Beautiful day in the Garden

Oh, what a day we had with Susie and Mark! It is amazing to me that even with nearly 30 weddings this year, each one is still so unique from every other. And every bride, is so very special, rare, and gorgeous in her own way. It is so awesome getting to take part in a girl’s fairy-tale-come-true every single week. I first met Susie through my father, actually.  She has been a life-long customer of my father’s restaurant Bert’s Chuck Wagon, and one day my father introduced me to her when she had mentioned that she was recently engaged. My dad mentioned to me several times how cool it was that I was photographing the wedding of someone he saw grow up, and I agree…it makes it a little more special to me as well. So…on to the wedding!

Those of you not from the St. Louis area might not have realized it, but there was this little thing called the “World Series” going on recently. On the night of Susie and Mark’s wedding was the epic 16-7 Cardinals victory in game 3, and if the day was not exciting enough, watching Pujols hit a few home runs in the middle of the reception bumped it up a notch. Ok, this is obviously Joel writing this blog and not Shannon. I doubt the game would have been mentioned at all had she been writing it, heh. Other than the baseball game, we had an awesome time with Susie and Mark and Co. We started out with the girls at California Styles in downtown Collinsville (less than 1 minute away from our office), and from there we headed to SS. Peter and Paul Church (also only 1 minute from our office). Even though I have seen that church my entire life (and even lived right next to it for around 6 years), it was my first time shooting photos in the church.  The church works very well for photos and was much prettier than I had expected. One of the highlights for me was the very creative present that Susie had made for Mark. He is an optometrist, and she had a canvas made for him with a personal note to him in the form of an eye chart. Very cool.

After the wedding was over, we headed to the Gardens at SIUE, which is always an awesome place for photos. I spent most of my time with Susie and Mark, while Shannon and Megan ran around getting photos of the somewhat zany wedding party. Ok, “somewhat” doesn’t really get it right…this group was nuts. But, they were a blast to be with. We love it when a group can relax and have a great time, and these guys definitely did not disappoint. It is so much easier (and more fun!) to work with a group when they are having a great time themselves.

For the reception, we were at Lewis and Clark Community College, and it was a massive room that fit the very large crowd they had invited to the party.

It was a long day, but a very fulfilling one. Mark and Susie were so clearly in love with each other, and it always warms my heart to see our couples deeply in love. I was born to be a photographer, for sure, but it makes my job so much wonderful when I can be a part of the best day in two people’s lives. I love this job.

Congrats and God bless to Susan and Mark!

Joel

Written by Joel Conner | St. Louis Wedding Photographer