take a peek at her engagement session here.

So, I just finished a stretch of 9 shoots in 11 days.  Tons of shootings, tons of driving, tons of editing, tons of fun.

Locations included:
Brenner’s Steakhouse  (Houston)
Kiepersol Estates (Bullard)
Crescent Hotel (Dallas)
La Torretta Resort & Spa (Conroe)
The Arbor (Tyler)
Elmwood Gardens (Elmwood)
Tyler Public Library (Tyler)
Castle on the Lake (Jacksonville)
Capital Building (Austin)

Not to mention some crazy stuff in The Mug Machine.

Enjoy a smorgasbord of photos below.

Here are the winning images!

The following images did NOT win, but they were my personal favorites from each category so I wanted to give them a little shout out not he blog as well.

Thanks again to everyone who voted and all you 2012 couple better bring your A game because I already have some serious entries for next year’s contest.

(Voting lasts fro about 24 hours. The winner will receive a 16×20 image. Winners will be announced on Monday.)

What have you liked most about your first year being married?
Building a home And life together

Give us your best cheapo/fun married date idea.
Going swimming on the lake

What’s been the hardest part about being married?
Learning each other, what not to do and say

What surpassed you the most?  (Either good or bad.)
The love we have for each other.

What have you fought about most and why?
Little things (what way to put the toilet paper on the holder)

So if I remember right, you guys don’t Facebook.  Why is that?
We stay in touch with friends other ways and everyone else doesn’t matter.

Do you have any advice for couples about to take the plunge?
Have fun with each other laugh and love through everything.

Parts are parts? 

Do you remember the commercial where the disgruntled, messy chickens were flying down the road in an old beat up car? They wanted to become Foster Farm chickens…you know…the excellent chickens. Those goofy birds finally got it – you can fluff them up all you want but they are still messy, skinny ole birds!!

Flowers are not just flowers! They have so many variables to them, so many grades. I remember when guys would come into the flower shop asking for a dozen long stem roses. Little did they know, a long stem rose is really only a second grade rose. Roses come in many lengths and with each come different head sizes. The longer the rose stem, the bigger, fuller and prettier a rose head can be. For example, a rose can be purchased in 40, 50, 60, 70 and even 80 centimeters. The “long stem” rose is about a 50 cm rose so you can see there are usually three sizes that are bigger and fuller. The other grading system is medium, long, fancy and extra fancy. So, you can see the “long stem” rose isn’t really such a big deal!! I usually explain this to my brides by making another comparison – take for example jeans. You can buy a pair from Walmart for say $15.00 and you can buy  a pair of Miss Me for $100.00 (yes, I know there are a lot that are even more expensive) Now, they are both jeans….both have two legs, both are denim, both have pockets, both have a zipper, both can be worn to the movies but you sure wouldn’t say they are the same!! Well, the same can be said for flowers ….just because someone says…I can make a bridal bouquet of all red roses for $100.00 doesn’t mean there is going to be any comparison to a spectacular high grade rose. On the surface it’s easy to be fooled but get the two in front of you and I assure you, you’ll pick the better one! The problem lies in a bride and her mom picking out that one of a kind bouquet not knowing the right questions to ask. You see, a florist never says, “Well, it will be made with 36 Ecuadorian, 70 to 80 cm all white roses. The variety will be Polar Star.” They just say, “It will be an all white rose bouquet.”  Then they can show up with whatever they want much to your chagrin! Now, you might say “I don’t even want roses” well, ALL flowers are selected and graded. There are florist grade and supermarket grade. There are always variables to each and every flower.

That leads me on another topic….colors are not just colors! Red is not just red, there is red to the orange side and red to the blue side! For example, tomatoes and blood red – you can imagine there are lots of shades of red in between. White can be to the yellow side or green, purple can be to the pink or blue sides! All the colors are not the  same….all the varieties are not the same…all the qualities are not the same….Parts are not parts in chickens or flowers!

Fake flowers are just that….FAKE!

