J Andrew Photographic Design

Elise + Chris ~ The Album ~ Columbia, Missouri Wedding

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:34:52 +0000

Hey all! I have been catching up on this humongous backlog of editing I need to get done – thus the last of posts over the last month. Funny how blog posts are the first thing to drop off the to do list

Here are a couple favorite album pages from Elise + Chris’ Stephens College wedding!

(Kudos to my second photographer Nichole Manner for helping me out with this fantastic wedding)

Columbia Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ Johnny Andrew Eaker

And if those 3 of my favorites were not enough, here is the link to view the entire album!

Stay tuned for a new look to the blog and my portfolio – more details to come!

|Johnny|

Rachel + Ben’s St. Louis Wedding Album ~ Slideshow Link

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:20:49 +0000

First let me wish everyone a happy new year!! I hope the holidays were great and everyone does their best to stick to their new year’s resolutions. I am not going to even try to include a resolution that includes me blogging more often – it just doesn’t happen as much as I would like but I promise to try!!!

We have been super busy over November and December between a ton of family stuff and a destination wedding in December. Things are finally settling down and I have my nose to the grindstone designing those albums that you gals have been so patiently waiting for. So here is Rachel + Ben’s album from their October wedding in St Louis.

If you didn’t see their original blog post from the wedding day, click here to check it out.

A couple of my favorite album pages from the album:

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

And here is the slideshow!

{Having trouble viewing the slideshow? Click here to view the slideshow with all playback controls}

Ben + Rachel, thanks again for a fantastic, fun filled day! You guys are still awesome in my book

Johnny

Patrick + Nicole ~ Destination Wedding ~ St. Vincent

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:31:08 +0000

I am sooo excited to post photos from Patrick + Nicole’s destination wedding. We left on December 9th and once we got back I was so busy with Christmas and the end of the year that I finally was able to begin editing their photos. I have a feeling this post will be LONG – so consider yourself warned

Nicole contacted me about a year ago and asked if I would photograph only her reception as she had seen my work in other places. We got to talking and I asked why she only needed reception coverage and she mentioned that she and Patrick were going to have a destination wedding in St. Vincent as this is where he proposed. I asked if she had considered hiring a photographer who style she liked and having that photographer travel for the wedding. I think she thought I was joking at first We continued to discuss some options and Nicole checked with the resort photographer and the resort was only going to give her 24 photos included with her wedding package and there was no guarantee that she would like what she got. After that she was sold on having us come down for the wedding and I am so glad she did! Aside from the obvious benefit of being in 85 degree weather in December when it was like 5 degrees here in Mid-Missouri; having such a beautiful place as a backdrop for Nicole + Patrick’s wedding was SO awesome. St. Vincent is truly a photographer’s dream!

Here is a picture I took of Young Island at sunset which is 200 yards off the coast of the main Island of St. Vincent.

Young Island ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

So we had a couple days to unwind before the wedding day and it was spent hanging around the Coconut swim up bar and with Patrick + Nicole’s family that traveled for the wedding. The evening before the wedding we all dined by the beach and had the chance to have a couple drinks in the bar. Here are a few of my favorites from that night.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

All the guys had to smoke the cigars before calling it a night…

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

(This next one is my favorite – all natural light in a dark room)

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Then we move to the wedding day. I will say that it was a first for me to spend the morning of a wedding day on the beach working on my tan as we didn’t get started to get ready for the wedding until the afternoon. I could get used to that

Here are a few favs of the preparations.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

The bracelet belonged to Nicole’s grandmother so I definitely wanted to photograph it.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Here is Nicole getting ready…

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Patrick hanging with the guys.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

We did two really cool First Moments right on the beach. The first is when Patrick got to see Nicole for the first time and the second was when Nicole’s dad Roger got to see Nicole for the first time.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

The ceremony got underway around 4:30 but before Nicole could walk down the beach for the Ceremony to start this group of European tourists invaded the beach – speedos and all – it was hilarious!

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Once we were able to secure the area the ceremony as able to take place – with the Pope! Okay so it really wasnt THE Pope but the minister’s last name was Pope – we thought it was funny A few favs from the ceremony.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I can honestly say that Patrick + Nicole’s wedding is the only wedding where I saw the bride and groom skip out during their exit – too funny!

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I almost forgot about photos that we did just before the ceremony. Nicole and Patrick were chilling in the hammock then the awesome staff at Young Island took them out to the Coconut Bar for a photo op! How cool is that?

