coming soon!
The Ryan Manor | Dallas Wine Tasting
January 27, 2010 By 4 Comments
Who doesn’t LOVE a good party with friends? And if that isn’t enough, top it off with some fabulous wine! Chris Ryan and John Kacinski hosted ‘A Renaissance Wine Tasting with Friends’ at The Ryan Manor in Dallas.
The evening featured select wines from the estates of Moët Hennessy, paired with the amazing food from CN Catering. Grailey’s Sommelier D’Lynn Proctor walked through the history and stories of the vineyards. Toward the end of the evening we sat in a very intimate setting and awed over the musical talent of Gary Levinson with the Dallas Symphony. It was a truly magical evening. Be sure to go all the way to end. I shoot with a Canon 5dmkii and used my camera to capture some video of their performance. Enjoy and Salud!
brandi + holman | ROWLETT WEDDING pt1
January 25, 2010 By 2 Comments
You might possibly scroll down and want to come back up to read this part of the blog…alright, back? Why in the WORLD did we hang her dress from a playground? Well, Brandi and Holman are in the learning business, also known as educators. They didn’t meet that way, but the proposal is enough to make your heart melt. Holman proposed to Brandi at his grade school playground in Houston….(*swoon!*) and WAIT…it gets better! He talked to Brandi about this girl he went steady with in grade school and talked about her being his first crush and he wanted Brandi to be his last! Holman, do you offer classes for this? There might be some fellas that want to enroll in a few of your classes.
Enjoy part one of Brandi and Holman’s wedding in Rowlett, Texas and be sure to stay tuned for the ceremony and reception. We had a blast!
cans for comments | HELPING DALLAS FIGHT HUNGER
January 14, 2010 By 1 Comment
please excuse the iPhone pictures…
Its time to share with all you faithful readers (and commenters!) how well we did with our cans for comments drive. I announced the drive in early December and we received such a huge response from people in our Dallas community and surrounding (all over the World!) We raised 86 cans and The North Texas Food Bank was happy to accept all of these items to help stomp out hunger all over North Texas. We hope to smash that number next year! All we need are comments from you and we donate a can, easy as pie!
My little helper, Sam-man and I first stopped by Tom Thumb with our mission for cans and non-perishable items. First, stop…the bakery, Sammy needed a cookie to make it through this trip to the grocery store. After we picked up all the goods, we went over to Assured Self Storage. They keep boxes at different locations scattered throughout the Dallas Metroplex for you to have easy access during the holidays. Once we had our boxes, we headed down to the North Texas Food Bank (www.twitter.com/ntfb) to donate. Everyone was so nice and helpful and let us stroll around and take some photos before we left. They have some really cool things there. The art on the walls, the entrance to the building and the sign in front :: so neat! Thank you, NTFB for your hard work year round, we loved being able to help this year!
Wedding Interruption…
January 13, 2010 By 2 Comments
Here’s the last installment of the Gia Wood hair shoot…if you would like to catch up on the action and take a break from the wedding posts, please go here, here, here, and here. Ok, all caught up? Now, meet Holley Dorrough! She’s the model with the Southern Accent that had me laughing most of the day! I typically work with brides because I specialize in weddings, but every now and then I get an opportunity to shoot something like this and really flex my creative muscles. It was really nice to work with these girls to try different poses and learn different lighting techniques. Thanks Gia for choosing us to do your promotional shoot! I am in love with the images. Don’t worry brides, I am not going anywhere…my heart is in wedding photography! Can I just say that the McKinney Cotton Mill is one of my favorite places to shoot? If you are looking for a rustic place that reaks of awesomeness in Dallas, this is the place to go for your pictures!
kyle + hailey | WEDDING (sneak peek!)
January 9, 2010 By 2 Comments
We shot Kyle and Hailey’s wedding today and it was so cold. Thanks for hanging in there. These images are TOTALLY SMOKIN’!
Kyle and Hailey you make 20 degrees in Texas look HOT!
hailey | BRIDALS
January 9, 2010 By 4 Comments
Hailey found me on facebook and boy am I glad she did! We shot her wedding today in Waxahachie, Texas and had a fabulous time…brrrr, it was so cold! They were real troopers and managed to hang in there while we got the shots we needed to rock their wedding! Enjoy Hailey’s fabulous bridal portraits and stay tuned for the rest of the wedding photography!
We shot Hailey’s bridals at the Las Colinas Canals and she is stunningly beautiful. I left a surprise in one frame…it was baby day at the Canals! Her wedding dress was made for her :: it must have been. It was the first dress she tried on too! I am so inspired by these girl’s dresses. They seem to blow me away each time I see them! I don’t think that effect will ever wear off. Brides are just fabulous!
peyton + chris | Wedding @ the DMA pt3
January 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Wow, what a wedding! Peyton and Chris (part 3) has finally arrived….check out { part1 } and { part2 } to get caught up and see how beautiful this couple is together.
