Laura and Stuart were married last weekend in New Baden, IL. The day started out with a bit of a hitch for me. First, my hired second shooter didn’t show up. Once I got to the church, I learned that none of their outlets were working for me to set up my lights for family formals. Later, my flash started acting up. Luckily for me, I had my assistant, who is in photo school, with me to get me through the day. She filled the second shooter’s position, helped me set up the formals outside, and just generally kept me in good spirits.

Starting out with Laura’s pretty shoes…

Her flowers with a special memento from her grandmother…

Seeing her flowers for the first time…

Laura and Stuart agreed to a first look in order to make the day go more smoothly for photos…thanks guys!

St. George Catholic Church

Loved the details on the back of her dress…

We did a few quick traditional portraits before we hopped on the bus to go bar-hopping…

We did a little tour of small-town Illinois with the bridal party and checked out a few bars…


I don’t know if there is anything cuter than a little boy in a tux.

Custom-made clutches from Etsy are starting to become really popular. I give a lot of credit to my bride from last August, Megan…her clutch photos were all over the internet! These are particularly beautiful!

The girls looked particularly stylin’. I just love this color combo…yellow dresses, grey shoes/hair accessories, and purple flowers.

In one of the towns we went to, we found an old white wall/garage door for a backdrop. In an email earlier in the week, Laura informed me she hadn’t picked any photo locations b/c I told her I could take pretty pics in any old parking lot. Lol…I did say that, didn’t I? So I tried to prove that I was right with this wall.

The last stop on the tour was a bar in Breese. They had these shots called Shnooty’s (um….don’t know if that’s spelled correctly). The local soda, Ski, is on the bottom, with some Jack poured on top…

Took advantage of the pool table for the ring shot…

Some details from the day…

And ending with the first dance with some glowy light!

Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll be shooting the wedding of my old college friend, Leanne, in Asheville, North Carolina this weekend! So stay tuned for that and a couple of fun engagement shoots!

Here is a list of all of Laura and Stu’s vendors for the day…

Ceremony: St. George Catholic Church, New Baden, IL

Reception: Knights of Columbus Hall, Carlyle, IL

Bridal Gown: David’s Bridal

Bridesmaids Dresses/Hair Accessories: JCrew

Hair/Makeup: Nu Image Salon, Breese, IL/Mary Kay consultant Kelly Wessel

Transportation: Zee Express, Albers, IL

Caterer: Carlyle IGA

Florist: Grimm & Gorly, Belleville, IL

Bouquet Tile/Ring Plate: Paloma’s Next

Clutches: Modot Textiles on Etsy

Bakery: Maribeth Detmer, Breese, IL