Here are a few photos of Ryan and Jessica, just after their ceremony at Star Hill Ranch, in Austin. If you’ve ever been in a wedding, you know how it can get a little hectic trying to squeeze in all the right group photos between the ceremony and the reception. In our case, it was also raining a bit (yep, we’re standing in a light mist for some of these). But, look at this gorgeous couple – so cute, patient, and happy. I like these photos because they show a glimpse of their personalities, so calm and serene even if we were just told we only had a few minutes left for photos…

Am I the World’s slowest Wedding Blog-Poster-Upper? Probably! It’s just hard to go through 300-500 images and pick the best 10 for a blog post. Yikes! Well, I at least wanted to share these for now. I really love this family and was honored to be the Wedding Photographer for Jessica & Ryan’s Wedding.Hope you’re having a wonderful week!

I think you can see they both have infectious smiles. You wouldn’t even know it from the photos, but it rained on us part way through our photo session. We kept going through a few of the sprinkles (the two photos above were during that time frame) and then Katherine’s Hubby said, “Saved by Mother Nature!”. I thought that was so cute and funny. I think it’s common not to love posing for the camera…I know I don’t!

Here is a glimpse at the actual ceremony, held earlier the same day, at the Justice of the Peace…The officiant was awesome, by the way! He was so personable and made it so special and joyful for us all.

The 9 of us then went to Brennan’s Restaurant for a truly lovely brunch in celebration of the Newly-Weds. This was my first time to go to Brennan’s (the original one, I’m told, is in New Orleans) and it won’t be the last! It is one of my new favorite restaurants. They even make their own pralines. Who doesn’t love handmade pralines?…I don’t have any formal statistics on the matter, but I’m pretty sure everyone loves ‘em. At least everyone at our party did!

Alright, look out…the food here was amazing! I’m getting hungry just posting the photos…And, oh yes, that is my giant chocolate cake (below). Why am I always attracted to the least healthy thing on the dessert menu? Well, I just love chocolate. Again, who doesn’t?

Above: Our last name is Foster and so my husband thought he should show Baby O up close how Banana Fosters are made. Wow, they are delicious. I’d never had them before. See those three smiley girls above? That’s me (in purple), Katherine, and our other longtime best bud! Fun times.

Congratulations again, to my dear friend and her wonderful husband!

And so I was thrilled to be hired to photograph their baby‘s Wedding Day! Meet Jessica (on the left)…Mama & Mr. B’s “Baby”, and Ryan’s Beautiful Bride…

I was even more thrilled about the photography the more I learned about their exciting wedding day plans! The ceremony was at Star Hill Ranch, just outside Austin, Texas. The theme was something along the lines of Vintage, Earthy, Country. I was in love.

In order to make a weekend out of it, I drove up there the day beforehand with my family to get settled into our condo and to check out the happy couple {and the lighting} at the rehearsal. Here is what I found… …Super sweet, carefully planned details, such as this Goody Bag for Out-of-Town Guests {that is a wedding-dress-shaped beer opener!} and wonderful wedding party members. Pictured above-right, one of the two Flower Girls.

Below, here is a glimpse at all of the goodies inside the Goody Bag. Complete with a CD (of the band who played at their ceremony/reception), a map, and plenty of yummy late-night snacks… 

I stole a few quick photos of them (lovin’ the Texas flag behind them)… And I got a sneak peek at how beautiful their rings are…I was indeed feeling lucky to be the one to photograph their Big Day…

Gorgeous! At this point, the day before the Wedding, we were all hoping for clear skies. The couple had planned for an outdoor ceremony, and yet the weather looked ominous….Stay tuned for more!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend…Get out there and enjoy the Great Outdoors!

XOXO

Above: See those adorable grey flats? I want them! Too bad they are kid-size (they belong to the Jr. Bridesmaid, above).

Below: Mandy had these robes made for her Bridesmaids, with the Wedding Date on the backs. She said she envisioned them doing “Rocky”-like poses in them, so here they are…Don’t they look fierce?

Above: I loved these clever, personalized glasses that the girls were drinking out of. I found something similar online (though I suspect you could make them with chalkboard paint too).