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Fast forward back to after the wedding – we then headed to sunset point as we were only about 30 minutes away from sunset and captured this next series of images.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

The Young Island staff prepared a reception area with a delicious cake and appetizers. I was able to catch a few moments of the toasts – especially where Nicole and her dad got a little emotional during her dad’s toast.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

The rest of the evening was a fantastic time just hanging out with the new married couple (by the bar – my kind of people ) We then geared up for our Day After Session the next day.

The Day After session is where we take advantage of the fact that we are in a really cool location and get some photos that we simply cannot get around Central Missouri. We headed into Kingstown which is the capital of St. Vincent and roamed the streets and open markets which provided for some fantastic photo opportunities!

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Love the colors of this downtown…

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Our taxi driver, Ricky, took us to all these great local spots. This is a historic church in downtown and the photos we were able to get outside and inside.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Ricky took us to the Botanical Gardens which is a gorgeous place.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Finally it was back to downtown as we headed back towards the island. I just love the contrast of these two against the wall.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

See I told you this would be a long post but I hope you are enjoying the photos

Nicole + Patrick decided (maybe I talked them into it, whatever ) to do another sunset session where we could focus more on the beach and go around the entire island. I am so glad that they did because the images were amazing. check them out!

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

We then went to the back side of Young Island and got to catch the sunset there.

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I got this bright idea that I should jump down by the rocks and get a better angle of Patrick + Nicole. Yep that’s me about to fall into the ocean Thanks to my wife Krista for taking this photo (an even bigger thanks for all her help during this wedding – she was my assistant and did a great job second shooting for me).

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

The rocks were SHARP but it enabled us to get photos such as this…

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

And here is the final image of the day

St. Vincent Destination Wedding ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Patrick + Nicole, I cannot thank you enough for trusting me to document your destination wedding. Krista and I had a fantastic time getting to know you both and your families. I am so happy to show these images to you and I hope all enjoy the photos. Looking foward to the reception in January and designing your album – it is gonna rock!!!

All the best,

Johnny

Elise + Chris ~ A Wonderful Stephens College Wedding!

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:54:17 +0000

Elise + Chris are still in Costa Rica right now enjoying their honeymoon over Thanksgiving break. I promised Elise that I would get some images posted from the wedding before I leave on my destination wedding assignment in St. Vincent (I CANNOT wait for that ). So here we are as promised. The ceremony took place at the Firestone Baars Chapel and the reception at the Kimble Ballroom both located on the Stephens College Campus.

My day began when I arrived at the chapel to see these GORGEOUS flowers from Allens Flowers.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I came across this old piano in the basement of the chapel. Something about the depth of field seemed kinda cool.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Outside catching up with Chis and the guys. As you will see, Chris is one happy dude – as well he should be. It is his wedding day

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

From there it was time for me to see what the girls were up to and I caught a couple of my favorite images of our beautiful bride.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Did I mention how much I LOVE this image. Cuz I do. Elise is stunning!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I found the very last tree in Columbia that has any color on the leaves whatsoever and we photographed the heck out of it. A smiling bride never hurts either….

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I told you….Stunning….

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

There are the flowers again ~ Allen’s rocks!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

A couple favs from the ceremony. I love the second image which is Elise’s grandmother, mother and father all holding hands…

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Immediately following the ceremony we dashed out to make use of the light we had.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

We also made use of the light we DIDN’T have. This is a long exposure using off camera flash.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

The ballroom looked fantastic and set the stage for an awesome evening!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Shout out to the best cake lady around ~ Edith Hall ~ she amazes me every week!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

There were some great toasts as Chris’ brother and Elise’s sisters say some kind words.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I love that the Kimble Ballroom has this really cool purple lighting – it is SWEET!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

After Elise and Chris’ dance both parents got to strut their stuff. LOVE Elise and Chris in the background of these images.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Touching moments during the parent dances….

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Chris’ mother told me repeatedly during the day that she does take good pictures (I hear that a lot BTW) but I think she would agree that this one is pretty cool. Certainly a happy momma

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Finally, I am so excited to post these next two images. I wanted to be able to shoot the details of the wedding day with more sharpness and clarity so I finally bit the bullet and bought a new micro Lens. If you are a photographer and want to photograph subjects with extreme detail, you HAVE to have this lens. I cannot say enough good things about it in the two weeks I have been using it. Check out these shots of Chris + Elise’s rings…

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

Chris + Elise, hope you guys are having a blast enjoying your turkey day in Costa Rica. So glad I could share these images with you and I look forward to sharing more!

