Don’t they have the ideal last names for a wedding tagline? I think so. When we got down to Houston the night before the wedding, there was a welcome packet including all of Katie and Jeff’s wedding-related events for the weekend in our room (excellent planning, btw). The title was, “Get Yust to the Noyes.” 

…And with that, it was officially confirmed. It would be a great weekend.

Katie and Jeff have known each other casually since 2006. They both secretly thought the other was cute, but the timing was never right.

Then came the magical night that changed their lives. It was a regular evening out and they bumped into one another. Only old friends, that was all. She’d just say hi to him and see how he was doing. Before she knew it, Jeff was making Katie laugh. That night they talked and laughed all night. Beginning an era of their lives that would be better than anything they had even imagined for themselves.

On the way home that night, Katie thought, “I really hope he calls me and asks me out,” not really sure what would come of the situation but knowing that she was already starting to feel something for this guy who had been placed in her life at just the right time.

A few days later came the call. He asked her out to dinner. Two months passed (really, only one month and a few days), and Katie began to know in her heart that this was the man she was going to marry.

On February 9th of last year, they were back at the Yardhouse. The restaurant that had been their first date. Katie tells the story best:

“We had discussed marriage many times, but I had no idea he had bought a ring or asked for my parents’ blessing. Even so, I knew something was up when my usually super calm and cool man nervously looked around the always crowded restaurant and asked me, “Why are there so many people here?” I looked at him sideways, then excused myself to make phone call. When I returned to the table, he looked at me and said, “Katie, I actually brought you here because this was where we had our first date and I want it to be the last first date we ever go on.” He pulled a ring out of his jacket pocket and asked me to be his wife.

Jeff and I are so excited to start our life together as man and wife.”

_____________________________

That was the email she sent me when she first contacted us. I knew I’d love this girl as soon as I read it, and I was right. She was completely and totally thrilled; not just about the beautiful wedding they’d have, but because it was Jeff.

There was no one else in the world who made her feel the same way.

Now before we go ANY further with this story, you need to partake in this shoestravaganza. These Jimmy Choos aren’t any old pair of shoes that you’d wear to the gas station or to drop off your dry cleaning.

Although I totally would.

So many delicate and intricate details made up this day. And it was only the beginning.

Two sweet Flower Girls showed up at the bridal suite in their ballerina tutus and flower halos. Wearing ballet flats and dancing around the room.

I was smitten.

When Katie breezed into the room, everyone squealed with delight and crowded around to hug her. That’s the kind of relationship Katie has with everyone she knows.

So when it was time to slip into her dress, her best friends were right there with her. Feeling just as excited as Katie was feeling at that very moment.

This must have been some sort of setup. I mean, do things this cute actually happen in real life?

They did that day.

The flower girls eagerly watched as Katie’s dress was buttoned up her back. They felt like princesses that day, but they knew who the real princess was. And they were in awe of her.

Jeff was just as ready to join his life with Katie’s. His smile wouldn’t quit smiling. His eyes wouldn’t quit tearing up.

His mind wouldn’t quit thinking of the moment he would see her.

Katie’s Mom is her best friend. And she has wanted this kind of happiness for her daughter her whole life.

She had imagined her wedding day many times. When she was a baby, Joanie never thought that this day would come. She didn’t quite want it to get here back then. It seemed to be too far in the future.

But as she got older, things began to change. Katie was turning into a young woman. She was entering law school. She was all grown up.

And then Katie met Jeff. And then he asked Joanie and her husband if he could have Katie’s hand in marriage. Seeing her daughter’s face light up every time she spoke of him made her love her future Son-in-Law from the bottom of her heart.

So today, she was the happiest mom in the world. She glowed. Her heart was bursting with love for her daughter. Everyone could tell.

Why, yes. That IS a royal scepter. And yes, all six Flower Girls carried one. I might go so far as to say that they were the cutest group of Flower Girls that had ever been.

