This styled shoot was a collaboration with Uptown Events and Travel and their spirit of adventure shows through.

Austin Styled Elopement

This tiny church is located in Kingsbury, Texas. Similar churches are dotted around east Austin including New Sweden Church in Manor. It felt right to have our couple start out at an old country church.

A Classic Car Get-Away

Why a classic car? We love cars. It’s always fun to combine genres so we brought in some of our automotive photography to this styled wedding shoot.

A Secluded Evening Together

Continuing the theme of adventure, we imagined a secluded evening in a natural setting complete with a reflected sunset in a still lake, a camp fire and music.

Time for the Honeymoon

What is not to love about a beautiful couple paired with a great vintage style biplane?

Breaking the 4th wall for a minute, this part of the shoot was probably the most challenging. The biplane lives at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. We had about 2 hours total in the middle of a July afternoon, including setup and tear-down. And of course, it was a crystal clear and scorching hot Texas July day. Thanks to having a great team, everything went quick and smooth. If anything, we made way more great pictures than it makes sense to share.

The Team

The photos in this blog post were shot by #TeamBlue partners Josh Baker and Andrew Fritz. Coordination and much of the styling, including access to the Biplane was handled by Uptown Events & Travel. The biplane was provided by Austin Biplane. The Bridal Bouquet and other floral styling provided by Malleret Designs.

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You know it’s going to be a fun day when the groom, groomsmen and bride have this much character.

Buda Wedding Ceremony

One of the iconic (and one of our favorite) things about central Texas are the live oak trees. Their towing canopies give outdoor spaces the feeling of a cathedral. They made the perfect roof for Chris and Jennifer’s outdoor wedding ceremony.

Formals

With the ceremony ending around blue hour, we knocked out some quick formal portraits around the property.

Ruby Ranch Lodge has a done of great portrait locations. We always love taking advantage of a classic vehicle, whether it is pristine or rough. All the festoon lights create a wonderful glow after the sun goes down.

Ruby Ranch Lodge Wedding Reception

Ruby Ranch Lodge is built like a log cabin on the inside. It’s got a wonderful warm rustic feel.

“Not Pictures,” Jennifer loves her Dachshund and is an animal lover. In fact, we met her through my wife when she worked at the vet clinic. If you can’t bring the dachshund to the wedding, at least you can feature him prominently as part of your cake topper along side a selection of tiny tarts, cup-cakes and pies.

With all the official items out of the way, the it was time to party. The bride slipped into a less formal dress and everyone kicked back and hit the dance floor. With such a carefree crowd, it was a log of fun to witness (and photograph).

Ruby Ranch Lodge wedding reception over, Chris and Jennifer headed out to live happily ever after!

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This Hindu-Christian fusion wedding wasn’t our first fusion wedding, but we continue to really enjoy the melding of cultures. Each wedding approaches the fusion differently.

Jay and Samira’s wedding stuck to the compact wedding day form used in most US Christian services. You could be forgiven for mistaking a more traditional Hindu wedding as a multi-day festival (which is really what they are). Instead, Jay and Samira had a Sangheet on Friday and a simple service and reception on Saturday.

What is a Sangheet? The word means music, and a Sangheet in this context is a pre-party. There is often a Henna artist at the Sangheet working on the bride, and other female wedding guests.

A First Look

Almost every culture, including Christian and Hindu, have a tradition of keeping the bride and groom separate until the ceremony. It’s suppose to make the ceremony extra special (and also dates back to a time when it might literally have been the first time you saw your new spouse). Some people adhere to the tradition, but many others have started a new tradition: the first look. It gives the couple a chance to have that special moment privately with the exception of the photographers of course.

Wedding Ceremony Under the Oaks

Heart of Texas ranch is nestled in the hill country near Marble Falls. There are few things more ubiquitous in the Texas hill country than live oaks. Jay and Samira had their outdoor wedding ceremony under the canopy of majestic oaks.

Central Texas Wedding Portraits

Heart of Texas Ranch Wedding Reception

Wedding ceremony over, formal portraits in the can, it was time to party.

