A TASTE of our Weekend

Hard lemonades at Moonshine

Mostly Roses and Chardonnays at the wine festival 

We had the best weekend in Austin over Memorial Day!   A wonderful road trip through the Hill Country, GREAT practice with our new camera, a wine & music festival, amazing food, quality time with family and friends, and some "Only in Austin" shopping adventures.  We have over 200 pictures from the trip that I will sift through tonight, but I thought I would post a few teaser pics from our precious little Canon :) She is a wonderful addition to our little family and provided great fun for us this weekend. Hope you had a great holiday - yippee for a 4 day work week!

5 :)

1. If only....

Source: pinkpreppylillylover.blogspot.com via Heidi on Pinterest

2. I will be asking for this adorable burlap anniversary pillow for our 2nd anniversary! (hint, hint... wink, wink!)

Source: etsy.com via Abby on Pinterest

3. I LOVE vintage suitcases and I am bound and determined to re-make this little cutie as a guest bedroom side table.  (PS If you don't read Cupcakes & Cashmere... you should.)

Source: cupcakesandcashmere.com via Abby on Pinterest

4. MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!!!!!!!! 2pm Fridays start today + we are OFF ON MONDAY!!! Proud to be an American and so thankful for the soldiers who fought and sacrificed so that we can live in a safe and protected nation today.

Source: capturedphotography.squarespace.com via Cristy on Pinterest

5. I'm so ready for our ROAD TRIP!!!  This weekend Logan & I are getting out of Dallas for a few days. We are going to take the back roads through all the cute towns to dodge Memorial Day traffic, stop at little boutiques, eat at hole-in-the-walls, and practice taking pretty pictures with our new camera. Our agenda for the weekend: shopping, eating, and relaxing. So looking forward to a weekend away with my honey.

Source: verboborrar.tumblr.com via Abby on Pinterest

Wedding Tips: Unique Venues

When searching for a wedding venue, I wanted something a little different.  By the time I got married, I felt like I had been to a wedding at almost at every venue in town.  It was important to me that mine stood out and didn't blend in with the rest, which brings me to Delaney Vineyards.

My mom had been to a wedding 5 years before I got hitched at Delaney Vineyards. She strategically put the venue in her back pocket until I met Logan and then whipped out the idea as an undiscovered jewel in Grapevine.  I was so thrilled because I had never heard of it, much less been to a wedding there.  The fact that Logan and I got engaged in Napa, made a winery/ barrel room very appropriate.  (They even state on their website that the Delaney building is modeled after a French chateau, but my French family highly disagreed with that assessment haha! Oh well, still gorgeous.) 

Delaney Vineyards

Below are some other venues where I would have LOVED to hold my reception.  They are all in the DFW area and honestly, they are on the more affordable side of things which is ALWAYS a bonus! 

Cotton Mill in McKinney
I had my bridal portraits here and once I walked inside, I had one of those "oh shoot I should have had my wedding here" moments.  The ambiance is very rustic with a TON of really cool backdrops for gorgeous photos.  Lots of windows, huge open rooms, wood floors, and great lighting.  My stepbrother is getting married there this summer and I cannot wait!

Hickory Street Annex 
I have never attended a wedding at Hickory Street, but have seen a ton of really cool photos of weddings thrown here! The only drawback is you are working with an open room so decorations are a must.  That being said, you can dress up and down this area to match your personal taste and style.  I LOVE the weddings here that are filled with the glow of paper lanterns. Magical :)

Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake  
This venue has the space, the view, and everything in between.  Similar to Hickory Street Annex, it is pretty bare bones so its up to you and your creativity to make the space yours.  You can have an elegant wedding here, or a very simple, casual wedding. Guests can venture out onto the porch that overlooks the lake and forget that they are in the DFW Metroplex for the night. 

The Filter Building at White Rock Lake
Another rustic building with a GREAT view of White Rock Lake.  This venue has character and only needs simple decorations (in my opinion) because you are working with such a unique room aesthetic.  It is perfect for a smaller, more intimate wedding and has great photo opps outside by the lake! 

 

Marie Gabrielle  

Sigh.... It doesn't get much prettier than the garden at Marie Gabrielle.  You get married under a canopy of trees and have a pond right next door for cocktail hour and to-die-for pictures.  The only stressful part, is hitting good weather in the unpredictable state of Texas. There is no real "Plan B" with this venue.  The food here is OUTSTANDING (Marie Gabrielle is a restaurant, so they do the catering), and I love the dark moody lighting of the interior.  Every wedding I have attended here has been breathtaking.

I love all of these venues so much. I wish I could have had 10 different weddings with 10 different vibes! Each one sparks so much creativity and personality.  Happy Thursday :)

all images were found via google images

Wedding Tips: Photographers

Recently, I have been asked for wedding advice & recommendations from either coworkers, friends, family members, or Katy's friends that are starting to get engaged... SO I thought I would do a few posts on wedding tips that I learned throughout my whole wedding research/ planning process.