As everyone arrived at the church (Memorial Drive United Methodist in Houston), Lakeside Country Club was being filled with florals and the beginnings of an amazingly beautiful party.

It waited for a bride, a groom, and a fun crowd to get there so that the party could begin.

The setup was perfect. Nicole Macaluso from Event Solutions saw to that. {And let me just insert myself here to tell you how fabulous Nicole and her team were that day. No detail went unnoticed. Every corner had a special touch, and every part of the day would include something special. We love her and her team. They were absolutely amazing!}

The sanctuary was beginning to fill up. The guests were making their way to their seats, waiting expectantly to see the ones they had come to support.

Katie’s dad presented her with a gift from her mother and him. Her eyes instantly filled with tears when read the handwritten card and opened up the sapphire velvet box.

The charm would go down the aisle with her.

It would be her “Something Blue”.

The ceremony was approaching quickly, and girls began to cling closer and closer to Katie as if her excitement would rub off on them. It did.

Joanie was completely filled with love at this moment. She looked at all of the girls, one by one. And her heart poured out, “When Katie first told me she would have eleven bridesmaids, I thought she was crazy and tried to talk her out of it. But now I can’t even imagine this without every single one of you here. You all mean so much to Katie, and to us. I love each and every one of you.”

She meant it.

Before they would line up in front of the sanctuary’s big wooden doors, the girls circled around Katie and prayed.

The guys did the same.

The Flower Girls huddled together in front of the open sanctuary doors. They switched their weight from foot to foot and pointed their toes, feeling very special at that moment. They peered around each other to see the room full of people. They proudly held their floral scepters with both hands, and when it was time, they walked sweetly down the aisle with purpose.

Everyone awwwed. It was only natural.

Katie held her dad’s hand tightly. She cast her eyes up to the ceiling to try to keep these happy tears from spilling over.

He could only look at her and feel love and amazement at this moment he was having with his only daughter.

The fanfare of music pulled everyone in the church to their feet. The doors burst open and Katie and her dad appeared.

It was the most beautiful Jeff had ever seen her look as she strode toward him. There was no question that she was his. And he was happy to call himself hers.

His eyes became glassy and the tears rolled down his cheeks. You could almost see his beating heart.

The announcement that they were now husband and wife seemed like a dream to them. Unable to believe it was real but wanting it to be more than anything, they turned to face the church.

It was filled with everyone they loved. Yes, this was real.

Lakeside. The enchanted evening began.

He couldn’t pull his hand from hers. He couldn’t take his gaze off of her.

Katie just beamed. Everyone she passed would see that she was so thankful. That would be the word I would use to describe Katie’s feelings that day if I had to use only one word. She couldn’t believe that this day was real, and she was completely overwhelmed by the wonderfulness of it all.

Best of all, she was standing beside her new husband.

Katie’s mom and dad were thankful too. They announced Katie and Jeff and they looked around at everyone who had come to the wedding. Each and every person was there to support their daughter.

I don’t know what it is about this image. But I love it.

Even without seeing their faces, you can feel exactly what they are feeling. At least I can.

The tears rolling down Jeff’s cheeks confirmed it.

Everyone around them tried not to cry along with him. Some did.

At the end of their first dance, she hugged him more tightly than ever. The joy was written all over her face.

The Father-Daughter Dance was next.

And then the Mother-Son Dance.

Their cake was topped with the same cake topper that Katie’s parents had used at their wedding. Her mom had had to do some repairing, and seeing the finished product on her own cake made Katie smile.

Jeff is obviously a lover of golf.

All right, let’s get down to brass tax. We want to see some party pics.

An excellent “dance circle”, as I call it.

Why yes, that IS the bottom half of a guy backflipping four feet in the air. I vote that he makes this his facebook profile picture.

This is so that you can see what it was like that night. The band was fabulous.

This is so that you can see how much she loves him.

He loves her more than words could say.