The reception was also at the Dallas Museum of Art, so it made for a quick turn-over, spilling right into the reception just after the formal portraits. I have had many girls ask me about Peyton’s gown since I posted part1 and part2 of this wedding, it was Claire Pettibone – “Juliet”. It seemed like it was made for her. Speaking of made for you….did I mention that Chris’ suit was custom tailored as well? It was made for him too 
It was a pleasure working with Katie Norris, she did the “day of” planning for the wedding. Also, Monique at the DMA was super to work with and very organized.
I will let the pictures do the talking…enjoy the wedding rings, cake, singing, dancing, more singing, more dancing, crowd roars, and sparkler exit. It was an action packed wedding!
Congratulations Peyton and Chris!
chrysQ | WINTER WORKSHOP
January 7, 2010 By 4 Comments
I heard about the ChrysQ Winter Workshop for her Album Slipcovers and just had to go. Not only do I LOVE her product, but I think the Q’s are pretty swell! Ben was so generous to share his lighting knowledge. I used all available light but I did see how Ben creates those studio light images. Then we went over to Forbeyon to see some awesome behind the scenes work with their gorgeous albums. Forbeyon is the company I will be exclusively using for my flushmount wedding albums in 2010.
Ben shared some post processing techniques (of which I used to process all of these images!) :: Thanks Ben!! You have saved me tons of post processing time in Photoshop and I can get back to being behind the camera more shooting weddings instead of the computer! He talked to us about neutral density filters and beauty dishes and made my want for equipment list grow (my husband thanks you for that one!)
Enjoy these images I snagged in between talking to all the other awesome photographers in attendance :: It was so great to meet you at Thirdspace, Dallas!
We Would Love Your Vote
January 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
please please PLEASE vote for us! We are so excited to be on the list. I made a comment on their blog asking to be considered and we are more than thrilled we are on there!
So….go HERE and vote for Amy Karp. The next time we see you, we’ll be sure to give you a great big hug 
Here is what their website says about The Best Dallas Wedding Blogs:
Each day brides-to-be are searching the Internet for wedding resources and wedding professionals to team up with for their wedding day. The wedding industry is huge in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and sometimes finding the resources a bride needs can be challenging. Dallas Wedding Planner has spent many weeks searching for those best resources to share with our readers and have reviewed hundreds of Dallas wedding blogs.
After receiving nominations via email, word of mouth, and comments on the blog, we’ve trimmed the list to share with you – some are new blogs and some on our list have been around for years. We’re excited to unveil our list of Nominees for the Best Dallas Wedding Blogs in 2009. Among these finalists, one lucky blogger will receive the honor to be named the Best Dallas Wedding Blog of 2009. And to sweeten things up some more, the editors of Dallas Wedding Planner will also name selected bloggers as winners in the following categories: Most Charming, Best Eye Candy, Best Design, and Most Dedicated.
tod + ashley | SHOOT OUT
January 3, 2010 By 2 Comments
How awesome is it that we (wedding industry professionals) get to have so much fun? Our networking events make a regular party look like study hall. Recently, OK, not recently, but this is the first chance to post these images….a group of us got together in downtown Carrollton to have a little shoot-out. These photographers are some of the best in Dallas and I felt very honored to have the opportunity to swap ideas, watch them pose, and just listen to them. We all got a chance to take some of our own photos, but most of the time it was a free for all and the longest lens wins Tod and Ashley were the engaged couple that so graciously let us attack shower them with our cameras. And Jared Rey is the awesome dude that organized the soiree! There were several of us out that day. Here are some of the fabulous images I managed to snag in between talking
Here’s the list of the other awesome photogs in attendance: Allison Davis, Andrea Crosswhite, Catie Ronquillo, Celina Gomez, Jared Rey, Jason Anderson, Jason Huang, Josh Littrell, Magaly Abbott, Stacy Reeves & Stephen Brown. And for fun, here’s some behind the scenes from the day:
top row LtoR: Josh Littrell (and his lightbox), Celina Gomez middle row LtoR: Jason Huang (and his iPhone), Stacy Reeves (and her posing skills) bottom row LtoR: Jared Rey (and his speed to get out of our shot), Andrea Crosswhite
Speaking of doing awesome things…
I want to wish all of you a fabulous and wonderful New Year :: Happy 2010! On, January 1st, I sat reading emails that I desperately needed to get caught up on from the holidays. I opened an email from Kelly Simants. As I opened this email, I started reading and felt a huge desire to really ROCK 2010! I am constantly improving my photography skills, but learning how to run a successful business is something that drives me these days. After I read through this email I IMMEDIATELY signed up for Sage Wedding Pros, The Simple Plan.
If you are not in Dallas, no worries, these gals are taking their SMARTS all over the country. Click on the link for more information and jump start your business in 2010. I seriously adore Chris Ryan from The Ryan Manor, he has been such an inspiration. The Simple Plan : Dallas is being held at, where else, The Ryan Manor. Chris is constantly telling people about Groom Sold Separately. I am so excited can not wait to soak up all this information in less than a month!
