Who has a dog they want in photos? It is a question I get a lot as a photographer: can I bring my dog. And the answer is yes! Bring your dog! We love all the relationships we get to capture and you and your dog is just that. Bringing your dog on an engagement shoot is something I have become very familiar with over the years. Couples love their dog and want to bring them along to help capture this season of their life: engaged, happy, and dog lovers. So when Justin and Marissa asked if they could bring their dogs to the engagement session, I of course said it would be great! What I didn’t realize was that these were 3 of the biggest and strongest dogs I had ever seen. When they pulled up, they didn’t just get out of the car with their dogs. They got out, went to the back of the SUV, and opened the back. Out came 3 dogs who would definitely beat me in a wrestling match. The goal was to spend about 15 minutes with the dogs getting some photos of Justin and Marissa with the dogs. What we didn’t anticipate was the dogs agenda. They didn’t get the engagement photos with dogs memo. The got the memo that there would be squirrels and smaller dogs (well, every dog is smaller) at White Rock Lake. So while we were trying to get them to look at the camera and snuggle up with Justin and Marissa….the dogs were looking at all the furry things running around White Rock Lake. Needless to say, with the help of Justin and Marissa’s friends who Kindly came to help, we were able to get a few engagement photos with dogs and send the dogs home. We spent the rest of the session without our furry friends and just walked around White Rock lake to get some beautiful engagement photos around the lake. It was green and sunny, which make for some really pretty photos! And now I am even more excited about their fall wedding at The Grand Ivory! For that wedding, we will be working with Each and Every Detail, so we know it will be a well planned and executed wedding! But for now, enjoy some of their engagement photos at White Rock Lake.
Stone Crest wedding venue has grown to be a favotire venue as a photographer. And during covid, it is even better: outdoor ceremony, high ceilings, and lots of space make it a much safer option than so many weddings! Laura and Jon chose to get married at Stone Crest in the fall, and it was so beautiful! Usually a wedding with threatening hail storms, rain, and wind would make a couple nervous and bummed out. Not Lauren and John. At least they didn’t show it on their faces. Lauren’s face was beaming all day long. Even in the nerves and anticipation, she was such a happy bride. And we all know a happy bride makes for a happy couple. John was just delighted in his sweet bride. You could tell they were a perfect match!
Now, as a dad of daughters, it is time a pause this happy bride talk to talk about the father of the bride. Doing weddings week after week I really get to observe different father daughter relationships. From distant to close, I get to see it all. And every once and a while I see what I saw at Lauren and Johns wedding, and I am honored to get to witness it. The way Lauren’s dad looked and spoke to his daughter on her wedding day spoke to their relationship and the love he must have shown her throughout her life. It showed he was a man of character who deeply cared for his daughter and wanted the world for her. It was special. It was motivational for me as a dad. And I walked away so happy for Lauren, that she had that. And so happy for her dad, that the love he invested in her was so worth it. Their relationship was a true treasure.
Now…back to the happy bride and couple. They got married at Stone Crest in McKinney. Always a wonderful choice for couples! The rain held off until after the ceremony, so they were able to have their outdoor wedding. Then, between hail storms I somehow convinced them to risk everything to get some shots outside. The clouds were amazing and it was so worth it! We finished up and ran inside (partly out of excitement for the rest of the reception and partly to avoid any other natural disasters) to begin the celebration. They danced, laughed, and celebrated. It was a night to remember out at Stone Crest! A night where this happy bride got to marry the man of her dreams!
This pandemic has slowed down weddings, but we don’t want to slow down the stories we tell. So let’s get some from the archives! Here is a wedding from 2 years ago:
When you combine a Vietnamese wedding with a Filipino wedding in a Dallas Catholic Church, you get Tru and Laurens beautiful wedding! Their wedding was full of so much culture, so much family, and so much tradition. It was such an honor to be a part of their Vietnamese and Filipino wedding in Dallas!
Both the Filipino and Vietnamese culture have such strong families, and that was evident in Tru and Lauren’s Dallas Catholic wedding. The day started with the traditional tea ceremonies. Lauren’s tea ceremony was at the hotel while the grooms ceremony was at his family home. Following the Tea Ceremony at the grooms house, we all headed to Holy Trinity Catholic Church for the ceremony. I have shot at Holy Trinity Catholic Church before, so was super excited to return. This Catholic Church is so beautiful on the inside and outside. Something a Dallas wedding photographer would dream up! The included many of the Filipino and Vietnamese traditions in their ceremony as their family and friends worshiped with them.
The reception that followed was one for the books! They had it at The Zander House. It was a packed house as everyone was ready to celebrate this amazing couple! But there were some surprises at hand for everyone! The bride and her dad sang a duet, followed by the bride and groom singing a song. Following this, they had a traditional Vietnamese dance. Then, to everyone’ surprise, the groom stood up and preformed a synchronized dance with 6 others that looked like it was something from a k-pop band. The bride was shocked and thrilled! She had no idea he could dance like that! After dancing, they left the Zander House in style.
Take a peek at this Filipino and Vietnamese wedding in Dallas!
Are you considering a weekday wedding? Are you worried that your guests won’t dance or your friends might leave early? These are things many couples consider, and to answer that question I give you Laura, Ben, and their friends at Rustic Grace Estate wedding venue. Not every weekday wedding is like this, but if you have the right group of friends, your wedding will go on as long as you can handle! This group of friends stayed out on the dance floor for hours, literally wearing themselves out!
They had everything working against them when it came to having a weekday wedding: coronavirus, Monday, and number restrictions. But that didn’t stop them from celebrating. After all, celebrating isn’t about the numbers, it is about the wedding. Here are some of the wedding photos from their night…Monday night….wedding. Enjoy! And maybe it is time for you to consider a weekday wedding 🙂