Alan Jacobson is a man I want to be when I grow up. He’s been living the curious and gratifying existence of a photographer for many moons.

Jacobson believes what I believe: you do a job once and you do it right. You approach business as an opportunity to serve others. Your professional improvement is a never ending obligation not because it sounds good as a marketing slogan but because a good night’s rest depends on it.

Jacobson also happened to write the single best article I’ve ever read offering a bride and groom advice on how to search for their wedding photographer. Check it out!

This blog is now a Do-Follow comment blog with CommentLuv. The vast majority of our clients reading this will not understand a word of the previous sentence nor do they need to. Those who do, be advised: We aggressively filter for spam and require all comments be moderated before being published. YOU MUST ADD TO THE DISCUSSION IN A SUBSTANTIVE WAY. Comments such as “Nice work” or “great pictures” from people I don’t know will never see the light of day. Put a little bit of sincere thought into your comments and we both will enjoy the benefits. Publication of comments are the sole discretion of the administrator… that’s me.

Thank You,
Chris Cummins
chief photographer - Glow Imagery

Last year we wrote a popular post about Glow Imagery’s 10 favorite engagement shoot locations in Kansas City. We have long felt such a post about our favorite places could be enjoyed even more through an interactive map.

Click on the pins and markers to see a description of the location with a sample of our pictures from the various locations. You can download, print or email to your friends! You can also view a larger version of this map inside Googe Maps.

View Glow Imagery’s 10 awesome engagement picture locations in Kansas City, MO in a larger map

Here’s an excerpt from a recent review one of our brides shared about us on Kudzu:

“I look at my wedding album today, and I can’t believe that every moment could possibly be captured in still, but its all there. I felt like a princess that day, and all my great memories are preserved forever thanks to Glow Imagery.” Read the rest of the review.

With so many choices, where in the world should you have your Kansas City wedding? We have some experience with many, many churches in the area. There are many good ones - more than five we can tell you about. But for brevity’s sake we picked five. These were chosen based on a variety of criteria including but not limited to beauty of sanctuary and church grounds, amenities for the bridal party and the overall quality of experience there. Last but not least was the church’s lack of fussiness towards photographers. That’s a big deal in our book.

• Asbury United Methodist Church 75th & Nall in Prairie Village, KS 913-432-5573 We’re suckers for wedding ceremony sites with great light. Boy, does Asbury have it! It’s not as close to downtown reception venues as other churches but the distance is manageable. The upstairs dressing areas are spacious with magnificent circular windows that provide plenty of light to help with make-up. The windows provide some fun portrait possibilities for your photographer, too.

• Broadway United Methodist Church 406 W. 74th St. Kansas City, MO 64114 816-363-4084 When we shot our first wedding at Broadway we were amazed at the enormous sanctuary. From the exterior it just doesn’t seem possible this church could have such an expansive sanctuary. Not only is it huge but it is beautiful with a wonderful bright white interior that makes it seem even larger than it is. The church coordinator was a delight to work with and sought to make everyone’s experience - including the photographer’s experience - worthwhile.

• Redemptorist Parish 3333 Broadway St., Kansas City, MO 64111 816-561-3771 We do a great many Catholic weddings every year (hmmm…. future blog post about our favorite Catholic churches? Stay tuned.) Redemptorist is the show stopper. This space brings a ton of Kansas City history to your event. It is centrally located in Midtown Kansas City, making this site convenient to the downtown reception venues that are so popular. The church features ample room for the bride and her retinue to get ready in the next door church offices. We’re not sure the grooms and groomsmen have the same niceties. The church administration are good to work with and have common sense and reasonable restrictions for photographers during the ceremony.

• St. John’s United Methodist Church 6900 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64113 816-523-6788 This place is pretty much a closely related sister to Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village. Good light, spacious amenities and a great location that is an easy ride to the Country Club Plaza and downtown Kansas City. There’s a garden area just to the north of the church ripe with picture potential. The church is surrounded by plenty of colorful foliage during Spring, Summer and Fall.

  Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish 4503 Frederick Blvd. St Joseph, MO 64506 816-232-2847 O.K., so it’s not in Kansas City. So what? Great stained glass, lots of space and a wonderful, wood-carved altar are big positives at this church. With those wide hallways, the post-wedding exit won’t make your guests feel like sardines. We like churches with gardens, too. Our Lady of Guadalupe has ‘em.