Take care!

~ johnny

Patrick + Lauren ~ A Tree, A Motorcycle & Family

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:14:19 +0000

Thought I would share a few favorites from Patrick + Lauren’s engagement session. We actually split the session into two separate days as we wanted to include Patrick’s daughter Kaydith in the second session.

So for session numero uno we headed out to the legendary Burr Oak Tree which is the largest in the state. This is also where Pat proposed to Lauren so that made it extra special. Pat is very much into motorcycles so we had to incorporate his harley into the shoot. Here is what we came up with.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

From there we headed over to the Mizzou campus where both Lauren + Patrick attend school. Love the fall colors and FUN moments in these shots.

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

I then had the opportunity to meet little Kaydith a couple weeks after the first session. All I can say is what a DOLL! She is adorable!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

This is definitely my favorite image from the family session – everyone is so happy and having so much fun. I like it!

Missouri Wedding Photographer ~ J Andrew Photographic Design

We had so much fun capturing all these moments between the two sessions. If you wanna see more you will just have to find Lauren and ask her

Hope you enjoyed them and I can’t wait for Lauren + Patrick’s wedding next July!!

~Johnny

Rachel + Ben {Wedding Day Sneak Peek}

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:44:05 +0000

I know Rachel and Ben are very anxious to see their wedding day photos and I am happy to report I have some to share!

But before I do that I thought I would share a little bit about how Rachel and I came to know each other. Back in 2007 I was trying to get to know some of the local vendors in my area and I came across Les Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport, Missouri. I had photographed out there a couple times (it is a beautiful location) and wanted to get the opportunity to photograph more events at that location. This is where I met Rachel who was working as the catering director at the time. We talked about different upcoming projects and got to know each other pretty well. So well in fact that I convinced her to participate in a Wedding Dress Model Shoot I was doing for The Villager on Broadway. Well, I dug around (and Rachel is gonna hate me for doing this) and found an image that is still online from that shoot:

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Anyway, we stayed in touch and when she and Ben got engaged I was super excited that she chose me to document their special day! Funny that the image above was shot at Flat Branch Park here in Columbia and this is the same location that we did Rachel + Ben’s engagement session, ironic???

Rachel & Ben opted to do a cool custom engagement guest book for their guests to sign. Here are a couple pages out of that book:

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Here is the complete link to view Rachel & Ben’s engagement session + here is the link to a slideshow of the entire guestbook

Now moving on to the wedding day! Rachel + Ben were wed in St. Louis with the ceremony taking place at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church and the reception at the 9th Street Abbey. My day started at the hotel (thanks Rachel and Ben for taking care of me:) ) where I caught these getting ready moments:

(Hey I am a cards fan AND a wedding photographer, you know I love this image )

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Caught up with Ben where he was getting ready

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Love this image. If a picture says a thousand words, I am pretty sure this one is saying “I don’t know how the hell to get into this dress”

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Well Rachel did eventually get into the dress and I managed to capture some great moments of her coming down the aisle with her dad.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

I am always looking for those little moments that reflect the happiness of the day

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Isn’t Holy Trinity absolutely gorgeous?? This cathedral was built in 1848.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

When I am documenting the ceremony it always serves as a constant reminder of my own wedding day. I guess this is why this image really struck me. LOVE what it represents!

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Love this moment as they are now husband and wife

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

After the ceremony we headed out to Forest Park which gives you so many options photographically.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Here is Ben the best man (yep, the groom’s name is Ben and so is the best man. Can you believe the Maid of Honor is named Rachel? I can’t make this stuff up ). All I can say is, not cool. Funny but not cool

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

From the park we moved over to the reception location, 9th Street Abbey (the wedding party traveled in one of the coolest Hummer Limos I have ever seen, will post pics of that in the album slideshow). I had never been to the 9th Street Abbey before and this is actually a historic church that has been converted into a reception venue. How cool is that! I have to give a plug to Natalie and Christa at Event Solutions (who are the most awesome wedding planners ever, gals check them out!) as well as Jenna and all the staff at 9th Street Abbey this room looked absolutely amazing!

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Isn’t this courtyard just awesome!

