jon + kristen :: MARRIED!

ONCE UPON A TIME, 

(right at one year ago)

i first documented a wedding

in this cute cute little chapel.

scott and natalie were married october of 07,

and it was AT scott + nat's wedding

that i first met jon + kristen 

(see pictures at left, oct. 2007)

back then the word SMITTEN came to mind.

[just wait till you see them now . . . ]

however back at natalie + scott's wedding

we were dodging tumultuous rains all day long.

THIS YEAR as many of the same gang gathered for 

kristen + jon's "i-do"s,

aaah . . . gentle warm breeze + golden sun:

(ok, ok, we're prepared for less than wonderful weather --

we have lighting equipment and even umbrellas for you to use in the car --

BUT everyone ~ SilverBox included! ~ seems to prefer days like THIS!)

but let's back up a bit...

jon + kristen's friends and family gathered in The Pasta Factory's boiler room

just off that AMAZING lil' courtyard friday night ~ it's such a great building!

kristen was a Div I college athlete at mizzou

and look how cute she is in this jacket during the "preparation" stage ~

it's a happy coincidence that the tiara replicated the curved plane that "missouri" is embroidered on,

and it sure makes me love these images all the more ;D

oh, little kids and the cute factor!! LOVE IT:

and our rule-of-thumb:

if the littlest people are being happy, content and cooperative with the bride + groom,

QUICK! grown-up members of the wedding party, gather round:

sometimes we're asked:

"what's the least amount of time we can devote to posed pictures 

if we prefer NOT to see each other before the wedding?"

that's tough to answer because there are LOTS of variables to put in place before calculating a response,

but it would be nearly impossible for us to create pictures we love in less time than we did this day.

so here's a play-by-play of jon + kristen's celebration using "time taken" feature in the file metadata:

BIG DISCLAIMER:

this timeline worked because we stayed at one location for every posed picture taken ~

the church grounds here are so charming!  

AND the weather was great ~ SilverBox set-up is pretty simple outdoors in open shade.

there are SO MANY OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER, TOO.

BUT we can probably use THIS as our "absolute least amount of time possible" guide

if indeed you want the full set* of group shots. [ 15+ years ago, paul and i, for example, 

didn't want a single posed picture on our wedding day ~ crazy? --- nah:  foreshadowing --

we hired a great photojournalist, and said "please document relationships; do your thing"  :D ]

2:45 pm kristen's at the "jewelry stage" ~ i love this of her sister helping her.

there's a fluctuating sweet spot in getting just enough shutter drag to show the motion of the action

BUT WITH the shutter being fast enough to keep the subjects in focus.

[for THIS picture it was 1/15 s at f/1.8]

2:50 pm -- stepping just outside the door for a 30 minute sessions that included:

- bridal portraits

- pictures with kristen and each bridesmaid

- pictures of "all the girls" ~ thus, the female side of the bridal party

- pictures of kristen with her immediate family 

(incl. some "duos" plus a group shot or two plus lots of spontaneous interaction)

3:20 pm -- our focus turned to the guys

pretty much a repeat of the girl schedule, just insert "boy/groom"

- groom's pix

- jon with his family

- guys as group with ushers scurrying off pretty quickly b/c heck, they had a job to do :D

- then each guy with jon; 

- and a few more group shots with the last "directed" (i.e. loosely posed) picture we took of the men was clocked at about 3:45

at this point the boys went inside for the 4PM ceremony, and so did we :D

below is an image of guests entering the chapel that i documented at 3:50

pictured beside the shot annika made at straight up 4PM (note clock behind his shoulder)

here's my favorite from jon + kristen's music-rich, smile-filled ceremony

(fyi: their ceremony lasted about 40 minutes)

4:40 pm the couple has left the building ~ MARRIED!

4:41 pm no receiving line just a few quick hugs from brothers, sisters, moms and dads

4:44 pm -- started group shots (to the side of the church grounds) that included:

- pictures of the jon + kristen with each of their grandparents

- pictures with her family [her parents then headed off to greet guests at the reception]

- pictures of kristen + jon + the littlest kids (5PM)

- whole wedding party, including flower girls and ring bearer

- a few images of kristen's niece + nephew with their parents

- pictures of the couple with his family

- pictures of the couple with special guests including the minister, the musicians, etc

- wedding party sans kids, AND

5:32 pm both traditional and FUN! pictures of jon + kristen 

(last photo in this series was captured at 5:43)

5:45 pm ~ annika and i packed our equipment + posing stools in our cars,

drove to the very yummy Upper Crust downtown (about 12 minutes away),

parked the cars, unloaded the equipment, set up light stands and . . .

caught just a glimpse of kristen as she and jon entered the ballroom at 6:15.

since they opted to forgo a traditional receiving line, jon + kristen 

hugged and talked with their guests as each guest neared the delicious buffet ~ very clever of them!

. . . a tough angle for pictures, but actually a unique and wonderful feature of the venue:

at the Elm Street Ballroom, the Upper Crust can set up your buffet and the bar

in the board room across the hall to conserve space + atmosphere in the ballroom.

and oh, LOVE IT! -- look! 

even an "exit outfit" on this unseasonably warm day without a cloud in the sky.

Caribbean here they come!

clever, calm, gracious + filled-with-grace, wow what a wonderful wedding!

thank you so much kristen + jon for this opportunity!

warmly,

amy enderle

want to see even more? 

click jon + kristen's names at any point in the entry to link to the slideshow

. . . or just CLICK HERE

or. whoa. THIS will make it easy (enjoy!):

** FOOTNOTE: to SilverBox, a "full-set of group shots" implies

- couple with wedding party
- couple with her immediate family
- couple with his immediate family
- couple with each grandparent
- couple with young children in the wedding

often, the following are included as well: 

- photo session with couple
- pictures of bride alone
- pictures of bride with her bridesmaids as group and with each woman individually
- pictures of groom alone and then with his groomsmen/ushers as group; then with each guy individually