Harper and Sean’s wedding day in Columbia, MO was pure bliss. Every minute of their wedding day felt joyful, and the way these two looked at each other made my job easy! Harper and Sean prepared for the day at the historic Tiger Hotel in downtown Columbia. After a quick first look at the hotel, we headed to Stephen’s Lake Park for a few more portraits. An outdoor ceremony in the sunshine near the Riechmann Pavilion followed. Guests cheered when Harper and Sean were pronounced married!
After the ceremony, everyone made their way to the Atrium on Tenth for an indoor wedding reception. This was our first time photographing an event at this awesome downtown Columbia venue. We were blown away by how gorgeous it was! Exposed brick and modern lighting gave the space an urban upscale vibe.
Scroll down to see all of our favorite wedding photos from Harper and Sean’s big day, with more details and vendor credits below!
More about this downtown Columbia, MO wedding:
Although we are based here in Columbia, MO, the majority of our weddings are either in Kansas City or St. Louis. It’s hard to describe how awesome it is to photograph a wedding that is not only five minutes from our house, but also in a town we love! Getting to photograph a bride and groom in the deep blue twilight on Tenth Street just felt like a dream.
Wedding days are known for being a bit chaotic, but Harper and Sean created one of the most low-stress wedding days I’ve ever been a part of! Keeping all locations within a 1 1/2 mile radius certainly helped, but also doing things like the first look at the Tiger Hotel and then riding together to Stephen’s Lake for a few more portraits made this part of the day easy!
Hosting their ceremony at the Riechmann Pavilion at Stephens Lake Park also meant that Harper and Sean could plan for an outdoor ceremony, but have a fantastic backup plan in case it rained. These two lucked out with a gorgeous October day for their ceremony. Allen’s Flowers created a colorful wildflower wedding arbor and a beautiful bouquet for Harper that I couldn’t stop photographing! One of my favorite things about this ceremony was the intricate origami bug decor that a friend of Harper’s made. Harper is an entomologist, and so it was fitting that she would be surrounded by beautiful insects on the wedding day! Seriously, what a cool and personalized gift!
The Atrium on Tenth Wedding Reception
After the ceremony at Stephens Lake, guests made their way to the Atrium on Tenth for cocktails and dinner. While I have spent lots of time at the Atrium for various other events, this was my first time photographing a wedding reception in this modern space! Harper created so many colorful DIY decorations for this space! There were colorful pom pom garlands strung up around the ceiling, and a massive draped line of colorful fabric pennants on the brick wall. During the Covid lockdown of 2020, Harper and Sean had kept themselves busy by folding 1,000 paper cranes. They were strung up and made an amazing curtain of color near the entrance to the Atrium.
After a delicious dinner catered by Bleu Events, guests mingled and danced the night away on the dance floor. Harper and Sean created the coolest little QR code notes at each table, where guests could add new songs to the dance playlist!
Congrats to Harper and Sean on a perfect wedding day, and huge thanks for including us in it!
Vendor Love:
Getting ready location – The Tiger Hotel
Ceremony venue – Riechmann Pavilion at Stephens Lake Park
Reception venue – The Atrium on Tenth
Wedding coodinator – Shanda Carpenter
Wedding engagement rings and bands – Buchroeders
Bride’s dress – Hayley Paige / BHLDN
Bride’s shoes – BHLDN
Groom’s suit – Bingham’s
Flowers – Allen’s Flowers
Catering – Bleu Events
Cake – Wishflour