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Ben + Rachel performed a wonderful first dance as they moved about the dance floor

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Rachel and her dad share a special moment as well…

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Finally, everyone had a blast dancing with the live band (who was awesome) but I think the guy in the background had a little too much fun – or too much to drink

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Ben + Rachel, I do not even know where to begin in thanking you to let me be a part of your wedding day. Hanging out at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday and with you guys on the wedding day was fantastic. You have a great group of friends and family who were so kind to allow me to glimpse into their lives for just a day. I hope you guys love the photos and the preview of the album is coming sooner than later!

Later!

Johnny

Woohoo! Best Wedding Photographer ~ The Knot

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:55:48 +0000

I just got a phone call this week from The Knot, a leading bridal magazine and online resource for planning a wedding, and found out that I was voted “Best Wedding Photographer” in the Kansas City & Central Missouri markets. I don’t have all the details yet but what I do know is that the survey is conducted to brides who registered on The Knot and The Wedding Channel and they get to vote for who they liked the best. The Knot will publish their Best Of issue in the coming months.

I am pretty excited to win this award. I will share more once I have more information!

Later!

Johnny

~ Jay + Emily ~ She Is Love

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:33:37 +0000

[This is a LONG post BUT there is a slideshow at the end, so say with me ]

As promised here is some of my favorites from Jay + Emily’s October wedding. It was so hard to narrow down only a few favorites for this blog post so I kinda went overboard but I think Emily will be glad I did

The day began at the Executive Center with a very private and intimate ceremony. This photo reminds me of what a beautiful day it was….

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Caught up with Jay where he was helping his son, Chad, get situated for the ceremony. I will say those tuxes can be a pain to put on

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

I dont know what these kiddos saw out by the water fountain but it was worth pointing at

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

The ceremony began and there was this really cool moment where the lights dimmed down and a single spot light lit the room. Jay’s sisters and a few members of his band (for once I could actually say “I’m with the band” and it was true ) performed a song during the ceremony.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

If you think Jay’s sister in the middle looks familiar, she probably does – she is country music singer Sara Evans.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

But I think all would agree that the day belonged to Jay + Emily. I just loved how these two couldnt stop smiling at each other during the ceremony.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

(Caught this moment immediately following the ceremony)

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Since we at the Executive Center, we ventured off to Shelter Gardens to capture some great portraits. Kudos goes out to Emily as she braved the cold (it got a little chilly after the ceremony). But I think she would agree that it was SO worth it!

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Those that check out this blog know that I am not very much into the posey photographs on the wedding day. YES we do them and I do think they are important to help document the day but when I look back over them, not too exciting most of the time. Well at the end of the formals at Jay + Emily’s wedding, I shouted out to do a silly pose and this is what I got. What I love about this image is the people just standing there doing nothing – I mean really, dude in the tie, smile or something

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

The first dance is probably one of my favorite moments that occur on the wedding day because there are so many genuine moments and emotions being displayed. These emotions can say so much about the wedding day. As I was editing Jay + Emily’s first dance images it made me think about my own wedding and my first dance. I actually stopped what I was doing and broke out our wedding album (from almost 8 years ago mind you) and I counted THREE first dance photos. That was all I got. I’ll be honest, I was kinda bummed about that because each photo was posed (yep the photographer stopped us in mid dance and made us pose). Not to downplay our photographer as she was a traditional photographer and we got exactly what a traditional photographer will give you. It’s just that here we are 8 years later and I really wish we had the moments of that special time documented for us. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling about how bummed out I was and show you my favorite first dance images from Jay + Emily’s wedding. I can only hope that 8 years down the line they will be more than thrilled about their decision to hire me.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

(Tekkie note – the above images were all off camera flash. Photographers out there, you gotta get the flash off the camera. You will be so glad you did!)

Then it was time for the party to start! All kinds of dancing and getting down. Followed by a performance by Jay and his entire family (Jay and his brothers and sisters used to all play together in a family band growing up. This was the first time they had all played together in quite awhile) Everyone had a blast!

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Sara, showing off those Dancing With The Stars moves

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

This next moment is one that I think is absolutely hilarious. Jay and I have been friends for a long time and I always would tease him and say that when he plays with his band that he should always wear a sleeveless denim shirt – cuz who can resist a man in sleeveless denim shirt – EXACTLY! You can’t! So Jay and I would have fun joking about that (while Emily would just shake her head ) and you would not believe this…

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Yep – he changed into a SLEEVELESS DENIM SHIRT! The crowd went crazy and it was such a funny moment. But what was even better than that was Emily’s reaction – PRICELESS!

