Ashley + Donald – Married!

An hour before the ceremony was slated to begin, poor Donald had his wedding ring stuck on his finger.

It was my fault, really.  We took portraits before the ceremony, and I’d asked Ashley and Donald to put the rings on a little early so we could be sure to get the ring shot.  All went according to plan until Donald tried to slip the ring back off.  It was thoroughly stuck.  Apparently Donald recently had surgery on his knuckles, which made them more sensitive to swelling, and his ring finger was highly resistant.  After some serious prodding (and a little bit of panic), Donald finally yanked the ring off, and proceeded to ice his poor swollen finger.  Ugh – photographer fail.  Donald was so nice to assure me it wasn’t a big deal and that everything would be fine (I still felt terrible.)  I had some concern that he’d even be able to get the ring back on his finger during the ceremony, but fortunately Ashley knew to put a little extra muscle into the ring exchange.  Donald’s knuckle made a pretty loud popping sound, but she got that ring on there – and I’m willing to bet she never has to worry about it coming off :)

I flew back to St. Louis for Ashley and Donald’s wedding at the Jewel Box last Saturday, and was thrilled to be shooting in the beautiful fall leaves of Forest Park.  Missouri is gorgeous in the fall.  These two are a fantastic couple and some amazingly kind people.  Many thanks to Ashley and Donald and their families for allowing me to be a part of their wedding, and for being so cool about the whole ring debacle :)  Congrats guys!