Alan & Emily

Alan and Emily were married at Central Christian Church in Galveston, with their reception at the historic Ashton Villa.

Alan and I go waaaay back-- we graduated college and moved to Houston at the same time (Alan from Tulane, me from Texas A&M). We saw a lot of concerts together, palled around at Astros and Aeros games, and helped one another out whenever help was needed. He's remained in my close circle of friends, and we couldn't have been happier when he started bringing Emily around.

It's a daunting yet honorable task when a close friend hires you to photograph their wedding... it's even more of a daunting task when that friend has a background in photography and you're hoping to meet his expectations. My assistant Karen did an amazing job taking over the reigns once the reception started-- so that my husband and I were able to enjoy the festivities as guests. She caught a particularly wonderful shot after Alan's dance with his mother-- he and Mom wrapped up the dance and then headed over toward Alan's father, who had removed his glasses to wipe tears from his eyes... and in the background of the image, you can see Emily's friends gathered around her, congratualting her.

Emily was truly the picture of sweet, composed, bridal beauty on her wedding day. I'm so proud of Alan for recognizing how special and beautiful she is, and for behaving well enough over the years to convince her that marrying him was a good idea ;)

We had SO much fun at the reception-- we were greeted outdoors with fresh Mojitos, treated to an extravagantly delicious dinner (catering by An Affair Extraordinare), served some of the best wedding cake I have ever eaten (by Who Made the Cake), and then danced the night away to live music from Molly and the Ringwalds, an 80's cover band. Once again, Kelly with Eventology Weddings was the coordinator, and she did a bang-up job of keeping everything flowing smoothly.

For the Love of Shoes...

Ohhhhh shoes. Need I say more?

Here are some of my favorites... all of them belong to my brides, with the exception of the natural leather ones-- those belonged to a groom!

I can hardly believe she's 2!

This is my little friend Kendall, who recently celebrated her second birthday. I like to think that in some small, cosmic way I'm responsible for the insane cuteness... since I introduced her mom and dad to one another back in college.

Luckily I get to capture the cuteness on a regular basis! She was not in the best of fabulous moods on the day we decided to shoot, but we turned up with lots of two-year-old expressions and even some cute temper tantrum moments. With the help of a giant lollipop, I'm calling it an overall success.

Just look at this little guy...

How cute is he? He's Ian, and he's just a little monkey full of sunshine.

Ian and his parents met me out at Hermann Park, where we had a mid-morning full of baby giggles and full-on belly laughs. Any photographer will tell you that in a park full of birds, trees, squirrels, dogs, and other kids it is no small feat to get the little ones to look at you (I am chopped liver compared to the ducks, folks)... but Ian was actually pretty easy to work with. He was full of expression! My favorite picture from the session was when Ian's mom and dad went in for some baby kisses and Ian happened to be looking right at me-- hopefully that one will show up on the wedding slideshow a few decades from now... hehehe.

Happy Mother's Day!

I'd just like to take this opportunity to send a big old shout out to alllll the moms!

So many of my friends and clients have become mothers this year... and more have babies on the way. One dear friend is even expecting triplets! The fun is just beginning.

Before all this, though, there was MY mom.

The best, prettiest, coolest, sweetest mom ever. She never failed to foster my creativity and certainly never thought anything was "too silly". I remember when my best friend and I liked to crawl around the house on our hands and knees, wearing kitty ears and tails, meowing and purring. Mom humored us by feeding us nachos on the floor in my bedroom closet, because that's where the kitty house was. She always made me home-made cakes and decorated them with sprinkles on my birthday (not just at my birthday "party"-- ON my birthday-- because that day was special too, and warranted celebration).

Time and time again, she made me foil crowns and bracelets so I could REALLY be WonderWoman in my sweet costume-bathing suit with my zip-up boots. She brought my grandma along and cried tears of "mom joy" when we'd sing Christms carols in elementary school. She brought me home "surprises" (pieces of candy from a shop near her work that were QUITE the treasure, because they weren't the kind of candy you could find at the grocery store). She always had 50 cents when the ice cream man came driving around. Upon return from any sort of celebration, she greeted us with pieces of fancy cakes and cookies wrapped in a colorful napkin.

When she won money at Bingo, she always let me help her spend some of it... even if it was on something horrid like a white satin "Derrick Dolls" jacket (in my defense, it was 1981 and the Oilers were pretty cool). She never got mad, no matter how many times I "borrowed" her makeup or clothes.

She gave up her summer weekends (and let's face it, lots of weeknights) to accompany me to softball practices, games, and tournaments for all those years I played competitively... She always had a $20 bill handy when I was leaving the house to go back to my dorm in college; and looking back, she always made every one of my friends feel welcome in our home, like one of the family.

