It’s that time of year again, so we are re-posting a favorite:

Anyone who knows San Antonio, has heard of Fiesta.  It’s 11 days of celebration in honor of Texas’ Independence.  There are parades, parties, and cascarones galore.  And the food is awesome.  It is a REALLY fun time of year to live in this city!

Since this is one of the most anticipated series of events all year (that we LOVE….have I mentioned that?), we decided to do a Fiesta-inspired shoot.

Check out these fun colors and festive decor to kick of the first day of Fiesta.  We hope all you San Antonians enjoy this next week!  Viva!

Venue: Lost Mission

Invitations/place cards: Kate Stafford

Styling: Sarah Halbach

Dress: custom design by Angelina Mata

We pulled together a spring styled shoot with a friend’s BABY goat (dream come true), an invitation by HMF + Design and Cat’s cute girls. Happy Easter everyone!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I was living in Minneapolis at the time and my mom and sister made a special trip to come up and visit from Texas to go wedding dress shopping. We had a few appointments made but I had no intention of actually finding my wedding dress. We just wanted to start looking, so I could get an idea of what I wanted. The first shop we went to was a quaint wedding boutique in St. Paul called the Wedding Shoppe. We had our own special attendant who helped find dresses in the style I thought I wanted. After searching through hundreds of dresses I quickly narrowed down my first dresses. The first dress I tried on was my personality in a dress and I could not take it off. My mom and sister were convinced I loved it so much because it was the magic of putting on my first wedding gown. They persuaded me to keep looking. After I tried on that first dress, I compared every single dress I wore that day to it. Four bridal shops and a day later, we collectively decided to buy that intial dress from the Wedding Shoppe. It happened to be a trunk show that weekend and we were able to get a great deal!

Describe your wedding flowers and the colors you chose….and why. My wedding flowers were pink, white, off white and green.

What were your favorite details? The center pieces because Josh, his mom and his great aunt chopped all the wooden pieces we used. Also our guest book bench that Josh built and I helped paint. I loved the mistletoe in the center of the dance floor…tis the season! Our cake topper was another special detail because it was used at my mom and dad’s wedding.

What part of your wedding was DIY? Our Save the Dates, invitations, programs, center pieces, guest book bench, attendant gifts, grooms cake

Did you have any traditions or special events that were a part of your wedding? Wedding Cake Pull for the bridesmaid, Aggie War Hymn, Second Line,

Did you decide to do a “first look”?  Why or why not? No, Josh’s face as I walked down the aisle was one I will never forget.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day? Our first dance because we worked on a special routine to set the tone for a fun night nobody would forget!

What song did you choose for the first dance?  Was it meaningful or just a favorite? “Everything” by Michael Buble. It is upbeat, fun and flirty!

What was the funniest moment of your wedding day? Our friends surprising us with the Johnny Manziel Heisman Cups

What do you look forward to the most about marriage? Waking up beside my best friend every day

VENDORS:
Venue: St. Peters Catholic Church
Cake: Bums Catering
Caterer: Karen Brickey
Flowers: An Empty Vase
Wedding Coordinator: Jodi Priestmeyer
Bride’s Dress: Wedding Shoppe
STD, Invitations, Programs: Jodi Priestmeyer

Happy Valentine’s Day!! Here is a super easy recipe for some cookies I’ve been making for years. I snagged this from Paula Dean (we love butter) and tweaked it a little. Here is the recipe but, be sure to double up on almond extract instead of using vanilla and make them teeny tiny (bite-sized, addictive, and seals in the moisture). I only cook these for 6-8 minutes! Just check to make sure the dough isn’t “shiny” (technical cooking term I made up) on the top and then take them out! Iced or not… these cookies are the best. Thanks to Marisa and Hallie for making them :).

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. It took me forever to find the right one!! I think I went to 6 different places and some of them multiple times…. My poor sister had to go through all the indecisiveness with me too!! But I found the perfect dress and love it!

What were your favorite details? My favorite details of the wedding were our invitations, dinner menus, table numbers and escort cards- basically all the paper details. Kate Weidlich from love and Wit paper Co. designed them and was so fun to work with.

What part of your wedding was DIY? I made all the mercury glass votives for the tables and the burlap wreaths for the church and  Barn doors. It took a long time, but it was all worth it! I loved how they turned out!

Did your write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite part? Yes, we did. It was the most special part of our ceremony . My favorite line was “everyday treat each others heart with appreciation, respect and grace.”

Did you have any traditions or special events that were a part of your wedding? We did a foot washing during the ceremony to show our calling to be servants to one another and to the world.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day? The very last song was the most memorable and most fun! The band played “Shout” and pulled us up on stage. It was so fun to sing with the band and see all our friend and family dancing and having a blast!

VENDORS:

Venue & Caterer: Don Strange  & Kendall Creek at the Don Strange Ranch

Cake: Cakes by Cathy Young

Flowers: Uptown Flowers

Wedding coordinator: my mom and me!