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Jay didn’t let the “look of death” stop him. He and the band kept rockin it out! As seen in this photo with his brother Matt.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Sara, Jay and the family kept rocking the crowd as she sings to her hubby, Jay (what a great name )

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Missouri Wedding Photographer

Well, I told you this post would be LONG but I hope you enjoy the images and story of this wonderful couple. If you got all the way to the end of this post and if you look back up at the title, you may be wondering why I chose to title this post “She is Love”? This is the song, by the band Parachute, that Emily walked down the aisle to and it is a GREAT song. I put together some of my favorite images (this way the blog post wasnt 70 images long ) in the following video – Enjoy:

Jay + Emily – Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your special day! You guys are so awesome and I am so happy for you both!

~ Johnny

{Brooks + Mary} The Album…

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:05:42 +0000

Just finished up the album design for Brooks + Mary’s September wedding. Here are a few of my favorite pages followed by a link to view a slideshow of the entire album. Enjoy!

I like to start off the album with a few favorites from the engagement session when we can. Kind of helps tell the whole story

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Columbia, Missouri Wedding Photographer

This is one of my favorite ceremony images from this year.

J Andrew Photographic Design ~ Columbia, Missouri Wedding Photographer

And as promised, here is the link to view the entire slideshow

{Sidenote – the album is set to the music of Brooks + Mary’s first dance song which is 18th Floor Balcony by Blue October. I had never heard this song before Brooks + Mary’s wedding. I instantly downloaded it on my Iphone when driving home from the wedding. I LOVE this song!}

All the best,

Johnny

{ Lauren + Rich ~ A WONDERFUL wedding Day}

Johnny Andrew Eaker — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:54:21 +0000

Disclaimer – this post is LONG!

Combing through the images of Lauren + Rich’s wedding day brought back so many wonderful memories of the wedding day. These two were so much fun and it was so great to get to know their families over the course of the two days that I was with them.

Of course the first meeting I had with these two was at the engagement session where we came away with images like these:

You can view the entire engagement session post here

Now onto the wedding day. Lauren + Rich asked me to cover the rehearsal dinner which was a fantastic idea as I got to see and get to know everyone prior to the big day and we also came away with images like these:

Then we moved to the wedding day and of course the day is all about the DETAILS

AND a beautiful bride…

My favorite moments from the ceremony

Then it was over to the Mizzou campus for some fun portraits

Quick story on this photo – We are doing the traditional group portraits and Rich says “I have an idea for a photo” Now for those of you who dont know – Rich is an experienced model so it is only natural that he would have an idea for a group photo (okay I totally made that up but Rich will appreciate that!) and THIS is what he came up with – hilarious!

Quick vendor plug – My Secret Garden provided some beautiful flowers and Edith Hall provided the super delicious cake!

Moving into the reception at the Reynolds Alumni Center (ceremony was there too, kinda forgot to mention that) and there were so many moments to be captured

Cool Mother/Son moment…

Then Lauren strapped on her cowboy boots and had a special country dance with her brother – how cool!

Lauren + Rich also had a fun photo booth in the back of the room and you know what happens when you break out funky, fun props around a fun crowd…

Yep – those props find their way onto the dance floor!

Little known fact – Lauren attends a belly dancing class which she says is a great stress reliever! Lauren asked the belly dance troop, Moon Belly Dance Studio, to come and perform at the reception. Here is one of my favorites from the performance:

As you can see there were SO many great moments throughout this wedding day which was concluded by a grand exit

Finally there are 2 other people that I HAVE to thank – Debi Hake of Weddings by Debi did an fantastic job making sure that everything went off without a hitch. Debi rocks!

And I absolutely have to thank my second photographer, Nichole Manner, she continues to rock it out everytime she shoots with me. Here are a couple images from Nicole – thanks so much!

And somehow she managed to sneak in this image of me – sneaky, sneaky Yes ladies, I will hold your dress and not charge you extra for it

Lauren + Rich – thank you so much for allowing me to become part of your family for a couple days and document a wonderful event. I wish you guys all the best and I hope you get to make a move soon so you guys can be closer to each other because you guys are the BEST!

All the best,

Johnny