bragging on my brides

I feel like I'm always telling myself how lucky I am to get to work with the people I do. Most of my wedding clients become my friends, and it feels so good to know that you're trusted and respected as an artist. I know it may be because I'm a female, but it's exciting for me to get to hear each love story and to capture the personality and style of every bride. Of course, all of my brides are in tune with my photography style, so it's always a great collaboration. They are all just so awesome!

I hardly ever get to post bridals, since they're typically done before the wedding and most brides want to keep the dress a secret. But since I've been shooting lots of weddings lately, I can share these! Here are some of the gorgeous ladies I've gotten to photograph lately-

Bandi- Amarillo, TX

Courtney- Lubbock, TX. I was booked for Courtney's wedding day, but still got to shoot her Engagement and Bridal. 

Claire- Weatherford, TX. We shot Claire's bridal session two days before her wedding. Thanks to Claire's laid-back attitude, we got some beautiful images and still had prints at the reception!

Claire also wanted to get a few in more casual attire. She looked great!

Amber- Lubbock, TX

Courtney- Lubbock, TX

nathan + courtney • wedding • first baptist church, lubbock tx

I finally returned back home for a wonderful Lubbock wedding. I knew that Nathan and Courtney's day would be gorgeous and full of lots of great friends and family. We also had some amazing weather- more on that later!

Side note: Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, this is a PHOTO blog. Lately I've been hesitant to post so many images, but I can't NOT post them! So, if you have a slow internet connection, I apologize. Just be patient, let the images load. It's worth it!

We began the day at First Baptist Church, and there were so many wonderful details to capture.

Courtney looked gorgeous, and was so relaxed and ready to see her husband!

The guys were really feelin' the love, haha.

Love this one that Shanna got.

Nathan and Courtney chose to do a First Glance, which really allowed for a relaxed, fun day and creative portraits!

My view:

Shanna's view:

Little Sophia was the PERFECT flower girl. She was so sweet, and also entertained the guests with her dinosaur crawl!

The reception was held at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion at Texas Tech. It had been a beautiful day, but about midway into the party it started to storm. We stepped outside to look, and I held my camera up hoping that I could catch a lightning strike. The image below is what resulted!

It's a tradition in Courtney's family to include the African-American tradition of "jumping the broom" after they say their vows. This broom even had a cute bow on it!

I finally met another Lissa! I was so excited, I decided we should take a picture together. That's her Dad in the background.

Thanks so much you guys! It was truly a pleasure!

shiloh + amber • wedding

I got to head to my hometown last weekend to photograph Amber and Shiloh's wedding. I grew up with Amber and it was so, so good to get to see her and many other old friends! Amber wanted a Parisian feel to the whole day, and it really was gorgeous. I loved getting to watch Shiloh and Amber together- they were both so excited yet so at peace with all that was going on. Thanks you guys- hope you LOVED Jamaica!

They had some of the cutest kiddos around...

Love these girls!

Let's talk for a second about how gorgeous Amber is. Really- she's gorgeous!

Reading notes they wrote to each other. Shiloh convinced Amber that was all she was getting as her "gift".

Then I stopped them to see if she could hold this extra camera I had around my neck. Amber's so nice, she didn't think twice about it.

And Shiloh said, "Well actually, you're holding your gift!"

Thanks for letting me play along, Shiloh!

Which ring shot do you like better?

The ceremony was beautiful- I loved this runner that my Mom painted their monogram on. Great job, Mom!

Check out the hunter guy in the tree scoping out the deer cake topper.

Amber's cake was very Eiffel Tower-esque.

Amber's Dad breaking it down to the floor.

Love these shots of that Shanna snagged.

richard + claire • wedding

I feel like I've been very absent from the blogosphere this week- mostly because I've been working on LOTS of great new things that you will all see soon! And if I haven't been working on those projects, I've been traveling.

This 4th of July I had the privilege of shooting our friends Richard and Claire's wedding in Weatherford, Texas- near Fort Worth. You may remember their super-creative proposal that I also got to document. Saturday was a very special day- and I'm so glad I got to be there! Shawn was a groomsmen, so it was also nice to see his face and hang out with family and college friends.

There are so many beautiful images I like- I'll just let them speak for themselves.

Here's how the day started out:

My favorite ring shot ever.

These would be man feet. Richard's brothers really got into the festivities.