To many times a bride gets her hopes up on a particular flower that maybe she saw in a local craft shop. She’ll come in with a few plastic or silk flowers and think we can provide her with them in real flowers only to be disappointed. In the days of Google images, it’s so easy to see if the flowers you prefer come in the colors you want. Check it out…it’s a great tool!

Magazines and blogs are giving brides unrealistic visions of color! To many times the editor or blogger is enhancing the color to “make it prettier” or more with today’s trend. Some (of course not AlexM…lol) photographers are “color correcting” and this changes the color as well as the expectation of the bride.

Brides….did you know that the groom has responsibility in paying for some of the flowers? Grooms and/or their parents are responsible to pay for the brides bouquet, the portrait bouquet, all the men’s boutonnieres and the mother’s and grandmother’s corsages or posy’s. Ask the florist to separate  the flower totals and make two copies of the contract so one can be presented to the groom. It will take you out of the equation and give credence to asking them to pay for their part.

When consulting with a florist, make sure you find one that has pictures of their own work and will guide you through the decision making process. I do my best to make sure to capture each and every brides vision of their day as each is as unique and special as every bride. So much of the time I see a bride come in for her last meeting with me and she’s exhausted and “just can’t wait for it to be over with!” Remember to ask for help, hire the very best professionals, let go of a few of the decisions and take time to relax and enjoy the best day of your life!

Wishing you a happily ever after!
Barbara | La Tee Da

Didn’t I tell you she was awesome?
Still wanna see more?  Take a look at all the “La Tee Da Weddings” I’ve photographed the past few years.

This means…..

This November we are at DisneyWorld & last year the kids got coal in their Christmas stockings.

Things were a little slow but hey, at least I had two kick butt sessions.  Thanks you guys for being awesome!

How about a long slow clap for the incredible florals from La Tee Da Flowers.
 Thanks Darcee for a great session and extra big thanks to Missy for opening up your house.

Wanna see more images of Darcee?  You dont’ have a long wait.
Her wedding is only about a week away but her engagement session should hold you over.

This awesome!

Happy Anniversaries to Bethany & Nathaniel, Jennifer & Jeb, Courtney & Jonathan, and Julia & Robert!!

We were heading to location # 2 when I saw this “location.” (read: private property/trespassing)  I whipped a U-turn and Amy and her mom did the same.  The jumped out of the car and ran into the field.  I think it was worth it.

Then I was like… wait…. you totally need to draw my whole family.  How awesome is this??!!??!!

Then I was like… wait… I have an idea.  Draw these people.

And she was like.  Bada bing, bada boom.

How great is that?  You can get anything done, I had her do a wedding portrait, but how fun would it be to have a drawing of where you became engaged?  You can use these everywhere, Facebook profile pics, a print to frame and hang in your new home, wallpaper for your iPhone.  How about as custom stamps for your invitations?!?!

So here is the deal.  You need to give her a call, she is hooking you up with a discount for being a blog stalker.  She normally charges $50 for a couple but is giving you 20% off so it’s only $40.  (That’s like what you’ll spend on 1 person to eat at your wedding.

Email her here and mention my site.
(eightyniner89@gmail.com)

Ready…. GO!

La Te Da Flowers?  Yes please.
She also has this fantastic head piece that she’ll be wearing for her reception.  Find it and more like it here on Etsy.

Should I start with the fact that Megan is a photographer and is super picky about who photographs her?

Should I start with the fact that her dress could have done this bridal session all on it’s own.  (It’s that amazing.)

Should I start with the fact that Megan & Mitch’s engagement session was so epic I had been looking forward to her bridals since I finished shooting her Engagements?

Should I start with the fact that I can’t wait to see what crazy magical wedding goodness I’ll be able to document with my friends the McKellars at Megan’s June wedding?

Should I start with the fact that I was so eager to post these that I forgot to comment on them before I published the post earlier today?

I know…. I’ll start with one of the first frames I shot at her bridal session…. BOOM!

You rocked your bridal session like few brides have before.  Way to go.