Mary and Greg – Columbus, Ohio wedding

Last Saturday, Tracie and I had the pleasure of photographing Mary and Greg’s wedding at St. John Church downtown, with a reception following at The Athletic Club. We had a nice, crisp fall day and avoided the rain which has seemed to plague every weekend in October. Plus, the Buckeyes won, so it was all good! Mary and Greg and their family and friends were so fun and laid back, it ended up being a very relaxed day. Mary and Greg came to me through Erika and Jeremy, who were married one year ago tomorrow! Greg and Jeremy traded best-man duties and I loved being able to see them again and catch up.

There are lots of images to see, so let’s get started!!

Mary and Greg decided to see each other before the ceremony, and here is Mary preparing to go in and surprise Greg.

The flower girl, Margaret, was absolutely adorable, and so funny with mom standing off to the side trying to entice her to smile by getting her to blow a paper bag off mom’s head! Blow, smile, laugh. Rinse and repeat.

Greg’s dad, seating his parents.

A deep breath before heading back in to dismiss the guests.

Had to do some portraits in the room at The Athletic Club before the guests came in. I love the antique feel of The Athletic Club. It really provides some great opportunities for dramatic images.

I have to say that this is one of my favorites of Mary and Greg together. Just love it.

First dance.

I shot this through the bridesmaids/groomsmen who ringed the dance floor around Mary and Greg.

At the rehearsal, Jeremy told me to be on the lookout for reactions to the very first word of his best-man speech and boy was it a doozy! I’m sure everyone could hear me laughing; it was truly the funniest start to a speech I’ve ever heard. The next few images show various reactions to this “word”, which I will not repeat here. HA!

Greg’s mom’s reaction to the “word”. Image by Tracie.

One thing I love to do is go around capturing the guests having fun and being themselves. I love the sardonic expression on this guy’s face. To me, it makes the image.

A couple examples of the antique feel of The Athletic Club.

How low can you go?

If you guessed “Saturday Night Fever”, you’d be right.

How do I love this shot? Let me count the ways.

If you look at this shot from left to right, you can see Mary and part of Greg as they come up the steps, but as you get to the right of the frame you can see me shooting it and one of the guests walking behind me. It sort of looks like I have four hands in one of the mirrored panels, but those hands belong to that guest.

Cool reflection of the chandelier in the shiny surface of the baby grand piano.

My bride Erika on the right.

Isn’t he adorable? I won’t tell you what he was doing about 10 seconds prior to this shot, but let’s just say that it involves a finger and his nose.

Congratulations, Mary and Greg! Have a great honeymoon!!

lusterstudios - April 20, 2010 - 5:26 am

Karen! The mirrored panel shots are AMAZING! Great creativity and awesome work.

Columbus Bride Magazine photography - February 6, 2011 - 11:30 am

[…] Mary and Greg The Athletic Club of Columbus […]

Happy Anniversary, Kate and Creig!

I’m a tiny bit tardy, but want to send big Happy Anniversary wishes to Kate and Creig, who were married one year ago Sunday at Sacred Heart church in Italian Village, with their reception at The Renaissance. It was a lovely day and a lovely party, and here are a few images to commemorate their anniversary:


Josh and Mary

I got to do something yesterday that I’ve not had the opportunity to do before and it was just so wonderful. I received an inquiry from Josh last week about shooting his proposal to his girlfriend, Mary. It was to be a complete surprise to her, and luckily it worked out just right. Josh and Mary went to an early dinner at Due Amici, so I snuck in and captured a few shots of them while hiding behind the bar and some of the servers. It was tricky, but it worked! Then I ran over to the Kelton House to hide in the bushes to await their arrival. Josh had set up a garden trellis complete with flowers and lights, and when I heard them come into the park my heart started racing!! I was so excited for what was about to happen, and of course that excitement was mixed with a little nervousness as I hoped I wouldn’t be spotted there in the foliage! I don’t think Mary even noticed the sound of my shutter in her total surprise at Josh getting down on one knee and presenting her with a ring box. It was just so adorable! We then spent a few minutes around the grounds taking a few images for them.

What makes this extra special is that Josh is deploying to Afghanistan tomorrow. I wish him all the best and that he returns safe and sound to Mary and the start of their new life together.

So here are a few shots of our time together. Congratulations, Josh and Mary!

Jen - October 14, 2009 - 12:14 pm

That is the sweetest story and your pictures captured the moment perfectly.

Sergio - December 1, 2009 - 7:43 pm

Beautiful shoot. These are my favorite proposal images! I truly felt them. Great job Karen.

the management - December 2, 2009 - 2:42 am

awwwww sooo very sweet! great job capturing it… these images are going to be so special to them!

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