Personal recommendations? Pictures you love at the right price? They are all relevant factors. Here’s what I would look for:

1. Experience: An enormous amount of photographers and studios out there have only been shooting “professionally” for less than five years. There’s been an incredible saturation of the wedding photographer market of people who bought a decent camera at Best Buy with no other experience and are now “professional photographers.”

Photographers with many weddings under their belt as well as shooters with experience in daily newspapers or magazines are wonderful choices for wedding photographers.

2. Integrity: Check their references and make sure they live up to their promises. Make sure they deliver their product and service on time. Is their second photographer truly qualified? The husband and wife photographer “team” you are considering is often nothing more than one photographer plus another person who is little more than a camera holder with virtually no qualifications.

Too many photographers get in over their head and start hosing clients due to a lack of integrity or a lack of experience or a lack of both.

3. Likeability: The right photographer for your wedding will make great pictures AND do so in a way that makes your wedding day even better. Are they courteous? Do they seem interested in you enough to ask questions? How do they handle pressure situations? You need someone who works efficiently, stays calm and polite and can deliver a professional result in situations that are often less than ideal.

4. Education: The vast majority of wedding photographers have no formal training in photography. Look for photographers with some kind of education in photography.

5. Price: Hey, it matters… especially these days. But ten years after your wedding you’re not going to be concerned how much you spent on photography, you are going to concerned about the quality of your pictures. With that in mind, don’t you think it is better to pay more than you expected rather than less than you should?

After a few days of basking in the glow of your engagement ring a lump in your throats can occur upon realizing just how much work needs to be done. The couple must scale a summit called Mt. Our Wedding. Don’t worry, chances are you have overcome more difficult challenges. We can help with the first task of plannning a Kansas City wedding: picking a venue for the big day. Everything else falls into place after that.

As photographers in Kansas City, we have shot ALOT of weddings in this town. We love working at so many locations picking just a handful was rather difficult. For this list we limited our selection to venues that allow for both ceremonies and receptions to take place at the same locations. There are a lot of great reception-only venues and a ton of great churches in Kansas City, we hope to profile some of them in future posts.

Here are 10 awesome venues for your wedding in Kansas City:

1. Powell Gardens:Powell Gardens might just be our favorite. The sprawling gardens are located about 30 minutes east of Lee’s Summit on U.S. Highway 50. The chapel is Powell Gardens’ signature feature. It features an A-frame design and sits atop a hill overlooking the entire location. Regardless of when your wedding is on the calendar there are many beautiful locations to shoot. It is an expansive, sprawling place. The bride’s dressing rooms are located a good distance from the chapel and the reception hall requires a car ride, or trolly, from the chapel. Hence, I advise two photographer teams for weddings we are commissioned to shoot here because of the extensive distances involved. But the pictures are always a thrill.
2. Tiffany Greens: Looking at this list, it seems as though we are partial to golf clubhouses and their potential for wonderful weddings. Five out of the 10 locations are golf course clubhouses. We do like them, despite not having an ounce of golfing skills. Our favorite outdoor weddings have nearly all taken place at golf clubhouses. The landscaping is always beautiful with terrific light and color with excellent interior options in the event of bad weather. First on our list is Tiffany Greens. The clubhouse is a regal building with a spacious outdoor porch area overlooking the golf course. Tiffany Greens is located near KCI airport so there’s a wide selection of hotel accommodations within a short distance of the clubhouse. We’ve made some really nice pictures in front of the stone fireplace at the center of the clubhouse.
3. The Clubhouse on Baltimore: We like urban settings. There’s no shortage of fun, contrasting environments to put a beautiful couple. The Clubhouse on Baltimore is a perfect location for this. The venue features several rooms for weddings. Don’t be surprised if another wedding is going on in one of the other levels simultaneous to your wedding! Don’t worry you won’t even know they’re there until you jump on the elevators. The Tudor room is a striking, spacious room. Its centerpiece is the tall stained-glass windows near the dance floor. There’s a balcony area overlooking the dance floor.

