Flowers: Emily Testrake
Dress: Blushing Bride
Tuxes: Blossoms Bridal
Ceremony: Hanley Road Baptist Church
Officiant: Jon Hessel
Reception: Malt House Cellar
Caterer: Moulin Events
Cake: The Cakery
DJ: Complete Music
Photobooth: Park Avenue Photographers
Definitely another case of friends-turned-clients-turned-even-better-friends. Congratulations guys.
Molly + Nick // New Philadelphia Wedding (Part II)
Click here or scroll down for Part One. Last week Mindy brought you Part One of Molly + Nick's wedding. Now it's my turn. I wish I could've brought this to you a little sooner, but it's been insane around here lately. Prime wedding season, engagement sessions, and vacation coming up... it's been nuts. All good things, because it means we're busy, but I can say for sure that we cannot wait for our trip to the Outer Banks this coming weekend.
Where do I even start with Molly + Nick? Well, how about at the beginning... Molly heard about us from a friend of hers who had gotten married last fall. The best part is that her friend didn't even have us as her photographers. We were already booked when she asked us, so we had to refer her to some of our friends. Despite that, she sent Molly our way, and thus began the long journey of booking these guys. Let's just say that Molly is picky. Like, REALLY picky. And she asked us about anything and everything except maybe our social security numbers. Some people might think this was annoying, but it was quite the opposite. You see, I could tell Molly knew what she wanted, and that she wasn't going to settle for second best. We went back and forth, and in the end she agreed that we were the right fit for them, but I think there was still some hesitation somewhere.
And that lasted until we did their engagement session. We've talked a lot on here lately about our process. We like to meet couples up front, and we include an engagement session with every wedding. I know I've said it before, but we have a purpose behind almost everything we do, and Molly was a perfect example of the trust that we build with our couples at the engagement session. She was so thrilled with her photos, and sent me a million emails about how thankful she was and how she couldn't believe she ever had second thoughts, and how we were "the real deal."
So you can imagine, that come the wedding day, her and Nick were both so excited. They had planned this day for so long, and on top of all of the details, they had photographers they could trust and that they felt totally comfortable with. We worked very closely with Molly to develop a great schedule, which gave us plenty of time to get some really stunning photos. (Also, I can't forget to mention that Molly ended up taking my advice and had Brett and Drew from Timeless Pictures come to do their wedding video. Those guys are brilliant, and we really feed off of their energy and creativity)
Alright, on to what you've been waiting for. I'm so happy with these, but I have to admit, I think Mindy might have given me a lesson this round, her pictures are absolutely amazing. You'll probably notice pretty quickly that Mindy spends time with the ladies while they get ready, and that frees me up to go spend some time with the guys. In this case, a quick round of golf!
This could be one of my favorite frames ever. The guys were all set up in this crazy football formation, and they said, "let's pose like we're chasing Nick with the ball." We tried it, and it just looked lame. So I said, "Why do you guys go back there about 100 feet and actually chase him?" Boom.
Loving the lines on this garage door!
After the ceremony we headed over the to reception hall, which was ridiculously amazing, but we had to sneak out and grab some shots before the sun set. Mindy said it perfectly, these guys just fell into place. None of these shots were posed, what you're seeing here is real, natural love. And they have it by the truckload.
Okay, I lied. This next shot was kind of posed. Brett (one of the videographers) asked Molly to run into Nick's arms and spin around. That was all he said, and they ended up doing this. It's also my favorite frame of the day.
Yes, the groomsmen picked Molly up and were throwing her in the air. Priceless!
And finally...
Molly + Nick // New Philadelphia, Ohio // June 25, 2011
Flowers: Forget Me Knot
Dress: Dreams to Realities Bridal
Suits: Robert's Mens Shop
Cake: Litty's Cakes & Cookies (Best cake of the year so far!)
Ceremony: First Baptist Church of New Philadelphia
Reception: Kent State University Performing Arts Center
Caterer: Trax Diner
Videographers: Timeless Pictures
And I have to throw one more shout out to our friends Brett and Drew from Timeless Pictures. These guys are so awesome to work with, and their wedding films are first class all the way. Keep an eye on this post, I'll be linking their video here once they have it finished!
Molly + Nick // New Philadelphia Wedding (Part I)
I'm so excited to about the new changes to our website and to be sharing on the blog with you all! You'll be seeing a lot more of me around here. I'm also pumped to be sharing Molly + Nick's wedding with you. It turned out to be the perfect day. It's been insanely hot here in Ohio but this weekend it was perfect and rain free! We even had a chance to go out during dinner and take some beautiful sunset photos. Molly + Nick are a couple anyone could fall in love with. They are full of so much love for each other, their family and friends (which they have a ton!), and Jesus. They are the perfect example of why we love building relationships with our clients that will last past their wedding. When we truly connect with a couple it shows, they are more comfortable throughout the day, and the result is the ability to capture beautiful, natural photos. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your day, Cameron and I are excited to be calling you guys friends and neighbors!
