One year birthday club session

It’s hard to decide which sessions are our favorites during the birthday club. One year birthday club sessions are very exciting. But do we like them more than the newborn session? What about the 2 other sessions in between? There is also the other 13 sessions after one year! The one year birthday club session is definitely up there with our favorite sessions. The kids definitely start to show lots of personality. The session began with some family photos. We knew that we were going to do a smash cake at the end so we wanted to be sure to get all the other photos done first. The family photos went very smoothly, giving them lots to pick from when making selections. We were hoping to get some photos of the brothers but big brother was on the move. He is very fast and since little brother hasn’t quite caught up yet we only got a few of those. No big deal since this session was the one year birthday session and that was the focus anyway. Our big one year old smiled and laughed during all his photos. He even bounced right back after a tumble in the weeds. It was like it didn’t even happen! He is so easy going just like mom and dad. We moved around the park a bit getting different scenery options. He isn’t walking just yet, maybe a step or two. This actually helped because he was fully entertained by use being silly after we gave him a spot to sit or stand. The last thing was the smash cake, or cupcakes. He was definitely more interested in the cake tray than the cupcakes. Big brother wanted to join in this one year birthday club session so we were able to capture a few of them sharing cupcakes – super cute! Even though we didn’t have a smash we still captured this one year session. The kids grow so fast so having these photos will be a great memory. See you in 6 months!     #ravettaphotography #birthdayclub #stlphotographer #portraitphotographer #oneyearsession #oneyearsmashcake #smashcakephotos #happybirthday #outdoorsession
Rachel Ravetta   0     birthday club , Children photography , family photography , Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer

Summer wedding summer sweethearts

Elizabeth visited our office with Nick and her mom to talk about the summer wedding. They were great to talk with and we looked forward to photographing the wedding of these summer sweethearts. The couple made the decision to have just one photographer at the wedding. This is not as common because lots of couple feel a bit awkward doing those silly or romantic photos. The second photographer is there to capture all the in-between-moments during the day. All those times couple are acting silly with their friends or romantically look into each other’s eyes. Once we arrived we saw why they knew only one photographer could capture all they needed. From start to finish they we just having the time of their lives, enjoying every moment of this summer wedding! They got silly, romantic and everything in between. We started photography at the church. Everyone was perfectly on time giving us plenty of opportunity to get family photos prior to the ceremony. This opened up more time after the wedding to spend at the park. Most couples seem a bit nervous prior to the ceremony but these two were very calm. If they were nervous you would have never known! A very traditional ceremony surrounded by friends and family was perfect for this summer wedding. We were able to quickly do the family photos in the church. Couples usually don’t have a watch, it seems like these photos go on forever. However, we were done with everything in less than 30 minutes. It was great timing and relieving a bit of stress of getting to the reception on time. There was plenty of time left to have some fun in the park. These summer sweethearts were so lucky with the weather on this summer wedding in July. It was not too hot with a nice breeze. They really took every advantage of spending some extra time at the park to create photo memories. The wedding concluded with the reception at an event space where they met! How perfect, they even had a sign saying “we met here”. All the small touches in the room really added to the overall feeling of love. The room has comics they had sent each other, a crossword puzzle where the answers were all about them and a puzzle made from engagement photos. These touches showed how perfect this couple was for each other. We are honored we were able to be a part of this day and hope to work with them again in the future. #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #summerwedding #forestpark #stlouiswedding #weddingphotographer #weddingphotos #summerweddingphotos #happycouple
Rachel Ravetta   0     Ravetta Photography , St. Louis Photographer , stlouisphotographer , wedding photography

