Ribbons decorate the center aisle at a wedding at First Christian Church in South Jacksonville. by Warmowski Photography.
Saw a great idea by fantastic florist Ashley’s Petals & Angels. Some churches don’t allow flowers to be strewn along the center aisle, a restriction to keep petals from being smashed into the carpet.
Lori Wankel, Ashley’s owner, cut up ribbons and lined the center aisle. It’s a great way to add color when a church won’t allow flower petals. And, you can exactly match your wedding colors.
Photo above from the wedding of Savanna Engelmann & Charlie Cole, at First Christian Church in South Jacksonville. (Note that First Christian doesn’t have a flower petals restriction, Lori was running with her new idea.)
We’ve done many weddings with Ashley’s Petals & Angels, and they always have great stuff! Check them out on Facebook.
Ribbons from Savanna & Charlie's wedding also used on the altar.
Posted by Steve. Warmowski Photography, not only great wedding photographers, but a great resource for ideas. Jacksonville, Springfield, Quincy and other locations in Illinois and beyond.
Fellow Springfield Local Favorites member Specialty Cakes is having an open house this Sunday 3 October from 1-4 p.m. in Springfield. Specialty Cakes has been in business for 25 years, and is celebrating its new location at 1560 Wabash in Springfield.
Sample wedding cakes, cookies and more; and enter a drawing to win gift certificates — top prize of a free wedding cake.
See Springfield Local Favorites on Facebook. Warmowski Photography is a member of SLF, a group of the top wedding vendors in the Springfield Illinois area.
The wedding party joins Kristy VanMeter and Ty Gebhardt during their first dance.
Soon after we photographed Kristy VanMeter & Ty Gebhardt’s wedding she sent us this note:
I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate everything you did. From the pictures that I know will be amazing, the pinning of my dress and just being there for anything else I may have needed. The day and night seemed to go off without a hitch. I was absolutely amazed with how my day was the best day of my life and I married my best friend. That night will be one of the most memorable nights of our life forever. For someone to please Ty says a lot, and you guys absolutely did that. . .
I had more fun that night than I have my whole life. I fell in love with Ty all over again and I think he did the same. Our relationship has the strongest bond ever right now and we both realized with our special day that we had the best thing that has ever happened to us. Ty loved you guys as did I (but I think that was obvious). We love how helpful you are and you have a sense of humor that puts the two of you over the top!!! We can’t wait to start our family and you can bet we will be calling you. We hope that the two of you had a good time and we will recommend you to everyone we know. I hope you stay in touch, as we enjoy talking with the two of you.
Wow! Thanks Kristy! After a couple e-mails and her seeing her photos, she emphasized the point, writing “the photography is the best choice we made.”
Kristy's bridesmaids try to keep the champagne from making a mess as they get their hair done.
Kristy & Ty’s wedding day was a long one for us — exactly the kind of coverage we like to offer to our brides. Kristy chose our Package A, which includes a full day of photography, high-resolution images and a wonderful 40-plus page coffee table book. The day started out with Tiffany covering the action at the On The Clip Side salon in Jacksonville. We followed them to First Christian Church in South Jacksonville for more getting ready images as well as portraits before the ceremony.
Kristy takes a deep breath before walking in to the reception at Fairway Hills Golf Course in Virginia.
A lot of work went into decorating the reception. The centerpieces were great and the chair covers and different colored bows added so much to the room (rented from the Beardstown Class of 2011). And as the sun went down and the room got darker, the many votive candles made for a very romantic feel.
Ty gets the better of Kristy as they have fun after sharing a piece of cake.
Despite a calf injury Kristy sustained earlier in the week, she was able to dance and enjoy the reception. One thing that helped was her choice of footwear. Even before her injury, Kristy had decided on gym shoes. Because of the fullness of her dress, nobody could even tell – and she was comfortable all day!
Kristy's Nike Shocks kept her comfortable all day.
Kristy & Ty don’t seem to notice anyone else as they dance on the crowded dance floor.
Dancers cast shadows on the ceiling, with lighting effects by D.J. Joe Kindred.
We love to stay until the end of the night because we feel we are better able to tell the full story of the day. We have two super fast lenses (f1.4 & f1.2) and top-class cameras with high sensitivity (iso 6400 plus) so we can practically shoot in the dark! We followed Kristy & Ty out to their get-away vehicle to complete the story.
Kristy jumps into her dad's truck at the end of the night while her groom rode in the back seat.
Kristy & Ty also had us do their engagement photos. During all our portrait sittings we start in the studio to get more traditional images. But we also like to create images that reflect the couple’s personality and their relationship – and that can’t always be done well in the studio. With Kristy & Ty we headed to Virginia High School to make photos at the ball diamond, where Ty is the head softball coach and Kristy is assistant coach. (Kristy also coaches volleyball). We also took some photos at Rexroat Prairie, a beautiful nature reserve on the south end of town.
Engagement photos: Kristy gets first choice on the softball diamond in Virginia.Kristy & Ty at Rexroat Prairie in Virginia, Illinois.
Wedding details: Ceremony at First Christian Church in South Jacksonville; hair and nails at On The Clip Side in Jacksonville; Brad Wessel caterer; Joe Kindred DJ; Ty’s ring from Infinity Tungsten; Kristy’s ring from Helzberg Diamonds, Springfield; wedding dress from David’s Bridal; reception at Fairway Hills Golf Course in Virginia; flowers from Nancy Bork, Jacksonville.
