Finally got to photograph a wedding this year (2020), I gotta say it has been a little hectic with all my couples and them having to replan, not for Kari and Kyle!
These two were amazing! From Kyle and his groomsmen having a great time to Kari getting her daughters ready for the wedding, while also getting ready herself.
It all made for an amazing event at Bollinger Mill. The wedding was intimate, and tears were flowing a couple of times.
I also had my favorite second there with me…my wife! It also happened to be our wedding anniversary. It was fun to spend time celebrating another couple on what was our wedding day 11 years ago.
It was an amazing day At Bollinger Mill, and I hope Kari and Kyle enjoy the images we captured for them on this beautiful day. We captured some amazing images, which you can see below.
But I wanted to try something new, normally I would not do this during an active wedding day, but the day was steady, and no one was rushed (and I had my amazing second)! 😉
So we put together a video, I have been wanting to try this for a while, hybrid shooting, which is shooting video and images as the main photographer. This is the video we captured.
All in all the wedding was amazing and I wish Kari and Kyle the absolute best.
Don’t forget to watch the video which is right after the images and let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading and if you or someone you know is looking for a wedding photographer check feel free to contact me! 🙂
Planning your own Bollinger Mill wedding
Bollinger Mill State Historic Site has a real wedding offering, with four ceremony areas in the day use portion of the grounds. Missouri State Parks publishes the terms, and a few of them catch couples out.
- Fee: $150, plus a $50 damage deposit.
- Capacity: 125 participants, and that figure counts your wedding party, not just your guests.
- Parking: about 30 spaces, and none on the grass. In practice this is the real ceiling, not the 125.
- Off limits for the ceremony and the reception: the covered bridge, inside the mill, and the mill porch. Those have to stay open to the public. Worth being precise here, because it is a rule about where you hold the ceremony, not a ban on photographs.
- No changing rooms or staging areas anywhere on site.
- Tents that need staking go in the east field only. There is an underground electrical cable running through the west field.
- No open flame, so no candles and no lanterns.
- Missouri also requires written permission from the facility manager for any wedding on state park land, under 10 CSR 90-2.020(3).
To reserve one of the four areas, call the site directly at 573-243-4591. Details are on the Missouri State Parks wedding page for Bollinger Mill.
Site details verified September 2026 with Missouri State Parks. Bollinger Mill sits on the Whitewater River and has a history of flood closures, so confirm current status before you book anything around it.
Getting married here?
Tell me your date and I will tell you honestly whether I am still open, what the light does on this property at that time of year, and where the portraits actually work.
Collections start at $4,900 for a full wedding day, and $5,500 brings my wife Megan in as a second photographer. Film and digital, shot side by side, with sneak peeks inside 72 hours.