Summer sessions in the park

We have such a fun time during our summer sessions in the park. We know that it is hot and the kids are going to be a mess quickly. Therefore, we pick shade spots and work as fast as possible. Using just  few locations with multiple poses allows the kids to play. Of course, if the kids want to move a bit more we are able to do that. Moving around is a luxury of the outdoor sessions. Indoors we are limited to where the lights are, but outside we can just move to a new location. The boys wanted to climb on the rocks in Tower Grove, all boys like to climb on the rocks. However, it was a very hot summer session in the park and the rocks are in the sun. We made a deal to take photos in the shade first before we did our climbing. The locations we picked gave us the chance to play peek-a-boo and slide down a tree. These areas kept the boys busy until we were ready to get out into the sun. A bit of climbing and then some races together really enhanced their personalities. We know our birthday club members grow fast when we only get to see them once a year. But these fun images help us get to know them even better. Some kids are ready to play with us while others want to just do their own thing. Either way we are able to capture them enjoying the sun during this summer sessions in the park. Since this family is part of our birthday club they know we are able to get those perfect images in only a short time. When working with kids time can be limited, the heat doesn’t help either. We worked quickly and were able to capture exactly what we needed. Looking forward to seeing you again next year boys!         #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #summerphotography #siblingphotography #locationphotos #towergrovepark #hotouthere
Rachel Ravetta   0     birthday club , Children photography , Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer

Free newborn session

Our clients are important to us so we give a free newborn session to our wedding clients. Your session gift can be used within the first 3 months after they start a family. The gift does not expire, we are not rushing anyone. We just want to see them back in our office when they start a family. Sometimes we see couples back quickly and other times it is a few  years before we hear from them. It doesn’t matter and we are happy to meet the new addition every time. This little girl was only a couple weeks old, the perfect time to take newborn photos. We got started with family photos, she loved to be wrapped up and slept the whole time. We were able to capture mom-baby photos, as well as, dad-baby photos. These were in addition to the perfect family photos. They even molded easily into the “strange” poses we use to hold the baby. We want everyone to look relaxed, the best way to do that is to have mom and dad work together to hold the newborn. It always seems that when it seems akward, it is actually a perfect photo. It was now time for mom and dad to relax. We wanted to try a few things with baby girl unwrapped, she wasn’t a fan. Her initials spell out SAS. Mom and dad said she is living up to the sass already. Even still we got a few photos in other wraps and hats that the couple brought with them. We have lots of options in our studio but always welcome those items that are special to your family. We broke out the soccer outfit for a few photos because dad is a big soccer fan.  A small knit soccer ball even looked like she was going to kick it. She may have had a lot to say during the free newborn session but that didn’t stop us from getting great photos. We hope to have her as a new birthday club member! #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #newbornsession #soccerfans #studiosession #growingfamily
Rachel Ravetta   0     Children photography , family photography , Newborn Photographer , Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer

Engagement Session fun

An engagement session is a great way to get to know a couple and for them to get to know us. What makes it more fun is having an engagement session for the whole family. This couple has two children, we encourage including them in a few photos. Of course, the whole session won’t have them but why not take a family photo. Depending on the children’s ages it might be appropriate to bring a helper to take the kids while we finish up the session. This session was at the Botanical Garden, the children were doing so well they just stayed with us the whole time. During some of the photos they even helped mom and dad laugh a bit. Then they laughed when we did some kissing photo – eww kissing! The weather has been up and down lately with a cool day and then a really warm day. We ended up at the garden on one of those warm days. This prompted us to seek shade for the majority of the session. Luckily the Botanical Garden has amazing backgrounds for photos in both the sun and the shade. There is no shortage of places to take photos so we wandered around the garden to all the best spots. The ones that were not occupied by guests of course. While we walked around we talked about all the wedding details, what the family was up to this summer and many other topics. All the chit chat made the session seem like time was flying by. Their wedding day is going to be so much fun. I know they will be relaxed while enjoying the entire experience. Not only did they make the engagement session fun for the whole family I know they are going to have a very memorable wedding day as well. #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #engagementphotos #parkphotos #botanicalgarden #summerphotos
Rachel Ravetta   0     Engagement Photography , Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer , wedding photography

A day surrounded by love!

