Lainey and Billy

This weekend Ashley and I photographed Lainey and Billy's Des Moines wedding. Lainey and I actually graduated high school together and Lainey and Ashley grew up in the same tiny town. So we have known Lainey for quite some time. When Lainey contacted us about photographing her wedding we were excited and nervous. Sometimes shooting a wedding for someone you know can be more stressful than for someone you don't know very well. Luckily for Ashley and I we always feel like the people we photograph are our best friends so always have butterflies before a wedding shoot. If we didn't get butterflies, we shouldn't be doing this.


Lainey and Billy were married downtown at St. Ambrose with reception following at ZART1312. The weather was cold, we didn't get lucky enough to experience 60 degree temps, but we still made the best of it and got outside for some photos. We were looking for a warm spot to take photos and ended up stopping by Hoyt Sherman Place and hoping we would be able to take just a few shots inside somewhere warm. The mansion was open, but not many people around. We located the nicest lady and she allowed us to shoot some shots. She also made sure we did not damage anything. Not that we were trying. But she was very attentive. Even with me running smoke screen so we could hurry up and get done and get some great shots.


After leaving Hoyt Sherman we headed to the High Life Lounge where the wedding party could unwind a bit. We followed that up a stop at the Capital and an alley near ZART1312. The reception was amazing. Aaron from Parm's Porta Party was the DJ, we have an entire blog post coming up on why you should hire Aaron, and he kept the party going. The evening included a smashed chair. The photos below kind of explain how that came about.


We had a great time working with Lainey, Billy, both of their families, and all of their friends. We also got to catch up with some old friends and it all made for a great day and even better evening. Watch for our blog posts on the photo station to follow. Congratulations to Lainey and Billy!