Jon has been a friend since high school.  We share a lot of similarities too actually.  He plays drums, plays basketball, and has a twin brother.  Just kidding, I don’t have a twin brother.  But, we used to chat a lot about drums and he’d beat me in basketball all the time.  Funny story. Once, after being beat by him in basketball, we were leaving to go home and he rear ended me at a stop sign.  I was driving a 4runner at the time, so the damage was minimal, but his car’s front hood was crushed.  Needless to say, we took one car for the session, hahaha.

Jon and Gloria have both moved to Austin and are starting to call it home, so it was only appropriate that we shoot in their hometown.  They took me out to the Austin Greenbelt…in July.  A place commonly used for swimming and cooling off became the setting for their hot, bug-infested engagement session.  The first thing we did when we arrived was put on a layer of bug spray…and despite the greasy limbs, I’m glad we did.

So here’s something sweet about them that you don’t see too often anymore; I found out they’re saving their first kiss for the altar!  So I can’t wait until their wedding day because I know how incredible that moment will be.  Congrats guys!  Looking forward to celebrating with you!

Jon did pretty good on the engagement ring, don’t you think?

Meghan and Patrick came in from Colorado to have their “destination” wedding at Austin’s own Mercury Hall.  Though they live in Denver, their roots are definitely from the south.  Just look at these details!!

Meghan in Melissa Sweet. Perfection.

Jam, grilling rub, and pickles!  The rub goes great on hamburgers too, by the way.

Two photographers = two first kiss looks.

My favorite ring shot probably of all time.

During local Austin band Mike and the Moonpies’ break, Patrick’s band got up and played a few songs for all their guests.  I also found out that Patrick and I own the same snare drum!  (dorky drummer talk)

Catering | 2 Dine 4

Event Coordination | 2 Dine 4

Cake | Polkadots Cupcake Factory

Music | Mike and the Moonpies

Venue | Mercury Hall

Photo | Table4

I thought I’d drop in this video of Patrick’s band, The Knew, for you all to check out.  They’re not bad, eh?

The Knew “United” from Drummond West on Vimeo.

People say it’s lucky if it rains on your wedding day.  What if it rains on your engagement day?  Must be uber lucky.

Meghan and Patrick braved the rain and had some fun in and around South Congress in Austin.

The rain stopped for about 7 minutes. Just enough time to get a few city shots!

Be on the lookout for their wedding post!

What do you do if your family owns acres and acres of land outside of Austin? You go take some engagement photos on it. Duh.  “Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our Kingdom..”

They even have their own Pride Rock.

Lori + Matt + Max.

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of being part of Fortune Austin‘s 1st ever bridal show. It was organized by the team at Red Velvet Events, and Sarah did an incredible job bringing in some of Austin’s top wedding vendors, including Illios Lighting, Marquee Event Group, Simon Lee Bakery, The Joey Colarusso Trio, King Florist, Floral Renaissance, Little Wex Makeup, FaceKandy, Say Cheese Photobooth, and fellow photographer Stefano Choi.

Now, for a little background info.  Sarah emailed me in February asking if Table4 wanted to participate.  At the time, I already made plans for that date so I told her that I could send some prints or albums and have them laid out around the show.  When she later emailed me the list of other vendors, I started to think maybe I should actually be at the show.  After all, the vendors there are some of the top wedding vendors in Austin and how could I pass up the opportunity to meet them?  ;)

So, pretty much 2 weeks before the show, I rearranged my schedule, called my good friend Nita and begged her to help with Table4′s first ever bridal show.  I told her this idea I had of having different table settings displaying work or something…and…that was it.  This is the result:

Above: Setting 1. An iPad I bought on the way down to Austin set on top of a black plate, on top of an aluminum placemat from IKEA. A folded teal napkin sits between the iPad and plate, adding just the right amount of color.  A wine glass with some teal wire twisted in and around it (Thanks Nita!) and fancy flatware flanked the placemat.  The iPad was loaded with portfolio images and was in slideshow mode all night.

Above: Setting 2. A 10×10 flushmount wedding album with aluminum cover on top of another aluminum placemat, with flatware wrapped in the teal fabric.  This album was a full wedding and brides could flip through seeing what an actual Table4 wedding album looked like.

Setting 3: A custom 10×10 engagement sign in book. I cleverly had the guests and other vendors come by and sign the book as they passed by my table. One guy wrote, “Great meeting you!” ….Thanks!

Nita also picked up these small dip bowls and teal colored jelly beans. I had custom square cards printed for the event and placed at each setting.  I want to point out the big vase and lamp shade as well.  The teal lampshade was eye catching and helped my table stand out from the rest of the group. The height of the vase and lamp shade added a significant amount of interest and sophistication.  If you couldn’t tell, I’m really proud of the table. Like, really proud.

One of the bigger bowls had a bunch of jelly beans in them as well as my super fancy letterpress cards.

Right before I left Dallas, I decided to pack my vintage cameras thinking it would help people understand what I did.  It actually didn’t.  The design of the table was so good people kept asking me if I was a designer throughout the night…..despite all the photos and cameras. Thanks a lot Nita.

Thanks again to Fortune and Red Velvet Events for hosting this event!  I had a great time meeting people and schmoozing with some of Austin’s finest wedding vendors!  Also, a HUGE thanks goes out to my friend Nita!  She recently put her floral and wedding design career on hold as she plans for her own wedding in September. I’m thrilled she took on this project and I’m so happy with the results.  I’m also honored to be part of her wedding and not have to work that weekend, but… I’ll probably still take a few photos.