Archive for 2009

Uhm, I know I adore almost all of my couples but I really *love* Stephanie and Kevin. Love love love. Ok, well, this is more personal than I usually get… but my best friend in Ohio (where I’m from) is Maggie Yao, married to Simon Yao, whom I credit for sparking my interest in wedding photography. But before I knew Simon I knew Maggie… my best friend Maggie, I love her. The point is that Maggie was born in Hong Kong and Simon was born in Taiwan and they are both world-rocking, life-changing people here in Whitney Lee Land. So… unbeknown to Stephanie and Kevin… when Stephanie told me that she is from Taiwan and Kevin from Hong Kong they were instantly yet deeply endeared to me. Add in their love for Rock Band (they had a ‘first Rock Band’ in lieu of a first dance) and, well, they may very well become my Texas bffs. Don’t tell Maggie and Simon.

See Stephanie & Kevins engagement photos here!

Wedding Vendors:
Ceremony, Reception, and Flowers: Villa St. Clair
Cake: Rosemary’s Creations
Dress: Julius Bridal

P.S. Stephanie send me some pretty candid, hilarious vendor reviews, please enjoy them below:

Ceremony, reception, and flowers: Villa St. Clair. www.villastclair.com Someone asked if I picked sunflowers since I went to UT Law (the “school flower” is the sunflower), but that wasn’t why. I just like them.

Cake: Rosemary’s Creations. I found her on Craigslist. Super reasonably priced, and the cake tasted awesome. I kind of wish I’d ordered more…

Dress: Julius Bridal (www.juliusbridal.com). I was a little concerned it might be a scam at first, but I got my dress and as far as I know my identity hasn’t been stolen by anyone in Uzbekistan or anything. I did have major alterations done by Lupe Cardenas, who I think does alterations for Unbridaled too. She is totally fabulous.

Planner: We didn’t have a wedding planner, although I guess you could say the Villa St. Clair people coordinated some day-of stuff. We planned all the rest. Kevin put together the Excel spreadsheet because trying to think in a linear manner makes my head explode.

Shoes: Chinese Laundry, purchased on 6pm.com (Zappos’s sale site).

Beer: Costco. You should’ve seen the looks on people’s faces when we were walking out with one of those big flat carts piled high with cases of beer. And then we only went through half the cases at the wedding…so we looked like lushes for no reason.

Wine: Spec’s. Almost done with the last bottles…

Makeup/hair: Angela Parker, owner of Lucie Marie on Location (www.luciemarie.com). Hilarious, professional, and reasonably priced.

Eyelash extensions: Avenue Five Institute. It’s a school, so it was way cheaper than other eyelash extension places, and I thought they did a pretty good job. Only drawback: they had a class on how to do a bikini wax going on in the room where the aesthetician was doing my eyelashes. Weird, yet oddly entertaining.

I’ve been photographing weddings for over 10 years now, and this is the first Chinese/Jewish wedding that I have had the pleasure of photographing. Leah (pronounced Lay-Ahhh, like the princess) first contacted me about photographing her wedding when she was pregnant. It was actually pretty hilarious, I suggested that we meet in person to talk more about her wedding and she replied “I can’t say for sure when I’ll be available, as we’re expecting our little girl very soon, today most likely… I actually woke up this morning because of my water breaking!”

See Leah & Evan’s engagement photos here!

Wedding Vendors:
Ceremony & Reception: One World Theatre
Cake: Coco Paloma Desserts
Dress: Emerald Bridal

Erin is a sweet teacher who works on the east side and thought it would be nice to do her shoot there as well. We had a great time, and she received tons of compliments as we walked the street. She also got a little…unwanted attention. As we were walking to a new location she got pooped on by a bird! She was such a good sport though, and I was able to towel her off and keep going. That’s Erin, nice and easy going. Enjoy!

Check back for her wedding soon!

Man, these two are CUTE! I can’t wait to photograph their wedding at Vintage Villas on New Year’s Eve!

What could be better than a St. Patrick’s Day wedding! Some shamrocks, green details, and homebrewed beer…mmmmmm… Jennifer told me before the wedding that she and John take pride in throwing fabulous parties. Sure enough, their wedding was no exception. Ear-to-ear smiles abounded!

See Jennifer & Johns engagement photos here!

Wedding Vendors:
Florist: Central Market Westgate
Cake: Sweet Austin
Planner: Danielle Penland of One Fine Day Weddings
Ceremony & Reception: Mercury Hall
Dress: J. Crew
DJ: Platinum Music Productions