Amy and DJ

If these two young folks look familiar, it's because you've seen them here before.

As you may recall, I first met DJ and Amy last summer at their engagement shoot after DJ booked me sight unseen for the session. At the time, I described them as the young upwardly mobile businessman/speaker and the lady with the captivating Julia Roberts-type smile. We had a great time, starting in a friend's studio and then proceeding to the St. Louis City Museum.

Well, not much has changed -- Amy's still smiling and DJ's still organizing things. This time, they asked us to travel to Amy's hometown of Springfield, Illinois, for the long-awaited wedding at a place called the Fire Postal Club, which conjures up visions of either a fire hall or a postal facility. Of course, it's niether -- although the architecture of the building IS reminiscent of a fire hall. Inside there's a large banquet facility and, outside at the back, a spacious patio for an outside wedding accompanied by a wonderful lake and greenery. I also have to mention the reception entertainment: the fantastic duo of Scott Laytham and Karl "trickee" Holmes -- Karl has a silky smooth voice and sounds uncannily like the original, from Michael Jackson to Louis Armstrong.

You could say this is a kind of national event: Amy and DJ met in Jacksonville, Florida, took their engagement photos in Missouri, are being married in Illinois, and will start their new life in Kansas! DJ put a new spin on the theme of the bride wearing white by wearing white himself, which made for outstanding visuals.

During the reception, Amy presented her father with a surprise slideshow retrospective and it was more moving to watch the pair of them than it was to watch the show itself. It produced a wonderful series of images of their faces reflecting the love between a father and daughter (two of which are in the slideshow above).

DJ and Amy also asked Love and Life Photography to provide a makeshift studio at the reception with a backdrop for formal couple's photos... thanks to Tracey Bartmann-Leek (of Timeless Expressions Photography) for helping me pull that off.

The happy couple spent some time in Branson following the wedding and have reported having a wonderful time before the task of getting set up in Kansas.

Guys, we had a blast -- thanks so much for allowing us to attend and be a part of it all. Much happiness and best wishes for the years to come (and if you click those red shoes twice when you're already in Kansas, where do you end up???)