.:jenny & nate:.

Jenny was that beautiful girl in school who always did well. You know the one that all of the teachers loved? And Nate was... well... not quite as occupied with achievement as Jenny was growing up in school. The two grew up in Kirksville together but were never really part of the same crowd ("Clearly," Jenny would say). As fate would have it, though, the pair ended up at Mizzou together and were re-introduced through mutual friends. Nate told his best friend that Jenny was most definitely the girl he was going to marry. Well, Jenny wasn't so sure about this. Despite his persistence, Jenny kept Nate as a good "guy friend" (which many men think spells doom) but finally after three years, she gave in and went on a date with the guy. It turned out to be a great decision as, well, you can see they ended up here! Now inseparable, Nate keeps Jenny grounded and helps her to not worry so much about the little details while Jenny keeps Nate striving for everything he can be.

As the story often goes as of late, Jenny contacted me on Monday of their wedding week to warn me about the impending forecast--60% chance of rain--and did we have a backup plan for the outdoor photos? So Jenny and I did a little pre-game brainstorming but, as always, I assumed the chance of rain would disappear. And, sure enough, Friday the chance was 70%-80% for all day on Saturday but by Saturday morning the chance had completely disappeared. Yay for no rain!

It was an absolutely beautiful day! We started out at Aesthetic Studio (http://aestheticstudio.net/) for Jenny to get her makeup airbrushed. (The awesome thing with airbrushed makeup is that it doesn't. come. off. Seriously. Sweat. Tears. Nothing can faze that stuff! A-mazing!) and went back to The Gathering Place B&B (http://www.gatheringplacebedandbreakfast.com/) to finish her hair and get dressed. There I encountered the amazing Tessa Glenn from JCPenney's salon who did a fantastic job on Jenny and her mom and sister's hair! We did a few shots at the B&B with Jenny's entourage of beautiful bridesmaids and then made our way to the Winston Churchill Memorial (http://www.churchillmemorial.org/Pages/default.aspx). When Nate laid his eyes on Jenny in her perfect gown and amazing veil his jaw almost dropped. Jenny is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. She has a jawline and cheekbones that most of us would kill to have and, well, it's pretty hard to take a bad picture of her (despite her insistence that she only has a few good angles). We got to take a few of the two of them before we started the day.

Jenny picked out so many magical details. There were peacock feathers galore (did I mention that I *LOVE* peacock feathers?) pewter birdcages, gorgeous frames with their pictures, a guestbook we put together that had all of their favorite engagement photos, rose petals to line the aisles, and tons of amazing details Jenny plucked from Etsy! (http://www.etsy.com)

The bridal party took a Trolley back to Columbia and we snagged a few photos in between. When we finally made it to the Tiger Hotel for their reception, everyone was ready to get out of their high heels and enjoy the evening! Edith Hall did an a-MAZING job on Jenny & Nate's cake, which echoed the design of Jenny's dress and the fantastic Tessa did a quick change up with Jenny's hair, turning it into a fishbone side ponytail with a great hairpiece Jenny had just for the occasion. With photos on the rooftop, the dances, and the the Cupie Shuffle under our belt we ended our night with a bang.


Jenny picked up some GORGEOUS white peacock feathers to accent her own bouquet.


Tessa came to the B&B that morning to fix Jenny's hair and did such a great job!


Jenny found beautiful matching earrings for all of her bridesmaids but her sister, Gentry, couldn't resist finding a pair for their mom.


So while the girls were getting gussied up, Nate was with his groomsmen and the men of the day eating at a Columbia favorite, Shakespeare's Pizza! (www.shakespeares.com)


Jenny and Nate did a "First Look" which allowed us to get some fantastic images of the two of them beforehand and get everyone to the reception faster afterwards. These are always some of my favorite times of the day!


Gah! Jenny is so beautiful!


Jenny *loves* planning and poured herself into the details of it all. She settled on a warm purple with gold and hunter green accents that just looked breathtaking. Not to mention the peacock feathers that were scattered throughout so much of the day!


I *loved* this ringbearer pillow she got from Etsy. See the peacock feathers made in sequins?


The adorable flower girl's grandparents were in from Japan and so it was so fun to watch them oogling at their ridiculously precious granddaughter!


A wedding isn't a wedding without a ringbearer or a flower girl doing something out of the ordinary. This little guy sprinted. Seriously. Sprinted. Up the aisle.


Going up the aisle escorted by her father and leaving at the arm of her new husband. = ) I love the symbolism!


See what I mean by most gorgeous church ever?






Bubble exit!


On our way back to Columbia we stopped to take a few shots of the bridal party and Jenny and Nate. I *love* this old house. It made for some great dramatic shots.


And, of course, the bridal party was quite entertained by good company and good beverages on the trolley on our way back.


Jenny found all sorts of bird cages to put on the tables. This one was my favorite!




Edith Hall did a fan-TASTIC job on the cake. I've sampled a lot of cakes in my day and I have to honestly say that Edith's *always* not only look amazing but taste overwhelmingly good. And that says a lot because... well... I generally think that wedding cakes taste a little like cardboard.


Assuming Jenny likely warned him prior, Nate did not smear the cake in Jenny's face.

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One of the cool things about the Tiger Hotel is that Tina will let you go out onto the roof for some shots! Gorgeous! And check out Jenny's reception hair!




Man love. = )




"Party like it's 1999!"

