I met up with Stacy and Scott downtown for their engagement photos and we had a great time! They're getting married this fall, alas, not in St. Louis, but a wedding in Vegas will just as much, if not more, fantastic! AND they'll be married by Elvis! SWEET! I so wish I was going to see that but I'm sure they'll have some awesome pictures when they come back.

We started down by the Arch and the park around it. There was awesome light that day and, thankfully, it wasn't terribly hot. Stacy and Scott are huge Cardinals fans so, of course, we hit up Busch Stadium for some of the photos, too. A lot of really neat places around there to shoot!

Have an amazing time in Vegas! I want to hear all about it when you get back. :)

The summer is almost half over, you guys! I know I'm probably terribly premature in saying that but my birthday is in July and I always feel like that's when summer is officially half over. Even though its not. And its half way to July right now so I'm calling it. Summer = half over. So I'm going to take every opportunity I can to enjoy what's left of this, my favorite season.

But before you go getting out your fall wardrobe, I'd love for you to see Kylie and Alan again, but this time at their gorgeous wedding at Larimore Plantation. I had never been there before this but I've heard tales of its splendor (over the top? yes. worth it? oh yes.)! We got enough rain to move their outside ceremony indoors but thankfully the rain let up right after and we were able to do all their pictures outside. Score!

Thanks to Jen for shooting with me!

And Thank you to the rest of the talent that put this day together!
Ceremony and Reception - Larimore Plantation
Photography - Stevie Photography
Flowers - Stems Florist
Ceremony Music - Noteworthy
Officiant - Rev. Terry Barber
Bar - Champagne Wishes
Band - Pleasure Groove
Cake - Wedding Wonderland



Don't forget about the slideshow!

This one is for all you photographers... kids, prepare to have your minds blown! The ever-excellent and photographer version of fabulous, Kelly Manno, (wow, how's THAT for an intro?!) is putting on another St. Louis Photographers Shot Party on Sunday, August 21st! WOO!!

What's a shot party?? Well its just the best one-day gig you can get in the St. Louis area. Its basically a workshop with awesome speakers, breakout classes and a Wedding Q&A Panel. Kelly even worked her amazing magic to get not one, not two, but THREE AMAZING speakers - to the tune of BECKER and BOBBI + MIKE!!

AND! Guess who gets to be on the Wedding Q&A Panel at this year's St. Louis Photographers Shot Party... ME!! I get to hang out and answer allll the questions you guys have along side Sara McDermott and Susan Jackson! WOW!

Ok, I think that's enough CAPS and !!!!'s in one blog post, don't you? But, needless to say, I'm so so so excited about being a part of this year's shot party and I would just love to see a packed house for the day. Kelly works so hard putting this together and she's really outdone herself this year. Its going to be amazing and you DO NOT want to miss it!!! (Just had to CAPS and !! one more time ;) k?)

So go sign up now! Why are you still here? www.stlouisshotparty.com

Friends, you are not going to believe where I was at the beginning of May. Ok, you'll totally believe it because I have pictures. :) I got to spend an incredible day of learning, laughing and shooting with some of the most amazing talent in the wedding industry today in the beautiful little town of Ojai, California. Jill from La Fleur Weddings and Events assembled this all-star cast to put on an awesome workshop for about 10 photographers. And one of those lucky ones was me! WOO!

Here's the speakers our small class got to learn from:
Jill La Fleur, La Fleur Weddings & Events
Jose Villa Photography 
Joel Serrato Films 
Abby Larson, Style Me Pretty
Ceci Johnson, Ceci New York
Robyn Iaea, Editor - Pacific Weddings Magazine
Brian Greenberg, Owner - Richard Photo Lab
Tiffany Emch, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

Jealous yet? To cap off the day, we ended with a simply amazing shoot-along with the endlessly talented Jose Villa. Jill and the team set up a darling little mock-wedding setup (complete with stunning models) at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa and Jose took us around and showed us how he captures details, works with couples and just general insight on capturing a wedding that is unique and personal.

I have to say thank you and give my link-love to everyone involved in this workshop. All the talent assembled to create an unforgettable experience for us and I couldn't be happier with all of it. THANK YOU!!!!

Jill La Fleur, La Fleur Weddings & Events  www.lafleurweddings.com (Speaker & Stylist)
Jose Villa Photography  www.josevillaphoto.com
Joel Serrato Films  www.joelserratofilms.com
Abby Larson, Style Me Pretty www.stylemepretty.com
Ceci Johnson, www.cecinewyork.com  (speaker, logo design & invite suite)
Robyn Iaea, www.pacificweddings.com
Brian Greenberg, www.richardphotolab.com
Tiffany Emch, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa www.ojairesort.com (speaker, location & cake)
Amy Squires, Wedding Chicks www.weddingchicks.com (logo printing)
Camilla Svensson Burns www.camillaflowers.com
La Tavola Linens  www.latavolalinens.com (luncheon linens and lace drapes)
Claire La Faye  www.clairelafaye.com  (dress)
Mar Romero, Team Hair & Makeup  www.teamhairandmakeup.com
Jason Maurakawa, Small Masterpiece  www.smallmasterpiece.com (tabletop items)
Allison Howell, Found Vintage Rentals  www.foundrentals.com (furniture/décor)
Lauren Christensen, Lo Boheme  www.loboheme.com (head piece)
http://www.avecmoidecor.blogspot.com/ (ring pillow, spoon favors)
Waxing Poetic www.waxingpoetic.com (necklace, ring)

And now, without further ado, my photos from our shoot with Jose Villa.

Our gorgeous couple.


Stunning stationary from Ceci New York. Dear Brides - please bring me copies of allll your paper goods so I can style them and take awesome photos like this. :)


Cute 'reception' dinner setup. So many little details!


Our beautiful 'bride'. I love love her necklace and birdcage veil.


Aren't they so cute together!? They took direction so well considering there was a small herd of us there. I'm pretty sure each of us had a few minutes with them to direct and pose wherever. The light was AH-MAH-ZING


love the outside pews. Those are little sprigs of lavender in the book holders.





Even a cake! Hmm.. i never did find out if it was real cake in there... Oh and laser ("laser") cut name cards. Swank!


And a feature of our 'groom'.

Well I've successfully waited entirely too long to post these. Strike! On the upside Kylie and Alan are such a fantastic couple that I don't think they'll mind much. They're getting married THIS WEEKEND! That means you'll get to see them again on the blog very shortly! Woohoo!

In the meantime, enjoy Kylie and Alan's engagements from Soulard and Forest Park in St. Louis. See you guys Sunday! :)