In the middle of the dance floor, they made this moment one that they would look back on. Remembering how it felt to be newly married.

And more in love than they ever thought possible.

Katie and Jeff, thank you. Thank you for trusting us to come to Houston to photograph your wedding. Thank you for finding our blog and for being willing to let us into your amazing love story without having met us in person, and for trusting that we would be there for you. That meant a lot to us. Most of all, thank you for showing us the wonderful kindness that you are each obviously known for. We felt so loved while we were there that day, and it was like we had known you forever. We could sense God in your relationship and in each of you and your families. This is what really makes you stand out to the world, just having Him in your lives, and He is also the one who will keep your marriage strong throughout the years.

We loved being a part of your wedding, and we hope that you have had an amazing first few weeks of marriage. They will be the weeks you’ll remember for the rest of your lives.

XOXO, Lauren and Will

On the bright side, in place of posting on our blog last week, we did a lot of PRETTY pretty shoots that are going to be really fun to share. Just so you know. Be ready to accept them.

____________________________________

TODAY’S FABULOUS COUPLE:

Jessica and Mike are the sweetest and cutest couple EVER, and they have chosen us to photograph their wedding. AND we have a collection from their Engagement Session here to show you today.

There are many many more Engagement Sessions coming up, too {I want to say this week but I think that will result in another fail if I do, so I am just going to say}…sometime. Soon {maybe this week. No, I didn’t say that}.

Now. Pay close attention to the purple dress outfit combo. I think you’ll like it, as I consider it to be, in quotes: “The Perfect Outfit Combo For Engagement Pictures”.

When Jessica holds on to Mike, she holds him with everything she has. Because their first four years together have been long-distance a lot of the time. So every time they see each other, they hold on to each moment together.

When your time together is rare, each second becomes precious. I think that we should all live this way. As if each day together might be our last.

Some of my favorite snuggles are below.

What I like to call “Pretty Model Wind Hair”.

Now that Mike and Jessica are engaged (I bet even reading that still makes their hearts jump in excitement), they are almost to the end of their long-distance dating journey. And they’ll finally be together. Forever.

Jessica and Mike, we can’t wait for September! This is going to be a great year, and we are so excited to be a part of it. Seeing that moment when you grab each other’s hands for the first time as husband and wife and walk back down that aisle is going to be…wonderful. Thank you for having us as your photographers, and we are looking forward to more Jessica-and-Mike-ness!!

XOXO,

Lauren and Will

Their wedding is going to be all over the “Old Hollywood” style with fabulous vintage accents (which fit in so perfectly with our new all-vintage photo booth props that I can’t even WAIT to see how it all looks together! And you’d LOVE the look of the bridal portraits. So fun).

Anyway, we were very excited about the idea of having a quilt in a field with cute vintage-ey clothing. I already knew I would love Katie and Travis when they shared this idea with me.

And then we also did pictures at Beth Marie’s Ice Cream Parlor in Denton, which is the cutest little Ice Cream Shoppe; so much so that I get to put an “e” on the end of “Shoppe”, whether or not there is actually one there (or if there is even the word “Shoppe” in the title of the Ice Cream Parlor…which I don’t think there is…but oh well, I like the word “Shoppe” and I’m gonna use it!).

And then Katie and Travis showed how cute they are together.

We wanted a lot of these to be the more vintage/Old-Hollywood theme, so we threw in some extra vintage looks to match the wedding.

They love with all of their hearts.

Katie and Travis, We cannot WAIT for the big day! After getting to know you both, we know that this is going to be one of the most fun/awesome weddings ever. You both have these huge hearts that you use to love each other dearly, and it shows. I can’t even imagine how happy you will both be on the day of the wedding.

Again with the awesomeness! We are so lucky to get to meet and work with people like you. Your kindness and wonderful spirits really shined on this day and every single time we’ve spoken with you both.

The wedding is going to be so much fun. We are looking forward to the day of loveliness and vintageness! EEEEEE!!

