A few of our favorite things about being a wedding photographer

Tear drops on shoulders and dance moves that smolder– these are a few of my favorite things! (to the tune of “my favorite things”)

I LOVE my job. Getting to be a part of such a magical time in people’s lives makes me so happy. I love that I’m there to capture and save your precious moments to film (or a digital format).

These are a few of my most favorite things about being a wedding photographer

  • Tears! seriously, tears. I love capturing those raw moments when a bride is crying on her father’s shoulder because she’s so happy. When a groom can’t hold it together because he’s so happy in this moment as the love of his life walks down the isle toward him, my heart melts. (My heart of Ice, my husband says).
  • “Trust me, you can dance” says alcohol. Watching everyone at your wedding loosen up to dance is awesome to watch! I’ve seen grown men attempt to do the worm (after an 8-year old just showed him up). Seriously, those dance tunnels that occur almost organically at weddings are AMAZING! I find the end of the tunnel and just wait for the magic to happen.
  • All of the smiles and hugs that Andy and I get at the end of the night. We work hard to make sure that your wedding goes off with out a hitch (or as little of one as possible) we do out best to help answer questions, to fix trains and direct traffic, and of coarse we do out best to capture every precious moment. It makes us feel like we’ve truly exceeded your expectations and made your day amazing. All the warm fuzzies!

 

Southwest Houston Bridal Shower

Saturday I was invited to photograph a bridal shower. I’ve never shot a bridal shower before. It was interesting taking a wedding approach to a bridal shower party.

The decorations were amazing. Estefani’s sister did an amazing job hosting the party. She had so many fun games for people to play. Drama Queen Drinks & Things was there with several custom margaritas including a chamoy margarita. The food. OhMyGod the food was amazing!

There was a part of the house that had giant flowers in Estefani’s wedding colors (except for the pink) with her wedding date. We chose to take portraits in front of that wall. It was also conveniently located steps away from the margaritas!

What are the Urban’s up to?

Ugh, It’s been a busy several weeks. I wish I’d thought ahead and written a ton of blogs to schedule… alas I hate blogging, so I didn’t.

Today, I just wanted to catch you up on what’s going on in the Urban household.

Tristan started kindergarten around the end of August. It’s been a little stressful for me trying to figure out our new routine, but he LOVES it! He was happy to find a friend in his class from his old daycare. He also is constantly telling me about several different girls, one set of twins and another girl in his class. I’m concerned about his love for the ladies… Andy and I are going to have to keep both eyes on him when he gets older.

Andy started a new job around the middle of the summer setting up networking for rigs. It’s an exciting job for him with some travel and a chance to get more cyber security experience. I would say he is getting an exciting opportunity to travel on the companies dime, however he sometimes is a little anxious about it. Shortly, he’ll be making a trip to Israel. I hope he gets to do some sight seeing, but I don’t think he will. The furthest he has ever traveled outside the US was to Antigua for our honeymoon.

As for myself, I’m easing into a life as a full time photographer. I’ve spent the last several weeks meeting with stunning wedding venues around the greater Houston and surrounding area. I’m working with a wedding coordinator at A Splendid Event to develop a styled wedding shoot that I’ve been thinking about for a long time now. Lori has been amazing. I am so blessed to have met her. Hopefully, we’ll be able to work on many other projects together.

This fall is going to be so exciting. I have a couple of amazing weddings I am ecstatic to be photographing, and several engagement portraits. Andy and I just met a fun couple last weekend who booked us for their 2020 wedding. They have a really interesting idea for their engagement portraits that I can’t wait for.

That’s all for now.

Steph & Jess’s Wedding Celebration at White Oaks on the Bayou in Simonton Texas

Jess & Steph had an intimate wedding in December of 2018, but decided to celebrate their marriage with friends and family this August.

The party was a good ol’ country get together at White Oaks on the Bayou with BBQ, boots and a country band. The Cody Ray Henry Band played a wide variety of music from country to 70’s rock music. People were two steppin’ line dancin’ and all around bogeying (yeah I went there…).

Close to the end of the night, all of the Aggie’s in the room (which was more than half of the room) circled around the dance floor for the Aggie War hymn.

 


Vendors

Venue: White Oaks on the Bayou
Cake: Sassy Apron
Hair: Jenny Arellano @ Bellus Salon
Makeup: Bespoken Beauty
DJ: Cody Ray Henry Band
Linens: Well Planned Events
Catering: Swinging Door

Danny & Mimi’s Magical Houston Arboretum Wedding Photography

Oh man has it ever been HOT! August in Texas can be a bit unbearable, but a beautiful wedding ceremony like the one Danny & Mimi had make it worth weathering the heat.

Right before they were to get married, Danny & Mimi had an intimate moment where they held hands without seeing each other. There was laughter and a little bit of tears. Andy I like to hang back a bit while taking these photos to give the couple some actual privacy.

The Houston Arboretum was teaming with life and color as Mimi walked down the isle toward her beaming groom.

Mimi’s bridesmaids were resplendent in their soft yellow dresses, that reminded me of flower petals. The grooms men looked dapper in their blue tuxes with pale yellow touches.

At the end of the ceremony, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house… that could have been sweat, or it could have been because of how sweet the whole ceremony was.

This wedding was extra special to me because my parents got married at the same location over 35 years ago. It was surreal walking around where they stood years ago taking photos of someone else getting ready to start the same amazing journey. 

 

 

Take a look at their engagement photos – here

 


Vendors

Venue: Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
Cake: HEB
Grooms Cake: Cakes by Gina
Flowers: Lisa Seals
Hair & Makeup: Minette’s Amazing Hair
DJ: Events by Duke
Wedding Dress Design: Rebecca Ingram from Mayfair Bridal Inc.