Above: This sounds like a funny thing to say, but I really liked Mandy’s garter. It looks so soft and comfortable. It’s from Victoria’s Secret.

And I LOVED her cage-bird veil…So beautiful! Put in place here by her expert hair-stylist, Abigail Mosqueda (if you are getting married in Houston, TX, you should look her up!).

Below: We had very little time here, but this cute little settee looked like the perfect place for a gorgeous, vintage-style Bride to recline…

Below: Here she is with her best buds and makeup/hair stylists! Ready for the Big Celebration!!

Just down the street, at the Courtyard on St. James, Robert and his Groomsmen were anxiously waiting…

What a good-looking couple!

Below: We did some “normal” photos of the family and Wedding Party as well, but I couldn’t resist attempting something a la “Vanity Fair”, where people are in different little groupings, having their own conversations, and looking downright fabulous and too-cool-for-school…There are some funny ones, but here is one of my favorites.

On to the Reception!…

Above: Mandy & Robert met & started dating, but had to be long-distance for a little while. On their wedding blog they said that they would talk often, and play internet scrabble. I thought that would be a great idea for their ring shots (and a great excuse to buy myself a new Scrabble game)!

(Note: The cropping is funny in the second, in an effort to mask their last name, for privacy’s sake.)

Below: Can you tell how fun this party was? Mandy & Robert are very popular indeed…

…And all of their family & friends seem to be great dancers!

Time for the Tosses!

Below: Did you know there is some song about flipping your hair around? Apparently it’s really popular, and it’s by the daughter of Jada & Will Smith. Well, I didn’t know until this song came on and everyone started doing this….(Very impressive, by the way…I think I would fall over if I tried!)

And the “Send-Off” was done on the dance floor, with flower petals. I thought it was a great idea (Mandy was full of great ideas, actually!). I hope to go back and make these last three images “flash” back and forth so that it looks like the petals are in motion. Maybe I’ll get my “IT Guy” (i.e. Husband) to help me get that going. In the meantime, look how fun they are…

Well, my wonderful assistant & I had a fabulous time at this Wedding. The Wedding Party was so incredibly sweet, the wedding details were so stylish, and the Bride & Groom were so classy, energetic, and sincere. Oh, and the dancefloor was always full…I learned a lot of moves from even the youngest kids out there!

Congratulations again, Mandy & Robert!

Bruno is a brilliant mathematician and I think he looks very erudite in general. In this photo, I think he looks like a poet…

I think he was daydreaming about the Honeymoon in this one…

These cufflings were a gift from his Bride-to-Be…

I didn’t spend as much time with Ale, prior to the ceremony, but here a few gorgeous photos of her taken in the Garden of Bruno’s Grandmother’s house… What a beautiful bride!

I think this one of Ale’s brother and Dad is cute!

Bridal bouquet (L) and decorations at the ceremony (R) …

Photo Tip: Don’t over “sharpen” your web-sized photos prior to uploading…it’s an easy thing to do, but a bit of a pain to go back and correct (so I’m leaving this one, below, for now!). Photo Tip for getting this style of lighting (portrait on left) is to place the subjects in a manner that lets the sky highlight their eyes naturally. I used a little fill (camera flash) as well.

Vintage!…

The faraglioni rocks are in the background (can you see them??). These are very cool looking rocks with a lot of romantic lore surrounding them. In fact, my husband proposed to me (a few years ago) on the mountain behind Bruno and Ale, overlooking the faraglioni rocks. I love the photo below because Bruno looks sooo happy! And Ale is such a sweet, loving spouse. (I think she had just finished fixing his hair in this photo!)

Ah, what’s a Wedding in Italy without the lyrics to the famous song, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, That’s amore!”…

I really like the one above (left) and the one below….

