Wedding Wednesday: Tia & Glen Wednesday, December 30, 2009

This wedding inspires me for all sorts of reasons, one of which is that it's one of the very first weddings I saw online after I was engaged. I'd seen plenty of wedding photographs before getting engaged, but in those first few weeks, every wedding I looked at took on additional meaning. At the time, I had no idea which direction our wedding would take, where it would be held, or even what the possibilities were. But I knew there was something about this wedding that I loved.

Unfortunately, I barely remembered seeing this wedding, and when I looked for it again it disappeared as quickly as I had found it. I just remembered the super-romantic lighting in the ceremony, and the beautiful bride in her incredibly sexy dress. I was so lucky that Janie at The Bride's Cafe decided to revisit Tia & Glen's wedding one year later.

Sticking most in my mind was Tia & Glen's romantic ceremony:



Tia's dress is a good example of something I wouldn't wear myself, but I do want to look this beautiful in my gown:




It's not often you get a great shot of just how *sparkly* a dress is:


Cute!


Here's what's weird; I'd saved this cake to my favorites when we first got engaged, and I couldn't for the life of me find where I got the file! Now I know:


It's so funny; one year later, our wedding is turning out to look very similar to this one: simple, elegant, romantic. I wonder if these images planted themselves in my subconscious, and influenced me! No, I've been watching too much Twilight Zone.*

What images from your first days of being engaged have stuck with you?

* I watch the Twilight Zone marathon every year for New Years' Eve -- but this year, FH gave me the DVD set for Christmas... can you hear that theme song in your head?

Wedding Wednesday: Laurel & Derrick Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Wedding Wednesday is making a comeback! This week's inspiring wedding is one I've been looking at for a while, Jory Cordy's beautiful work with the wedding of Laurel & Derrick.

Laurel & Derrick were married in one of my favorite Dallas venues, the Apartment. It's a beautiful place that is a total blank slate -- you can do just about anything you want with it. They did a beautiful job! I love the black/white/neutral color palette, which gives this modern wedding a sense of timelessness.

Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Shoot Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Here's a great engagement shoot I found via So You're EnGAYged, which celebrates its 6 month anniversary this week. All week they're featuring beautifully photographed weddings and all kinds of ideas & inspiration. This shoot comes to us from Nasilele Photography and features a very nice photojournalistic look.

I, of course, am a sucker for a sweet shot with a camera!


And all things pink.


Congratulations to these two who are so handsome and lucky in love! Photographed by Nasilele Photography (click for full post).

Wedding Wednesday: Donna & Eric Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Donna is much braver than I am, as her wedding to Eric features two things I just said I wouldn't do: an outdoor wedding in July (!), and bright colors! Both of them work to great effect in her Maryland wedding earlier this summer.

Here are some gorgeous shots (by The Regetis) of the bride & groom looking absolutely beautiful. Standouts for me are Donna's dress and especially her makeup - it's beautifully done and matches the color scheme!


Years ago, I had a dream of my own wedding and the flowers were in these colors:


I see lots of brides using the "wedding wands" or some variation thereof. I imagine they're a great alternative to throwing rose petals or rice (no cleanup!) and if you have them in bright colors, they photograph very nicely!


Love those juicy colors! See more of them at Style Me Pretty. Congratulations to Donna & Eric!

Wedding Wednesday is back! Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wedding Wednesday has been on hiatus for a while, but it's back! These aren't always easy to find, but the annual high wedding season has given me a much greater pool to draw from and has made things easier.

As many readers know, I love to use Wedding Wednesday as an excuse to show off the many beautiful weddings held by minorities and other underrepresented people. Brides of all colors, shapes & sizes are just as beautiful as anything you'd see in a magazine!

This week's return is one of the best we have ever featured. And, it's local! Jennifer & Jeffrey were married last month at SMU's Perkins Chapel. Perfect floral arrangements, a beautiful dress, and of course, a happy couple combined to make this great celebration. Photographed by the wonderful Kevin Jairaj.

It all started with a perfect Kleinfeld dress...


And some other wonderful details.



Even more details. And check this out -- when was the last time you saw a professional bridal photo of "the broom"? (Click the photo to view it large.) Awesome!


I especially love the flowers. I should -- they're done by our florist! I think I'm going to ask him to decorate our broom like Jennifer & Jeff's!