Bride’s dress: De Me Fille, Fort worth, TX

Invitations: Love and Wit Paper Co. Dallas, TX

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I found a picture on pinterest of the back of my dress and knew I wanted to find a dress that I could have the same back replicated. A friend of mine, Kim Spradlin, owns Bellabridesmaid in San Antonio and in Austin and one of my best friend’s and bridesmaids works at the Austin store. My mom and I drove up to Austin for a fun day trip and tried on wedding dresses at Bella and found “the one”! It was the second dress I tried on and we were able to remake the back from a local woman in San Antonio named Betty.

Describe your wedding flowers and the colors you chose….and why! I wanted our wedding to feel very organic so we went with a lot of greens and natural colors. I honestly don’t even remember what flowers we used…maybe don’t put that in there haha.

What were your favorite details? The boy’s bowties, the color of the foliage behind where we go married, my diamond necklace that Stephen gave me (it was his great grandmothers and has been passed down each generation), Stephen’s cufflinks and wedding band were his Papa Jack’s, bridesmaids and all of the kids wore TOMS shoes, our cake from Bird Bakery had unique flavors: sea salt carmel, carrot cake, pistachio, and sweet potato; the tree stump slices as center pieces….

What part of your wedding was DIY? We made candle jars wrapped in lace and filled with bird seed

Did you have any traditions or special events that were a part of your wedding? Taking communion together was really special, and we loved having a bagpiper

Did you decide to do a “first look”?  Why or why not? No, we wanted the first time we saw each other to be when I was walking down the aisle

Did your write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite part? We tweaked them. We took traditional vows and tweaked a few words. For example we said, “With this ring I marry you” instead of “With this ring I thee wed”

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day? Stephen: (I cannot say my real answer…. wink….) seeing Alli walk towards me down the aisle
Alli: exchanging vows. I felt like it was just us and we were surrounded by so much peace and love. The sun was setting so the light was just perfect! The Lord’s presence there was so tangible, it was amazing. Best. Day. Ever!

What song did you choose for the first dance?  Was it meaningful or just a favorite? Michael Buble “You and I” but….they couldn’t get the iPod to work…so the band played “At Last”.

What was the funniest moment of your wedding day? Stephen: when my brothers threw me in the pool when I was getting dressed right before the wedding
Alli: trying to pay attention and listen to Joey during the ceremony but we just kept laughing with each other.

What do you look forward to the most about marriage? Waking up to my best friend every day. Having my best friend to go on life’s adventures with.

VENDORS:

Venue: Cordillera Ranch @ Swede Creek
Caterer: O’Briens Restaurant
Cake: Bird Bakery
Flowers: Steven Pizzini
Wedding Coordinator: Country Sugar
Dress: Saja from Bella Bridesmaid, (the back was made by a local dress maker named Betty)
Invitations: Clare Wood of Carriage House Design Co.

It’s always fun to photograph the occasional newborn since it’s not something we normally do.  I just love his cute little face!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. Scott proposed the Saturday before Thanksgiving and just a few days before we were heading to San Antonio for the holiday. The week had already promised to be fun and exciting as Scott’s mom also was coming in to meet my family and to spend this week of thanks together. It was the perfect time to celebrate our new engagement. The following weekend, my mom, grandmother and I decided to head to Julian Gold simply to “see what dresses are out there.” As it turned out, my perfect dress was out there.  Being able to share that moment in the company of two other generations was magnificent.

Describe your wedding flowers and the colors you chose….and why! It was the first color scheme that came to mind and that no other could beat. We knew from the start that our wedding would be black tie and quickly decided that shades of white (i.e., ivory, champagne, cream, etc.), chocolate brown and metallic gold and silver would elegantly complement our vision. It was the perfect way to do a fall wedding and the yummy chocolate brown looked smashing on my fair complected bridesmaids. They were beautiful!

What were your favorite details? Rebecca and I are self-proclaimed foodies so it was no surprise when we decided we wanted our reception menu to be incredible. Rebecca spent weeks working directly with the talented Chef Nelson Milan at SACC to create a very special seasonal menu that perfectly reflected our tastes and the elegance of the evening. People are still talking about that butternut squash soup …

Did you have any traditions or special events that were a part of your wedding? I incorporated into my bouquet a gold tree of life bracelet that my mother received from her mother and then wore when she and my dad got married.

VENDORS:

Wedding and Reception Venue: San Antonio Country Club

Flowers: Trinity Flowers – Danny Cuellar

Cakes: Cakes by Cathy Young

Wedding Coordinator: Wedding Planners, Inc. – Betty Parish

Bride’s Dress: Julian Gold

Bride’s Sshoes: Jimmy Choo

Invitations: Invitations, etc.

Tuxedos: Heights Tuxedo

Linens/Rentals: Illusions Rentals & Design

Videographer: Mason Jar Productions

Band: Matchmaker Band

Hair: Veronica Hughes

Make up: Jena Massarello-Obregon