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Cathedral Oaks Engagement Photos

Sometimes our engagement photos take us far afield. We stayed closer to home for Nicole and James, specifically in Belton, TX. Their wedding was going to be at Cathedral Oaks and they loved the towering oak trees. As soon as their engagement photo session kicked off, I realized that Nicole and James are wacky fun.

They had a great chemistry and pretty much riffed off each other the entire session. James even got tackled by Nicole at one point…

Why yes, we will climb a tree and snuggle in it…

Engagement Photos Under the Stars

After spending sunset at Cathedral Oaks, we headed a little south to the the San Gabriel river in Jonah. This is a local fishing and swimming spot during the summer. The river flows over a flat limestone bed. Most places it is inches deep, and it runs still unless there has been recent rain. That means reflections. Add a dose of Texas stars and, well, see for yourself.

With a little bit of wading through ankle deep water (not to mention careful foot placement) you can get out into the center of the river. Mist was rising off the water thanks to the cooler fall temperatures.

Did I mention that Nicole and James like to have fun and are a little nerdy? We got along really well. 🙂

A little quick work with a drill and some battery powered Christmas lights gave us a light up light saber. Nicole borrowed one of my prop-pained blasters.

These aren’t the most elaborate cos-play photos (or even cos-play at all) I’ve ever made, but they are a lot of fun.

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Lots of places try to duplicate or emulate the texture that a long history gives you, but there is nothing like the real thing. The old sign for the church is a wonderful reminder of a century of worship at this church, with countless weddings. Marraige can be scary, and like so many things in life, no one gives you a manual. Just knowing that thousands of other couples came before you in a place, and were married, is reassuring. A church like this would have been the hub of the community. It’s nice to see it serving that function still.

St John’s is a tiny country church built to serve a very sparse community of farmers in the area. The building is a beautiful timber-frame structure and made a wonderful setting for their intimate wedding.

Austin and Megan’s old fashion wedding service was very touching in the small church. Rather than separating them from their guests, the tiny space brought everyone together. Austin and Meagan started their life together in an intimate setting with their closest family and friends.

Old Fashion Wedding Portraits

Anyone that grew up in South Texas knows that the skies here can put on a show. The land is flat, broken only by the occasional oak trees. Stormy skies during the mid afternoon often means a dramatic sunset.

Old Fashion Wedding Reception

There is beauty in simplicity. We see a lot of couples go to a lot of work crafting their receptions. That’s great, but it can be a distraction, and in some cases you can see that stress keeping them from being fully present in the moment.

Austin and Meagan went the polar opposite of the elaborate, highly managed route. They had a simple reception in the church’s banquet hall. Like their wedding, it was an intimate affair focused on them without all the fan fair some seem to want. There was almost nothing to distract the couple from each other and the commitment they had just made.

Serving each other cake is one of those old fashion traditions that has a lot of fun potential. Some couples are very polite, but Meagan apparently took offense at how she was served cake, and let Austin know it.

Big Texas Skies

Their wedding and the church was out in the fields of south central Texas, just outside Stockdale. There were stormy skies all day and the sunset did not disappoint. We stepped out of their reception for a little sunset wedding portrait action.

Check out Austin and Meagan’s Landa Park engagement photos.

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Towering green oak trees, wonderful evening light, a radiant bride and a handsome groom. What more could you want?

Cathedral Oaks Wedding Portraits

It’s hard to argue with a canopy of beautiful green oak trees. The deep and lush green color offset the warm red sash and orange colors of Haley’s bouquet. When you have a beautiful bride, and a beautiful location, bridal portraits are easy.

Haley and Hunters Cathedral Oaks wedding started just after sunset. In some ways, that makes the photographer’s job tougher, but in others it helps. The low ambient light level let us bring out the glow from the main ball room at Cathedral Oaks.

Cathedral Oaks Wedding Reception

First dances can be really special. They are one of the few “alone” moments a couple has on their wedding day, even if there is a crowd watching them. They get a chance to get close and have a moment together.

Cake cutting is one of those things that just about everyone does. Some couples do it special. The look on Hunter’s face gave us a pretty good indication that he knew what was coming.

With the “formalities” finished (and the cake wiped off everyone’s face), it was time to party.

