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Wedding Photography at the Oxford

Brendan and Christina’s epic Oxford wedding in Montgomery, TX.

When two theater geeks get together, you know you’re going to have a good time! That’s just what happened when Brendan & Christina tied the knot in November last year. The decorations and all the little details had such special meaning to the couple. Their cake decorations were a representation of themselves. Christina had a stuffed racoon as a child that she brought around with her everywhere she went & foxes are special to Brendan.

Christina chose to have a first look with her father on the patio of the bridal suite at the Oxford. These moments between father and daughter never cease to choke me up.

The couple had a friend officiate their wedding, which I feel is the most intimate thing you can do. I’ve been to so many weddings here lately where the officiant is either a long time friend of both the couple or they are a family member who’s known both people a long time. The rings were given to the best man/Brendan’s twin in what almost felt like a carbonite cage (made of plastic and a material that conformed to the rings).

After the ceremony, the wedding party pulled out their swords and we took some photos with swords and had mini battles.

As the night progressed, there was dancing and singing & conga lines to “500 miles.” We played with sparklers and the couple had an illuminating grand exit. Check out the wedding photos below. If you think you’re seeing double, you are. Brendan and his twin are near identical.

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James & Chelsea’s Texas Renaissance Wedding

In October, James and Chelsea had a magical wedding at the Texas Renaissance Festive.

I’ve lived in Houston most of my life, and I have fond memories as a child at Renfest swinging a wooden sword at my brother hoping to jostle the flimsy wooden shield out of his hand. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to shoot a wedding there. This year, James and Chelsea made my dream come true!

The wedding was so magical. Both James and Chelsea had costumes made fitting for the Renaissance Festive. Chelsea was resplendent in her light blue gown and iridescent fairy wings. Even her jewelry was on point! James looked dapper in his wedding doublet. I loved that his sleeves could detach and be replaced with a different style of sleeve.

Chelsea and her wedding party started a promenade from the entrance of the park to the Globe Theater. There, she and James shared their first look before jumping into a carriage. The whole party, including the King’s guards, walked in a small parade to the ceremony location. Guests thought the wedding was a part of the show.

James and Chelsea sent an open invitation to all of their friends and family to their wedding. Anyone who wanted to attend could, they would just need to get to the ceremony location early if they wanted a seat. The Cathedral Wedding Chapel was overflowing with guests. People (including guests who didn’t know the couple) were all around the building looking into the windows. Even several of the Renfest’s regular actors were in attendance.

After the ceremony we took oodles of photos with all of the guests who wanted a photo with the happy couple. Once that was done, we wondered around visiting James & Chelsea’s favorite places within the park. We went to their bench in the fairy garden and the swings. The couple tossed axes and fished for rubber ducks. In the end, we wound up at the Pirate bar where they met up with friends for a pint of mead.

What an amazing wedding!

 

Vendors:

 

Ansen & Kacy’s Houston Zoo Engagement Portraits

Ansen & Kacy’s Houston Zoo Engagement Portraits

If there’s one thing my family and I LOVE, it’s the zoo. My kid has been to the zoo so many times, he could give a tour. In fact, he’s given me a tour before. When I found out that Ansen & Kacey are going to have their wedding reception at the zoo next year, I knew exactly where they should take their engagement photos.

We met in the early afternoon at the front gate and proceeded to wonder around. Ansen and Kacy showed me where they were going to have their cocktail hour, at the elephant’s pool. We joked about how we’ve never seen the elephants swim in their pool. One day (fingers crossed).

The zoo was preparing for ZooBoo when we got there so some of their decorations were up. They had hanging bats in the cave near the chimpanzies and hanging orange, green, black and purple umbrellas. It was a lot of fun to incorporate those elements that are only there a short while.

My favorite place for Ansen & Kacy’s portraits was the Pantheon. It was gorgeous. Check out their photos below!

 

‘Til Death Do Us Part – Cemetery Engagement

It’s an understatement to say I was excited when John & Morgan requested a cemetery engagement to go along with their “‘Til Death Do Us Part,” engagement photo idea.

