Tag Archives: wedding photography

Remembering loved ones at your wedding

Today is the day of my good friend & mentor’s funeral service, the man who helped mold me into the photographer I am today. Every time I lay on the ground to take a photo or climb into a tree or something to get a different perspective, I’m reminded of him.

I wanted to talk about having a place for the dead at your wedding. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but I think it’s one of the sweetest gestures. We must remember our past to know where we’re going.

The easiest way to remember loved ones at your wedding is to dedicate a table or alter to photos of them. Let’s think about some other, more unique ways to remember them.

Offer their favorite food or drink. You could offer it as one of the options at your bar. If your loved one had a favorite food or flavor, you could offer this as an option at your wedding.

You could wear something of theirs. Maybe it’s a bobble in your bouquet, or something like a watch or cuff link. Tie something to the inside of your dress or wear their hat.

Save them a seat at your wedding ceremony and/or reception. You could put up a reserved sign at their seat with their picture. You could even go as far as setting a plate at their seat and leaving a glass of their favorite drink there.

Release butterflies at your wedding. It’s been believed for a long time that butterflies are often signs from deceased loved ones. Since your loved one is now freed from their physical restrictions, they are able to manifest a part of their energy into insects and small animals. Just make sure to do research before buying live animals to release. If your wedding is during a time where it could be harmful for them, maybe consider doing something different.

Play their song. Did they have a favorite song, or a wedding song that was special to them? Make sure to tell your DJ to play the song. You could even have a special dance in remembrance.

What are some other unique ways to remember your loved ones?

Will & Arden’s Bowery House Wedding

Will & Arden’s wedding at the Bowery House in Katy, TX.

The entire week leading up to Will and Arden’s wedding was filled with dark rain clouds and pounding rain. The day of their wedding, Mother Nature showed her romantic side and brought forth the shining sun. I will continue to sing my praises to Mother Nature for allowing me to photograph a stunning wedding with the sun shining.

The Bowery House was such a perfect venue for the happy couple to share their vows (and like the romantic journal, their vows were so sweet). Will and Arden are bubbly, romantic and such a unique couple. The venue was soft and romantic on the green where the ceremony was held. I was particularly drawn to the way the tree at the alter made an arch. It was like the magic of the Fey blessing the venue. It’s 3 story urban brick building reminds me of an open air train station on the bottom, an elegant reception hall on the second floor and a whimsical roof lounge on the top.

Will gave Arden a journal on their wedding day. The journal was filled with entries the week leading up to their engagement. Will wrote in the journal every day leading up to the day he proposed to Arden. I was CRUSHED when I read this. This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever had the privilege of photographing. Between me and Andy, I’m definitely not the romantic one… but this, this made my heart squeeze.

After the ceremony, the happy couple danced well into the night surrounded by so many loving friends and family. Though they did cut a cake, they chose to offer Shipley’s donuts to their guests in leu of cake. To say I was obsessed, is an understatement. Shipley Donuts > KrispyKreme (fight me).

At the end of the night, the wedding guests sent the couple off with a long sparkler exit. The party didn’t stop there, though. The get-away car took the couple to a second location for the after-party of the century.

Congratulations to Will & Arden on their happy marriage!!

 

Vendors:

Venue: The Bowery House

Wedding Planner: SB and Co

Photographer: Kelly Urban Photography

Flowers: Petals by Design

Videography: J Ernest Media

Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal

DJ: Alfonso Jaime

Leighton & Heather’s Galveston Engagement Portraits

There is a unique place as your heading out to Galveston that I have wanted to stop at and take photos for a while now. I was so excited when Leighton and Heather agreed to be my guinea pigs. So, before heading to the beach, I met up with the couple at the marshes.

When we got to the beach, I found out that Leighton & Heather could dance. When I say dance, I mean intense quasi-acrobatic swing-dancing. They showed me their sweet, sweet dance moves (which I captured) then we walked down to the jetties, which I’ve been intrigued about for a while now. There, I got into some trouble with the lifeguard because I kept standing where I wasn’t supposed to stand, and I asked Leighton and Heather to stand where they weren’t supposed to… who knew there were so many rules around the jetties?

My Wedding Go-Bag

As a wedding photographer, I’ve seen a lot and had to react to several minor disasters. Throughout the years, my “go-bag” for weddings has gotten bigger and bigger. It seems with every wedding I am adding something to it. I have done surgery on a boutonniere before to put the rose back on the stem. I have had to wrap a bouquet in some ribbon that I brought and trim parts of the bouquet that hung over because a bridesmaid had a severe allergic reaction to holding the bouquet. You name it, I’ve probably done my best to fix it.

