I'm always a little curious about what I'm walking into when couples ask to do their engagement session at their home. I knew it was going to be a fantastic day when I was greeted in the driveway by a 3 legged dog named 'Lucky'.
Toni + Bryan = Blackstone Country Club in Peoria, Arizona
Bryan's brother Andrew is one of my best friends and I've know their family for years. They are in fact, my family.
Some of you know that I moved to South Africa right before my freshman year of high school and lived there for 4 years. What you may not know is that I would come back to St. Louis to spend my summers. For some incredibly strange reason, Bryan's family took me in as one of their own for 3 months out of the year. It's scary to think about the tab I ran up between meals, long hot showers, and family vacations. Taking in a strange American African boy during his teen years says a lot about the love, openness, and character of this family.
This trip was as much a reunion with extended family as it was a destination wedding for me. It's been a long time since I've gotten to be in one place with some of my favorite people in the world, so naturally I had to bring my beautiful wife Lacy along for the trip.
Most of my memories of Bryan are from when he was 8 - 12 years old. Even though we've been separated by time and distance over the years he's always been a little brother to me. This is why I couldn't wait to meet Toni, his beautiful bride. I have to say that they are a perfect match for each other. Bryan and Toni are both admittedly a little strange, which is my cup of tea because even though Lacy and I hide it well, we are in the same boat.
The wedding was at a beautiful country club in Arizona called Blackstone. This is an absolutely gorgeous venue and I loved being able to shoot there. It was such a blessing to be able to reconnect with my family and make new connections with Toni's wonderful family. I couldn't be happier for you guys and thank you so much for inviting me to Arizona to take a few photos.
Ellen + Tyler = Camp Marymount Wedding
Ellen and Tyler are so much fun! They decided to have their wedding at one of their favorite places in the world, Camp Marymount, which is a beautiful camp just outside of Nashville. Ellen grew up going to the camp and her parents were the directors for several years, so as you can imagine she has a lot of special memories from there...especially now! We even took a few photos outside of the green cabin where she spent her summers during her years as a camper.
Everyone was all smiles all day long, even with the rain coming down. Their ceremony was absolutely perfect. Ellen's mom lead a song during the ceremony that had everyone in tears. Before the reception kicked into high gear we took a photo of every single person at the wedding on the front porch of the reception hall.
After an epic night of dancing, Ellen and Tyler headed off with sparklers. One great thing about having your wedding at a camp is that you can invite your friends and family to spend the night. I headed home after the sparklers, but I'm sure the party continued late into the night. Congrats you guys and thank you so much for letting me capture your wedding day!
Hannah + Tyne = Andrew Jackson's Hermitage Wedding
Harper + Evan = Long Hollow Gardens Wedding
The first time I got to meet Harper was at her cousin Lacey's wedding. She is so such a sweet person and I couldn't have been more excited when she reached out to me about shooting her wedding. One of my favorite things about photographing weddings is getting to work with the same groups of families and friends over and over again. You start to feel like you just happen to be taking photos at a party where all your friends are hanging out.