 

Gabe & Katy’s Urban Richmond Engagement Portraits

It has been such a HOT few days. On Saturday, Andy and I photographed a wedding and on Sunday evening, I met Gabe & Katy out at old Richmond to take their engagement portraits.

Gabe, Katy and I plodded around the area taking engagement photos around the court house and by the train tracks as the sun set behind us. We found some amazing locations to take photos at. I love just wondering around an area and seeing what might work. Every time I go to old Richmond, I find a new and exciting location to take photos at.

About Gabe & Katy:

Gabe & Katy have known each other since they were 10-years old, swimming with their summer swim-team league. However, they didn’t really start to talk and flirt until they were older.

How did Gabe propose?

It was the end of mid-terms for college and Gabe told me that he wanted to take me to Galveston to decompress. We went to Stewart Beach, where we spent the day swimming and playing at the beach. At the end of the day, we went back to our hotel room to change, so Gabe could take me to dinner. When we left the restaurant, Gabe suggested we take a walk on the beach and as we were walking he was saying all these sweet things about how he wanted our life to be and how much he loved me and cared about me and when I turned around to give him a hug and a kiss, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him.

Traditions Vs. Non-Traditions — Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue

As a wedding photographer in the business for several years now I have seen a lot of tradition at weddings and a lot of non-traditional weddings. First off, every wedding is different. It’s like a snowflake or a fingerprint. Each wedding is entirely unique to its couple.

This is the 5th part in a series of traditions vs non-traditions

5. Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue

Yet another Victorian era tradition. It was said that when the items are procured for your wedding (especially to be worn during the ceremony) it will bring you good fortune. Something old to connect the bride to her past, something new to signify starting a new chapter of your lives, something borrowed was supposed to be given by another happily married couple to pass their good fortune on and something blue to represent faithfulness and loyalty in a relationship.

Honestly, the more I research this topic, the more I fall in love with it. I love photographing those details that have meaning, in the first place.

What do you think?

Now that you know the reasons behind this tradition, will you consider it? I know I borrowed a necklace (made out of reclaimed items) from my mom when I got married and there was some blue on the bottom of my shoes. I didn’t know the history behind it, but I am glad that I did it anyway.

Danny & Mimi’s Double Location Urban Engagement Portraits

On their seventh year anniversary, Danny & Mimi went out to eat at the Spindletop downtown. Afterwards, he told Mimi he had to stop by work and grab something. This was just a ruse to drive to the William’s Tower. Once they arrived, Danny told her about the waterwall and that he just wanted to show it to Mimi since they were in the area. As soon as they got in front of the water wall, Danny dropped to a knee and proposed.

Fittingly, I met with Danny and Mimi for their engagement portraits at the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall. In my 30-years of living in this city, I’ve never been to before. The location was pretty awesome with not only a great urban structure, but also a nice crops of trees. We managed to get there at the perfect time. There were just a few people taking photos, but by the time we finished with this location, the waterwall was clogged with bodies and cameras.

From there, we got into our cars and headed back to Richmond to take a few more engagement portraits as the golden hour deepened. Mimi & Danny had an outfit change then we were off to take more photos around old Richmond (and the railroad tracks).

What is so sweet is that the two dressed in their upcoming wedding colors. What a great idea! These photos will really tie into the whole theme of their wedding.

How did they meet?

“I had seen her once while she came to where I worked. She made me freeze everything I was doing and commanded all of my attention. I knew nothing about her and prayed I would run into her again. About a month later, she came into where I worked and she was interviewing for a job and as soon as she was done and left, I went over to my boss and told her to hire her. The rest is history.” – Danny

I absolutely love Danny’s explanation on their first encounter. It gives me literal chills.

Top 10 Country Wedding Looks

My most favorite weddings to photograph are rustic, country weddings. Maybe it’s because I’m a native, or maybe it’s because of my lack of country music knowledge… Probably not.

Below are some of my favorite looks from past rustic country weddings I have had the pleasure to be the wedding photographer for. 

Traditions Vs. Non-Traditions — White Wedding Dress

As a wedding photographer in the business for several years now I have seen a lot of tradition at weddings and a lot of non-traditional weddings. First off, every wedding is different. It’s like a snowflake or a fingerprint. Each wedding is entirely unique to its couple.

This is the 4th part in a series of traditions vs non-traditions

4. The white wedding dress

3. Bridesmaids & Grooms Men
2. Bridal Bouquet
1. Bad luck to see the bride before the wedding

Before the 1800s brides actually wore red wedding dresses instead of the now, traditional white (which is supposed to represent purity). In many cultures today a red wedding dress is actually traditional. It wasn’t until Queen Victoria wore a white dress when she married Prince Albert that white wedding dresses became a thing.

95% of the brides I have had the pleasure of photographing have had a white wedding dress. Two of the weddings I have been a wedding photographer for (in my career) have had something other than a white dress. One was a themed (Dickins on the Strand) wedding and the other was a gorgeous powder-pink dress that her grandmother made.

Every dress is unique, and on par with the bride’s personality. Some of my favorite wedding dresses I have seen have had pockets (yup! Freakin’ pockets!), been pink or just looked so stunning on the bride it had to become a favorite of mine.

 

What do you think?

Are you going to have a traditional wedding dress, or are you thinking about shaking things up?

Welcome

I'm so glad you stopped by. I love sharing my experience and odd-ball imagination with my brides and groom.

 

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A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX
kelly@kellyurbanphotography.com
Kelly Urban Photography

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX
kelly@kellyurbanphotography.com
Kelly Urban Photography

A Houston wedding photographer

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