In this photo (below) we’ve just arrived at their Wedding Reception at the lighthouse/faro! The reception was amazing! (And yes, I should do another post soon with details from the ceremony + reception). If you can imagine, it was a 5 course meal followed by 2 wedding cakes and a bouquet toss. It was amazing! My favorite dish on the menu? Cheese-filled Chocolate Ravioli! Love this photo of Bruno & Ale…

{Congratulations/Tanti Auguri to the Happy Newlyweds!!}

I asked my husband ahead of time if he had any fun ideas for posing the guys. He said that, when guys are all dressed up in tuxes, they feel really cool and sophisticated, like Cary Grant. So, I looked up images of Cary Grant online and, well, he always seemed to have a whiskey glass in his hand. Other than that, he often looked off-camera, with a confident aire. So, to be funny, here is Cris in a similar pose (with his Groomsmen on the lawn behind him)…

And, we ended up with a bunch of fun and funny photos of the Wedding Party, but here are just a few…I love the pretty trees here (on the grounds of the Capital Building)…

You can check out the Getting Ready Photos from their Wedding here. Today I’m working on photos from a few recent Portrait Sessions as well & I plan to post more soon. {Happy Wednesday!}

To make, I just folded a piece of blank computer paper in half, wrote their names (or a message would be cute as well, such as “Congrats!”), cut out a flag shape, and used a glue stick to sandwich the folded pieces together, around the toothpick. Quick & festive! 

I recently made this little headband to match some of Baby O’s outfits…

I think she looks sort of like a 1920′s baby in the last photo (minus the bright polka dots)…hehe.

{Happy Monday!}

Stay tuned for more Wedding Day Details…{Congratulations, K+C!}

First let me say, I am a lover of romantic vintage and handmade touches, especially for weddings! Marcy said the bouquet will use blue hydrangeas which are lovely and make me think of words like, “feminine”, “classy”, and “sweet” (not to mention beautiful). If you want to bring punches of your wedding colors into the bouquet, I think this photo (from the french bouquet tulsa) shows a lovely idea of including large peach and white roses. These, in my mind, help perpetuate the theme of “feminine/classy/sweet”. To work counterclockwise here, let me point out the photo to the left of the bouquet (BL). I was searching for a blueberry wedding cake online, with the idea that a crisp white cake topped with gorgeous dark blue blueberries would be a clever way to bring in the navy (I liked it better than the idea of wrapping the tiers with navy ribbon, for instance). I found a perfect photo* of a blueberry cake (in the background) AND I think this navy/white teacup holding blue hydrangeas is an adorable touch as well…I could see these scattered around the dessert table for some easy charm.

TL: I love when the Bride wears colored/interesting shoes under her dress! This shop has really cute flower shoe clips… I like the white clips on blue shoes (pictured here) or even the peach clips on white ballerina flats, for example (The Bride would probably be much more comfortable in flats!). The next photo shoes a creative idea for making handmade “lunchbags” for the out-of-town guests. These adorable bags could be waiting for them at the hotel reception desk when they check in. If these are too much, you can always make a simpler version. Just below that is a plate that has been decoupaged…Use a smaller plate to decoupage table numbers. TM is a rosette necklace idea for the Bridesmaids. I must confess, I did not yet find one in a perfectly peach tone. This necklace was a bit darker (like coral) and I lightened it before adding it to my board. I don’t know if the designer takes custom orders, but I imagine you could request this color and/or search Etsy for something similar. TR: Bridesmaid dress idea from JCrew. Dead Center: beautiful and very feminine garter* idea. (I later found this one for sale online & think it would be perfect.)

In the BR corner I’ve shown peach cabochon earings (perhaps for the Bridesmaids) and a fun wedding favor idea (homemade jam*). I love the handmade look of these jars. I think it would be easy to put together something similar…You could even do something like blueberry and peach jam. Get family and friends to help whip up a big batch and can them. Then cut out some fabric circles with navy fabric and tie with cute ribbon or bakers twine. If you want to order pre-made labels, I did find this lady’s shop and really love her products. She didn’t have something in the right color palette, but I imagine she would take custom orders as well.

Well, Marcy, thank you for your comment and request! I hope your friend has a wonderful time planning the details for her Special Day {And, if she decides she might want an out-of-town photographer, I’d love to visit with her.} Keep in Touch!

*Photos of Cake, Garter, & Jam all from StyleMePretty.com.