Megan & Jonathon

Megan and Jonathon, who reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, had a late-autumn wedding decorated with rich, decadent fall colors and the smiling faces of their family and friends. Held at Ashelynn Manor in Magnolia, their dusk ceremony took place inside the Vintage Chapel (where we stopped for some stunning shadowy portraits of the newlyweds afterward) and the reception took place in the Carriage House, a large red barn bedecked with chandeliers. They danced the night away to the sounds of Michael Buble, and guests left with bags full of custom-labelled Megan-and-Jonathon Hershey kisses and hugs.

The staff on hand at Ashelynn Manor were wonderful to work with, expertly coordinating the day's events. It's a fabulously quaint and well-cared-for facility-- and quite frankly, a wonderful place to shoot. Check out the staircase shot!

Sandy & Josh

Sandy & Josh were married at Butler's Courtyard , an interesting, cozy, romatic property in League City with lots of sweet Victorian details.

This was the most colorful-silly-fun-crafty wedding I have ever had the pleasure to shoot; also one of the more emotional. Sandy made all of her own decorations, right down to the beautiful paper flowers that adorned the ceremony and reception areas-- her bridesmaids even carried paper floral bouquets. Her petticoat was dyed a bold purple, and she wore sashes in varying shades of blue.

I was in color HEAVEN with this wedding... right down to the bride's shoes. Sandy's take on "ruby slippers" was the most darling pair of blue-green glittery heels you ever saw (admittedly, the only pair of blue-green glittery heels I have ever seen).

Pre-ceremony, the bride and groom wanted to hold hands for a quick picture of anticipation, where they were touching one another but couldn't see one another. The moment turned very emotional-- which set the tone for the ceremony.

As the reception began, guests found brightly colored paper florals and Cadbury Creme Eggs adorning their tables in the beautifully chandeliered ballroom. There was dancing, dancing, more dancing... a quick somewhat impromptu lip-synch routine to "Blaze of Glory"... and at some point the bride tossed the sparkling slippers for her comfy pair of black Chuck Taylor's that were waiting in the wings.

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.

"Did you mean to buy the Spanish ones?"

I did not even know that they made Spanish conversation hearts, but how cute is this? I accidentally picked them up on our grocery shopping trip Sunday. I saw the Spanish label, but I thought maybe it had English on the other side or something. "Beso" and "Guapo" were my favorites!

Regina & Jheri

Regina and Jheri were married at Bella Terrazza in a beautiful Sunday-afternoon ceremony. Both are New Orleans transplants, and the details showed it! Now I am all about bright color, but I'd never have been able to envision maroon and lime green going so very well together. Perhaps it's the Aggie in me, maroon goes with white, and white only, right? It was actually very nice. Sort of Christmassy, yet not. Very cool and contemporary.

At any rate, the details of this wedding were so much fun! They had hand-painted Mardi-Gras beads made with their names and dates... custom Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars in their wedding colors and with their wedding date along the back of the shoe (one "formal" pair for ceremony, and a more colorful pair for reception)... personalized M&M's in tins with personalized stickers on the bottom... and a delicious assortment of treats to eat like potato-tini's and white Russian milkshakes. MMMMM!

Aside from all of the fun details, I think the most memorable thing about this wedding was the vows. They were so beautiful, and I felt as though they were words I might have written (or thoughts I have felt) with my own husband in mind. Regina & Jheri were nice enough to allow me to photograph their rings with the papers on which their vows were written, and as I was editing the images afterwards, my eyes teared up again when I read over them.

I also got to work, once again, with the fabulous Kelly Balfour of Eventology Weddings, who coordinated the event.

The Rings...

Our outward sign of love and fidelity, the ring. On each couple's wedding day, I try my best to make time to get an image of the ring (or rings, if I can get my hands on both of them) in a setting that will call to mind the mood and presence of the day. Whether the guests were provided with and endless supply of candy, or the light fell just so on the ring in the Bible to form a heart in its shadow... or the groom did a little bit of fishing beforehand...

It's always quite telling of the couple themselves. Here are a few favorites.