"what we really love to do is PLAY" ~ miriam + joe

i couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a friday morning.

at first we thought it might be a wee bit chilly, but the sun come out to shine down on us, and the road rose to greet us.

quick.

anyone remember the term for the lovely blur of a background a good lens can create?

answer: it's bokeh baby!

and who says open eyes are part of what makes a picture a "keeper"? ~ i lurve this one:

oh miriam + joe are charming charming CHARMING together:

"the thing we really do together is play" miriam explained, "let's just hang out at a playground"

my reaction = swoon

a low key kind of couple that just wants to have fun and have real pictures made of them being real?!

yep, miriam + joe are exactly our kind of couple!

"i knew i wanted SilverBox to take my wedding pictures long ago. 

it didn't matter that i wasn't, well, dating anyone. 

if i ever get married i thought, 

i've certainly found my photographer" ~ miriam

[BIG swoon!]

miriam + joe:

thank you

thank you

thank you

thank you

thank you

thank you

i LOVED getting to know you. 

LOVE your relationship and simply adore how you look (and feel!) in these images. 

creating them with you was a JOY! and there's EVEN MORE ~ click here for the slideshow!

~amy enderle

and oh yes, i remember there are a few fans of the embedded show out there. 

hmm. good news - keep scrolling . . .

jen + jesse ~ boots, bar hopping & getting hitched

oooh wow, was jen + jesse's wedding tons of fun to photograph! i loved working with these two.
why?!
well, let me tell ya:

for starters, jen was one AMAZING, CARING bride . . . she put a lot of thought into keeping the memory of loved ones alive. she had the necklace you see below made from her grandmother's earring; the broach and handkerchief are also family heirlooms:



and speaking of loved ones: just look at this moment jen shared with her mom:

jen radiated all day long:





ok, but being thoughtful and loving AND beautiful doesn't mean that you can't have a little fun too! Right?! :') Jen had her own sense of style: check out these cowboy boots . . . she wore them from the minute she put on her wedding dress, until the final dance:

but lest you think jen had all the fun, jen and jesse (and their many friends) stayed true to the washington, missouri tradition of bar hopping along washington's downtown riverfront . . . a few drinks, some live music, a stroll past washington's corn cob pipe factory:






and here's jesse, going toe-to-toe with jen (or nose-to-nose or nose-to-toe at times :'), having as much fun as any groom i've seen on his wedding day:







and then there were the kids! jen and jesse LOVE LOVE LOVE little ones and have opened their arms and hearts to so many . . . everywhere I turned there were children playing, dancing, hugging:







here's jesse tossing a bucket of candy into the kid crowd:



we made a couple of other stops along the way from the ceremony to the reception:





. . . including jen + jesse's home . . . here they are on their land . . . one of the loveliest views in Missouri . . .



. . . and strolling down their road, which jesse's grandpa had cleaned up all on his own in prep for the wedding day:



there are lots more pictures in jen + jesse's wedding slideshow . . . kick up your heals and enjoy!

~kim

taking UNIQUE to a whole new level: mary jane + tim

win our hearts | win your wedding was SUCH a good thing.

it's how we met candy + scott (aka 'cott-n-candy) and how we first learned of tim + jane's celebration.

more, LOTS more, on tim + jane in a moment, but first . . .

--> did you know that . . .

* there's an art gallery in columbia

where you can host a dinner party for your closest friends?

(and what a delicious dinner it will be. mmmmm The Sycamore is first rate!)

a few notes:

those doughnuts on the wall: wooden.

the glass bowls on the table: incredible art as table centerpiece!

those Sycamore salads? ~ scrumptous!!!

doesn't THIS next image make you hungry for a Sycamore steak and a good glass of wine:

PS Gallery is such a fun place to gather.

having art on the wall never fails to creates a rich and enlivened environment:

what a place to MAKE pictures:

(note the incredible sliver of space between tim + jane's faces in this image. oh i'm proud of this one!)

mary jane's (we should say early on that jane goes by both names,

her sweet mom explains that she was NAMED for the candy, but generally called "jane!" by friends)

~ where was i going with this?

oh yeah, mary jane's paintings were hanging in PS gallery during their rehearsal dinner . . .

. . . and we learned when we walked in that one of them had just been SOLD.

wow.

mary jane actually said during her dinner remarks that if this very day was the highest peak of her life,

she'd die happy.

(after spending the weekend with her,

we're 100% certain there are so many remarkable moments yet to come to this couple!)

and speaking of the art of life . . .

--> did you know that . . .

* craftsmanship + design was once a standard part of manufacturing?

the above image?

a close-up of a turn-of-the-century radiator, found HERE:

IF YOU ARE PLANING a missouri wedding, 

you'd be crazy CRAZY NOT to consider having your event 

at the recently restored Frederick Hotel.

but contract SilverBox, OK? ~ 'cause we're so eager to get back!!

at the hotel frederick, you can have your party downstairs

and get ready for the party 

(and/or retire from the party)

just upstairs in your fabulously rennovated guest room:

it is a CHARMING place inside and out:

(you'll get an even better sense of hotel frederick in THE SLIDESHOW!)

jane + tim said their vows (that they'd written themselves)

in the equally historic thespian hall:

what a meaningful ceremony!

everything was orchestrated so perfectly.

the most powerful part:

tim + jane read aloud the names of family members.

family members who've died but whom they felt were with them on their wedding day.

after jane + tim read each name, reverend sam mann led the congregation in a responding with "A-SHEE" ~ 

a term rev mann describes as "a positive expression of affirmation of the presence of the ancestor"

with each resounding of "A-SHee" the minister poured water from the pitcher onto the ivy at the base of the stage.

sam described it this way:

the ceremony comes from the ancient Swahili community and 

its spiritual tradition that focuses on ancestral worship and 

the relationships between ancient spirits and present spirits...

this is not just a cognitive remembering of ancestors 

but it invites the ancestors to come into the relationship....

the presence of the ancestors is literally with us in the 

hearts, minds, souls, and natural surroundings of the community...

i'm realizing i could type for weeks and still not communicate the depth of their celebration.

guess i'm going to launch into the sharing of pictures instead...

like this just-married moment that makes me so very proud of annika miller

(lighting in theaters makes for some of the toughest shooting conditions around and look at THIS perfect exposure and fabulous capture of a defining moment)

and THIS image that i took as they exited the theatre is really growing on me:

and then, just outside:

tim + jane:

jane + her siblings:

her whole family:

oh, and tim's, too!

so much (and so many!) to love!!

there's more, there's LOTS more.

little slices:

the memories, the laughter:

the LOVE:

so let's SPREAD the LOVE a bit . . .

the first Silver Lining reader who correctly identifies the two men just behind mary jane and tim 

by zipping off an email to h e l l o @ S i l v e r B o x . c o m with your  name + mailing address

gets an Adam Stanley Requisite Renaissance CD ~ it been listened to about 40 times, and is now loaded on every computer, laptop and iPod in the house. 

who's adam stanley? you could either, read down to the very bottom of the Hold That Hug! entry BELOW

or well, CLICK HERE!