DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WEDDING

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WEDDING

destination wedding photographer

Let me start this blog post by saying a huge thank you to my friend Christine Wright with Swish + Click. She asked me to travel with her to The Dominican Republic to photograph this intimate wedding with her as a second photographer. As a contracted second photographer of a wedding, it’s not standard to create a blog post using the images you photographed during the day, but she is so generous and offered to let me blog my images from the wedding since I would love to show off the wonderful time we had at this wedding. I’m also trying to add more destination weddings to my body of work, so sharing this with you all is a big deal to me. Out of respect for her position of primary photographer, please reach out and contact her if you have any questions regarding participating vendors or this wedding venue.

For this post, I’m going to stick to my favorite aspects of Sarah + Russell’s Dominican Republic wedding weekend instead of talking about the wedding day itself. One of the most fond memories I have of our time spent at this villa was the concept of island time. We would leave our room and join everyone for breakfast around 9am, eat and chat for what felt like hours and hours, and only 45 minutes had passed. What witchcraft is this. No matter how many times this happened to us, we were just as amazed each time that so little time had passed. We were on the island for 3 days (or, better known in island time as 4.5 weeks) and I am now a strict advocate that every wedding be on an island so there’s plenty of time for everything and no rushed wedding timelines :)

Bride + groom, Sarah and Russell, own a mobile bartending team in Houston, Texas called Palace Party Beverage Co., so it’s obvious that it was their duty to ensure that everyone have a drink in their hand at all times (minus those who were working on the wedding day during their contracted hours). Their team also concocted some mighty delicious drinks for the entire weekend, not just the wedding day.

And my last favorite memory, but certainly not least, was the intimacy of the wedding. There were 25 people total, and all stayed at the villa. We got to eat, drink, and be merry with these folks all weekend long. By the day that the wedding rolled around, we were all like old friends (wedding guests, villa employees, and vendors alike)! Every wedding guest can be seen in the last photo. Do you know how much more you can do with your wedding budget when there are fewer guests? The affect that an intimate guest count can have on your wedding is mind-boggling. Just higher quality, overall. Seriously. If you need convincing, please message me, because I can talk about this fa dayzzz.

Again, thanks to my friend Christine Wright of Swish + Click for allowing me to blog my images + share some fond memories. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Film lab: The FIND Lab

BEST OF 2018

BEST OF 2018

TEXAS + DESTINATION INTIMATE WEDDING

AND ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER

This year as a wedding photographer was wild. It brought on highs and lows, and an unexpected twist I never imagined. After almost 10 years of owning a business, I finally realized the kinds of clients and weddings that mesh best with my personality and my interests (more on that in a bit). It took me nearly ten years of doing business to realize that just because I’m a wedding photographer, doesn’t mean that all engaged couples are up for grabs, and that every wedding photographer out there is my competition. My style attracts a certain type of couple, and detracts other types of couples. And that’s a good thing!

The couples that have been attracted to my work are creative in some way. This year I’ve worked with architects (two now, actually), artists, graphic designers, teachers, psychologists, photographers, lawyers, and fellow wedding industry creative professionals. That led me to start thinking about the character traits that my clients have. They’re educated, discerning, and hard-working. Most of all, they’re KIND. They’re smart with their investments, and expect a high quality product and service. They would prefer an intimate guest list or elopement. They don’t want a frivolous wedding filled with too many details, logistics, or stressful situations. Any element that plays a part of their wedding day has so much value and meaning to them.

These things have helped me to decide how I market, and to whom I market. Since 2018 was the year of deciphering all of the things, I feel like 2019 is going to be a great year of connecting with some wonderful clients, capturing some meaningful memories, and bettering my business to the best of my ability. I can’t wait to show you all what I have in store for this year’s couples. Thank you for your love and support throughout the years! Cheers to a new year!