And for those of you who are curious, here's the rundown of Jenny & Nate's vendors:
Flowers: Allen's http://www.allensflowersinc.com/
Cake: Edith Hall http://cakeswiththepersonaltouchbyedithhall.blogspot.com/
Hair: Tessa Glenn from JCPenney Salon
Make-Up: Aesthetic Studio http://aestheticstudio.net/
Trolley: White Knight Limousines http://www.gowhiteknight.com/fleet/limousines?gclid=CJj2k9iOkakCFZQbKgodhHcjpA
Dress Designer: Casa Blanca http://www.casablancabridal.com/

Happy planning!

Mallory (& Brian)

.:elizabeth & billy:.

Sometimes it feels like a small, small world. What does one tiny PR firm in St. Louis have in common? Their employees are super cool cats and many of them seem to like hiring us for their weddings. You won't find any complaints here. Billy is employee number four from the firm to hire us to do his St. Louis wedding.

Elizabeth and Billy are really awesome together. Sure, everyone says that but I promise this time. Elizabeth and Billy really are great together. Some (by some, I mean me, Mallory) may even use the word adorable to describe their relationship. (And as a side note, if you are a dude and are reading this don't ever take offense if some other gal calls your relationship with your fiance/girlfriend "adorable". It is a total compliment!) When we did their engagement shoot awhile back in St. Louis it was so less like a photoshoot and much more like a hangout session with new friends. Elizabeth and Billy are some of the blessed few that hold the reigns of their lives loosely and have learned to laugh at themselves. The two are super laidback and ridiculously sweet (seriously, RIDICULOUSLY sweet). Hardly a moment passes before at least one of them gets a huge grin on his or her face. They are just a delight.

Elizabeth and Billy were married on a stormy, warm day full of tornadoes on New Year's Eve. (So weird, this Missouri weather.) We arrived in St. Louis to be greeted by a mechanical voice stating "Seek shelter immediately. Seek shelter immediately." I thought perhaps we should heed the advice of this robot man voice but, of course, Brian being Brian, he decided we should book it to Elizabeth's, where we were to be starting the day in about an hour, rather than seek shelter. So with a whole lot of prayer and a leery eye at the darkening southwesternly sky as we drove towards Elizabeth's apartment, we started our New Year's Eve celebration in a more adventurely fashion than usual.

Needless to say, we arrived alive at Elizabeth's and the weather even calmed enough that the gals ordered pizza a bit later. After the tornadoes cleared the area (no worries, it stayed south of us!) the sky brightened up and it became absolutely beautiful for taking photos! We started at Art Hill, where Billy originally proposed to Elizabeth a year ago, and did their "First Look." (For more on why this is AWESOME, visit our post on Megan & Ben from this summer here). I LOVE First Looks but this one had to be one of my favorites. You'll have to check them out below. Elizabeth and Billy got a few moments not only to themselves, but it was a chance to start getting excited about their day together. The beauty of togetherness!

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. They had their gorgeous ceremony at St. Ambrose on the Hill where Billy's priest came back all the way from Belize to officiate. The party then moved to The Rialto Ballroom where we set up a photobooth in the old (non-working) elevator. Their guests could then hang out on the balcony during the not one, but two sets of fireworks displays. When the time came for the New Year to begin, the staff passed out horns and hats fitting of the celebration. The best part? Elizabeth and Billy forgoed (or would it be forwent?) traditional wedding cake in favor of frozen custard and cookies and, thankfully, shared with their guests. We couldn't think of a better way to bring in 2011!

Elizabeth & Billy's official colors were silver and black but they accented everything with purple and red. Which meant the bridesmaids could get creative in their shoe choices. Love it!

Billy's brothers share something funny (and, likely, totally appropriate) with the rest of the guys.

Elizabeth's cousin, Jen, is also a photographer. She was in on Billy's secret proposal at Art Hill a year ago and was awesome enough to capture the whole thing on her DSLR. She couldn't do the photos since she was the matron of honor but we hope we did them justice!

Billy's brother, P.J., helped Billy put on his suspenders and then apparently demonstrated to the rest of the guys how suspenders were to be put on. We won't show those photos.

Elizabeth gave all of the bridesmaids matching handmade necklaces that were adorable!

Jewelry is always chosen last minute!

The Art Hill reveal!

Totally teared up like a sucker the first time I came across this photo.

Union Station. Look aloof. Or awesome. Either one is fine.

It started sprinkling outside just as guests began arriving to the wedding but no one looked grumpy!

See what I mean by breathtaking?

They still couldn't help but wear goofy grins as they stared at one another during the ceremony. Too adorable!

During toasts. One of my favorites.

Happy New Year!

Maureen helped coordinate the day. We discovered she is also good friends with the couple whose wedding we'll be doing in St. Louis in February. Such a small, small world!

Can't bring in the new year without sparklers, right?

The groomsmen all wore Irish hats at the reception in honor of Billy's Irish heritage. Pretty nifty, huh?

Thank you, Elizabeth and Billy and thank you so much for letting us share the day with you and your amazing attendants. Between the groomsmen's funny antics (Brian has told me stories that I shall not repeat online) and the bridesmaids' ridiculously huge hearts and great tales of fun, we ended the day feeling completely honored to have been a part of it all.

Isn't love grand?

Hugs and all that stuff (Our favorite photo from the photobooth we set up at the wedding),

Mallory (& Brian)