MEET NORTH ARROW CREATIVE

We’re excited to introduce you to Rachel + Kyle Jones, an amazing St. Louis photo/video team, and featured members of The Collective. We recently connected with them and have shared our conversation below.

Can you tell us about the service(s) you offer and how you got your start?

We offer photography, videography, and design services for a wide range of clientele. We both joined forces in 2018 with the goal to be as inclusive as possible while building meaningful connections with our clients and traveling to beautiful locations along the way. The origin of the name 'North Arrow' stems from that desire to travel as every map has a north arrow for assistance in navigating and providing orientation.

What makes you + your business unique?

One aspect that makes North Arrow Creative unique is our team of creatives. We have built a solid team of photographers and videographers over the years (some have been with us from the beginning) so when our team arrives to capture a wedding or an event, it's a well oiled machine that works together effortlessly.

Another aspect that might make us unique is our willingness to go out of the way and above and beyond for our clients whether that is location scouting for an engagement session, traveling for a destination wedding, or figuring out ways to fulfill their wishes and requests.

Lastly, while this shouldn't be a unique feature, our open-mindedness and inclusivity to all people regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, or alternative relationship structure is another aspect that separates us from other companies. We strongly feel that all love should be celebrated - it's literally in our mission statement and has consistently been a draw for those who have increasingly felt marginalized.

Can you share a bit about why you choose to do what you do?

We both love meeting new people, learning new things, exploring new places, and capturing important moments and milestones for people and this profession continues to provide that for us.

How would your clients describe working with you?

Honestly, reading all of the reviews our clients have left us over the years would give the best insight but if we were to summarize them North Arrow Creative would be described as a dedicated, talented, and friendly team that not only delivers beautiful, personalized images and videos but also makes the entire experience stress-free and enjoyable. We build trust and connections with people which is why many choose to work with us again and again for each milestone in their lives.

Tell us about a big lesson that you've learned while in your industry.

One major lesson we have learned over the years is the importance of taking a proactive role acting as a trusted advisor to help give them insight about the various factors that go into a wedding day. We assist with timeline planning, share our experiences and helpful tips we’ve picked up from 15+ years of weddings, and provide guidance throughout the wedding day to ensure our client’s experience is as seamless and stress free as it can possibly be.

We all have favorite wedding moments. Can you share with us some of your favorites?

We have the privilege of capturing many different cultural celebrations! One of our favorites was Hora Loca or ‘Crazy Hour’ for our couple, Joann and Kenny, which took place at midnight and entailed guests sporting colorful masquerade style masks, feather boas, noise makers, glow sticks, and other fun party favors and tearing up the dance floor in a wild frenzied celebration of the newlyweds.

Another extremely fun wedding was the destination wedding for Ashley an Matt who are diehard St. Louis Blues fans. They had a large group of friends and family travel with them to Mexico while the Blues were in the Stanley cup playoffs against the Boston Bruins so each night a game was on you would find the entire group in the pool-side bar eyes glued to the TVs. Coincidentally, another wedding group from Boston reserved the same date and resort so you can only imagine the tension in the room as both team fought for the Cup.

Tommy and Zach's wedding would have to be another top wedding moment. We had been the photographer and videographers for their friends wedding and they immediately booked us for their wedding at River City Casino. It ended up being one of the most heartfelt ceremonies and energized receptions we had been to at that time. They had confetti cannons on stage, cold sparks, light up foam sticks, an amazing DJ, extravagant decorations and lighting, and a dance floor packed with an insane amount of guests - many of whom would go on to hire us for their own weddings years later.

Who was your most memorable wedding/couple and why?

This is such a hard question! Every elopement and destination wedding we get to capture feels intimate and sticks with us as a memorable experience.

If we had to narrow it down to one, we would have to say our experiences with Cheyenne and Taylor who invited us to upstate New York for their engagement session and then had us document their elopement in Yosemite.

For their engagement session, we showed up a day or two early to location scout for beautiful natural areas to photograph their engagement pictures and then found an "off-grid" AirBnB with an outdoor tub for a couples boudoir session. We spent the day shooting and just hanging out before sharing snacks, wine, and games with them at night.

When it came to their elopement in Yosemite, we all stayed in a huge house within the park itself along with Cheyenne's talented hair and makeup artist. We woke up before sunrise to get in place for their ceremony overlooking the entire Yosemite valley. Those several days felt like hanging out with friends and the entire experience would be hard to match. We still keep in touch with them and hang out any time they are in town.

If you could give advice to your past self or someone starting new, what would you say?

The advice we would give is try not to burn yourselves out, make time for personal projects, and don't guilt yourselves for taking time off when needed.

What is something that you really excel at when it comes to your business? Can you share a tip?

We take pride in our ability to communicate effectively with our clients and their family members both digitally and in-person. Our goal is to not only take great pictures and videos but also reduce stress and there are so many factors that can add stress on a wedding day.

We counter that by helping them create timelines oriented around our services so family/friends know where and when to be somewhere for pictures, touching base with our couples on our way to a session or wedding to check if anything is needed, utilizing our "mom whisperer" skills to charm or distract family members that might be causing unneeded stress, remaining conscientious about complicated family dynamics so it doesn't turn into a Jerry Springer episode, and relaying messages to and helping other vendors whenever possible, etc.

What is an achievement you're most proud of?

We both find it very rewarding having the freedom to pursue new interests, gain new skills, travel to new places, meet new people, receive thanks and recognition from our clients, focus on our health, care for our pets and plants, all while doing something we love and enjoy.