Erin’s Pavilion
We headed out on a Friday afternoon to a pretty, new wedding spot for us – Erin’s Pavilion at Southwinds Park in our capital city of Springfield. The event, rehearsal before wedding day for Cole and Liz. Wow, what an impressive place! The pavilion’s a very new addition in Springfield’s park district, opening in 2010. The facility, named after Erin Elzea, who passed away at 17 due to an enzyme deficiency. Her father Butch helped by donating money and creativity in erecting the pavilion as an ongoing memorial for his daughter.
Before I talk more about the wedding, I have to babble more about the awesome venue Liz and Cole chose!
Open and Inviting
Friday night visit to Erin’s Pavilion was our first. It’s bright, airy and perfect for events. The design of the building and surroundings blend with special features making it both environmentally friendly and beautiful. Water glistens and native flowers grow along with many shrubs. Pathways meander the area along with a few special attractions for children near the pavilion created a whole new attraction. And a few insects buzz around, of course! Liz and Cole planned and received an outdoor wedding with an indoor reception. But bad weather would not have made a difference as the ceremony could easily move indoors and still feel outdoorsy.
The reception hall features huge, gorgeous windows overlooking the lake. Thus creating a perfect backdrop for sunsets (something we definitely used to our advantage!) Also, many rooms line the building providing small and large spaces of different gatherings. This isn’t just a place for weddings but for many other events, too.
Liz and Cole
We’ve worked with Cole’s family for many years — starting with a phone call about taking some photos of him and his sisters, Shanae and Hannah. They wanted a surprise Christmas present for their parents. Since those beginnings, Cole has gone on to being instrumental in his father’s business. He became a candidate and then a member of the Dewitt County Board of Supervisors. He’s now also serving on the Board of Education.
His sisters Shanae and Hannah merged their talents in horse-riding and became a nationally-known duo of trick-riders in the rodeo world. We captured images of them early on, riding like the wind. If you want to see some really cool things about this duo, check out their website.
So, of course, we were thrilled when we got the call from Cole to capture his wedding with this awesome young lady he had met in the midst of everything. Her name is Liz. And a awesome addition to the family we already knew. She fits in perfectly.
Rocky
I must mention their son, who played a role in their wedding day. Rocky. We’ve been lucky to get to know him since before he was even born — and working with Liz and Cole on photos of his first year. Complete ham, of course. He had a crazy day, going from arms to arms to arms. You can see some of the photos of the lucky parents and Rocky soon after birth
here.
Wedding Day Images
Liz and Cole, their families and their guests were a pleasure to work with on this day. You could see everyone thoroughly celebrating their wedding. So, let’s talk about their beautiful day!
It starts off with Liz and her gals at the Comfort Inn and Suites getting ready for the wedding. We found one of Clinton’s hair specialist’s Stephanie Beck Blass of Shear Paradise working on their hair. And she was joined by Shaenae and Hannah — to my surprise! From trick riding to makeup and hair stylists. Wow.
Actually, words won’t do the day justice. How about a few photos instead?
Wedding rings for our bride and groom.
Liz laughs during her hair and make-up session before plunging into the craziness of a wedding day. Helping her out on her hair is her bridesmaid Shanae.
Bridesmaid laughs after getting her basket of gifts from Liz.
A beautiful bride, Liz poses inside Erin’s Pavilion.
The groom and his men share a moment and with they could light up all those wonderful cigars from Cole.
The wind catches a flower-girls flowers as she spreads a few petals.
A grinning Cole waits for Liz’s father to hand his daughter off to him at the start of the ceremony.
Blue skies, warm temperature, and some crazy winds marked the beautiful wedding day.
Cole receives his ring from Liz.
When you get Grandma together with her son and grandson — I think she’s kind of proud of her two boys!
Well, groomsmen are supposed to work and work hard on the wedding day. He is packing off some sandbags used to hold down the trellis in the high winds.
Rocky makes his appearance for wedding day!
Liz and Cole’s son Rocky gets to check out all the wedding guests as he is introduced at the reception.
First dance for Liz and Cole as a married couple on the dance floor at Erin’s Pavilion.
A special dance!
I think Char is enjoying her dance with her son!
The teddy bear toss was a perfect hit for the little children attending the reception.
Cole gets a bit of encouragement from his groomsmen before heading into garter territory with his new wife.
Showing off the garter belt.
Lordy, they know how to dance!
Rings from wedding day.
Guests enjoying themselves during the reception.
Rocky gets a few kisses from his parents.
What’s a reception without a selfie for some of the groomsmen.
Moments alone on a wedding day are special, we were able to get Cole and Liz alone to share a moment together.
Okay, I was pretty much done for the day but . . . well . . . the sky was too perfect to just go home. So we recruited Shanae and Hannah, knowing a narrow wall near water wasn’t a deterrent .. along with a somewhat tipsy groomsman for a last minute photo.
We had a great day with Liz and Cole! We ended it off with a walk in Erin Pavilion’s pretty park in Springfield.
Related
Beautiful, Breath taking Photography and Couple. We are so Proud and Thankful here at Erin’s Pavilion to host the wedding and reception of Cole and Liz. Congratulations!
[…] a few people ask about the lead photo at sunset of them with the birds at Erin’s Pavilion (here). Not the technical details behind it, but the why of it and what we actually call it. We call […]
Great work. Photographs are really awesome!