In through the studio door  strolled this magnificent lady with no makeup.  Fantastic cheekbones, a hint of  sassy in her eyes, and just a gift of making you feel so at ease talking to her.  She bubbled over about her Shawn and her Keith.   i was immediately thinking of shoot ideas and poses.

We did the first shoot!  This is just a sampling.  Shooting with them was a dream.   A hint of a pose was all they needed to own it and make it their own.   I can’t wait to do it again!~~

The ceremony will be at St. John Vianney and the reception at The Outing Club.

When I am the busiest the thing that suffers the most is the blog.  I want to do it, I plan on doing it, I lament I have not done it………….but……….it all works out the same……….no post.  Thankfully silence does NOT mean I have no work to post.

So, in the midst of a crazy week, day, and weekend wedding coming up……… without further comment……… let the images begin……..

Joe Cook and Lynnann Smith…… one of my July 2011 weddings at the Stadium…… I would call it by name, but they have me all confused what to call it.   Honestly I don’t keep up with name changes.  For instance… it is still 23rd Avenue to me……… Avenue of the Cities……..who knew?

Aren’t they adorable all snuggled up?   More to come!

The Jones have 5 children, and if you count the fact that the groom was best friends with their son …six!  It took a lot of growing and reaching the adult world before the bride and groom suddenly discovered they were more than kids growing up knowing each other as friends.  The bride made statements through life about never going to get married.  Ah, but then she didn’t know the plans God had.

I for one noticed they sat by each other in church, but there was no show of affection or attraction.  I was caught off guard when she said she was engaged.  My first question,  “Who,  didn’t even know you were seeing anyone”?

So!  Of course a group of the women had to go to lunch and start asking questions about the plans for the wedding.  Before you know it a group of people were volunteering their skills and talents.  What fun it was to hear the plans unfold and see each piece added.

We sat on the grass in the very park they had chosen to get married in talking after we finished the engagement shoot.  Ryan and Bethany quietly touching each other and smiling a shared secret heart in love between them as they answered my questions about the details of the day.

Both of our pastors officiated at the ceremony.  Pastor Gary and Karen Ellis.  Pastor Willie and Denise McNeal. Karen prayed over the couple, and Denise blessed them.

No!  They are not running away from the ceremony.  They ran back up the aisle after the ceremony jumping feet first into their new life together!

The bride wanted locally grown flowers rather than those usually shipped in for most weddings.  The very talented Susan Anderson arranged that aspect beautifully.

Missy, I had to do a crowd search to find you!  Were you being camera shy? lol! Melissa Kraklow made the bridal gown.

Mother and daughter team extraordinaire….. Kim and Abby Farb somehow managed to escape the cameras!  Kim was the lady of the night being everywhere helping in any way possible to keep the reception moving smoothly along.  Her wonderful daughter Abby made the brownie strawberry tort  as well as brownies.  The bride decreed NO CAKE…..BROWNIES!!

The Smith family… Roz, Kenji, Christina, and Toby pulled off a wonderful dinner for all the wedding party, families, and guests.  Roz will kill me Sunday…….. she always comes to church stylin’, and here I go showing her after a day of hard work in a very warm kitchen!!  I think it appropriate to share my assistant Tony’s thoughts on the meal, “This is the first wedding this year where the green beans actually tasted like green beans and good”!  He was right.  The food was fantastic.

The lady on the right (and please forgive me for forgetting your name) had volunteered to photograph the wedding for Bethany and Ryan.  Unbeknown I came along and volunteered Studio D.  She graciously deferred to Studio D.  She came with her camera and worked just as hard as we did, and never once did she get in our way. Over and over I watched her frame her own shots that we were not getting.  All done with a smile.  That my friends is a humble heart that I dearly love!!  She could have been offended when we took on photography after she had already said she would do it! Her and DeeDee have been friends for years!

Joel Bickford!  You were the surprise of the evening in several ways.  I almost didn’t recognize you with the new hair style!  Second, that was a beautiful young lady you were with!  Third your sets were beautiful!

There were a number of others helping that I didn’t have time to grab names and photos of.  It was all a huge labor of love from all of us.  Why? Bethany and Ryan are young and just starting out.  Remember those days? Budgets are way smaller than they are later in life.  The whole church adores them both!  They would have had a beautiful ceremony and reception  without all of us.  Perhaps a wee bit smaller.  What is really important here………… I want to say………

Oh behalf of everyone that helped in any way…………… I’d like to say……………..

Thank you for graciously accepting our giftings and talents allowing us to participate in YOUR wedding. I think I speak for all of us………. it was special!

Just uploading ONE tonight!  They are downloading!  Aren’t they cute?

Here I was all focused on Jake and Ashley when I hear my name.  Who should be seated on the 3rd row isle? Joe Cook and the love of his life Lynnann.  Studio D Photography will be covering their wedding July 23rd, 2011.

I simply could not resist putting them in the vineyard at Lavender Crest Winery in Colona, Illinois.  Wanted a couple of snappies to share with them and with Joe’s dad who is headed to the Quad Cities for a few days.

At last…….. their day is only a few hours away.  Kevin Walker Photography & Video & DJ Service is my next wedding!  Many of you know Kevin from B100 fm.  He has been a long time friend of mine, and I have watched him go through some tough times.  The love of his life is Katlin.  Now we can add another love of his life Katie!

I did some shooting for Kevin several years ago, and Katie was assisting Kevin.  I remember thinking how good they looked together and wondered if it would possibly happen they would start seeing each other.  So, when Kevin told me he had proposed to Katie I wasn’t surprised.  They are so cute together!

We have 3 days of coverage planned, and II am excited.  The ceremony will be at Our Lady of Lourdes, and the reception will be at the River Center.  We have a trolley ride to one of my fav places to shoot.  AND we have a little alley time along with the downtown streets.

Kevin, Katie, Katlin Walker

Love you guys,  charging batteries and ready for tonight!!!

Just so you know I open Christmas packages early too.  Waitin’ is not in my vocab!

Ok! Going back to editing!

Drew and Kristy are the kind of couple when they walk in you want to stop what you are doing and just sit down with them for a really warm fuzzy funny sharing visit.  I can’t help but smile when I see them coming!

Yesterday I got to meet the rest of the family.  Jack and Ellie.  Jack hanging out of the frame is appropriate for him.  The boy has one speed…….full steam ahead pushing the envelope!

Drew just melts when Kristy speaks, touches him, or she comes into his field of vision.  His sentences just fade away before completion.  His smile gets bigger, and his eyes light up!  Best part is his voice lowers and softens.  It is totally adorable.   AND  I bet he denies it when he reads this.  He’s a little bit shy!!

One of the lines I use during my interview is, “A couple is unique, and they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.”  Look at Kristy and Drew…….perfect fit!!

Love you guys!   Did a few images while waiting for the wedding to download!!  Rest will be ready soon!

couple more for you

St John Vianny and The University Club