Natalie & Jason had such a chill wedding at Noah’s Event Center in Plano on a cold cold day in December.

I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say that during their First Look Jason kept repeating the this phrase over and over.

“You are so beautiful.”

He must have said it 20 times.

I may have teared up.

The guys took their portrait time very very seriously.

Some people spend months and dozens of Pinterest hours looking for the perfect cake toppers.

Natalie told me they got theirs from a toy store about a week before the wedding.

I love smaller weddings because it really does feel like everyone is family.  This is them with all the “guests” from the day.

How should we end the day?
Last dance?
Flower petal exit?
Fireworks?

All too boring.

80’s movie High Five?  Yes!  Roll Credits!

Thy & Jonathan are the best.   We started the session at the Nylo Hotel.  AMAZING location.  (More like this please.)  Then we headed over to Top Golf for some fun on the driving range.

Thanks for making me hit that little white ball a few times.  I’m not sure if I’m hooked, but I’m definitely interested in trying again.

Candace & Covy were married a little over a year ago.  I asked her to drop some dimes of knowledge on us about what that first year has been like for them.  (And, as a bonus, her wedding day gets one more blaze of glory on the blog.)

Q: What do you miss most about the single life?
A: I don’t!

Q: Give us your best cheapo/fun married date idea.
A: Anything outdoors – fishing, working out, beach, picnic, gardening, playing with Rex, etc. There’s something about just the solitude in nature and making your own fun without cell phones, laptops, television interruptions. “Just you and me, enjoying us”

Q: What have you like most about being married?
A: Being a team, having someone else’s support and love to come home to everyday

Q: Whats the hardest part about being married?
A: We both work full time so finding the middle ground on the dreaded chores!  (I’m more of a deep clean while Covy is a surface clean.)

Q: What was the biggest thing you were nervous about? How has it turned out?
A: Buying our first home, one that we can start a family in, and that it would feel like “home” to us. It was meant for us, we are such homebodies now!

Q: Do you have any advice for couples about to take the plunge?
A: Enjoy every single second, and let loose! Those memories you will look back on and will smile ear-to-ear. And write notes to each other the day of, exchange, save and open on a special anniversary – it will be so special to look back on how you were feeling, and what you projected.

It’s really rare to be able to start an engagement session at the location a couple first met.  Especially when they first met over 20 years ago.  With Audra & Brian we were lucky enough to do that.  We went back to the place it all started.  We went back to the house Audra grew up in.

Sometime around 1985 or so Audra & Brian’s fathers were coaches together for Texas ATM. (Whoop!) I’m sure this led to many family get togethers and team functions where little Audra & little Brian would spend hours playing together. That’s were they fell in love. OK, not really. They were like 5 years old or something, this isn’t a Disney movie. Anyway, They did hang out at Audra’s house so that’s where we went to start their session.

There were so many memories at this house. It was neat to see Audra back in that setting and hear her talk about how different yet familiar it felt. We were doing a few shots on the porch and I noticed a wasp’s nest in the corner. She told me a story about when she was little and her mom was stung by them and she almost ended up calling 911. I thought the wasps deserved to make the blog.

Then, like all good Aggies, we headed onto campus.  Some of you may be familiar with this tree.

The thing is though… Audra & Brian didn’t go to ATM together. Audra’s dad took another coaching job a few states over and moved away, Brian’s dad did the same and that normally is how the story would end.

Brian did end up coming back and becoming a full grown Aggie so at least he gets credit for that.

Fast forward to 2012. Audra’s dad is still a college coach and he’s filling out his new staff. He know’s a former college of his has a well qualified son who is looking for a job so he decides to give Brian an shot. Well, one thing led to another and one day he’s doing his new boss a favor and picking up Audra from the airport. Well, one thing led to another and now they are getting married. Because that’s how awesome their story is.

Multiple states, multiple campuses, multiple teams. Their journey started together, went thousands of miles apart, then led them right back to each other.

I could not have picked a better wedding to kick off the new site if I’d tried.  I had such a great weekend with Heather, Travis, and all their family & friends.  I hope this peek into it captures just a little bit of what it was like.

The thing I love about shooting out of town/destination weddings is getting to hang out at the rehearsal & dinner.  You really get a feel for the families and what everyone’s personalities are like.

It *might* be time to upgrade.

NO matter how much practice they get.  Father’s are never really ready to give their daughter’s away.

Here’s a shot of Travis & his brother.  It’s crazy to me when I think that one day my tiny boys will look like those men.

The dinner was an evening of stories, laughter, musical tributes, tears, and more.

On to the wedding day!  You know it’s a good group of bridesmaids when you walk in and find they have been raiding the hotel juice machine all morning.

These two photos happened within 15 seconds of each other.  It’s exactly what many wedding days are like.  One moment you are laughing because you are so happy you are getting married.  10 seconds later it all hits you and then you tear up and can’t believe the day has finally come.

Heather & Travis wanted a giant field for their ceremony.  So they did what any rational person would do.  They contacted the fine folks at Big Foot Turf and said; “Can we start our marriage on one of your fields?”

Hey look, it’s Heather’s dad hugging her again.

Every time I turned around he was hugging her.  It’s almost like he didn’t want to miss a single chance to remind her that even though she was changing her name that day, he would always be her daddy.

Sisters make for great money shots at weddings. :)

I’m not sure Travis finished turning around before Heather had him in tears during their First Look.

Smoothest. Ring bearer. Ever.

Smoothest. Groom. Ever.

How do you get little people down the aisle?  Pez.

That moment when you just got married and get to high five your dad.

I LOVE the 3 minutes after a couple are married.  I’m not sure if all your wedding-blogs tell you this, but it’s kinda the coolest part of your day.  It’s a blur and you may not even remember it later.  It’s that moment when the 10-20 most important people in your life engulf you with love.  (And sometimes your mom gives you bunny ears.)

Every wedding has that corner of the room where the tiny humans spend the reception.

It was an honor for you guys to have me out there.  Thanks for trusting me with your day and I can’t wait to dump a couple hundred more photos on you soon. ;)