XOXO, Lauren and Will

“Zooooink!”

“OobaRoba!”

“NeenerNeenerNeener! Swaaaaaa!”

“EE EE EE EE! MaHAWK!” (Okay, you get it.)

It always did follow my voice and it sang back in exactly the same way that I had. You should try it sometime. I haven’t tried funny phrases with words yet. That shall be added to my ever-growing to-do list, if I ever get around to adding it :).

Anyway, it is pretty late at night and this bird is just chirping and singing away. He seems like he doesn’t know what time it is. Or that it’s dark outside. He has been joining us at work each evening with his voice, maybe to give us a soundtrack for the work environment to make it seem more like the woods. Or the country. Some kind of non-computer area where you might even want to take a vacation, or at least sit on a porch swing with hot coffee and a book.

Okay, this bird is getting annoying now.

Maybe he’s squawking to try and see if we’ll throw a shoe at him in protest or let one of our cats out. Maybe he’s into being on the receiving end of a hunt. I’m not sure.

Did this bird story have a point (if it can even be called a story. Nothing has actually happened with our dear friendly-bird who is also starting to get on my nerves)? No. I guess I could make it a real stretch and say that he’s singing for Jill and Brian’s love or something. Tie it in all nice and neat. But we all know that would be a bit reaching. So instead I’ll let you draw your own bird conclusions as to why he won’t shut up.

If anyone has a name idea for this bird, let me know. He’s a half-cool/half-annoying bird who lives outside our front window.

And he only sings at 1am.

_________________________________

_________________________________

{Houston, Texas}

You’ll already be able to see exactly what Jill and Brian’s wedding was about, just from this small set of pictures. Because it was so apparent throughout the entire day.

Answer Key: Family. And Love.

Love and Family.

Jill and her sisters right before heading to the church.

Here, their family is walking back to the chapel after family pictures with Jill.

This is what it feels like right after you round the corner into married life.

It gets even better from here on out.

One of my favorite images that show how happy Brian is right now (by the way, HAPPY ONE-MONTH ANNIVERSARY, Jill and Brian!!).

Aww, sweet.

Jill’s dad is so lucky to have this kind of relationship with his daughter. She loves him more than words can express. This was taken right after his toast.

Their reception on the rooftop deck of The Alden in Houston was absolutely perfect. We highly enjoyed this venue. But we especially enjoyed this group of people. Everyone had such a great time that night.

Is this not the most cute outfit you have seen in your entire life for a Flower Girl?!? I know.

And wait until you see how cute the flower girls actually were. And how many there were. Cuteness overload. You will love it.

_____________________________________

In the meantime, if someone doesn’t pin this, I’ll be disappointed. They just have to; it’s too CUTE!

Here is one of the sweetheart Flower Girls. Precious.

Katie looked amazing. And I love love LOVED her hair. And her dress was just…wow.

Jeff agreed.

Also, he loves her. A lot.

Not just in this picture, but all day long, you could just feel what Katie was feeling. And that was true thankfulness. She felt overwhelmed and blessed and thankful for a day that was better than anything she had ever imagined. More love than she had ever dreamed she’d have.

This was Katie’s parents’ cake topper at their wedding. AND it is going to be in Houston Bride’s Magazine. Yay! We’ll let you know when it comes out so that you can read the story Katie gets to write for them. We are very excited to be included.

The night was filled with dancing. And fun. We even had our photo booth in attendance (you can tell from the feather boa on the right-hand side of this picture).

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, had a great time and danced the night away.

At the end of the night, the band played a final song and the guests circled around Katie and Jeff. They looked around at everyone and knew that this had been the best night of their lives. They didn’t want it to end. Tears spilled over onto both of their cheeks as they hugged each other tightly, not wanting to let go.

She wiped the tears from his face, just like she would for the rest of his life.

Amidst a flurry of light and showers of sparks, they ran through the well-wishers to their honeymoon getaway car.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.