One of my favorite parts of the day is bonding with the girls while they get all pretty. I love getting to know all the bridesmaids and learning why they are so special to the bride. Ashley is one of those college friends you have for life. Cassie is a beautiful person inside and out. Annie is a sweet childhood friend. Morgan and Ali can bust out some amazing songs spur-of-the-moment. Katie, Molly's sister and maid of honor, was referred to as Pippa all day, and she fulfilled that roll well. Calli had a cute southern accent. There was laughter and tears and more laughter all day long. These girls were such a great group of bridesmaids, and I now know why Molly calls them her closest friends.
Don't you just love couples that naturally fall into place, that don't require direction?! Talk about a couple who is perfectly comfortable with each other, even when there's a paparazzi surrounding them!
Sophie + Spencer :: Columbus Ohio Wedding Photography
Remember Sophie and Spencer’s engagement session last fall on the OSU campus? It’s been a long time coming, but their wedding was at the beautiful Liberty Presbyterian Barn Church in Powell Ohio, just outside of Columbus.
Sophie had the day all planned out, and the schedule was pretty tight. They hadn’t planned on seeing each other before the ceremony, and when I saw the schedule, I had to ask. My question was simple, “Why?” This is a direct quote from Sophie’s email after I explained the advantages to her.
“Wow! We hadn’t really thought of the “First Look” from that point of view. I guess it had been more of a superstition, or a thought that no one else does, that was holding us against it. But a little bit of “us” time ahead of time sounds really nice and we definitely want to go for it! It sounds like a lot of stress will be lifted and we will not be rushed— perfect!”
After that I spent some time outlining what I thought the schedule might look like with the First Look instead of waiting. Sophie’s response was just as exciting.
“The schedule looks PERFECT!! I absolutely cannot believe how much more time that we have, and that we are able to get photos in downtown Delaware too! We love that idea and are so happy that you gave us this entire new perspective on the wedding day photo timeline— we already can’t imagine it any other way!”
They day went perfectly, we had the absolutely most beautiful fall day (not too hot, not too cold), and the First Look allowed us to spend some time after the ceremony doing some bridal party photos in historic downtown Delaware Ohio.
Here’s Sophie, some bridesmaids, and some family and friends checking out the same day slideshow. Definite hit.
Dress: David’s Bridal
Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse
Flowers: The Flowerman Columbus
Coordinator: Brittany O’Neil
Ceremony: Liberty Presbyterian Church
Reception: All Occasions Catering
Cake: Alice’s Piece of Cake
Amanda + Brett :: Dover Wedding Photography
Amanda and Brett’s wedding was a big experiment for us. We had planned on trying our very first Same Day Slideshow. For those of you wondering what that really means, basically we set up our laptop and an LCD display at the reception that ran a slideshow of the images from earlier in the day. It was a huge hit with everyone at the reception, some of the guest and family members stood in front of it for a good three or four cycles of the slideshow! The cool part is that it could potentially turn into a great marketing tool for us. It’s really a win-win.
They key is that we don’t have a lot of time to sit and edit these photos. We’ve been working hard lately to improve the quality and accuracy of our photos straight out of the camera. It’s a combination of better lenses, better knowledge, and more experience. It’s also mission critical to understand the lighting situation. Light is by far the number one most important aspect of great photography, but it’s also the hardest to understand and control consistently. I think a unique use of light is what separates a good photographer from a great one, and I feel like we’re getting there.
The whole thing was made even better because… well… look at them. Amanda is the sweetest girl ever, and it’s honestly impossible to take a bad photo of her. Brett was confident and proud. We were cracking up all day though, cause that guy can blink! Good thing we shoot doubles of every photo, cause Brett was probably blinking in every other photo. I had to remind Amanda throughout the day that he also had his eyes open in every other photo. Too funny!
Same Day Slideshows are something we’re going to try and implement into as many future weddings as possible. If this is something you think you’d be interested in, make sure you head over to the contact page and set up a meeting!
Many of the images you see are either unedited or have been touched up just slightly.
This next photo is one of my favorites. You can see Amanda and Brett, as well as Amanda’s parents, family members, and friends all checking out the slideshow at the reception. Amanda’s mom even said, “The same-day-slideshow of was FABULOUS, Cameron and Mindy!! I could have stood there and watched it for hours :) You guys rock!! ♥” Whether it’s a Same Day Slideshow, or just delivering a simple photo of a bride dancing with her dad, that response is why we do what we do!
Aimee + Ryan :: Dayton Wedding Photography
Let’s be real here. Cameron is a shoe nut. A sneaker freak. A man that loves shoes. I know, I know. (I can say, I still have way more shoes than him!) Now Converse Chuck Taylors are actually not our favorite shoes. Sure, we both own a pair, but I’d much rather wear my flip-flops, and Cameron has a mild obsession with Vans right now. BUT, I think Chucks might just be the greatest wedding shoe ever.
Ryan and his guys were kitted out with Chucks, and Ryan totally pulled off the all white.
And then there’s the pink Cadillac. If shoes aren’t a bit of an obsession for Cameron, cars most definitely are. Aimee mentioned that they’d be having a pink Caddy convertible a few weeks before the wedding, and from that moment we started brainstorming how we could use it for some great photos.
We have to give a big thanks to the bridal party for being very cooperative all day. We pushed the limits of our time, but everyone was very pleasant and you guys were all so fun to work with!
-Mindy
