So when Amenity and I were first in discussion about her wedding photography, she thought it best to give me an idea of what it
would be like, she said, “think wood pile with mannequin legs”. That was enough to capture my imagination and we continued
to talk more. She and her fiance, now husband, Adam, live on the East side of Austin with their son Miles. The wedding was
to take place at their home; ceremony up front on the porch, reception in the backyard.

When Leon and I arrived on the wedding day all things were in place. A beautiful garland of flowers, created by the Flower Bucket,
graced the porch. The front walkway, soon to be the wedding aisle, had been decorated with drawings by Miles. Lights, that were
strung in the back, tables, chairs, tent and dance floor were all set.

I found Amenity and her wedding party across the street at a neighbors house waiting for the guests to arrive and the ceremony
to begin. Instead of bouquets for the bridesmaids, the wedding party wore matching hats that a friend had created. Arriving on
bicycles, the ring bearer and officiant announced the beginning of the ceremony by ringing their bells and honking their horns. Next
the groom arrived playing a tuba, followed by the wedding party  from the field across the street. Then, with the proper fanfare
accomplished, the bride and her father made their entrance and way down the aisle.

I love weddings like this, ones where the community essentially marries the couple. Friends made the cupcakes, the beautiful candy,
the wedding party hats, designed the invitations and played the vibraphone during the ceremony. Their neighbor and friend served as
officiant and family and guests were seen helping throughout the day in all sorts of ways. Love was certainly in the air!

Congratulations Amenity and Adam! And Miles too!

“The morning after” is how it was worded on the invitation to the Farewell Brunch for Amanda and Alex at Le San Michele.
That is how it felt to me when I woke up the next day and dragged myself into the shower, the Spazmatics still singing in my head.
When I arrived it was about 9am, about an hour before the guests began to trickle in. What I found there was much like the night
before Christmas; I imagine that the crew had been working since the wee morning hours to make this Sunday Brunch just
absolutely beautiful. When you arrive at the San Michele in Buda you feel as though you have been transported to a European villa,
tall cypress trees in a formal garden and a lovely historic stone building grace the property. It was a lovely morning with blue
skies and pleasant temperatures. Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s, fresh fruit, waffles and pancakes to name just a bit of the menu
made for a very tasty breakfast. Who could ask for anything more? This was, and I am not exaggerating in the least, the most
wonderful wedding weekend.

Congratulations Alex and Amanda!

So the wedding day arrives. Amanda, Alex, wedding party and family have been staying at The Inn above Onion Creek, so this is
where we meet them to start the day. Winston, the dog, member of the wedding party and official ring bearer is present as well for
his portrait.

As guests arrive they gather at The Plant for cocktails and light bites. A table is set with postcard styled note cards for guests to
sign in and leave their best wishes. The weather is perfect and the grounds are beautiful, leaving plenty of room for the more
active guests to run around and mess with some ants.

The ceremony itself takes place in a nearby field. Paper cones of lavender are hung from the back of each chair to throw
as the Bride and Groom recess down the aisle. Will Taylor and accompaniment play strings as the guests approach and are seated.

Next onto the cocktail hour, where the Tres Latin Jazz band are playing. Here as well is the display of the wedding cakes, created
by Scott Calvert of The Cake Plate. Be sure to notice the escort cards, alphabetically clipped to ribbon and displayed on old doors.
I loved the font they chose and how it carried through on the invites, sign in cards and here on the escort card envelopes as well.

Dinner was served family style in a clear topped tent at long wooden tables. I loved the old coffee cans, glass jars and wooden tool
boxes that Gina Whittington of CLINK collected and then gave to Merveille, the florist who made great use of them for the table
arrangements. Ilios lighting did a beautiful job hanging lanterns in the trees and chandeliers in the dinner tent. It was such a
beautiful setting to enjoy the changing of day to night.

And when dinner was done it was time to dance. The dance floor itself was set up on top of the pool, and created an instant
feel of excitement as you stepped out on to it. It took absolutely one second after the first dance for the Spazmatics to get the
dance floor hopping. The cake was cut, toast were made and Amy’s Ice Cream set up a sundae bar. Bloody noses and all,
everyone was having a great time.

When the band stopped playing the party was over for some, but a few of the diehards kept it going at the after party. DJ Josh
set up inside where the hookahs were smoking and the Four Seasons served a late night snack of breakfast tacos.

Thought I would take a quick break from the weddings to show you the newest still life image I have been working on. These are the seed heads from
the wild poppies that I find in my yard each spring. To see more still life work go to my art blog at alesi art.

The dance floor was dusted with saw dust, the tables were set with tin cans, beer bottles, candles and succulents, the walkways
lined with lone star luminarias and so the stage was set to begin Amanda and Alex’s Texas Hill country wedding weekend.
This first event, the Welcome Dinner, was held at the Salt Lick Pavillion, and as the invite said, it was an evening of BBQ, beer
and boot scootin’.

Over the next few days I will also post photos from the wedding day which took place at The Plant in Kyle and the following
Sunday brunch which was held at San Michele in Buda.

Here is a list of the vendors that got this party started:

event planners, designers and coordinators: CLINK
floral design: Merveille
catering: the Salt Lick
transportation: TransConsultants
DJ: Penguin Entertainment
Band: Reckless Kelly
videography: Mason Jar films

Upon arriving at Vintage Villas for Susan and Jon’s wedding, one of the first things I noticed was the wonderful blue dresses
that the bridesmaids were wearing, next the bouquets that Visual Lyrics had created. The yellow dahlias and ranunculus just
sang against that blue, and the mood was set. This was going to be a happy, lively, late spring wedding. I was not disappointed.
Throughout the entire event Susan and Jon, the wedding party and families laughed. They truly had a great time and it was a
pleasure to photograph them.

One last note, I wanted to let Ms, Guzman, a friend of the bride’s family, know how beautiful and tasty the wedding cake was. Great job.
Oh, and thanks to our good friend and uncle to the groom, David Jewell, for recommending us. You rock!

Congratulations Susan and Jon!

We recently had the distinct pleasure of being the photographers at Emily and Justin’s Four Season’s wedding. It was an
elegant affair, expertly coordinated by Elizabeth Elias of Caplan Miller Events, blessed with perfect weather, good friends and family.

Things I loved about this wedding:

1. the letter pressed invitations
2. the chandeliers hanging from the trees in the ceremony area
3. the turquoise blue color of the bridesmaids dresses
4. the beautiful vibrant bouquets that Petal Pushers created
5. Justin’s shoes, awesome!
6. Emily’s dress, and more importantly how she looked in her dress, stunning.
7. the family and guests, so friendly and so much fun
8. the Elvis impersonator, (the word was that Elvis is a distant relative to the Bride)
9. the band, Dysfunction Junction, which kept the dance floor full and hopping

and here is a shout out to Gary at Crescent Video, always a pleasure to work with him.

congratulations Emily and Justin!