From the start, she accepted my (step)children unconditionally as part of the family, never looking back or asking questions. They are her grandchildren, no clarification is necessary.

I guess sometimes growing up, you don't realize how lucky you are to be part of such a wonderful family; but once you have a family of your own, you finally realize how hard it must have been for her to make life so sweet for you.

Thanks, Mom. I love you :)

Here are some throwback shots of me and my mom, taken by my always-handy-with-a-camera dad-- and of course a gratuitous shot of the WonderWoman bathing suit, complete with one handcrafted foil crown (check it out, she even put a jewel on it for me!)

Have camera... will travel!

Jeanette and Alec, who will be getting married in the very near future, live in Chicago, but will hold their wedding in Houston... and what do we do when we have busy clients who live out of town but still want portrait sessions? Why, we pack up our bags and travel to a location more convenient to them! In this case I lucked out in that it happened to be one of my favorite cities to visit, and one of the best times of the year to do so.

We met in Lincoln Park shortly before sunset, and I was thrilled to see Jeanette show up in this stunning plum-colored little number (have I mentioned that I love color?). I had the pleasure of meeting Alec and his charming mother (who came along to handle Jeanette's coat, since it was a little chilly with the sun going down). I knew I liked Alec's mother when I asked her what type of album she wanted after the wedding-- her answer? "I want something beautiful." No problemo!

We walked from one end of the park to the other, starting at the zoo and working our way down and back around to a lovely skyline-at-dusk-on-the-water shot to close it out. I can't WAIT to see them again on their wedding day!

My grandmother, Josephine, was born in a small farming town in Texas (in the Brazos Valley). When she was 2 years old, Houston was just getting its first air-conditioned building. When she was 3, Houston was opening the doors of the Fine Arts Museum. As she was celebrating her eleventh birthday, the very first Houston Fat Stock Show & Rodeo was being held.

She got married in 1941, and moved with my grandfather to the city of Houston, where city planners were designing major thoroughfares in what would become the "loop" system, and the population was a bustling 380,000. The Medical Center was established a couple of years later, and eventually she saw the construction of Texas' first freeway, I-45.

In her life, she has seen the world go from horses to cars... she has lived life without running water and plumbing and cars. She's picked cotton in the fields and worked as a cook/housekeeper for an army officer-- who even from the front lines wrote home that he missed "Josephine's Pancakes".

She's lived near Memorial Park for over 50 years now-- in one of the "little old houses" that still remains among the new and modern townhomes that have taken over. Her home is still a comfortable gathering place for her 8 children, 18 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren... and she can often be found sitting out in the front porch swing on a nice day, enjoying the shade and the birds and the squirrels.

She is one of the sweetest, most giving women I know.

I've been trying for years to get her to sit for a portrait, but she always waves me off and tells me she doesn't need any portrait... well the medians along Westcott were brimming with bluebonnets this season, and she's a sucker for a pretty field of flowers. The fact that they were right out front of her neighborhood was just an added bonus! We planned a time, she got all gussied up for me, and I finally got her to let me do some portraits of her.

And then, in true Nana fashion, she went home and baked me a cake. Here she is, 87 years young.

The March of Dimes

If you have a little time, or a few spare buckaroos, you might think about helping out the March of Dimes. It's a not-for-profit organization that is widely known for its efforts to prevent premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality.

One of my sweet little baby portrait subjects, Sarah, was born very early (at 33 weeks!), and her mom's hoping to reach a $500 goal. We have a neighbor down the street whose son was born very early this past year (at 32 weeks), and an acquaintance who recently lost her son well into her second trimester.

I have worked and volunteered in Neonatal Infant Care Units and seen the preemies, the babies born with birth defects, and the families affected by the circumstances. Please give, if you can. By clicking below, you can give directly on Sarah's behalf!

Kristin & Ryan

Kristin and Ryan were married on Galveston Island, and were just absolute peaches to work with. Kristin was classic understated elegance in her vintage-inspired silk sheath gown-- which paired beautifully not only with Ryan and his suspenders (which I think he thoroughly enjoyed wearing), but the historic Hotel Galvez's Veranda. It was chilly, but we had the opportunity to take a post-ceremony limo ride around Galveston and shoot some fun and romantic "just married" pictures. The cow on the wall at Ben & Jerry's is my personal favorite; though I do favor the "accidentally artsy" rear-view mirror shot (the sun was shining directly into my camera lens, but the resulting shot is actually kinda cool).

The reception was rockin' and rollin' with one of the best party bands I have ever seen or heard, The Pee Wee Bowen Band. For the umpteenth time, we send our thanks out to Kelly of Eventology Weddings, who coordinated the day.

Extra congratulations to Kelly-- she was recently voted Houston's Top Wedding Planner by The Knot!

Without further ado... here are some of my favorites from Kristin' & Ryan's wedding: