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Downtown Houston Engagement Portraits

James & Chelsea’s showed me the hidden haunts and gem’s of Houston during their engagement portraits this April. I love this city. It’s crazy that you can live here your whole life and still learn new things. I am slightly obsessed with learning about haunted sites and (though I knew of some of them) loved hearing the details about the haunted places downtown.

Our second stop (just after the “Houston is Inspired” mural) was the La Carafe Bar, one of the most haunted bars in Houston. As we made our way to the second floor to take some balcony photos, Chelsea was telling me about the ghost who likes to push women down the stairs. Needless to say, I was white-knuckling the handrails & still managed to slip on something at the top of the stairs.

After the bar, I took James and Chelsea to a little baby waterfall I discovered hiding under the street level along the Buffalo Bayou, then we headed to the place James & Chelsea had their first date. Unfortunately, COVID took it down, so we were only able to take photos around the building.

We ended up back along the waters edge where the haunted Spaghetti Warehouse is located (which is now replaced with a bar). We walked along the water then up to the Sunset Coffee Building and lastly to a colorful bar across the street.

I must tell you, as I was writing about the haunted spaghetti Warehouse building, something pushed over Andy’s golf clubs upstairs (everyone was downstairs at the time). Everyone freaked out. I told Andy the ghosts must have read my blog and decided to let me know they’re watching…

 

Crystal & Melissa’s Texas Town Hall Wedding

Crystal and Melissa had a rainbow themed wedding at the Texas Town Hall on April Fools day.

It was such a pretty spring day and the temperature was very pleasant for a wedding held in a venue that didn’t have any walls. I loved the look of the chapel and my ability to move around without feeling like I was disturbing people during the wedding.

The wedding party was each in a different color and some wore rainbow ties and shoes. There were several April Fools jokes that Crystal and Melissa pulled on her guests and wedding party. During the ceremony, the ring bearer brought his ring box and the couple extracted a red and green ring-pop. After the laughs died down, the couple exchanged the pops for their real rings.

Crystal and Melissa started their reception with a sweet first dance to SONG. Later in the evening, the couple gave their son’s the outfits they were to wear for their mother/son dance. The men proudly wore their lei and grass skirts for the dance where they switched partners half-way through Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Over the Rainbow.

Throughout the night, wedding guests applied rainbow temporary tattoos to each other, they danced, signed a guitar instead of a guest book and enjoyed rainbow cupcakes and cake.

What a beautiful wedding! Congratulations to Crystal & Melissa!!

 

Vendors: 

Venue: Texas Town Hall

Cake: Cake Conspiracy

DJ: Southern Style Entertainment

Payton & Katlyn’s Brewery Engagement Portraits

Payton and Katlyn chose to explore a new brewery both in location and taste buds for their engagement portraits. It was a gorgeous afternoon when I met them at Walking Stick Brewery, North of 610. I loved the contrast of the metal and old machinery against the fresh hydrangea bouquets placed on every table and the winter wonderland like sculpture affixed to the ceiling.

I loved getting to see the couple goof off and truly be themselves in front of the camera. I asked them to do some crazy stuff, and they didn’t even blink an eye… maybe they’re born with it, or maybe it was the liquid courage?

Check out the stunning photos below.

 

Nick & Rachel’s Sunset Coffee Building Wedding

On a gorgeous spring day, Nick and Rachel exchanged vows atop the Sunset Coffee building looking over Downtown Houston.

Weeks before their wedding, Nick and Rachel decided to take some couple portraits around the Hermann park area. We started in the Cochlear Butterfly museum and ended in the Japanese garden.

On their wedding day, guests arrived to the Sunset Coffee Building by the busload. Guests milled about and found their seats overlooking the Buffalo Bayou as they waited for the wedding to start. Nick and Rachel made their way up the side stairs together and walked down the isle hand in hand. They chose not to have a wedding party, however include several of their friends and family in reading passages from poems and other pieces of literature that spoke to them and their lives together.

After the wedding, the guests made their way down to the second floor where the cocktail hour. Guests cooled off and wandered around the level taking in the sights of downtown or taking photos in front of the gorgeous floral sculpture that SOMEONE made.

Dinner was served on the ground level (which is actually below street level) under tents with glowing lights. An amazing collection of flowers littered the three long tables. After dinner, guests were welcomed to join Nick and Rachel back on the second floor for dancing and cupcakes.

The couple choreographed a first dance that included all of their closest friends. TO WHAT SONG? After the first dance, the DJ did a reverse anniversary dance. He started with couples married the longest and worked his way to couples married for less than 5 hours. I loved how they actively worked to get people onto the dance floor. The last thing the DJ asked was for everyone to come to the dance floor to take a series of photos. One photo of everyone looking at me and smiling. One photo of Nick & Rachel kissing and everyone going “eew” and the last photo of everyone with their hands in the air. As soon as the DJ counted to 3 (for the photo) he started a song to get the party started. This was such a clever way to break the ice and get everyone on the dance floor dancing.

Congratulations to Nick & Rachel! May they have years and years and years of happiness.

See the wedding photos.

 

Vendors:

Venue: Sunset Coffee Building

Coordinator: Lriliece Events and Decor

Floral’s: Babe City Blooms

Decor: Art Attack

Tent: Houston Tents & Events

Catering: Dhaniyas

Dress: Lafayette Couture

Brazos Bend Park Engagement Portraits

Brad & Christy’s Brazos Bend park engagement portraits were set on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The birds were chirping and the bees were busy pollinating. Spring had officially sprung!

