Welcome.
I'm the owner and sole photographer of Under Grace Photo. This itty bitty boutique studio visually documents love in all forms in the Saint Louis area and nationwide. Here you will find images of individuals, couples and families that are deeply loved and under grace. From time to time I'll pepper in some peeks into my life as a mom, personal projects, and maybe a recipe or two.Please don’t hesitate to contact me for assistance or for more information. I’d love for you to follow my Tweets and friend me on Facebook.
Terri and Matt’s wedding got snapped up by Style Me Pretty! Thank you Tifany of Gourmet Invitations for doing a lot of the legwork in submission, and to Terri herself for doing a fantastic writeup! Here is the video from Lori and I Do Films…. and yes, they shoot in the Lou as well as Chi-town.
Gavronski Wedding Highlight from I Do Films on Vimeo.
Jaci has beautiful taste and an eye for aesthetics, so it’s no surprise that today was easy on the eye. She chose a deep jewel plum and champagne for the bridesmaids dresses, and a soft, silvery tulle dress on the vintage side for herself.
Jaci and Steve waited for the wedding day, and I don’t mean for pizza delivery. Like, WAITED waited. Jaci invited me to document the moment she gave him her purity ring during the First Look (which was a surprise to Stephen). I had to remember to breathe while shooting these few minutes. It was such an electric moment.
Fedoras for the fellas, see! You dirty rat.
Okay, so KEVIN BACON doppelganger, right? Jump back!
Both sides of the Jewel Box moments before the ceremony started.
I love seeing the parent’s faces during a ceremony.
Jaci was calm and collected most of the day, but her neck tensed often during the service as emotions rode through her like waves- Joy so intense it overwhelmed her with gravity. She’d hold her head high as if willing herself from drowning in it.
Sparklers- right at sunset, with just a kiss of the sunlight to help.
I loved what Jaci did with the lights in the drop ceiling. It made for some fantastic bokeh, and I spread it on my toast and ate it. YUM.
SMUSH.
They had a photo booth! WOO! I loved it! Every time we do one it just gets more and more fun.
It’s always fun and games until the guests start punching each other in the piehole.
So the year is more than half over. I noticed a dry leaf on the ground the other day and thought, “Fall! Halloween! Pumpkins! Winter! Christmas!” Henry’s birthday is coming up. My little baby will be one year old. He’s so close to walking now; he cruises from bookshelf to sofa to coffee table like a pro. Every time the dishwasher door opens, he lumbers towards it on all fours panting and drooling, hypnotized by the treasure chest of clean plates and shiny spoons.
Sydney is a little woman now, dressing herself and potty trained. This time of our lives seems to woosh by in a blur. A camera sits on our bookshelf within easy reach, so we snap a few pictures a day when we remember. We were told that this time would go by fast, but it’s out of this world to experience firsthand. Pictures help me to step outside our lives for a bit and see objectively. It’s nice to refocus and remember that life is not measured by piles of laundry, or dust bunnies using our ceiling fan blades as a carnival ride. Life is measured by other lives. An intangible metric system. Six kilograms of love mixed with 1/8 teaspoon sleep and whipped into stiff peaks.
So today I was going over what the rest of the year will look like, scheduling Holiday sessions and thinking Christmas presents (I know, I’m a freak of nature) when I came across my 2010 Birthday Bucket List. And I thought, “OH NO, THE YEAR IS ALMOST OVER. And I’ve completely forgotten the Dance Party.” A lot of questions come my way about how I work, mostly about the expediency in which I produce the wedding sneak peeks and editorial spreads. And this answer is this: I have good focus and tasking skills. This sword is double-edged, however, in that I forget to take AND make time for the best things in life. Like a spontaneous Dance Party. Looking at my list, I’ve blown away my business goals, but have Sad Tromboned my relationship goals.
So tomorrow is a new day, and that new day will have another Spontaneous Dance Party like today- thank you, Brian Setzer Orchestra.
How is your New Year’s Resolution going? Do you remember what it was?
Better than Christmas season if you ask me.
I bring you the BLT- making mouths drool since 1895.
We mourn the loss of dear Anna today. Her husband Manuel and her children are in our thoughts and prayers.
“Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover there is always one more; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get, though there it was, perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner.” – James Barrie, ‘Peter and Wendy’
Kristin put mountains of thought and care into every detail-
“As you can see, we have tried to remain local and “handmade” as much as possible. In fact, we seem to have selected primarily women-owned businesses in the St Louis and Columbia areas! Our rings were designed by jewelers we learned about at Poppy, a local store; my dress is a J. Crew dress that I purchased on ebay, but which has been completely deconstructed and redesigned by a local seamstress, Aurora Dawn-Rose (in essence, only the fabric is from J.Crew!); and the bridesmaid shawls are from Etsy. Darin was dressed from head to foot by the owners of a local buisness — Binghams — who also helped us decided on ties for the groomsmen.”
The hairdresser ran an hour and a half late, but the result was a work of art!
They had a ‘First Look’, which gave Darin time to properly admire her hair.
Rachel from Rachel Flowers did an incredible job as usual.
Instead of one big wedding cake, they had many little cakes. Would it be right to say they were babycakes?
They had a contra dance (like a square dance) at the reception, with a caller, banjo player, fiddler, and guitarist. It was a great way to include everyone.
Thank you to Kelly Manno for wrestling a behemoth of this magnitude and WINNING. Yesterday left me deeply moved in so many ways, and it was all because you made it happen.
Thank you Clary and Kelly for being by my side during the Q+A sessions. The mountain to climb seemed much less intimidating when facing it with friends.
Thank you Jasmine Star for loving life unabashedly, and reminding us we have the freedom to be unique.
Thank you JD for supporting her when she went out on a limb to follow her heart. Our souls are richer for it.
Thank you Debbie for coming to offer an olive branch from the Capulets to the Montagues!
Thank you Samantha, Elisa, Sarah, Tiffany, Kelly, Mary, Nikki, Donna, and Terri for following up this morning with more questions, or just wonderful things to say! I will be following up many of the seminar’s questions as individual dedicated posts on the blog.
Thank you Emily and handsome fiancee whose name I totally forget for braving the business end of 30+ cameras. It’s not an easy job to do, but you did it.
And lastly, thank YOU right there with your nose in the screen. I see you, reading me. You are the children clapping to revive Tinkerbell. You make a HUGE difference in my life just by spending a few moments here. You give Henry and Sydney a mommy that has time in her day to transform into a tickle monster or to make rings out of dandelions before lunchtime. Thank you for giving them the gift of an unhurried mommy.
~Michelle
Farmer Brad saw our bewilderment this morning when we saw the heaps and heaps of hot peppers amongst the produce in our basket, and he gave us a delicious tip to use them up:
“Take a jalapeno. Cut off the stem and slide down one side. Scoop out the seeds. Fill it with cream cheese. Wrap it with bacon and secure it with a toothpick. Throw it on the barbecue and you are all set!”
So! If you are attending the party this fabulous Hump Day, I will see you there. Feel free to Tweet about the event- if you use the hashtag #STLshotparty, you could win admission for 2011. If you missed the event, in time I will have a summary available of the FAQ’s during our segment. Happy shooting!
Oh Emily. You flew out of my life just as quickly as you flew into it. College had to come and snatch you from my clutches. You were such a good intern. My computer misses you so. Please come back and edit another few thousand files, just for old times sake.
P.S. Although not speaking, Emily will be at the 2010 Shot Party. She’d be happy to answer any questions you have about her internship experience, playing Cow Golf, or just photography in general.
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