This month’s Springfield Local Favorites meeting was our last planning meeting before our 3rd Annual Bridal Bash. The event will be held Sunday September 26th at The Rail Golf Course in Springfield. Don’t forget to register for the show, which automatically enters brides for door prizes and the top prize of an 8-day, 7-night honeymoon package courtesy of Savvi Formalwear.
Besides adding our information to the goodie bags for the first 100 brides at the show, we met up with new member Tom Anderson of An Event Design — florist, event planning and coordinating. We’ve done several weddings with them in Jacksonville, and we’ve received many queries about them — especially on how they decorated MacMurray College’s dining hall for a wedding last summer. Find him on Facebook or call 217.414.7371 or 7123.
Nita Crews of Gifts by Nita — bridesmaid gifts, make-up expert, personal shopper and custom bridal registry. Register with her, and out-of-town or super-busy family can select a gift for her to purchases, wrap and deliver. All they have to do is show up and have fun.
Posted by Steve. Warmowski Photography, recognized as one of the top wedding photographers in Springfield, Illinois 62703 by the members of Springfield Local Favorites.
Tiffany’s friend and fellow Rotary Club member Brian Ganz has started a service where he will mix an interview with images and create a video on DVD. An idea for a video to display at your reception, or other family uses.
Check him out at Living Legacy in Arenzville. 217.248.5397.
How many times have you said, “We need to have these stories documented.” The reality is, no one ever finds the time to actually get it done.
If you’re planning a wedding in Quincy, be sure to pick up a copy of the bridal planner published by the Quincy Herald-Whig. You can also check out their on-line Quincy Bride’s Guide, and their directory of Quincy area wedding vendors.
Mark your calendars for these two bridal expos planned for 2011 — Y101 Bridal Expo with be 29 January 2011 at The Ambiance & the KHQA Bridal Extravaganza at the Oakley Lindsay Center 26 February 2011.
Catching up with getting some of our information on our blog, wanted to get details of Jessica (Drebes) & Justin Jones on their wedding last year in Quincy. Jessica recently wrote an endorsement for us while we were working with someone who contacted us:
Steve and Tiffany were the only photographers we met when planning our wedding. We instantly knew they would fit in with our guests, and be fun to have around during our wedding day. We got so much more than we expected, and feel like we got the perfect mix of the traditional pictures that everyone else has, but even better – they were able to tell the story of our day perfectly so we would remember all the big and little moments from the day.
If you are ever asked for a referral, feel free to have brides give me a call. I would love to help you out in any way I can!
One of the jokes told during the speeches was Jessica is very organized, so much that she had a 12-page timeline for the weekend with a corresponding spreadsheet featuring a jobs checklist and contact sheet. Everything did progress smoothly.
This shot from the bouquet toss was featured in our gallery show this past spring at the Art Association of Jacksonville’s Strawn Art Gallery. Hilarious one-handed catch, still keeping a pitcher of beer and most of the beer in her cup.
After the bouquet toss Jessica didn’t just settle for the D.J. calling all the men onto the dance floor for the garter toss. She wandered into O’Griff’s Grill and Brewhouse next door to get any of her guests who went over there to party.
Jessica has warned us that one of her relatives always dances on a table at family events. Here she is reluctantly getting atop the table, praying that it can hold three people!
Last observation is Jessica was quite happy that we stayed at her wedding late into the night. We were able to catch her on the dance floor celebrating her birthday, and people blowing bubbles at them as they left the reception hall at the end of the night. Jessica & Justin selected our full-day package, which also included a high-resolution disc with all the images from their wedding.
Notes from Jessica: We had good experiences with both Stafford Jewelers and Bridal and Formal Inc.. Kim Winter was awesome to work with on the reception and rehearsal details. She took care of everything for us – including food, music, some decorations, alcohol, etc. We also loved our cake. I am pretty sure there isn’t much we didn’t like about our wedding day. The florist was perfect – she helped me whittle down my “vision” and I was floored when I saw how pretty our simple rose bouquets were. It was also a good idea to get a video – we couldn’t remember much of the words that were said during the ceremony, and the video helped.
Nicole (Peak) & Chris Dorsey planned on hitting the Irish Toad before their reception, but a little flexibility and a lot of rain let them have fun at Nichols Park instead.
Nicole wanted to have just the essential portraits taken before & after the ceremony at Our Saviour Catholic Church, and wanted to have fun portraits taken at the park. We arrived with looming storm clouds. After a couple photos, it started drizzling and Nicole made a beeline for shelter. The the downpour commenced! The couple and their wedding party spent the next half hour on the pavilion porch, posing for portraits, hanging out with friends, and having a great time. They never made it to The Toad, but with a little flexibility they still enjoyed the day.
A grand prize of an 8-day, 7-night honeymoon vacation package, as well as certificates from vendors, will be given away. The show also offers food, fun and education.
Warmowski Photography is a member of Springfield Local Favorites, a group of the top wedding vendors in the Springfield area. We get together once a month to network, and at the August meeting at Northfield Inn & Suites Tiffany & I met some cool people:
Jonathan Michael Roth, of Music Source, professional disc jockey service.
Don’t forget the 3rd Annual Bridal Bash will be Sunday 26 September ay The Rail Golf Course. We’ve been added to the list of vendors. More information to follow.
