Brian Rickey Photography

Brian was such a great wedding photographer! He went above and beyond. We received more pictures than we could have imagined with so much thought put into each one. He was easy to work and communicate with. From weddings to everything else in between, Brian is the best photographer I know!

Brian is the best. I can’t say it any more plainly than that. He shot our engagement photos, our covid elopement and our wedding day. He captures us perfectly every time. No poses or crazy gimmicks, just two people having a great day. He was a dream to work with when we had to reschedule and totally down for a last minute mountain elopement. Beyond his incredible photos, Brian is just so fun to be around. We booked him for his photos, but feel like we gained a friend. He never fails to make us laugh. He is quirky and fun and we love being around him. It is honestly amazing to get to watch him work and see his wheels spinning. It’s so clear how much he loves what he does and that is comes so naturally to him.

Brian is truly a one of a kind photographer! He is kind, funny, and makes you feel so comfortable in front of the camera. He took our engagement pictures in the Smoky Mountains and then our wedding pictures in Forest Park. The quality is stunning. He stayed with us on our wedding day for over 12 hours! He captured every possible moment. I absolutely loved having him as our photographer and will definitely hire him for any future pictures needed.

Words can’t describe how thankful we are that Brian documented our wedding day. He is a phenomenal photographer and so easy and fun to work with. We loved doing our engagement session and our wedding day with him. He makes you feel so comfortable during the shoot and the photos captured by him perfectly captured our love. When our big wedding plans got ruined due to COVID-19 and we didn’t know what we were going to do, Brian was so easy to work with and flexible. He documented our thrown together micro-wedding and still made the photos look amazing. This guy documented all day long, without stop! He is not only an exceptionally talented photographer, but exceptional and kind person. Please look into booking him because he is amazing. (Still crying thinking about how he helped make our wedding day dreams come true 😭) you absolutely NEED to book him.

I’ve been putting off writing a review for Brian Rickey for about 8 months now, not because I don’t love what he did for our engagement/wedding (holy crap, I do – we’ll get to that), but because the idea of putting his talent into words is so intimidating. Let me just start by saying I truly hate wedding photography; when I told this to Brian at our first meeting at Starbucks, he smiled. My husband and I are kind of unorthodox – we celebrated our wedding years late after experiencing and working through so much of life together already. I wanted that captured authentically in our photos. I don’t like posing, I don’t like stiff smiles, and I don’t like wedding parties lined up symmetrically and treated as aesthetic props instead of captured as beloved friends of the couple. I spent weeks looking through hundreds of portfolios in the St. Louis area and I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Enter Brian. Just look through his site and see for yourself – every single couple/family/senior is captured uniquely, and I have no doubt in exactly they manner they were hoping for. He makes his clients laugh during shoots, and he encourages them to make each other laugh, so no stiff smiles to be found. For the more romantic shots, he sends the couple away to go interact for a minute and captures them in their moment. He’s so calm and peaceful to work with, it’s easy to be your most emotional, goofy, lovey-dovey, fun self in front of the camera. For instance, I showed up to my engagement shoot in thigh-high boots and a minidress to run around Chicago making out with my fiancé in the street for five hours in 8-degree weather. I was a little nervous the photographer might find my outfit or our overall look a little odd for the occasion, but nope – he totally understood the feel we were going for and captured the natural chemistry we’ve always had between us with genuine enthusiasm. The real smiles and love in Brian’s work are only half of it though. The scenery he includes, the light play, the black and white work he does, it’s world-class – and he adds these flairs to almost every shot, even candids. Most photographers I’ve found either just document the occasion, or they pose people in front of deliberate backgrounds in hopes of creating something artistic. Brian doesn’t do that – he documents real life and people as they are and exposes the natural art and beauty that already exists there. He just sees things differently and it shows through his work. I went into both the engagement session and the wedding day with a few vague ideas of the kinds of things I would like to incorporate in the photos, but I told Brian he was in charge because the last thing I am is an artist. He made sure to include everything on my short list, no matter how silly or trivial, but he did so with a level of genius and creativity I couldn’t have imagined. He’s not just a professional, he is extremely generous with his talents and treats his clients as though he’s known them for years. In short, Brian was the best wedding vendor decision we made, and we’ll definitely be back for family portraits, our kids’ senior photos, maternity shoots – whatever the need, I just don’t see hiring anyone else.

Brian is passionate about what he does and really works to capture the personality of his subjects. He views photography as an art, not just a business. He took my senior pictures in high school, my engagement photos, and now my wedding photos--we keep coming back! For our wedding, he drove across the country and even did some additional shooting in Joshua Tree Park the day after the wedding. He strikes a great balance between fun, artsy shots and capturing the small details that make up the memories of your wedding day. I'm sure we'll hire him any time we want portraits over the coming years.

Brian was absolutely wonderful for our engagement pictures and wedding photos. He captured every angle of our wedding. We are truly so happy with our photos and love all of them! We plan to use him again in the future for family photos!

Brian is so AMAZING to work with! The pictures turn out so natural and great, and he is fun to be around all day.

Brian is the BEST! I was about to give up on finding the perfect photographer for our big day, but then I found our super hero. My husband, Tony, is not one to have his picture taken, but after a quick Skype interview with Brian he was sold! I think he was more excited then me. We brought our lovely but wild child dog to our engagement pictures and he got the best shots of her even though all she wanted to do was give him kisses. On our wedding day he made my bridal loosen up with dirty jokes and indulging me with quotes from The Office. While I haven't seen our wedding pictures yet, I got a few sneak peaks and I am blown away. Our guests and bridal party keep talking about our engagement pictures and how much fun Brian was at our wedding. Tony and I can't wait to work with Brian again when expand our family! He will be our family photographer until the end of time.

Brian is the absolute best. Hands down. He has such a different approach to photography and it produces the best pictures. Plus, his jokes are awesome! He is more about capturing the day/moment then just the typical wedding shot. He photographed a family friends wedding and after I saw their pictures, I was blown away. I knew that was who I wanted to do our wedding. He truly makes you feel at ease and he completely captures the day. I would recommend him to anyone!!

Brian does AMAZING work and makes it so much fun! My husband and I recently celebrated our three year wedding anniversary and are still SO THANKFUL for all of the special moments Brian has captured for us, from the fun weekend in Chicago for our engagement pictures until the VERY end of our reception (He actually stayed until well after the band was finished playing!!!) We opted out of hiring a videographer and have NO regrets because Brian documented our day beautifully and captured every single little detail and moment. It's been a pleasure to continue getting to know Brian and we always enjoy seeing him occasionally around town or photographing other weddings we've attended. I definitely look forward to working with him in the future for all of our special moments as our family and love grows.

Brian Rickey' photography captures natural beauty of even the most simple moments. His style is artistically unique and captivating. Unlike traditional stiff and posed photography, Brian will amaze you with his extraordinary talent, effortlessly making his clients feel relaxed and at ease, and most importantly leaving you with thousands of little masterpieces that you will cherish forever.