   I have covered many weddings in the Walnut room. As the name suggests, it is adorned in beautiful walnut wood. The room has a long and spacious bar with windows surrounding the room. On the other side of building but on the same level as the Walnut Room is the Old Grill which is a terrific cocktail hour location. I love the Old Grill room. It has great light. We have a gallery of images from this venue.

   They even let couples go to the roof overlooking downtown Kansas City for a brief time to make some quick pictures. It’s stunning.


4. Hillcrest Country Club: We shot our first wedding at Hillcrest Country Club in 2008 and it immediately became one of our top ten favorites. It is located near Bannister Road and Interstate 435 in Kansas City. The clubhouse features a spacious locker room with ample mirrors which is a wonderful and spacious dressing room for the wedding party. This is a common benefit of golf clubhouses as a wedding venue.

   It has a ton of space with beautiful interiors.

   Our first time there, we covered an outdoor wedding in May. The venue is surrounded by flowering plants that were in full glory that day. They have had a recent renovation in the past two years.

5. The St. Joseph Country Club:: O.K., so it’s not in K.C. but it’s close enough and certainly deserves a mention here. An outdoor wedding near the clubhouse’s putting greens facing to the west allows for wonderful light to bathe your entire ceremony. There are some fun interiors with a restaurant in the center of the clubhouse that has awesome light during the late afternoons in the spring and fall. Check out our gallery of images from the St. Joseph Country Club.

   We especially love the clubhouse’s ballroom which has a stage built into the center wall near the dance floor. It’s a natural fit for a DJ and their sound system.

6. The Madrid Theatre: Located on Main Street in Midtown Kansas City, The Madrid Theatre is a retro glamour venue for your wedding. The architecture is in a 1920’s Spanish revival style and will wow your guests. We liked the big stage at the front of the theatre. It’s a natural location for a wedding party table. We also love the second floor with additional chairs and tables overlooking the main floor. The angels on the ceiling and carousel bars provide fun details.
7. Georgetown King’s Clubhouse We’re big fans of this place, we should be. Chris Cummins, Glow Imagery’s owner and chief photographer, will be married here in August of 2009. Georgetown is located in Merriam, Kan., near Shawnee Mission Medical Center and it is a bit of a secret. It features an indoor pool, bar area and multiple rooms connected to one another with a Colonial, Monticello style of decorating. It looks as if Thomas Jefferson could have lived there. It has two Elegantly Furnished Parlor Rooms, Stately Pub Room, Spacious Dining Room, Resort-Style Pool.

   The venue is perfect for smaller weddings of 70 people or less.

8. Adams Pointe Golf Club: Located in Blue Springs on Adams Dairy Parkway, this golf clubhouse is a striking building with some great views. We shot a Halloween wedding there a couple of years ago. The staff at the clubhouse were very helpful and supportive of the couple’s fun theme and decoration ideas. When our clients are happy, we are happy.
9. Lenexa Conference Center:: Frequent readers of this blog have read my praises for this place. You can check out Ashley and Cale’s wedding pics from recent posts to get a front-row seat for this venue. The Lenexa Conference Center offers a distinctive Kansas ambience to your wedding. It has hillsides planted with native prairie grasses alongside the impressive barn structure. The historic buildings are a large farmhouse and a renovated barn that is equipped with all the bells and whistles of technology. They even have built in audio-visual equipment you can use for an awesome slideshow at the reception.

   The combination of rustic roots, great location, and modern amenities makes this location a gem for Kansas City’s couples.

10. Arrowhead Yacht Club: This is another hidden locale for Kansas City weddings. Located in Greenwood, Mo., Arrowhead Yacht Club sits on the banks of a private lake. The serene waters are within 50 yards of the clubhouse’s patio and are a terrific spot for an outdoor wedding. If Mother Nature refuses to cooperate, the clubhouse features sufficient space to move a ceremony indoors. Check out our gallery of wedding photos from Arrowhead Yacht Club. Maximum guest capacity 225 seated, with patio 250.

So much of your wedding is so fleeting. The cake is devoured, the first kiss is done and the music fades. Within minutes of the couple’s departure the ceremony and reception halls are dressed down. Within days a bouquet of flowers can be just a hint of its former glory.

