Giving Away a Wedding | Round 2 | St. Louis, MO

It always sneaks up on me. Every. Single. Year.

My dad was always the one I looked up to. For so many reasons. He was the one that always cheered me on, no matter what. He was the one that always told me to do my best and was supportive even when I wasn’t at my peak. He taught me so much in the short time I had him. It’s crazy to think that he’s been gone for 1/3 of my life at this point and how much he’s missed.

My dad wasn’t perfect, but he was generous. I can’t tell you the amount of times I heard him tell a customer or client, “Don’t worry about it,” when it came time to paying for services. Over and over again. He wasn’t always worried about the bottom dollar (maybe he should have a little bit more), he worked with his heart and it showed all the time.

Even as I write this, I tear up just thinking about it. I’ve been so blessed this year with amazing couples, families and clients who knew my dad and have shared stories about him with me. About how he stopped a fight from happening at a wedding reception, or how he gave them their school pictures for free because they couldn’t afford it.

It’s so moving to hear about him and how he touched other’s lives.

Last year, I came across this amazing photographer in New York who had started a giveaway. She gives away a wedding package every year around the time of her Mum’s birthday, and the minute I read her story (you can find it HERE), I knew. I knew that this was something I wanted to do as well and Erica (the photographer) was so supportive from the moment I asked her if I could do this too. It just seemed so fitting and the perfect way to honor my dad and what our passion is, photography.

One of my favorite things to remember about my Dad is how he would frame his hands around me when I started taking pictures with him. When I started following in his footsteps.

I can still feel his hands helping me on a wedding day or anytime I pick a camera.

So, this will be my second year that I will be opening my heart and sharing my talent with a couple who will win free wedding photography coverage for a couple who has experienced a significant parental loss. Last year’s winners just got married on July 6th, 2019, and this couple forever changed me. Their blog post will be up soon and you’ll be able to read their story in detail, but if you follow my work or pages at all, you will have seen them on there and heard their story.

So, here we are again. And here it is again, August 8th, my Dad’s birthday (he would have been 64 today). And in honor of him, I’m giving away free wedding photography coverage for a couple who has experienced the loss of a parent.

Here's what's included (for a 2020 wedding):

• 8 hours of photography coverage

• USB of fully edited high resolution images from your wedding

• Online gallery of fully edited web resolution images from your wedding

• Full printing rights to your images so that you can print and share to your heart's content :)

• Engagement session

• Online gallery of both high resolution and web resolution images from your engagement session

• Travel within a 2.5-hour radius of St. Louis, MO

  And here's the fine print:

• Applicants must have a parent who has passed away

• Applicants must have a 2020 date and a venue secured

• Applicants must complete the application process (below)

Apply HERE. **CLOSED AS OF 10 AM ON September 7th, 2019**

Applications will close on September 7th, 2019, and the winner will be announced on September 8th, 2019.

*If you are a vendor and are interested in donating something as well, please email me at: brittanycannonphotography@gmail.com

Century Family Farm | It's Sold | Winfield, MO

As some of you may know, I was raised on a family farm in Winfield, MO. It belonged to our family for more than 125 years, passed down from generation to generation. This past Friday, on July 27th, 2018, it was officially SOLD! It was a hard day for me, I never saw this farm being sold in my lifetime and wished it would never be sold ever. Some things just do not go as we plan or wish. 

Without getting into all the details, it wasn't something that I wanted but something that could not have been prevented. There's a lot of family drama that goes into that story that I don't need to hash out here, but just know, it hurt my soul a little, what am I saying, it hurt a ton. 

This was the place I called HOME for 20 years. This is where I was raised. All of my fondest memories are held there. Pretending to be Jim Edmonds in the side yard while I tossed a softball up in the air and tried to catch it, fishing in the pond out back, picking blackberries for people to make pies and just enjoying the rustic red barn and farmhouse that I called home. 

I will never get over having to sell this farm, the place that I always imagined raising my own family someday. However, I did visit a lot in the last 6 months, I took photos to print and hang in the home that I will be raising my little ones in and I'm bummed that they will never know this family farm like I did. I'll tell them stories about it, and I'll show them how beautiful it was, but those things just won't be able to do it justice.

I hope the next owner understands and respects the history of it, but if not, I'll always remember it. 

Home

I was raised in a small town on a 100-acre century family farm. It was a little slice of heaven to grow up on. 

My grandma owned the property and had lived there as a child but never as an adult. My parents raised me on that farm. For 21 years, it was the only home I had ever known. 

Summers were filled with fishing in the pond, exploring the wooded fields and walking down by the creek, riding my bike down the dirt road and picking blackberries for my dad. Winters were filled with building snowmen and sitting by the fireplace. I couldn't have asked for a better place to call home during my childhood. 

Time has taken its toll on the home that I loved. The red barn isn't as vibrant or strong as it used to be. The forest green shutters are nearly void of their color. Our playground barely stands any longer and the long flower bed is no longer but despite all of that, I still see this place as home.

As a young girl, I always thought I would raise my own family there but life took some turns and that's not how it turned out. Soon the farm will be owned by someone else, it's nearly 130-year history in the same family gone. I wish it didn't have to be so, I wish my babies were running through the fields as I watched from the back deck but nevertheless, this place will always be HOME.