They will be married this May at Riverbend Chapel followed by a reception at Kristen’s family home, which I cannot wait to photograph. Everyone I’ve met that has a part in the wedding (mom, sister, Grandma, Brad, Kristen) has just been awesome and I’m so excited to see how everything comes together for an amazing wedding day.

Thanks you two! See you soon!

Well that was the day that the darling Jill and Matt had scheduled their engagement session. They came in from out of town too. Boo weather! We tried our best, but didn’t quite get what we wanted so we rescheduled for a day that turned out to be extra beautiful.

The bonus side of our reschedule was that I got to spend a little extra time with these two. I am very much looking forward to their September wedding!

Aurelie and Jarod are an extremely special couple to my family. Aurelie or ‘Miss Young’ as she was known to my daughter, was Little S’s preschool teacher for two years at her French immersion preschool and is someone that we will always be grateful to for teaching our daughter French. Jarod and I were in French class together too, but alas, we are not as good as either Aurelie OR my daughter.

Aurelie and Jarod had originally planned a wedding in France, where Aurelie is from, but due to logistics and time and just wanting to be married, they decided to have the wedding sooner in their adopted hometown of Austin. I’m so glad they did, because it meant that I was able to be there. Family from London, Pennslyvania and France all flew in to attend.

These two incorporated things they loved about Austin, with some lovely French traditions and inspirations. Aurelie’s sister Skyped the ceremony for her Grandmother in France and we all got treated to a Bordeaux region toast over creme brulee cupcakes and champagne.

Small, French-speaking pre-schoolers abounded and it was just a lovely, lovely morning. I was thrilled to be there and wish these two nothing but the best in life.

Happy New Year!

My dear, dear friend and talented photographer Kristen shot these for us. It was freezing cold and when I picked my kid up from school before the session, her teacher said “She’s had a really rough day today – not the most well-behaved”. Awesome. So the odds were highly stacked against us, but in a 25 minutes session, Kristen made us some gorgeous photos. I had them made into a holiday-style album, which I am LOVING (as are the grandparents).

I love small albums for portrait sessions! While I am a bit of a mimimalist on my wedding album designs (white pages, clean layouts), I think this album benefitted from a kicky little theme.

Looking forward to 2012…The Best of 2011 posts are coming!

No matter what you celebrate, a champagne cocktail with a sparkly swizzle stick is always fun! This one was crafted by the talented ladies (and man) at BZ Events for the Driskill’s 125th Anniversary Celebration and Tree Lighting earlier this month. It was a great evening and really kicked off the holidays for me.

I’ll be celebrating with my family for a few more days, but will be periodically checking email if you need me. Just be patient and maybe have your own champagne cocktail while you wait.

I hope you have a fabulous holiday and I can’t wait to see what you all have in store for 2012!

XOXO

~Shannon

There are several things you should know about Kelli and Noah. First of all, they have been nothing but a pleasure to work with since the day they booked me. Truly just lovely people inside and out. Secondly, I ask lots of questions to try and figure out what type of locations we’ll use when shooting an engagement session. Kelli told me that her a Noah share ‘A love of the outdoors, fitness and desserts.’ Awesome! Thirdly, I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything they both wore for this session. Check it out – pops of color, layering, great accessories. They coordinated but didn’t match. Just perfection. Fourthly, and most importantly, the two of them have this unbeatable chemistry and are just plain delighted to be around each other. They make me smile.

They will be getting married next Spring at The Wild Onion Ranch and I can’t wait! It’s going to be a great wedding.

Oh and as a random side note, Kelli is a ‘pinner’on Pinterest. I am too and we were able to share some ideas about the session through our Pinterest Boards. It worked out wonderfully.

I’m ‘scphoto’ on Pinterest. You can find me HERE. I pin lots of things related to weddings and clothing options I think would be great. I also pin ideas that are not wedding related. I would love to follow you as well!

And here is Miss Abby tearing it up on the dancefloor with several members of the wedding party. Nice!

Jan and Dave are two of the coolest and most fun people I have ever met. They travel, they golf, they know how to have a good time and so do their friends. The dancing and fun at this wedding was unbelievable. The happiness of this couple and all of their loved ones was also tangible. So many people were SO excited for this wedding and it showed. I was so thrilled to be a part of it.

They spent their day at the always amazing Four Seasons Austin in the middle of our scorchy, hot summer. One of my favorite things about the Four Seasons is the lawn always feels about 10 degrees cooler than the outside air. I don’t know how they manage that, but it’s kind of magic.

The reception was a giant, beautiful party! I went overboard with decor shots below, because, it was kind of flawless. Jan and Dave have amazing taste and when you combine that with the talents of Becky Brock of BZ Events, you get something incredible, as you will see. Their friends also secretly rehearsed a flash mob dance that they surprised the couple with after they had finished their first dance. Too fun!

I also have to thank the always fun James Dvorscak for shooting this wedding with me. He’s such a delight.

Jan and Dave, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your wedding! You guys rock!

Venue, Catering and Cake: The Four Seasons Austin

Event planning, decor and coordination: Becky Brock (and Megan and Henry) of BZ Events

Floral: Unexpected Elements

Stationary: Anibella Ink and Paper

Second Shooter: James Dvorscak

Band: Sauce

Dress: Marchesa

Shoes: Jimmy Choo (2 pairs! Heavenly)

Shannon Cunningham is an Austin, Texas wedding photographer