His mother also made the cakes- which were SO delicious.

This one makes me laugh.

Richard workin' it.

Gorgeous.

I accomplished this shot holding the camera as high as I could over my head...I'm pretty sure the guests near me were doubtful of my legitimacy at that point. :) Whatever works, right?

Married! And relieved...

Perfect ending to a 4th of July wedding!

Richard + Claire- thank you guys so much for everything! I know that you two are perfect for each other and it has been amazing to get to watch you encourage, challenge, and love one another.

blake + stancy • wedding

This is your warning...this blog post is completely overloaded with images. If you have a slow internet connection, little patience, or no tolerance for pretty people stop now.

I LOVED shooting this wedding. We experienced a downpour, and still it made no difference to the beautiful occasion that was Blake and Stancy's wedding. These two are wonderful as individuals and for each other. Thanks for letting us be a part of your day!

We first caught Stancy in the middle of writing a note to her husband-to-be.

The wedding was at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Amarillo. I absolutely love shooting here.

Let's not forget her fabulous dress...

My view:

Shanna's view:

The storm clouds started rolling in right about the time we took the guys out for portraits. I'm sure I was making a spectacle of myself, gushing over the incredible clouds we had in the background!

My fave.

Ducks...fly...together... :)

This chest bump gets a 5.0.

Finally, it was time for the first glance!

Stancy was making her way down the aisle, and I heard Blake say, "Stancy- hurry up!" He was so excited to see his bride.

As we were wrapping up the last few portraits, the rain came. I felt like God had waited just for us!

And in a matter of minutes this was the scene outside the church-

But it didn't matter- it was time to get married!

Stancy requested that we get a few images of them in this little side room right after the ceremony. Love it!

Congratulations you guys! Hope you're enjoying Belize!

where has my husband been?

For those of you who have approximately 5 minutes of your time to waste, I thought I'd share this video from A Road Less Traveled. This is what happens when you send a bunch of boys (ahem, men) to a middle school camp for a week.

stancy • bridal

I don't usually get around to posting bridal photoshoots, but I'm excited to show you this gorgeous bride. Stancy got married last Saturday and so now I'm free to share!

I just loved her style- so simple and chic. We had a great time shooting. Stancy is a photographer as well (check out her site) and I'm glad to call her friend.

family session • puerto rico

My Mom reminded me last Christmas how her daughter was a photographer and still she had no family pictures. So, for a suprise Mother's/Father's Day gift, I booked a photographer to shoot a session for us during our time in Puerto Rico last month.

Orlando Negron did a great job with the group I gave him- it's not easy to comfortably pose 6 adults. It was great to get to watch another professional work, and also be able to appreciate their unique perspective. I love that ONE, we have recent pictures of our family, and TWO, that they're in beautiful San Juan!

I'll definitely be looking to include a portrait session in our future vacations- definitely the best investment I made.

Here are a few of my favorites-

reece • 1 year

The last time I saw my friends Jody and Miranda little Reece was in the womb! I was soooo excited to meet her. (Of course it was wonderful to see her parents, too!)

This little girl is so cheerful and full of expression. I couldn't have asked for a better session. Here are a few of my faves:

Droolage!

jenny + david • wedding

Jenny and David's wedding was an all-day event, and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of it! These two were surrounded by a fun group of family and friends. I hadn't met David until this day, so I was a little unsure about what it would be like- but his love for Jenny was so clear- as was hers for him.

We started out at Holy Faith Catholic Church here in Lubbock-

There were lots of great details, and Jenny was so excited.

She MADE her half Tech, half A&M garter.

This flower girl was such a ham, and so sweet. You'll see her quite a bit!

Love this one that Shanna captured-

During the ceremony, the groomsmen pulled out Cracker Jack sacks and a Ring Pop when asked for the ring. It threw the priest off so badly that he totally forgot about the vows until later!

We headed outside for some portraits right before a freak hailstorm! We caught these in a total of THREE minutes.

This is one of those in-betweeners that just makes me laugh. I love moments like this!

The reception was at the 4 Bar K, and it was the perfect venue for their party.

I liked several from their first dance. They can move!

The 4 Bar K had a resident shoe shiner, or should I say, boot shiner...

This is one brave bride! I wonder how Tuxedo Junction feels about this. :)

Congratulations you two!