Kid-friendly wedding at Gardens At Old Town
What I love about this couple is how they draw out the absolute best in one another. Jessica is a calm, quiet spirit who lights up as soon as she sees her groom, Jaime. Jaime is full of life and has a rambunctious nature, which can only be tamed by Jessica. I enjoyed getting to know them during their engagement session, but I feel I really got to know them from their amazing families at their wedding. Jessica's family spent a good part of the morning decorating their reception at Gardens At Old Town Helotes, where the bride got ready. As the last couple to get married in their circle of friends, they were intent on making their reception as kid-friendly as possible, including getting a batman-themed bouncy house, bubble machine and beach balls to play on the lawn, and hiring babysitters for the parent's peace of mind. Before the celebration they got married at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church.
Suzy from Mistique Makeup, got the girls ready in a flash! She specializes in airbrush makeup to help it last all night.
What to do with your engagement photos? Let your guests admire them as they sign your Engagement Guest Book. Then you can read their well wishes when reminiscing through your engagement photos as well!
The luckiest children in San Antonio were invited to this wedding! Lawn games, bubbles, glow sticks, a bouncy house and cake!
The groom surprised his grandmother with an honorary dance. I'm sure she was delighted! She danced all night!
I especially love that this baby-wearing couple were the first ones on the dance floor.
One Sound DJ Productions kept the party going all night!
Congratulations to Jaime and Jessica Solis! Leave them some well wishes below!
San Antonio Quinceanera at Our Lady of Grace and Doubletree
We photographed a quinceañera fit for a princess this July for Miss Catherine Davalos of San Antonio, Texas. The daughter of Joe and Suzanne Davalos was the picture of poise as she accepted her responsibility as a young lady during her mass at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church. Her reception was a dream with pink roses, and crystals adorning the large ballroom at the elegant Doubletree Hotel. Friends and family from all over Texas celebrated and danced as DJ Men-Yo kept the party going. It was a night I'm sure Catherine won't forget, all made possible by her wonderful parents and family. See some of her portrait session at The McNay Art Museum and her quinceañera below. Leave her a comment!
Bridal Photoshoot at Texas Transportation Museum
Many of my clients seek to have something completely unique and personal created for them as we plan their engagement, bridal and wedding day portraits. Laura Dougan was definitely looking for something that represented her style and personality in her bridal portraits. Laura is a teacher, and she loves history and vintage trains and cars. She told me about The Texas Transportation Museum, so I went to take a look. I of course brought my 3 year-old son to ride the train on a hot, Sunday afternoon. As I walked around the area I was instantly inspired. My family thought I was nuts. But I picked out several key areas to shoot in and we planned a date for Laura's bridal photoshoot.
Dress by: The Bridal Galleria of Texas
Bouquet by Pretty Petals Floral Boutique
Hair and Makeup by Madame Makeup
Special thanks to Maid of Honor Dora Martinez, and Mom Elva Dougan for assisting the bride on this hot summer morning. Also, thank you so much to Marie and the crew at The Texas Transportation Museum for being so accommodating. The clouds were quite dramatic on the morning of the shoot, as a storm was moving in.
Next to the train tracks, and behind the children's train area is a bridge shaded by trees.
This was the print Laura chose to have featured on canvas at her Gardens At Old Town Helotes Wedding.
The vintage interiors of the train were fun to photograph as well, offering vignettes to feature our gorgeous bride.
It was a successful shoot, offering Laura many options for her featured bridal portraits.
For more information about bridal portraits with Aria Productions, contact us!
Ellen + Johan: Engaged at The Hotel Emma
I'm so excited to share with you this beautiful summer engagement session with Johan and Ellen. This newly engaged Houston couple plan to marry in Ellen's hometown of San Antonio this November. While wedding planning and avoiding their flooded city, they came to stay at The Hotel Emma, a gorgeous new hotel on the northern tip of the riverwalk. We took the opportunity to not only capture some beautiful moments in the surrounding historic Pearl development, but also inside the newly renovated Hotel Emma lobby.
On a recent tour of the Hotel Emma, I learned that the architects and developers used and repurposed many salvaged pieces of history from the old Pearl Brewery. You can see some of those restored pieces displayed as industrial works of art throughout the Pearl complex and in the Hotel Emma. Watch the video to see more from their downtown San Antonio engagement session.
We ended their photo session at Southerleigh who obliged with some cool refreshments on a rather warm June evening. It was a pleasure to photograph these two. Leave them some words of LOVE below in the comments. Cheers!
Perspective: 7 years of marriage
It's been a very hectic wedding season this year, so I apologize for neglecting my blog. Features to come soon! But I wanted to take a moment to write about something important to my heart today. My husband Michael and I are celebrating seven years of marriage, and since I have several newly engaged couples that visit my website everyday, I thought I would offer some wisdom we've picked up in the seven years since our perfect day.
Your wedding day is just one day in a sea of many beautiful moments
I work in the wedding industry where we place such an emphasis on the importance of this one perfect day. I spent all my life dreaming of this day, spent nine months planning every detail and countless hours preparing for these 24 hours. It was a beautiful day captured by a professional photographer and frozen in time. I am so grateful I have the beautiful pictures to remember this day. But to put things in perspective our wedding day was .09% of the entire time we have spent as husband and wife, not to mention the time we spent dating and being friends. It was just the first of many perfect days, followed by lots of joy and laughter, some moments that we don't have pictures of, the day we bought our first house, the day our son was born, the times we danced in our home while cleaning, the times he's made me laugh so hard I cried. When planning a wedding, don't just plan for that one perfect day, plan for a lifetime of love and marriage.
Always keep smiling!
This advice was written to me by my godmother who is now celebrating more than 50 years of marriage, and it is advice that I try to pass on to my brides. My godmother has always been a very quiet, patient woman and her husband is the exact opposite! I believe these to be good words of advice, because marriage can be trying at times. You won't always agree, sometimes you will strongly oppose each other. But just always keep smiling, keep the faith, pray for each other and have patience.
Wake up everyday and ask yourself, "How can I make this day better for my spouse?"
This was something our priest, Father Jan Klak at St. Anthony Claret advised us during his homily on our wedding day mass. Marriage is about supporting each other's dreams and goals in life. Michael and I are both very ambitious people, with hopes, dreams and goals. We are a team and we work hard for each other's dreams. When something knocks one of us down, we help each other up and support one another. This is why marriage is a gift from God. He has given us each a partner, a blessing to help us fulfill our purpose, and His promise for our lives.
So this is my perspective on marriage after 7 years. I'm sure we still have much to learn, but I wouldn't want to go through life with any other than this man.
Photography by Iliasis Muniz Photography
