downtown houston wedding photography

this summer, i got an email from a jessica, who wanted her portraits to look like something out of sex and the city.... grand red staircase, city skyline in the background, rooftop pool. and my heart? well it began to flutter. yes, i am an edgy photographer - trash the dress photography, tattooed brides, and that dirty alleyway are my specialty. but really, i like those things because they are unique. so finding sex and the city-esque locations for her wedding phtoography was perfect for me. an hour after her initial email i had permission to photograph at a location with a red carpet grand staircase and we immediately scouted out the location for the rooftop pool. waiting until october to actually shoot the session was killing me, but it was well worth the wait.

before i show the images, i would like to say that brandon claimed to be camera shy.... ummm.... i'm going to go ahead and say you were lying brandon. ;)







i've been wanting to photograph a bride in front of this white wall since i found it 6 months ago. there is just something about white on white with a wide angle lens against this wall that excites me.








and my favorite photos for last.... it has that sexy, fierce look to it. jessica and brandon, you are an absolutely gorgeous couple!
 

after posting val's sneak peek bridal portrait, i have had a countless number of people asking when the rest of the wedding would be posted. so here it is - val and matt.

i have known val for 8 years now.... 8 years... i can't believe that's even true. she was starting her stylist career at the time, and i was in college, trying to figure out which sorority to join. oh.how.the.times.have.changed. thank god!  About 5 years ago she called me and said "i've been seeing this guy for a few weeks, and i think he might be the one." i had met kevin right around that time as well, and we spent the next hour exchanging stories. i still remembering sitting in the lobby of my office building trying to keep my laughing to a minimum as to not disturb the rest of the building. because the story of how they met? well, THAT is a story worth repeating.

you see, val was cruising along route 77-N in akron, ohio when she noticed the guy in the next car wave at her. they exchanged a few flirty glances and he made the telephone signal to his ear. she signed her phone number, and a moment later answered her cell phone with a fiesty comment: "do you pick up girls on the freeway often?" he shot back "do you often give out your number to strangers?". ever since, matt has been listed in my contact list as "77 North". and as the best man at the wedding pointed out in his speech, val has an "8" in her phone number. she was on the freeway, looking at the guy next to her instead of in front of her, and didn't have her hands on the wheel. watch out cleveland!

val and matt celebrated their wedding at the sheraton hotel in akron, ohio, which overlooks this gorgeous waterfall. normally, it is my general rule to not photograph in front of trees. but this photo? well, this photo deserved to be an exception.





i love this photos of val. look at those eyelashes! gorgeous!
 




this photo desribes val's personality perfectly - she is always, always laughing. matt really does bring out the best in her. 







this might be one of my favorite bridal portraits of valerie. i love the shape of her silhouette on the wall, and the way she turned her face slightly away.



true to form, valerie did not miss any details while planning her wedding.



interior designer, pamela bayer, has a hidden talent for creating wedding cakes - and she absolutely outdid herself with this.









val and matt - thank you so so much for allowing me to photograph your beautiful, modern wedding. it's always an honor to be asked to be a bride's wedding photographer, but being asked to photograph the wedding of one of my best friends is truly exceptional. i love you both so much.
 

my toes are unmanicured, my dog smells like outside, and let's not even talk about the clothes i have thrown on the floor simply because i decided not to wear them after trying them on. yes, world, i am a sweet mess. october blew through my life like a tornado and left behind a whirlwind of stuff that even effected my sweet little pooch. poor smelly 'lil thing....

i was going back through all of the things i put off blogging about, and i instantly had a smile on my face when i looked back through the images from our recent trip to disney. we all have that one place where we feel completely at ease. the place where no matter what happens, we're still in a good mood. disney is that place for me. under normal circumstances, i have a pretty bold style - my red hair, my funky car, and my brightly decorated loft just don't say "traditional". but put me in disney, and i'm wearing my figment t-shirt while carrying a mickey mouse bag. i'm that cool.

gotta have the classic photo of the castle. and the disney balloons? well, they haven't changed since I was 6 and i love that.

mom and i at my favorite resort in walt disney world - the animal kingdom lodge. to say that their restaurant, Jiko, is amazing would be an understatement. in my and kevin's super-cool journal of food next to our bed, it is listed as my all time favorite restaurant. again, i'm so cool that i have a journal to record such things. what is wrong with me?!




the view from the animal kingdom lodge



my favorite part of the trip was walking back from dinner, and laying in this hammock with kevin. i looked up at the palm trees above and knew that there was no where else i'd rather be. life is made of moments, captured in my memory, and forever preserved behind my lens.



we try to go every year, and i hate leaving every time. the only thing that keeps me happy is knowing that i'll likely be back the following fall for the food and wine festival...

so now i want to know.... what's your place of perfection???

october was full of absolutely gorgeous brides, and jessica closed the month with a bang with her ultra modern wedding photography. she had that perfectly sassy look in this photo, and i fell in love with it immediately!

akron, ohio

overlooking a waterfall, val and matt celebrated their wedding last weekend and i was beyond honor to be their wedding photographer. true to form, val was absolutely stunning.