Jeanna contacted us because she was planning a small wedding event in St. Louis. A day surrounded by love! We are always honored to be a part of these special moments. It is wonderful to hear when people find us for these events. Her fiancé lives in St. Louis and she was coming up to visit him. They planned on getting a marriage license while she was in St. Louis. They knew they wanted to start their lives together unite the full family. Paul has 3 kids that just adore Jeanna. After some consideration of when they would get the marriage license, they decided to get married while she was in town. Putting together a quick ceremony surrounded by close friends was easy to do when you find the right people. She found a small chapel that included all the wedding services, family helped with the planning and we were the icing on the cake. Capturing these moments is very important, we enjoy having the opportunity. When we arrived everyone was there and ready so we were able to get most of the photos before the ceremony. A spring storm was looming! We knew that if we finished at the chapel early we could take photos at a nearby park. We were able to get photos with everyone in attendance. Those are going to be wonderful memories years to come. They spent the day surrounded by love. Love from family, friends, the kids and of course each other. The newly created family went to the park to take photos before the rain. I am glad we were able to do that because now they have tons of photos together on this special day. We know they are not going to live in the St. Louis area but we hope we are able to work with them again in the future. Congrats!   #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #weddingphotography #parkphotos #stlouisweddingchapel
Rachel Ravetta   0     Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer , wedding photography

Kids grow so fast, so join the birthday club!

A wonderful birthday club session that started with smiles and ended with cake. It doesn’t get any better than that! We love capturing the moments because kids grow so fast. Why does it seem that our birthday club members grow so fast? One day we are photographing a newborn session and then BAM we are doing a one -year session. We were very excited to hear from mom when she set up Luella’s photos. We had done her older brother at their house so she wanted to do the same for her. It was very excited to see the decorations that were used for her donut party. Since they had them at the house we were able to use them for the photos. Luella, admittedly so, is not a baby that smiles all the time. She wants to take in her surroundings and then decide if you are worthy of her smiles. We started off photos in her party dress. It was such a cute dress with tons of ruffles that didn’t bother her, however that bow was another story. Luella is not a fan of bows on her head. Luckily mom just rolls with it and when the bow comes off we just keep going with photos. With some help from both mom and dad Luella felt comfortable enough with us being at her house. She started to show us those true smiles. She really liked to stand and dance to Flogging Molly, hey some Irish beats can really get you going. A few photos with our favorite stuffed toys doesn’t hurt either. We ended the session with the smash cake, that is the best way to end since most babies get very messy. Luella of course got messy but that was really because dad smashed her hand in the cake. She ate a bit, but really just wanted to be on the move instead. Big brother helped a bit, but we think that was just so he could steal a donut from the set. Luella didn’t seem to mind! Despite the early warm up time Luella was happy during her session so we were able to get many photos of her. We look forward to the next birthday club session where she will most likely be running. Don’t miss the moments because kids grow fast.   #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #oneyearsession #birthdayclub #locationphotos
Rachel Ravetta   0     birthday club , Children photography , stlouisphotographer

Rekindled Love Book for sale

Not only are we here to capture your family memories we can also create a professional headshot for your accomplishments. Nancy contacted us to update her previous photo from the last time she wrote a book, Rekindled Love. Yep, she wrote a couple of book! We were honored to have the opportunity to photograph the author. The photo is on the back cover of all the books. Nancy also wanted to include a few older photos on the pages. She brought us the original copies and we were able to get them into a digital format. These photos really add another great element to the pages. Even if you didn’t write a book we can help you get those memories into the computer. How exciting it would be to share with the rest of the family. Here is a synopsis of the book. We are excited to read it! A hopeless romantic returns to his country roots; his love has moved on to the big city. Accepting that their relationship would never be restored, he resolves to make a life for himself in the green pastures of Perryville, Missouri. Years pass with a happy marriage, six children, a partner in a family business, and life on the farm until his wife of 62 years passes away. Grieving the loss, he finds solace in a kind letter whose author proves more familiar than he thought. When he realizes his new pen pal is none other than the love of his youth, his heart ignites with the possibility of love restored. But the years and miles between them are stubborn and don’t yield so easily to the renewed desire for a relationship. Will Leon and Ethel find the spark to rekindle the love they once had? This true story combines the best elements of romance, historical fiction, and a human tale of reconciliation. Buy Rekindled Love. It’s never too late to find your happily ever after. If you want to purchase this book here is the link Order on Amazon   #ravettaphotography #professionalphotos #restoration
Rachel Ravetta   0     Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer

