BOOM BABY!
It’s that time of year again.  Mini Sessions are back.  Get em while they’re hot.
These sessions are painless, fun, and no one will leave crying.  (Unless you count tears of joy.)

What you get:
Killer images | High Resolution Digital Files | Epic Memories

What I get:
$150 bucks

I’m offering two dates, with limited space.

November 3rd (Tyler)
November 11th (Palestine)

Email or call to book your spot:
alexmphotography@gmail.com / 903.948.9282

Get Excited!  It’s your chance to help someone win a 16×20 print!  Voting is open till midnight.  Tell your friends.

Today’s category: Engagement Sessions

Take a look at the entries then vote at the bottom of this post.

1. Cooking:  I loved watching Amanda & Clayton cook with their little girl.  Such fun memories and tasty cookies were made that day.

2. Checkers: True story. This is the moment in time when Karl taught Justine how to play checkers.

3. Austin: Hayden & Alecia are good at kissing.  They also like Austin.

4. Class: This is the classroom where Emily & Lucas met.  This is the very place their story began.

5. Paint: 1 sure fire way to improve your engagement session.  Paint fight.

6. Paddle Board: Kayla & David like each other & paddle boards.  In that order.

7. Home: This is the foundation to Lindsey & Jonathan’s 1st home together.

8. Hunt: Jessica & Casey like to shoot things.  So I shot them.

9.  Cars: Megan & Stephen met because they both loved their cars.  Now they love each other.

10. Hockey: Katelyn & Chris are both hockey fans.  Blackhawks won that night 6-2

STOP! DO NOT IGNORE THIS POST!

It does NOT contain a beautiful image of a bride and groom by a palm tree at night, an opera singing bride, or a Marilyn Monroe-ish bride & groomsmen pose.  It DOES however contain information that can save your marriage.  Please.  Take 3 minutes and read it.  I promise it will be worth it.  Then when you are done you can click here, here, and here for super fun images.

So, today’s post is kinda a twist on what you typically get here. Usually it’s a couple who is giddy and in love, a bride who is giddy and in love or a bride and groom who are giddy and in love. (With an occasional post about my family sprinkled in. We too are also giddy and in love.) The reality is not everyone who is giddy and in love ends up that way. I’ve ben to weddings where parents of the bride won’t speak to each other, I’ve had couple call off the wedding because they broke up, and pretty much everyone seems to come from a blended family of sorts these days. That is why today’s Vendor Interview is one that is near and dear to my heart.

I can not say enough about the folks at We Vow Now. They do amazing work and help prepare you for your marriage. People literally spend tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours planning for the first 5 hours of their married life and assume that the rest will just fall into place. There is no way to describe just how how complicated and stressful marriage can be.

I absolutely am more in love with Danielle today than the day I married her but that does not change the fact that we have had bumps along the way. Fights have occurred, temper tantrums have been thrown, and rude things have been said, and that’s just on my end. :) Seriously, the premarital counseling we did BEFORE we were married prepared us so much for the first few years of life together. We did an 8 week course together with a counselor, read books about marriage and communication, went to conferences, and met individually with couples who’s marriages we respected and asked them to pick apart our relationship and give us warnings on what areas they saw us struggling in. All of these things gave us tools and techniques that we still rely on every day of our life together. (Sacred Marriage is by far my favorite marriage related book I have ever read.)

All of you brides who are planning a wedding know that those days don’t just magically happen. Time, money, and energy go into making them happen. The same is true of good marriages.

Before we get to the interview, I wanted to share a few images from the family session I did for Tonya and Justin the founders of We Vow Now.

Now ladies and gentlemen, give a warm Alex M. Photography welcome to the We Vow Now Interview. (clapping sounds)

How did you guys get started, how long have you been doing this?
We have tried to always be involved in something worth while and this particular adventure definitely seemed to be worth while.  To help couples and families find practical was to improve their overall happiness and health is just something that seems to be so very needed today. The VOW Healthy Marriage Initiative was officially launched in October of 2006 when a grant we applied for was awarded.

