St. Louis Winter Wedding – Amanda & Kayla

Dec 14, 2020

Amanda & Kayla’s St. Louis Winter Wedding – 12/14/19

While most couples dream of a warm, sunny day for their wedding, Amanda and Kayla wanted snow. What they got was 30º temps, clouds, and a lot of wind. St. Louis weather aside, they had an absolutely gorgeous winter wedding, albeit, with a few minor hiccups (such as the fire department having to show up). Those snafus certainly made it a memorable day, and Amanda and Kayla made it down the aisle to each other to say their vows and celebrate their St. Louis winter wedding together!

Getting Ready & First Look

Amanda and Kayla both got ready in separate rooms at their ceremony site, The Lodge at Grant’s Trail. Nervous, yet excited, they both got dressed (complete with matching Vans shoes) and headed to the Carondelet Park Boathouse for their first look. I’m not going to lie–it was cold. Amanda and Kayla had a sweet, tearful first look and then stayed cuddled together for warmth (and because they love each other and they’re cute like that). Their wedding party then joined us for photos, and luckily I packed extra hand warmers for everyone! We finished up with some more photos of the happy couple and headed back to the venue to thaw and warm back up before the ceremony!

The Lodge at Grant’s Trail Wedding Ceremony

We arrived at The Lodge at Grant’s Trail for the ceremony, and about 10 minutes before the ceremony was to start, the fire alarms started going off. So, along came the fire department. No fire, so they turned the alarms off. Then the alarms started again. Off. On. For about half an hour. Luckily, they got them off for good, and these two excited/stressed/nervous/just-want-to-get-married brides got to walk down the aisle and begin their wedding ceremony in front of a gorgeous, giant Christmas tree. The ceremony was officiated by a friend, and it was absolutely beautiful! Amanda and Kayla shared their first kiss and breathed a sigh of relief. They were married!

Party Time at Orlando’s – The Reception

This crew was ready to party, especially after the stressful start to the ceremony! With family photos complete, the newlyweds headed across the street to their reception venue, Orlando’s, to partake in their cocktail hour and mingle with their guests. Once seated for dinner, Amanda, Kayla, and their wedding party were introduced into the venue to have a seat at their head table to toasts and tasty food.

Before they could cut the cake, Amanda and Kayla wanted to do something that would be a different take on the “Dollar Dance.” At the suggestion of their DJ, Chris of CJ’s DJS, they gave their guests the chance to decide who got cake smashed into their face. Amanda’s Man of Honor and Kayla’s Best Woman walked around with jars to collect money from guests who wanted to see someone get cake in their face, and the loser got caked! Luckily for both of them, Amanda won! So, after cutting their magnificent rainbow cake, Amanda went to town (and I think Kayla enjoyed it).

The night finished with the couple’s first dance, Amanda sharing a dance with her father, and everyone else joining the dance floor to party the night away! And by the way…it snowed the very next day!