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

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!

Finally posting this collaboration! We transformed a barn into an art studio and made a shoot out of it featuring the jewels of Rifle and Radford. Melanie Edwards (the designer), Jane Fischer and I all worked together on styling and Claire Zinnecker was our fabulous model!