We met Sarah and Travis many months ago. We met and talked about all the people we knew in common. (I don't know what other photographers normally talk about when they meet with clients but we somehow end up on a lot of tangents on ours!) We talked a bit about the Forasteros (who are a rocking cool couple that I adore--think multi colored converse sneakers for their entire bridal party in addition to who knows how many tattoos on both of them and then add it to itinerant preachers/youth leaders and you've got the Forasteros pegged!). I went to the same campus ministry as both Amanda and JR Forasteros for awhile in addition to struggling my way through Spanish side by side with Amanda in school. But I digress! (This must be a pattern.) Not surprisingly, the Forasteros, J.R. especially, have been pivotal in Sarah & Travis' lives (seriously, if you knew them you'd instantly know why). Like many others here in Columbia, the Forasteros opened up Sarah & Travis to new life, new passion, and new love for people and Jesus in a whole new way. The Forasteros moved away from Columbia right after they got hitched a few summers ago but they've left a wave of good feeling and are (awesomely!) returning to CoMo to marry Sarah and Travis in August. We had many mutual friends and before we knew it Sarah, Travis, Brian and I had been talking for over an hour and we'd hardly gotten any photography stuff talked about! As our time progressed I suddenly had to remind myself that Sarah had told me they were looking at several area photographers and that is was possible that we wouldn't be theirs. "Bummer,' I thought, 'I really like these folks and these are the types of couples we love to shoot for." Wasn't I surprised when our meeting was drawing to a close (and we'd finally touched the photography business side that we meant to talk about in the first place!) that Sarah said we'd confirmed their suspicions that we were the right choice for them! Fireworks and Reese's Pieces! Yay!
Sarah and Travis both went to MU and grew up in the same youth group. They are that couple who figures out early on that they are a perfect match but has the patience to wait to marry until their schooling is done and careers secured. Smart cats. (Note: Brian and I were *not* that patient. We got engaged in April, booked our photographer in June, and got married in August! Though I am absolutely positively not sad or disappointed that we got married so quickly, I do wish we had at least hired a wedding planner to figure out all of our details!) Sarah got a job in KC (where we will be moving in a few months--but no worries, we'll still be shooting St. Louis/Columbia/KC weddings all of 2012) and so, since we're headed that way eventually, anyway, we all decided to do their shoot in KC.
One of the things I enjoy about Sarah is her mind. She is a thinker, and a great one at that! Along with Sarah comes her exceptional organizational qualities and her ability to get things done ahead of time. WAY ahead of time. (I'm hoping that she will rub off on me!) Regardless, Sarah polled friends on her facebook for perfect spots to shoot in KC (since she and Travis are originally from Columbia, too!) and sent me a list several weeks in advance. We ended up amidst the fantastic West Bottoms and ended across from Crown Center.
[[Having never visited the West Bottoms before, Brian and I fell madly in love and, needless to say, on our way home Brian was brainstorming finding enough capitol to purchase one of the old buildings. My questions of "And where would we get the money and then what the heck would we do with it?" hardly seemed to slow his mind down.]]
I think we may be in love with KC And, of course, Sarah & Travis. Happy Friday! We're off for a date afternoon/evening followed by a two wedding weekend!
So cute!
Optical illusion. The world turned upside down. = )
Isn't Sarah breathtaking?
They are so sweet!
It started to lightly drizzle, which was an excellent time to pull out Sarah's fun and funky umbrella.
Seriously, I felt like we were on the set for Jumanji. Anyone else remember that movie with Robin Williams?
I *love* this one!
I wish I had the vision and imagination for this kind of graffiti.
Nice message but what's wrong with this picture?
I need this in my living room.
Who turns their parking garage into a wall of books? Why Kansas City's library, of course!
Sarah picked out such great tops with pizazz and color.
When it started to drizzle a little harder our options were: 1. Quit. 2. Get creative. We chose the latter. LOVE it!
Imagined subtext: "I'll save you, Sarah!" (We were not in danger of being run over, despite being in the center of a 5 lane street in KC).
Gah! Beautiful!
This one makes me smile. If you were only there...
I LOVE that this is Travis' "serious face". We are SO using that come August.
Awwwwww...
After all that light drizzle, may I ask how Sarah's hair still stayed so perfect. Jealous. Yup, I said it.
I don't know what makes me like this shot so much!
If you want to know a little more about Sarah & Travis, you have to look at their shoes. Some of you may recognize these Tom's. Every pair you purchase Tom's will give a pair to a child in need. No joke. Check out their website here. It's totally legit and totally awesome and I am totally getting a pair.
Go out and save the world, people!
Mallory (& Brian)