Wouldn’t it be nice to preserve some of those pretty things? Someone like Loreen Hospodar of Reenie Rose can really help. Loreen is an artist who paints wonderful oil on canvas paintings of bridal bouquets.

Loreen has spent her life connected to the art world. She is a graduate of Grand Valley State University in Michigan where she graduated with a Fine Arts degree in illustration. Loreen now lives and creates her artwork in Chicago but serves brides and grooms nationwide.

Check out this wedding artist’s website and blog.

Great engagement pictures locations in Kansas City:

1. Union Station: Built in 1914, Union Station is 850,000 square feet of landmark Kansas City style. It features massive windows, beautiful sweeping lines and architecture with an ornate ceiling that is awe-inspiring and makes for great pictures. Warning: Union Station, despite being a publicly funded landmark, requires advance notice for professional photographs to be made there. In my experience the restrictions have been applied somewhat unevenly. Sometimes I have been told I should pay a fee, other times with clients we have just showed up and shot without anyone noticing, on another occasion I called and received advance permission.
   


2. Liberty Memorial: For pictures that are distinctly Kansas City, Liberty Memorial has the unique advantage of providing a one-of-a-kind view of the Kansas City skyline. It’s beautiful sand colored construction and distinct architecture provides clean, elegant backgrounds. Even on calm days, Liberty Memorial seems to have constant wind. Its location on top of a hill doesn’t allow for much wind obstruction. It can be extra challenging to make flattering pictures if it looks like you are in a wind tunnel.
   


3. The River Market: The trend these days in engagement pictures is to work couples into urban environments and surroundings. The River Market has lots of those with lofts, a park, older buildings (some of the olest architecture in the city in fact) and a wonderful Lewis and Clark mural located near the Broadway Bridge.
   


4. The Crossroads (pictured at bottom): It’s the hipster haven nowadays. The Crossroads is another urban environment and presents an interesting mix of new architecture and old. The entire district is the creative center of Kansas City. Don’t schedule your engagement session for the evening of first Friday of each month, that’s when the infamous First Fridays art walk takes place. Tons of people attend these which can make photography very difficult.
   


5. Loose Park (pictured above): located at Wornall Road and 51st Street, Loose Park is probably the standard location for Kansas City photographers. It’s a wonderful place with a Rose Garden and a nice array of bridges, older trees and blooming plants. When my clients suggest Loose Park, I generally try and suggest other locations because it is such a popular Kansas City photography location. On a weekend in the Spring or Fall, it can be a chore to find a spot where another photographer is not working!
   



6. The Country Club Plaza (pictured at left): It’s a Kansas City institution and a popular choice for Kansas City engagement pictures. The Plaza is a large shopping district with Spanish-style architecture. The holidays are a very lovely time to shoot pictures there since the entire location is lit in holiday lighting.
   


7. Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center: Located in Blue Springs, Burr Oak Woods is a lesser known location but a wonderful spot for your Kansas City engagement pictures. Big trails with lots of native plants, wildflowers and trees provide for unique surroundings to help avoid the overdone locations like Loose Park and the Plaza.
   


8. Powell Gardens Located 30 miles east of the Kansas City area on U.S. Highway 50 near Centerview, Mo., Powell Gardens’ picture possibilities are amazing. The gardens are immaculate with beautiful plants and landscaping everywhere you look. They also have occasional art exhibits. Aside from the drawback of the driving distance, be advised they also require a fee for professional photographers to shoot there.
   


9. Shawnee Mission Park: A Johnson County treasure, Shawnee Mission Park is an expansive space with many trails, water features and scenic areas. It is an underused location for Kansas City engagement photos.
   


10. Kauffman Memorial Gardens: Located at 4800 Rockhill Road, the Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden is small but packs a mighty punch. It doesn’t require you to pack your walking shoes like Loose Park or Powell Gardens and features intense amounts of color, good light and beautiful backdrops. Be advised, they have rules for photographers. Most of the rules are common sense (i.e. no climbing on walls, stay on the paths, don’t stomp on any plants, etc.)


Tags: Best places in KC to take engagement pictures, Kauffman Gardens, KC engagement photos, Loose Park, Powell Gardens, Shawnee Mission Park, Union Station Kansas City