Cathedral Oaks is one of our favorite wedding venue’s to work with. Not only is the outside space beautiful, with its towering evergreen oak trees, but they have set the entire venue up perfectly for weddings. Wedding run smooth, backgrounds are beautiful and the staff is extremely competent and professional.

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1st United Methodist

Anyone from Seguin has seen 1st United Methodist. It sits on Austin street just north of downtown Seguin and it’s a fixture in the community. The inside to 1st United Methodist is pretty spectacular as small churches go with a lot of stained glass, high ceilings and a large organ above the alter. The church made a great backdrop for Tracy and Miles’ big day.

Guadalupe River Wedding Portraits

Tracy and Miles’ reception was held at The River Venue along the Guadalupe river in New Braunfels. The venue, as you might guess from the name, is along the Guadalupe river with great west views. We stepped out during the reception for some quick sunset wedding portraits.

This July in Texas was pretty dry. We had a little bit of orange glow, but no clouds to give us a spectacular sunset. Instead we had some fun with a little smoke.

New Braunfels Wedding Reception

After the wedding ceremony in Seguin, everyone made the short drive to New Braunfels for the wedding reception at The River Venue along the Guadalupe. It’s a very warm and inviting space full of natural wood with a deck and lawn along the river.

The reception got a little wild as Tracy’s dad belted out Bennie and the Jets with his daughters singing backup. This wasn’t your normal karaoke rendition. It was more of a jaw dropping performance.

As you might expect from someone that puts on a great musical perfomance, Tracy’s dad was a little bit of a party animal. It’s always fun to watch people cut loose at a wedding reception.

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Jeska is a professional model and Guy is a professional musician and song writer. They are a couple that likes to be in front of people and knows how to put on an performance. Neither of them is shy and they both like to bring it when it comes to a photo session.

The end end we had a lot of fun making these photos as a collaboration. We only had a small time slot when we were all free from our professional obligations at the conference. We stepped out and worked with the fountains and lights of the Hilton hotel and convention center.

Funky Engagement Photos

We mixed in a lot of color and effects like shutter drag in these funky engagement photos. We wanted them to feel a little like the couple was on stage.

They aren’t your traditional engagement photos, but they match the couple’s personality perfectly and we love that.

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Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Things kicked off with a little fishin’. Haley hooked a bass right off.

Hunter, very thoughtfully we thought, made sure to only catch a tiny bass. I’m sure he just didn’t want to overshadow Haley’s catch.

Fishing complete, our outdoor couple headed back to base camp and changed for the second half of their engagement session.

Getting Prettied Up

The bard wire contrasts with the beauty of Haley’s engagement ring. I liked how the rust and light blue of the corrugated sheet metal wall behind the ring complimented the ring. The barbed wire seemed fitting for this outdoor couple. Their friends farm had interesting hills, and erosion features.

Haley put on a beautiful flowing copper colored dress and Hunter went with the class: jeans, boots and a button down shirt. The rolling hills of eastern-central Texas, the fall colors and their outfits all go perfectly together.

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Lest you think Chris and Samantha weren’t excited about pictures, remember their soaked engagement session from earlier in the year.

Chapel Dulcinea Wedding Ceremony

There is something really wonderful about being a part of a wedding service, even from the outside. Services like this are full of genuine emotions and touching moments. Their simplicity serves to highlight the couple and the lifelong commitment they are making to each other.

Formal Portraits at a Chapel Dulcinea Elopement

Formal wedding photos can be stressful if not handled right. Everyone has to be wrangled into one location, posed, etc. We always try to make them fun and fast so the wedding party can get on with enjoying their big day. In this case, it was easy. Everyone was in such high spirits and it shows through in the pictures.

Once we finished the pictures of all the guests, we took a little time to make portraits of Chris and Samantha.

We work fast, but we also try to make the couples portraits relaxing. They are a chance for the couple to have a few minutes together “off stage” between their service and reception.

Chapel Dulcinea’s location south-west of Austin puts it in the hill country. The chapel can face great sunsets if the weather cooperates. With the overcast skies there wasn’t a sunset. We chose to use the path leading to the chapel for a nice portrait of the couple.

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