Dear 2009,

Well here we are at the start of a new year and I have to say that you and I had some great times and some not-so-great times. I mean, I had some amazing weddings and portraits to shoot, attended my first workshop, got a new nephew... all fabulous things! The un-awesome ones we won't get into, but I think we both know that its best to leave the past in the past. :)

I won't say I'm sad to see you go, 2009. I see a lot of people are going to miss you and if I'm not one of them, I think you'll be ok. But as for me, myself, personally... I'm looking forward. Looking forward to more balance, more creativity, joy and contentment. Looking forward to making this girl and her ideas better than ever. Onward to new adventures, new goals and a new vision of what this coming year could be for me.

Oh my... don't cry. Its not you, its me. I need to do this for both of us. It'll be hard at first, I'm sure. Lots of uphill battles and learning from them. But I'm so ready. So so so ready. And if you run into 2010 with a smug look on his face, don't be offended. We're just really clicking right now and its a good thing. I really think we'll go far.

Thanks for being a good year, 2009. I'm sure I'll never see you again, but I'll keep our fond memories on my backup hard drive. :) ♥

Love,
Stevie

P.S. and since posts without pictures are boring, I'll leave you with this CA-RAZY beautiful ring from a wedding coming up.. stay tuned for THAT full post!

So here I am cleaning up the last of the 2009 weddings and playing catch-up after the crazy holidays and New Year's out of town (more on that later!) and it occurs to me how little I utilize this blog to let my readers get to know me. I'm surely not one for resolutions of any kind, much less the New Year kind, but I've decided to make a general best-effort in 2010 to find more balance in my life. Work-life balance, Salad-cookies balance, and definitely Wedding-Stevie balance on the blog. I can surely share more of myself here and will be making a conscious effort to blog more often and about more than just the 'workie' stuff. Yeah. :) (Oh and if you want a head-start, go see my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter.)

Onward!! (this is the work part, ha.)

I discovered a new awesome place to shoot at Wendi and Cliff's wedding! They had their reception at the Moonrise Hotel in the Loop and what a cool place it is!  Wendi and Cliff had a small, intimate wedding and reception and the Moonrise did a great job with the food and atmosphere for their gathering. And lets not leave out the Piper Palm House and Sister's Flowers for their lovely part in the day. Beautiful job as always and I think Wendi and Cliff got just the day they dreamed of. So glad I could be there to capture it!

I like to think I'm organized, right? I keep things in file cabinets and my email has endless filters and folders to keep me on track. But one thing I'm not and wish I was: a planner. I try so hard to plan things out and have it come out nice but for some reason, friends, it just doesn't work that way for me most of the time. But Sarah and Brent.... Oh Sarah and Brent are planners! These lovely birds planned their day so well and EVEN met early in the day (LOOOOOVE that!) so that there would be plenty of time for pictures of them and their bridal party! And they planned said meeting at one of my favorite hotels downtown!  So somewhere in our afternoon of toodling around St. Louis for fabulous pictures and having a beautiful Catholic/Jewish ceremony at the Catholic Student Center at Wash U and an even lovlier reception at the Soulard Preservation Hall, all their planning paid off and we have the day you see below.



Flowers: Wildflowers
Hotel: Westin
Ceremony: Catholic Student Center at Wash U
Reception: Soulard Preservation Hall

And Thank You to Jen for being my right hand gal for the day. Rocked my world yet again!

SEEN is an annual local photography competition in St. Louis sponsored by Studio Altius in Maplewood and I was lucky enough this year to be chosen as a finalist! They picked two of my absolute favs from this year and I am so lucky to be on display in the studio alongside such AMAZING local talent! Last night was the big opening gala and awards ceremony aaaaaannnndddd both of my photos placed! SO EXCITING!!! I received 2nd and 3rd place in the Wedding category and I couldn't be happier! It was an awesome show and if you've got time, stop on by the studio to check them out! The whole show will be on display throughout December.

2nd Place Wedding - Floating (from Beth and Scott)

I have a certain dedication to my clients. Stevie clients get the gold standard, its just how I roll. What blows me away every time is when my clients show a dedication to getting the greatest pictures possible. Such is the case with Jessica and Tim. We had scheduled their engagements on a Sunday afternoon. It just so happens that the Saturday before that Sunday was GORGEOUS and I had the afternoon off. The Sunday forecast? not so much. I just HAD to take a chance and call to see if they maybemightpossibly have the same free afternoon to do their pictures that day, and my oh-so-dedicated couple chose little ol' me over heading to Columbia to hang with friends before a Mizzou game. Woa. So instead of a soggy day and possible postponement, we got a beautiful, sunny, warm day and the fabulosity to follow.

J+T WIN!