A great photographer was my #1 SPLURGE MUST HAVE and I do not regret a single PENNY we spent on it either.  The whole evening is a whirlwind (and a bit of a blur to be honest) and I felt it was crucial to have photographs to help me remember the feelings and emotions of that night.  I look at ours all the time and love seeing everyone that came out to support us on our special day.

That being said, I HIGHLY recommend any of the below photographers for the DFW Area.  They are all amazing at engagements & weddings and have quite the portfolio to prove it.  All of them take the non-traditional, lifestyle approach which is what I love. Your pictures should and WILL look different than your parents wedding album :) They aim to capture the action, emotion, and beauty of your day. Take my word, you could not go wrong with any of the below. 


Katie Norris - A personal friend of mine, She took our engagement pictures and I am in love with her work. She just got voted best photographer in South Lake! I must say her detail shots are to die for! She is creative and makes sure all those little details that you put so much thought into, are captured.

http://www.katienorris.net/

Lauren Larsen - Lauren was a Chi Omega with me at Texas A&M. She is funky, sweet, super cool and honestly gets better with every single wedding I see her post. (if that is even possible!)

http://www.laurenlarsen.com/

 

Sara Kate Barger - My friend Allison Bowen got married the March before our wedding and once I saw her engagements and wedding pictures, I knew I had found my girl.  Sarah Kate is so nice, knows how to take charge of a rowdy crowd, and I literally had no concerns or worries about how my pictures would turn out knowing that she was taking care of our day.  I was over the moon about our wedding pictures and I am so glad I went with her.  She also was super quick at editing - I got all of our wedding pictures on a DVD within days of us getting back from our Honeymoon!

http://www.sarahkatephoto.com/

Shaun Menary - We have a zillion mutual friends and have met a few times. He is also in the amazing band Sleeperstar. It doesn't seem fair that he is not only a talented musician,  but also has serious photography chops.  I like that he is a guy, because he really does take a different approach and sees things from a unique perspective.

http://shaunmenary.com/

Stacey Reeves - My best friend used Stacey and she is sweet as can be.  She is all about the non-traditional shots and makes you feel so comfortable on your big day. ALL of Alexis' pictures turned out amazing. (In fact, she had to double her book size to accommodate all the awesomeness) You cannot go wrong with Stacey and she has made a seriously awesome name for herself in the industry. She is even one of Style Me Pretty's recommended DFW photographers.

http://www.stacyreeves.com/

J May Photography - Oh my goodness! I love J May. She has done a few of my close friend's weddings and I am in love with her style.  She has done some of the most amazing engagement shoots I have seen to date! Her photos capture the action and emotion of your day flawlessly.

http://www.jmayphoto.com/

I hope this was somewhat beneficial.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions!

xo,

Me :)

A Beautiful Wedding

We had a GREAT time this past weekend at Michael and Jennifer's wedding.  Jennifer was my BFF when we were little.  We lived down the street from each other and traded off houses each afternoon after school. My house had the pool and her house had the swing set.  We took nature walks, did Saturday morning crafts, made up gymnastics routines, playing school (she had an overhead projector) and watched Lois & Clark on Sunday nights together.  I was so sad when they moved to Allen in 5th grade, but we have stayed in touch throughout the years.  When she moved, we decided that we would always say "See you tomorrow" instead of goodbye so we didn't have to get sad.  That is how we both signed each other's guest books at our weddings as well :)

I am so thrilled for her and the wedding was beautiful.  Perkins Chapel is always stunning and the newly renovated Biblical Arts Center was an elegant backdrop to a wonderful sit down dinner reception.  We had cocktail hour in the gallery surrounded by beautiful artwork and the reception was in a big open room with plenty of room to dance and cut loose. 

Our evening may or may not have ended with us barefoot at Northpark mall shopping at Ann Taylor Loft. Hey, it was right there :) Champagne makes the Evans girls up for anything!

Instead of a puppy, we got a camera.

You would have thought on Friday night, that Logan & I were on our way to pick up a cute, fluffy, adorable little puppy...but alas, we finally bit the bullet and purchased our Canon Rebel T3i! We found out the factory that manufactured the T2i's and T1i's was destroyed in the tsunami/ earthquake in Japan, thus making the T3i's a hot commodity flying off the shleves everywhere! We had to call 4 places and drive all the way to Mesquite to buy 1 of the last 2 in the DFW Metroplex! Crazy huh? Check out our JAM SESSION here.

Here are the 1st 2 photos our little Canon took on Friday night (now you can see up close & personal how HANDSOME my hubby is!)... I am AMAZED at the clarity, detail, shutter speed, and everything about this camera.  We are so, so in love :)  

I am currently on Chapter 3 of the Canon Rebel handbook... AND in the market for a VERY BASIC photography class.  Any ideas for me? Please let me know!