If I didn’t have the fix in my bag, you better believe it went into my bag for the next wedding. My cousin tried a lip-stain before her brother’s wedding (she’d never used one before) and she didn’t like it so she tried to rub it off… If you’ve used lip-stains before you can imagine how that went… but you don’t have to because I have a photo of it. That was the day I added makeup remover to my go-bag. funny wedding misshap

So what’s in my bag you ask?

  • A small sewing kit
  • Scissors
  • bobby pins (in multiple hair tone colors)
  • rubber bands (big black ones as well as the small clear ones)
  • A fingernail clipper
  • A small first aid kit
  • Lint roller
  • Tampons
  • Tissues
  • Mini toothbrush thingies (no water needed)
  • Flossers
  • Tumms
  • Tylenol
  • Spray-on deodorant
  • Hair spray
  • Makeup removing wipes
  • Wrinkle-release
  • Q-tips
  • Tide stain remover
  • Snacks
  • Ribbon
  • Adhesive dots

Do you need everything that’s in my bag for your wedding?

Probably not. Hopefully you won’t need to use anything from my bag. However, I believe when you’re least prepared, Murphy (Murphy’s Law) hits the hardest. Your emergency wedding kit may have things like a raiser or baby powder instead of ribbon and adhesive dots.

How do you get one of these fancy kits?

You can either make it yourself (grocery stores have that travel section, which is perfect for an occasion such as this), or you can order a kit online. A lot of people are using their experience to put together a wedding emergency kit you can buy off of Etsy.

Gabe & Katy’s White Oaks on the Bayou Wedding Photography

On a warm spring day, Gabe and Katy got married under swaying chiffon as the Texas sun was setting. It was such a romantic and magical wedding to photograph. The birds were chirping, there was a slight breeze and the sun was setting perfectly behind the happy couple.

One of my favorite wedding photography moments is the first-looks. I love the raw emotion that I capture during first-looks, and Katy had two! One with her Father and one with Gabe. The moments were so special to capture.

Some of my favorite parts of their wedding were taking photos of the joyful couple on the swing after the sun had set and seeing all of the sweet, sweet dance moves. So many guests were really cutting rugs that night.


Vendors

Venue: White Oaks on the Bayou

Photography: Kelly Urban Photography

Cake: Dolly’s Sweet Sensations

DJ: LG Events

 

The Carriage House

Today, I wanted to highlight an amazing wedding venue, The Carriage House in Conroe Texas. I had the pleasure of poking around, talking to their wonderful staff and taking some photos of the Carriage House last Wednesday. It is such a stunning location. Every time I turned around I found a new favorite location to take photos of wedding couples.

I asked Anna & Kristi a few questions that I thought might be helpful in your wedding planing process. Check out their answers and some photos from their venue.

 

QUESTIONS:

 

Kelly: Who is the point person for couples coming to your venue?

Anna: Myself and Kristi are typically the couple’s point of contact when they come to tour. We do have other staff they would have on their wedding day and they will hear from the owner via email throughout the planning process.


Anna at the Carriage House

Anna


Kristi at the Carriage House

Kristi

K: That’s pretty awesome that the owner sends a personal email!

 

K: What is the best way for couples to schedule an appointment to tour your venue?

A: We have a self scheduling function on our website, but we are happy to schedule them as well via email or phone.

 

K: What is your personal favorite part about the venue.

A: The Chapel, which is our newest addition.

 

K: What is the most unique/fun/creative thing you have seen at a wedding at your venue?

A: That’s a tough one! I’ve seen so many unique ideas. We did have one couple, they were both engineers, and they used a 3D printer to create some items to incorporate into their centerpieces.

 

K: What is your rain contingency?

A: We have both an outdoor and indoor ceremony area and the reception space is indoors.

 

K: Do you have a max and a minimum guest count?

A: 75-300 people is the best range!

 

K: How far in advance should couples book your venue?

A: A year and a half if they want a Saturday. A year still works well for Fridays and Sundays.

 

K: What makes your venue unique to other venues.

A: The chapel and the waterfront garden.

 

A: I’ve been here for several years and have seen how the company keeps striving to make wedding days better and better with each passing year! That’s defiantly something to look for in your venue.

 

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