The happy couple (and "the broom" in action again!)





These ladies look awesome. I keep hearing Beyoncé's "Diva" in my head -- and I mean that in a good way!


They are one seriously hot couple.



And this last one is their re-enactment of the Obama wedding photo. (Click it to view large). I love this idea!


Congratulations, Jennifer & Jeff!

Head on over to their original post to see more and get all the Dallas vendor details!

Wedding Wednesday: Video Wednesday, July 8, 2009

My fiancé thinks it's funny how, every time I see a well done wedding video, I want to burst into tears! I've gotten a little tired of the usual wedding inspiration (too many outdoor weddings! When will the wedding blogs start featuring something else??) and wanted to watch some videos. These are great for putting things into perspective and focusing on what's really important -- the emotion of the day! And yes, I cry every time I see these! Here are some favorites from Still Motion.

link + ngoc's sde // san jose california from StillMotion on Vimeo.

Lisa + Jeff's SDE from StillMotion on Vimeo.

Wedding Wednesday: Outdoor Goodness Wednesday, June 17, 2009

When I saw Jessica & Zach's engagement portraits, I knew I wanted to blog their wedding -- and here it is, photographed beautifully by the incomparable Sarah K. Chen. There are so many details I love about this wedding, especially now that I'm considering an outdoor affair myself (see previous post). Also, my fiancé & I are also an interracial couple and I can't help but admit a little bias!

Check out the beautiful bride:




Do you recognize her dress? It's Melissa Sweet's Dora. I love those little polka dots... it just adds to the very sweet theme of this wedding.

Here's the stunning indoor & outdoor setting.



The little details were great and so thoughtful. I've been thinking of doing this flower/placesetting thing...


And of course, no matter how sweet the little details are, you have to let loose at a wedding! Every couple needs someone to take the lead & keep people moving on the dance floor!



I wasn't considering offering sweets at the end of the night, but shots like these make me think twice. Or maybe I'm just really craving chocolate right now...



Congratulations to Jessica & Zach!

Wedding Wednesday... whoops! Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Is it Wednesday already? This last week of May is always the busiest of the year for me! I'm a teacher and anxiously awaiting the start of summer vacation (next week), when Wedding Wednesday will return!

Wedding Wednesday: Oleg Cassini CD278! Wednesday, May 20, 2009

This blog comes up in a lot of searches for the David's Bridal CD278 dress, and I'm happy to deliver! Today I saw the wedding of Andrea & Mark on the Southern Weddings blog, and I immediately recognized Andrea's dress as the popular Oleg Cassini ballgown, dress number CD278 from David's Bridal.

Since this dress was introduced relatively recently, I have yet to see it widely photographed, and it hasn't come up in "used dress" sales yet. As far as I know, Andrea is the first bride to be photographed & published wearing this dress. And she is a stunning bride!

Check out how well the dress photographs:











Andrea & Mark's wedding was photographed beautifully by Olivia Griffin, and you can see more details from the wedding at Southern Weddings.

Wedding Wednesday: Ama & Charles Wednesday, May 13, 2009

This week's Wedding Wednesday features the beautiful Akan wedding of Ama & Charles, both of whom are of Ghanaian descent. I found this wedding in Southern Weddings magazine, but more images can be found on the blog of Heartistic Fotos (now known as Mandy & Me).

Of their design inspiration, the couple says: The event was largely influenced by Akan traditional marriage ceremonies, with a touch of outside-the-box creativity. We’re both of Ghanaian origin, particularly of the Akan ethnicity. According to Akan marriage customs, the man’s family has to go to the woman’s family’s home to ask her hand in marriage. The man’s family has to present gifts (pieces of traditional cloth, alcoholic beverages, etc) and pay a bribe price in exchange of the woman. This is purely symbolic and bears little resemblance to a transaction. Our invitations, napkins, and favors all bore the Akan Adinkra symbol for marriage.

I love the photographers' artistic approach to this wedding... now on to the images!

Wedding Wednesday: Zane & Judy Wednesday, May 6, 2009

I love looking at the beautiful photos over at project wedding. It's so great to look at the bios of married women and see how their "inspiration boards" and ideas have come together. I liked looking at Zane & Judy's wedding, which was beautiful & classic. Judy is an especially beautiful bride! Photographed by Nataly Lemus. Some of my favorite details: