A beautiful country wedding for Will and Kim.

When Kim told me we would be driving up north to Will’s little family church for their wedding, I had no idea how meaningful, cute, quaint, and awesome this experience would be.  Let me start at the beginning.  We met at the Elms in Excelsior Springs early Saturday morning, and loaded up the cars for the 2 hour trek north.  It was a dreary day, and a bit chilly, but given the weather this spring we were lucky it wasn’t snowing.  As we got closer to Gentry, and further from civilization I realized we had better stop and get gas,  while checking out I was worried something was wrong with my card, but the cashier quickly explained that it’s just dial up and pretty slow.  Wow, that puts middle of nowhere on another level.  As Jon and I pulled up to the church I could feel the excitement building in my chest.  I love old buildings, and this is one old building.   It reminded me of the one room school houses you can still find on occasion scattered across the midwest.  It all felt very Little House on the Prairie.

Will’s ancestors the Gladstone’s migrated from Scotland to Canada to Gentry, Missouri where the settled and built this church in 1878.

Over the years the physical appearance of the building hasn’t changed much.  The front door has moved, the old wooden porch is now concrete, kerosene lamps have become electricity, and the wood burning stove gave way to oil and now LP gas.  Of course some things haven’t changed.  The limestone rock for the foundation was quarried near Denver and hauled to the site, and the lumber was hauled from Maryville by team and wagon, both are still the same.  There is also a spire with a wooden ball on top, that supposedly Walter Gladstone stood on top of when the church was being built.  I checked out that ball and it was pretty small, but the family swears the story is true.

The whole thing felt vintage, meaningful, and full of family tradition.

As I sat in the original wooden pews I thought about all the people that had come and gone, all the weddings, and funerals, and baptisms.  All that had changed, and all that was so much the same, like the people, the love, the relationships, isn’t that what really matters.  I think Kim understood that when she decided to have her wedding in this little historic church.

Kim’s dress was probably one of my all time favorites.  It fit the day perfectly!  Kim you are so precious!

Love these girls!

I die!  Kim you are stunning!

Kim with her dad and all her closest family and friends.  I felt like the luckiest photographer in the world getting to capture this moment.

So happy!  They had just shared their first kiss.

Oh you two are so adorable, just stop it!

We gathered the whole group on the steps of the church for a group shot.  I imagine there’s a wedding picture somewhere in history that looks just like this, ok the clothes might look a little different.

After the wedding we headed back to The Elms for the reception.  The Elms has recently renovated their room and it looks outstanding!  I was so impressed with the look and the food!

Outside the ladies in white decided to have some fun with the lawn games.

Kelly Acock took care of the flowers.  I just love her work!  She took the vintage feel to the next level!  Way to go Kelly!  AMAZING!

Adorableness!

Kim’s little nieces.  So cute!

Kim and Will I loved being your wedding photographer.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you two.

xoxo