Brooke + Jordan – St.Louis MO Wedding

Jordan says he met Brooke at a friends house their freshman year of high school, and his memory asserts she was mean to him. As Brooke’s memory has it,  they met the summer before their junior year at a different friends house where they instantly started flirting.
Brooke believes their first date was at a McDonalds where Jordan created a picture out of food that said “I ❤️ U” in French fries, but Jordan doesn’t recall any of the specifics.  When you’ve been dating 12 years – since you were 16 – things can easily be difficult to remember.
They both can remember quite perfectly that on December 24th, 2017 at Brooke’s family Christmas celebration, she opened a Christmas present from Jordan and took the lid off of a box which was all lit up with a ring tied to a pillow and a sign that says “Will you marry me?” She was so taken aback but managed to murmur “yes” but in the same time said “don’t you have something to ask me?” None of Brooke’s family was paying attention as he responded “I think I did, don’t you have something to say back?”  “I said yes! she announced” and at that moment Brooke’s brother in law started to ask “What did he do, propose?” Brooke held up the sign and start crying. Her Brother in law then started to shout and everyone turned to see them holding up the sign! There were cheers of “congratulations”, tears, and “it’s about time’s”.
On July 14th, 2018 Brooke and Jordan created more perfect memories by spending the day saying “I do” and celebrating with heir closest friends and family.  Enjoy a peek at this amazing day and love story!Brooke is completely timeless and looked like a princess on her wedding day, so even though these pics are a little on the traditional side, they were just too pretty not to share.A little over 10 years ago Roger and I had the honor of capturing Brooke’s sister Kelly’s wedding in the exact same church.  Without knowing it, Roger took this photo of Brooke that is strikingly similar to one of her sister at the same moment before coming down the aisle. Brooke’s reaction the the intensity of holy water throwing was adorable.Weddings at St. Peter and Paul Catholic church in Soulard have such magic!We also don’t often post photos of formal photos of kids, but when they are this extra – you just gotta. 😉These two have such a special bond.  We’ve been so fortunate to photograph all of the sisters’ weddings, AND I (Karin) actually have known Brooke’s mom and sisters (and Brooke although she was too little to remember) since I was in elementary school!  Being a part of any couple’s day is an honor, but capturing a day of someone you’ve known most your life is such an added joy!We can’t tell the story of Brooke and Jordan’s day without mentioning rain.  Every time we would get set up to photograph, the rain would come in abundance.  Most brides would have been understandably frustrated, but Brooke never lost her optimism and was upbeat the entire time!  Luckily we were able to head to Urban Chestnut in the Grove to dry out and chill until the rains moved back out.When the rain paused, we grabbed just the bride and groom for some photos in the Grove and really enjoyed spending time with just the two of them.  A wedding day is so hectic, and stealing a bride and groom away to breathe a few minutes always yields fantastic results!Brooke – you are simply stunning.Love this photo of Jordan – he’d noticed the spot and we love how the photos of him turned out from here!I mentioned a couple blog posts ago about how gorgeous the backs of wedding dresses have been this year!  Love this one!We headed back to the park to pick up where we left off with wedding party photos, and it was a race against Mother Nature’s clock because we could see another huge storm cell moving in.  We made it to vehicles just before it let loose once again, but we had an awesome time until then.Seriously these boys.  I can’t even.  This is what they were giving us, and we’re not mad about it.We darted into Moulin before the category 5 rain came in, and as soon as we walked into the Centennial  Ballroom room our jaws hit the floor.  Everything was so cozy and intimate!  SO many personal touches created by Brooke, and help from her family.  Especially her brother who built the arbor behind the head table and all the table number signs!The desserts and cake from Sugarbelle Cakery were TO DIE FOR.  I had a macaroon and straight passed out.  I still get lightheaded thinking about it. I wanted to shove mini pies and Smores Brownies in my camera bag, but you know – professionalism and all. What has your brother built you lately? I mean geeze Louise! How stunning is this?
Brooke’s Brother In Law Ryan and Uncle Gorge performed Brooke and Jordan’s first dance to Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” for their first dance.  It was incredible!And then the dance floor was packed!We grabbed a quick pick of the bride and groom up on the rooftop of Moulin on the Thornhill Rooftop Deck at Vin De Set once again – just before the skies opened up and poured!  Luckily we were able to grab some gorgeous shots before they got wet!More about the day from Brooke and Jordan:

Most memorable part of the day:
The most memorable moment of our day was our first dance. I always thought it would be such an awkward thing to have everyone stare at you while you dance but in that moment it was only me and him and I loved looking into my new husbands eyes as we danced our first dance!

Advice for future brides and grooms:
Take a moment with your new spouse to step back and look at everyone enjoying your wedding. It goes fast…really fast!

Funniest Memory:
The funniest moment is when I went to cut the cake, I was told not to cut a very big piece so I didn’t. However, I cut too small of a piece and couldn’t get the piece of cake out of the cake and had to dig it out with my fingers so we could eat it! (see photo above!)

Anything you would change:
We would take a minute to step back and just watch all of our friends and family enjoying themselves at OUR wedding. The day goes by so fast and the night is even faster! At the reception we felt like we were running around to make sure we talked to everyone and still dance and have fun!

Wedding Professionals that made the day perfect:
Ann and Linda at Moulin we’re absolutely amazing, they had everything covered and made the reception go smoothly! Amanda Miller did a phenomenal job on our make up and Jenna Howze did an outstanding job on our hair! Sugarbelle Cakery did our delicious desserts – I’ve never really had macaroons before and now I’m obsessed!  Of course, Karin and Roger, you guys made our day extra special. Another moment we really enjoyed was the little moments you guys took us away to take pictures because it gave us a moment to enjoy and reflect on our day alone!

Whew – can you even handle the amazingness?  If you want more, you won’t want to miss the video below with more images of Brooke and Jordan’s day!  Check it out!