Where are you located?
We office at our main location in Longview, where Wellness Pointe headquarters is located.  We actually offer our classes at various community locations in Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Panloa, Rusk, Smith, Upshur and Camp counites.  In addition to the Longview location, we also have offices in Marshall, Gilmer and Tyler.

What is your favorite part about your job?
Our favorite thing is to see the difference the programming VOW offers work wonders in the lives of real East Texas families.  While we don’t have any magic bullets, fountains of youth, pots of gold or any other “quick fixes,” we do offer couples, married and unmarried alike, skills that very powerfully improve their ability to communicate their needs and to resolve their differences.  Again, there is nothing magical about what we do, and we are not perfect by any means either.  All the staff at VOW love families and help couples to learn things about themselves and their partners that most of us did not learn before we got married.  It is fun to see people change their lives for good!

Why should brides bother with your service.  I thought counseling was for people in bad relationships?
Great question!  First, one of the great things about VOW is that our program is a research based, time tested education program that has helped millions couples world wide.  While counseling is critical in many respects, we teach and facilitate the learning of practical “real world” skills that help in the home, work and in general life situations.  Brides should particularly come to our classes (with their grooms) to get a head start on their marriage.  We have had countless couples say, “I wish I knew this before I got married, we are so much better at talking without fighting” or something of the like!  Others say “We sure are glad that we went through VOW before we got married.  We thought we really knew each other and that love would just automatically get us through anything!”  Another great thing about coming to our program is that, upon completion they are eligible for a $60 discount on their marrige license.  As a Twogether in Texas qualifying/participating program, couples are given a certificate that will get the marriage license fee waived.  They are still responsible for up to $12 of filing fees!

What is something unique to your service that you are extra proud of?
We are extra proud to offer programming to couples that really makes a difference!  Literally hundreds of couples have increased their marital satisfaction as a result of coming through VOW.  In fact, according to our evaluation data, 85% of couples who complete our program come out leaps and bounds ahead of where they were when they started the program.

Anything else you wanna say?
We want couples to know that VOW is NOT just for couples on the brink.  In fact, if they are on the brink, they probably waited too long already!  Just as we get the oil changed in our cars and go to the dentist to have our teeth cleaned, our relationships NEED maintenance.  Society requires skills and practical learning for almost every line of industry or even to get a driver license, yet too many people just fall in love, hoping that they will just figure life out, only to learn that the stop at the bottom of the fall hurts!  Relationship Education is maintenance for people who are trying to love each other the best they possibly can.  Please call 903.232.1700 or navigate to www.wevownow.com for more information about how our 8 hour course can help make your relationship thrive!

What’s this… Alex M shooting a family session? I know, I know, pick your jaws up off the floor. This does happen from time to time, but only when a family can convoke me they are up for it. :) Not long after I did Randall & Danny’s engagement session she mentioned that her Uncle and his family would be contacting me for some photos. Sure enough they got in touch with me and I’m thrilled that they did. They wanted just what I try to capture when doing family sessions. Real Life.

One quick thing… I was going to write Rocky a little E-mail and tell her how great her kids were, but I decided it would be more fun to do it here on the blog so everyone can read it. :) Carter’s, your kids were AMAZING. They are far and away the best behaved most polite two kids I have ever been around in my life. Now granted, it was only 3 hours, and I’m sure they can be a pain at times, but trust me when I say this: You two are doing something right. Keep up the great work. I love love love your family.

OK, on to the images. These 4 are some hunting fools. (Any of you who have seen my snake attack video know I’m also a super great hunter.) We spent the first half of the session in the woods shooting things. I felt like a man.

How cute is Jada?


This was a fun shot to get. It also serves as a reminder that I should probably do a good job on Randall & Danny’s wedding this Saturday. :)

I asked Zach and Jada to “go stand over there” and this is what they did. Seriously?  How perfect are they?



Don’t let the camo and arrows fool you.  As great of a little hunter as he is, he’s even better big brother.


Jada picked up her mom’s phone and started “acting” like her momma.

Best. Fort. Ever.

If you look hard enough you can see Jada throwing up a peace sign as they fly past me.



I asked Jada if I could take her pictures when she got married and she said I could, but she told me she was not getting married for at least another 20 months. :)



Thanks guys for a great session. See you Saturday!