Ellie and Josh | Wedding @ St. Louis Science Center

Where do I begin…. what a crazy wedding weekend!

There are a lot of photographers that say not to shoot family weddings but I couldn’t think of a better time than the weekend Doug and I had shooting Josh and Ellie’s unique Science Center wedding! It is actually really difficult for me to actually attend a family wedding and NOT be taking the photos as the primary photographer because I just love doing it so this just seemed to work out perfectly! Josh and Ellie are two of the nicest people you will ever meet who are genuine in their love for each other as well as their families. They made their wedding unique by including important elements and centering it around their personalities. There were hurdles for the day but everyone managed them like champs. We were able to use the St. Charles Convention Center for preparation photos as well as formal family shots before heading to Old Downtown St. Charles for some outdoor shots of the wedding party. We managed about ten minutes worth of photos before the rain started to come down and since Josh and Ellie still had to get married that day, we opted to not risk hair and makeup in the rain and headed back to the Science Center. Unfortunately, there was major construction and closures of Interstate 64 as well as some other construction around I70 but despite all of that we made it to the Science Center without incident! Once there we got to take some funny wedding photos with the T-Rex and several shots within the Science Center (I am sure the patrons of the center thought we were pretty odd, but we were having a good time). Despite the crowds, drawn into the center because of the rainy day we managed to have a lot of fun taking some candid T-Rex photos and I think it is the consensus of the wedding party that any photo with a T-Rex is a good photo. The wedding ceremony was held in the Planetarium and included a star show before the vows. If you are a photographer reading this looking for some advice about the lighting in the planetarium, let me tell you it is unique (you can email me for details/advice if you wish!). I knew going in that planetariums are not known for their bright or natural light and that the wedding would probably held in dim light, if not total darkness (it was pretty close to that, LOL). Between the backdrop and the available light we were able to manage some good shots of the ceremony. I had no idea that adjusting my eyes from total darkness during the star show to the ceremony lighting would take so long and I can certainly add this to my list of “firsts.” Being the first wedding of the year, I knew that the challenge would be a good break in for wedding season to begin. Following the ceremony we had the reception at the St. Charles American Legion, MO.

I really absolutely love my family. I do. There are so many reasons why but a big reason is that this family LOVES to have a good time. Everyone is always involved in laughing, dancing, and enjoying the day. We are a family of nerds too. Josh and Ellie’s exit song was none other than the celebration instrumental music from the end of the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (we are big Star Wars fans). We took family photos with a T-Rex, had Mexican food for dinner, and entire family seemed to be out on the dance floor most of the evening. More importantly, there is always lots of love as you can see in how happy Ellie makes Josh and vice versa! We were honored to ask to shoot their big day and we look forward to the rest of wedding season!

Doug and I ended the party night with Imo’s Pizza at the Embassy Suites while backing up our hard drives (we party hard, LOL).

-Kate and Doug