{Married}: Chelsea & Ryan

I absolutely love when I shoot a wedding and by the end of the night I feel like part of the family. Last weekend was exactly that. Chelsea, Ryan, and their families are some of the kindest people I've met, and I loved every minute of working with them. It was a beautiful day for a wedding in downtown Columbia, Missouri, and due to a perfect schedule (thank you Chelsea!) we had such a relaxed and fun day. Chelsea and Ryan are off on a sandy beach as I type this but I hope they'll get home safely and find photos that remind them of what a fantastic day they had. Congratulations Chelsea & Ryan!

So I thought I was crafty. But then I saw all of the bridesmaids' bouquets, the flower girl's bouquet, and the corsages and I realized that Chelsea puts me to shame. The flowers in the photo above are all made from fabric by Chelsea herself. Amazing.

Having a first look can be a great idea, especially for late summer and fall weddings. Chelsea and Ryan had an evening ceremony and knew that they wanted to get straight on to their reception, so they made time earlier in the day to see each other and celebrate what was to come later that day. It's such a meaningful moment and it gave us tons of time for fun shots around downtown. Here is Ryan seeing his girl for the first time.


After a few quiet moments together they turned to me for this shot. Still a little teary!

While many CoMo couples want photos by the columns (myself included!) this spot was extra special for Ryan and Chelsea since they got engaged right here! It was Ryan's birthday and as Chelsea was apologizing for not getting him anything besides souvenirs from her Europe trip Ryan suggested she could give him one more thing...he got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife.

Chelsea, you are beautiful.

This was definitely one of my favorite moments from the day. We had just wrapped up our afternoon photo shoot. I was coming out of the the parking garage to drive to the church and Chelsea and Ryan were waiting for a groomsman to pick them up. As I pulled out of the garage I realized that after two hours of taking photos they hadn't had enough - here they are taking their own photo on Ryan's cell. I love it!

These first snaps right after the ceremony are always some of my favorites. We weren't necessarily in any great spot for pictures but the happiness on their faces meant it didn't matter at all. To me a photo with that much joy oozing from it is perfect - no matter where it is.

...but finding a spot with some good light doesn't hurt :)

I love how happy Mark (Ryan's dad) looks to have a new daughter in the fam.