The couple came to me with this idea of a darker style engagement photo shoot at the cemetery that Morgan’s family was buried in. First off, I loved the idea of a cemetery engagement. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done one (and yes, this wasn’t my first rodeo). Second, it was a historic cemetery, which meant there were headstones so old you couldn’t make out the name or death date any more. Last, I was ecstatic that the cemetery held family history for the couple. John & Morgan got a chance to share their engagement story with their deceased relatives. We even took a few photos around the headstone.

Though their wedding will be a much lighter occasion (figuratively and literally), it was fun to do something a little different for a change.

Check out their photos below!

Are you interested in scheduling a unique engagement portrait experience? Email me!

 

Brendan & Christina’s Theater Engagement

Brendan & Christina’s thespian stage engagement portraits on the Sam Houston State University campus.

It was a blisteringly hot day near the end of spring when I met up with Brendan and Christina on their old stomping grounds, the SHSU campus. While waiting for the temperatures to drop a little outside, we started our portraits on the campus’s theater stage.

I always enjoy doing things a little different and hadn’t taken any engagement photos of a couple on a stage or in a theater. It was fun being the only people in the theater and getting to recreate theater lights with my lighting.

After taking photos inside, Brendan and Christina took me on a tour of the campus (I’d never been there before). It was interesting taking photos in places that held such rich history and memories to the couple.

 

Galveston Engagement Portrait fun

Chris & Rachel’s put-put & pleasure pier engagement photos.

Most of the time, when I go to Galveston for engagement photos, it’s at the beach. This time, I got to start the engagement photos at a put-put golf place first! I had so much fun putting around (pun intended) with Christ & Rachel.

We shot a couple of photos at Magic Carpet Golf (a haunt of the couple’s). Chris and Rachel were so much fun and competitive. I loved their fun, bubbly personalities. After put-put, we headed to the Pleasure Pier, but found out we were about a week too early. Sad face. The pier wasn’t opened so we settled for beach photos with the pier in the background.

See the photos below.

 

Stuart & Laura’s Bridal Oaks Wedding

Stuart and Laura’s wedding photography at Bridal Oaks in Cypress, TX.

It was a bright and beautiful day in April when Stuart and Laura were getting ready for their wedding day. Laura had not one but three first looks!! She had the first look with her father in the bridal suite, then she headed outside to have a first look with Stuart. After her soon to be husband had a few moments alone with her, Laura had one final first look with her bridesmaids.

The ceremony was short and sweet. The wedding party made their way down the stairs to the outdoor alter where a plethora of gorgeous blooms lined the rows and seats and two breath taking arrangements punctuated the aisle.

While we were taking family portraits and wedding party portraits, the guests inside were getting a quick dance lesson. Stuart and Laura, avid dancers, wanted to make sure that all of their guests felt comfortable on the dance floor and would help to keep the party hopping. It also helped that a decent chunk of their guests were all avid dancers (west coast swing) as well.

One of the funniest things we did while we were taking wedding party photos was the mad dash to the beer. I got a Crawford Bock from the bar and told the wedding party the first person to get to the beer got to keep it. I was pleasantly surprised with the competitiveness of the party. The women were all taking off their shoes (good choice, I wouldn’t want anyone to twist an ankle before the evening even got started).

Some unique things that Stuart and Laura did for their wedding were to have tables of games out for their guests who were more into playing games with friends than dancing on the dance floor. They also had a fingerprint guestbook where guests put their fingerprint down like a leaf on a drawn tree branch. Bonus, now they have everyone’s fingerprint & name if they need it in the future 😉.

At the end of the night, after everyone had danced until their feet were barking, the guests lined the exit with streamers in hand while Stuart and Laura had one final private dance. After their dance, they exited through their guests (in an avalanche of streamers that they were practically swimming through) to their getaway vehicle.

 

Vendors

Venue: Bridal Oaks

Wedding Planner & Flowers: KNZ Weddings & Events

Wedding Cake: Bavarian Cakery

DJ: Re-spin Entertainment

Makeup: Cintya Velderrain Beauty

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…

 

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

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX

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

A Houston wedding photographer