so last week danielle and i had a little vow renewal ceremony at elmwood gardens.  (that place we were married 10 years ago.)  for the past 5-6 years we have held a little ceremony in our backyard with just our kids and it’s always been a blast so this year we decided to go all out. well, as all out as our budget would allow.  rule number one was pay cash.  after all it’s only 1 day. right. (more on that later.)

the main reason we wanted to do this was to give our kids a tangible memory/moment to look back on so they know that we are committed to each other till death do us part.  (that’s code for when danielle kills me.)  so, in keeping with that theme we really let them decide on most of details of the day.

HUGE HUGE props to elmwood for making the day run smooth, brandi burkett for all the wonderful images, and vanessa mckellar for a killer video that you’ll want to view at the end of this post.

on to the images.

this was danielle’s bouquet from our wedding day and it made for great potpourri flower girl basket toss dealy boppers

this is as dressy as jo gets.  (all our kids selected their own outfits)
luke and eli at almost 2 years apart but they look close enough to where people always ask them if they are twin.  lately they ave decided to start saying yes.  the latest part of this phase has involved matching outfits.

you can’t get married without a ring bear.

sara was totally into the vows.  including creeping on what i had to say before i said it.

we are not too big on jewelry over here.  i ditched my ring for a tattoo and danielle has only ever had a $300 band.  so far so good.

awesome tasting cookie/cake thing from edible art. (i may have eaten 6 pieces of leftover in one sitting later in the week.)

why get boring monogramed napkins when you can blow all your money on fancy plates?

we had 2 options for cool getaway photos.

1. give lots of little people fire stick to hold.
2. come up with something better.

we went with option 2.

i’m not gonna lie.  it was super fun to get married all over again.  need more proof?  watch this 3 minute trailer.

the past week was an absolute blast.  it kicked off with an incredible wedding at la toretta resort in conroe, the family and i then went down to galveston for a few days, and i just closed out the week with a killer wedding at elmwood gardens.  mucho more postage to come on these events, but here are little teasers of each of them.  boom.  boom. boom.

Deveri & Stephen make me mad because they live in New York.  I wish they lived closer so we could hang out more. A few weeks before their wedding I sent them a little something and got back this super nice thank you note.  The whole note was super nice, but the quote from Stephen on the back made me smile.

How great is that.  It made me want to try extra extra hard to make them fancy photos at their wedding.  I think it worked. :)  They were married and Elmwood Gardens and it was cool.  Check it out.

Good looking food.

OK, enough details, let’s jump to their First Look and a few of the portraits that they rocked.

By the way, i’m sure you have noticed how all the flowers look amazing.  I WONDER WHO COULD HAVE DONE THEM?

On to the reception.  Big shout out to Music on Wheels and Tyler Uplights for making everything look and sound good.

Here are some photos of a guy digging for something, guys reaching for it, and girls trying to catch flowers.  Also, that guy who caught the something was pretty excited. :)

 Thanks for trusting me with your day.  You guys rock.

If I were forced to shoot Audrey & Cody’s Elmwood Gardens wedding every weekend for the rest of my life I’m sure I would get tiered at some point but it’s hard to imagine.  I LOVE this couple so much as well as all the people in their circle.  Super super kind hearts and the type of people that make my job the best ever.

True story: This was Audrey’s “something blue”.

Her sister may have teared up as Audrey went off for her First Look.

Audrey likes horses.  Horses like flowers.

Check out all the beautiful people in beautiful clothes looking beautiful.
I think when both parents walk the bride down the aisle it’s kinda super cool.

Thank you two so so much for trusting me to capture your 1st day of marriage.  You are awesome.

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.