Downtown St. Louis Wedding – Jessica & Adam
We really enjoyed Jessica and Adam’s wedding – a fabulous couple, super nice bridal party and they fed us pizza on their party bus. Basically, if you feed us pizza, we’ll be your friends for life. But in all seriousness, from day one these two have been totally on top of things, in control and relaxed. It’s like the trifecta of bridal personality traits and its rarely mastered. It made for a wedding day that ran smoothly and was enjoyable for everyone, despite insane (like really insane) winds throwing a wrench in our portrait location plans. And our back-up portrait location plans. But we got it done and these two – and their awesome bridal party – just kept rolling and smiling and enjoying.
Their downtown St. Louis wedding started at the Westin Downtown, rolled on to Valley Park for a beautiful ceremony and then wrapped up back downtown for portraits and a killer party at the Westin. Great locations all around, as you’ll see!
Below you can observe the different between getting-ready refreshments for ladies and getting-ready refreshments for gentlemen ;)
I think this image is so cute – Jessica looks like a cute little drill sergeant overseeing her girls getting ready. She was nothing like a drill sergeant, and they lined themselves up like that all on their own, for the record!
The whole bridal party headed for the church together on a bus, but Jessica and Adam didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony, so Adam got to ride blindfolded. And on the right… #nottouching #cantgetmad
Here comes the bride…
The ceremony was at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Valley Park – such a beautiful church and a beautiful Mass!
Love this one – such happiness!!
After the ceremony, we headed for Forest Park where we’d planned to do all of the bridal party and couple’s portraits. But the wind. The wind! At first I was worried the ladies might get their hair messed up. Then I became worried their dresses would be ripped right off their bodies and I had visions of bouquets swirling through the air like the cows in Twister so we just packed up and headed off for a new location. Which we were promptly kicked out of. But these people just kept rolling and smiling!
We eventually ended up in the small courtyard of the Westin Downtown, where the reception was held, and it worked out perfectly. By that time, the bridal party was having a good time and we were all much more relaxed and that ended up creating my favorite of the group images!
Not a traditional groomsmen photo but I love it so much!!
Then we got to spend some one-on-one time with Jessica and Adam. And they nailed it. I’m in love with these images!!! They’re proof that we don’t need half a dozen amazing locations – one good spot with good light can yield tons of beautiful portraits.
Gah! I love those first black and whites!! We got a great mix of shots of these two interacting and being lovey and traditional, classic portraits. Always the goal!
Too much gorgeous!! Can’t handle it!!
Time for a party – and Jessica and Adam threw a good one, let me tell ya! Hello packed dance floor!
The lovely Westin Dowtown…
A very happy first dance! I love watching the first dance. Some couples are quiet and seem to be glad to finally have a quiet moment “alone”. Some couples are signing out loud and dancing like fools. Some look so happy I think their faces are going to break! Always a special moment to capture.
Instead of a bouquet/garter toss, Jessica and Adam used that time to dedicate a surprise song to Jessica’s parents for their anniversary and played the song they danced to at their wedding. Such a thoughtful choice! Anniversary dances are one of my favorite things! Lots of couple are opting for some version of an anniversary dance (for their parents or for all the married couples among their guests) instead of the bouquet/garter tradition and I’m a huge fan!
Que the dance party:
Many thanks to Jessica and Adam for allowing us to capture your gorgeous wedding day! It was an absolute pleasure!