Luella and her pumpkins

Are we allowed to have favorites? Of course we love all of our clients and enjoy spending time with them during the session. But after year and years of working with some we find the sessions are more like friends catching up. Rather than clients we work with for just a short time. It all started when we took photos of Alexis because her mom brought her to our studio. We photographed their wedding. Alexis and Dillon started a family and thought that our birthday club would be a perfect fit. We have been working with them regularly for the past few years as the children are growing. We sometimes take too much time talking that it’s more like friends catching up at a picnic together in the park than a family session. This birthday club session was for Luella’s 8 month. Alexis and Dillon decided to theme the photos with some pumpkins. They had all the right colors and sizes to put around Luella in the photos. She was doing such a great job of sitting, not great at standing just yet. Though dad let her try her best before she took a bit of a tumble, he had so much faith she could do it. Dad will always be her greatest supporter! My favorite part of the session was when we took a few photos of big brother pulling his sister in a wagon. For fun mom and dad jumped in pretending to struggle pulling the wagon. Just a fun moment and a cute family photo! Of course, we enjoy taking the regular family photos but throwing in a few fun ones is a nice change to the session. It also helps to keep the attention of the younger kids. After taking too many photos the kids didn’t want to sit still so yet again we took some time to chat. We really should schedule extra time for us to just have a picnic next time!   #ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #birthdayclub #familyphotos #parkphotos
Rachel Ravetta   0     Children photography , family photography , ravettaphotography , stlouisphotographer

Logan and Jarred enjoy time together on their wedding day!

Planning a wedding is about taking a moment to enjoy time together. Logan and her mom came into our office to talk about wedding photography services because they were familiar with our quality. They decided we were a perfect fit to photograph the event! After months of detailed planning the wedding day had finally arrived and everyone was very excited.

The day started at the hotel where Logan was getting ready with her mom and aunt. It’s not often that we have a couple opt to not have a wedding party. However, the calm and relaxed feel in the room was a pleasant surprise. Logan said she enjoyed spending more quality time with her mom on the morning of her wedding. Logan knew that if she had a room full of people getting ready she worry about everything else and not take the time to relax.

Jarred met us at the hotel for a first look prior to heading to the park. They had planned a small ceremony in front of a waterfall with only about 25 people in attendance. As Jarred waited for Logan to come out he talked about how the day was going just as he expected. He was happy to have the small moments together with Logan prior to the large party later that night. The first look was no exception, when he saw her for the first time he lit up and smiled from ear to ear. She couldn’t stop smiling either and the photos in those first moments really told the story of the rest of the day.

Luckily both Logan and Jarred enjoy taking photos because we took a ton! After the normal family photos in the park we headed out with them to a few other locations. They traveled in a Rolls Royce, super classy and traditional – just like Logan and Jarred!

The day was spent for them to enjoy time together. Hundreds of amazing photos later we arrived at the reception ready to party. The couple took a few moments to themselves while we photographed the decorations. The details in the room showed the time and effort that was put into everything during the planning process.  The couple enjoyed having everyone attend the reception because they were able to take time to visit with those close to them. A dress change by Logan completed the evening and surprised everyone!

Time after time they mentioned to us that they were so happy with our wedding knowledge. Not only in photography, but also in organization, timing and also making sure to capture each special moment. We were happy to work with them and hope to have the opportunity again in the future.

#ravettaphotography #stlphotographer #fallwedding #weddingphotos

Rachel Ravetta   0     Ravetta Photography , stlouisphotographer , wedding photography