I enjoyed walking around to some of the places I’ve been before and exploring some new locations within the park. Check out the engagement photos below.

 

Vincent & Melanie’s Hermann Park Engagement Photos

Vincent and Melanie chose to have their engagement photos out around the Hermann park area. They brought their furbaby, Rolley along for the ride. The day was beautiful and Rollie was so adorable with his bow tie!

I took their engagement portraits around the reflection pond at Hermann Park then we went into the Japanese garden to take a couple of shots there. We ended the engagement portrait session around the back side of the park wondering under the amazing canopies of trees and man-made hills.

Vincent and Melanie were super cute. I loved how much fun they had and all of the amazing laughs!

I love taking engagement portraits with furbabies!

 

So You’re Engaged… What’s Next?

The step-by-step guide (and worksheet) to your first few steps in your wedding planning process.

Wedding planning can be one of the most stressful events you will ever have to plan. Luckily, there are vendors to help and helpful guides to show you the way. This particular guide will help you with the first chunk of planning. I like to break planning up into chunks to make it easier to handle.

You’ve been engaged for 0-6 months now. What are your first steps?

Houston Engagement Photographer

#1 Pick your wedding aesthetic. Are you a free-flowing hippy, or a city-slicker? When you think about that moment you say “I Do” what do you see?

#2 Pick your ideal wedding city. Maybe you want to get married in your hometown, maybe you want to have a destination wedding. Either way, figure out the location that would best suit you and your fiance.

#3 What season are you wanting to get married? Be conscious of the weather, temperature and seasonal natural disasters of the city you chose.

#4 Research venues that will help define your wedding style. There are, of course sites like The Knot and Wedding Wire to help you do your research. However, one of my favorite sites to research wedding venues is Here Comes the Guide. If you are a spreadsheet kind of person (I know I am) make sure to include the average cost of the venues. Then, when you’re done researching venues, you can calculate the average cost of a venue based on your research. Make sure to read the reviews of the venues on those sites and sites like Facebook (and not their website).

The Bowery House Wedding Photography

#5 After you’ve researched venues and the average cost, you now have an idea of where to start with your wedding budget. A wedding venue should be about 40% of your total budget. Take your average cost and divide it by 0.4 to get your total budget starting point. Please note, this is a guide and nothing is set in stone. If you have family property that you will be getting married on and you’re not paying for it, then you can’t base your budget off of that…

#6 Reach out to your top 5-10 venues. Take tours of the facilities (because photos don’t always do them justice).

#7 Book THE VENUE!! Don’t second guess yourself. Your first decision is almost always the right one.

#8 Take a break. Give yourself a pat on the back or go out to eat for a celebratory dinner & drinks! You’ve done a great deal of work for your wedding and you deserve it.

 

Download the worksheet. Click on this link — So you’re engaged, what’s next.pdf

 

If you liked this information and want even more amazing wedding planning and posing tips and tricks, sign up for my email series and get all of my 10-years of wedding knowledge free to your email! Fill out the below form to start getting emails today. Please note, I do NOT sell your information or spam call you. I just want you to have the best, least stressful time planning your wedding.

Want to know more? Click here to continue onto part two.

 

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Konner & Kirstin’s Shirley Acres Celestial Wedding

Konner & Kirstin had an out-of-this-world wedding at Shirley Acres filled with stars, galactic hues and lightsabers.

As a life-long scifi and Star Wars nerd, I was so excited to take photos with everyone and their lightsabers.

The day started out beautifully. The sun was shining, despite the Weather Channel’s prediction of an overcast or rainy day. Kirstin was getting ready in the bridal suite. Her man-of-honor was in charge of hair and makeup, and unbeknownst to him, the veil too. I started the day off snapping shots of details and both Kirstin and Konner getting ready. Since the guys always get ready faster than the ladies, I took Konner and his Grooms Men outside for a few photos of them posed and goofing off.

Once Kirstin was ready, we arranged her father for a first look. We positioned him in the bridal suite with his face to the wall as Kirstin entered. The joyful tears immediately started flowing. After her father’s first look, we positioned Konner in a similar place for the couple to have a first touch. Kirstin didn’t want to see Konner at all before the ceremony, so we had Konner face the wall, and Kirstin closed her eyes as she was escorted to her Husband-to-be. They were placed back to back and were able to hold hands and have a quiet moment together before the ceremony started.

The ceremony was beautiful. The sun was starting to set just behind the alter as the ceremony started. A special place was saved up front for family members who were no longer with us. Just before Kirstin and her father walked down the aisle, her enthusiastic flower-man covered the path with petals.

The sun had nearly fully set by the time the ceremony was over. We had just enough time to capture a few quick sunset photos with the wedding party and Konner & Kirstin before switching to night/lightsaber photos. This was the moment I had been anticipating. We had so much fun positioning and playing with slow exposure, that time just flew by. Soon it was time for Konner & Kirstin to make their grand entrance.

Throughout the night, there were games, dancing and lots of support and advice.

Congratulations to the happy couple!!

 

Vendors

Venue, cake, flowers & coordinator: Shirley Acres  (all-inclusive)

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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.comKelly Urban Photography

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX

A Houston wedding photographer

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