be prepared for some gushing. what a stunning wedding to photograph! mallorie and adam's big day was choc-a-bloc with vendors i would have chosen myself if adam and i were to tie the knot again.

where to start? how about at the beginning? hair by strands. i can't seem to find a website for them. if you know of it, please enlighten me. makeup by rana zoroufchi, who totally rocked the house. i wanted her to do my makeup just because i liked her so much.

flowers by montano grant. mallorie's bouquet and all of the flowers were some of the most elegant and original i've ever seen. kudos.

mallorie's gorgeous dress was from kleinfeld bridal in manhattan. as in say yes to the dress, kleinfeld bridal! landolfi quartet played beautiful ceremony music. rev. pat jordan was a fabulous officiant at the missouri botanical gardens ceremony. the folks at marriott union station took great care of all. a gorgeous cake by the cakery. put on your dancing shoes fabulous music by groove thang. and the lovely ladies who kept the day running smoothly, jen, megan and jordan of soiree st. louis. i can't sing their praises enough- so organized, so pleasant to work with, so utterly fabulous.  here are more than a few favorites and click here for the slideshow.

adam and i have decided not to accept commissions for 2010 weddings as we will focus on trying to start a family.  we will continue to accept portrait bookings, however.  so definitely contact us for st. louis day after, family, children's, maternity, senior and boudoir photography!

fortunately, there are lots of amazing shooters in town.  here's our short list of folks to check out:

michelle ross of under grace photography

clary pfeiffer

jon koch

kim wade and amy enderle of silverbox photographers (in columbia, but willing to travel)

stephen seward

joanna kleine

nicole welch

we spent a fabulous saturday evening with natalie and dave at their moto museum reception.  they were married in cabo in may.  the moto museum is a very cool venue with some stark and dramatic lighting and happens to have a delicious restaurant attached- triumph grill. 

do you love natalie's short dress or what?  i totally dig it.  the flowers were incredible- i didn't have a pen handy to write down who did them- natalie can you leave a comment with that info?  dog town allstars did a great job with music.  tnt photobooths and the gelato cart from gelato di riso were also big hits.  guests were invited to have their pictures taken to place in the guestbook with a message- a great idea!

check out the usual favorites below and the slideshow here.

natalie and dave have a super stylish house in south city, so i had to grab a shot of them in their dining room.  we also popped over to the new city garden, the graffiti wall and a quick visit to city museum- heads up on city museum- no more free entry for wedding couples/parties.

more to come, but here's a sneak peek.

i had an amazing couple of weeks, so much so, that i am half-heartedly trying to convince adam that we should move there- for lots of reasons i may or may not write about here.  don't worry, existing and future clients, it would be a long while anyway.

this was one of the last images i shot on the trip, but see that little flame?  yeah, that produces a REALLY loud, gunshot-like noise.  we heard it throughout our vacation.  the first time, i truly believed they were gunshots and it was a little scary.  it was the first day we arrived at the house we rented in granada and i wondered what i had gotten my mom and i into.  i didn't see what produced the heart attack and car alarm inducing noise (not sure about heart attacks, but these buggers definitely set off car alarms) until half way through our trip.  i saw them being lit at the end of our trip.  the lucky lighter has all of two seconds at the most to get out of the way before the explosion.  they are actually called bombas in san juan del sur, where this was taken.  the crowd behind was part of a procession for a holiday called the divine child.

this just about sums up the trip. i totally dig hammocks.

we were privileged to be able to see a sunset behind the concepcion volcano on the island of ometepe, one of the most magical places i have visited in my life. there is a huge movement of organic farms on the island which is pretty incredible.

with that phenomenal view came a downside, i.e., creepy crawlies. i love praying mantises, so i was content for him to guard our house, however, giganto spiders, beetles and grasshoppers are not welcome inside the mosquito net.

amazing colors all over the whole country. i just loved the look of this pool hall.

and this is where i'd like to live- on a hillside just to the north. gears are a spinning.

melissae and chris, it was great spending a couple of sweltering hours with you!  thanks for being up for any abstract idea i threw your way.  :-) click here for the slideshow.