March 2010

Memory Lane

Memory Lane Event Center Pictures

by Eric Hegwer on 18 March, 2010

I wanted to share a behind the scenes look with you today at an amazing outdoor wedding venue just south of Austin called Memory Lane.  Every few weeks I get invited to check out a wedding venue.  This site visit is a great way to learn all the ins and outs of a particular place.  We get a behind the scenes look at all the different places – from parking, to the getting ready rooms, ceremony locations, rain plans, kitchens, bar areas, dance floors, and even restrooms.

In addition to seeing all the different spaces, a few Austin wedding vendors were featured, and showcased their work:

Royal Fig Catering hosted a fantastic three course lunch

Rojo Photography showed off their albums and took some great shots of the day

Stardust Pastry created an amazing dessert table full of incredible hand made treats – I actually did a dessert bar shoot with them a few weeks ago, and it was truly incredible to work with Summer and her crew.

Wild Bunches Floral is the in house florist at Memory Lane, and showed off their skills on each and every table.

Invitations were hand designed by Dragonfly Designs – check out the shots below for some of the details put into each of the invitations and menu cards

of course all of the linens, tableware, glassware, chairs, and stuff was provided by Premiere Party Central.

All the wine was provided by Winery on the Gruene from up in New Braunfels.

J Harpist, and Farahday’s massage were also there, each is a great add-on to make your wedding that much more special.

I’ve worked at Memory Lane before, for a fantastic evening wedding, but what really stood out for me was how beautiful this austin wedding venue was during the day. The light at this place was just incredible, and would be ideal for a garden style wedding, or other outdoor wedding.

If you were getting married again, would you have a day-time wedding? Share your answers in the comments below.

bi-fold event invitation

bi-fold event invitation

Just look at the vintage make-up table and big mirror in the bride's getting ready room at Memory Lane

Just look at the vintage make-up table and big mirror in the bride's getting ready room at Memory Lane

The dessert bar was provided by Summer at Starlight Pastry.

The dessert bar was provided by Summer at Stardust Pastry.

Just look at the beautiful glassware!  All the table settings were provided by Premiere Party Central.

Just look at the beautiful glassware! All the table settings were provided by Premiere Party Central.

This is the band's stage at Memory Lane.

This is the band's stage at Memory Lane.

When you rent this wedding venue, you, your bridal party, or family have the option of staying overnight, and when you do, you can take advantage of this great pool and outdoor patio to relax at before (or after) your wedding.

When you rent this wedding venue, you, your bridal party, or family have the option of staying overnight, and when you do, you can take advantage of this great pool and outdoor patio to relax at before (or after) your wedding.

Kristen of Royal Fig catering is telling some of Austin's best wedding pros about their wedding catering services

Kristen of Royal Fig catering is telling some of Austin's best wedding pros about their wedding catering services

Thalia Morgan, the lead planner at Memory Lane event center

Thalia Morgan, the lead planner at Memory Lane event center

Three of Austin's best wedding planners

Three of Austin's best wedding planners



Dawn Earley on the left

Dawn Earley on the left

Dawn Earley on the left

Dawn Earley on the left

Menu card by Dragonfly Designs

Menu card by Dragonfly Designs

event invitation wording

event invitation wording

each card had three layers, and felt very heavy - quality craftsmanship

each card had three layers, and felt very heavy - quality craftsmanship

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El Dorado Maroma wedding (part 1)

by Eric Hegwer on 15 March, 2010

At the beginning of this month I was very lucky to be included in a small, intimate wedding on the Beach at an amazing adults-only, all inclusive resort near Playa Del Carmen. There were only 14 people total at this destination wedding.  But it was the perfect mix of family and friends.  Everyone had a great time!  I flew in to Cancun on Friday, and left on Sunday, staying 2 nights and photographing the rehearsal dinner, all the wedding day activities (getting ready, ceremony, details, and of course the party), and then we did a photo session on the beach sunday morning before I flew out.

And there were so many details that the bride arranged. There were hand-made dinner menus, unique place-cards made of tile, OOT bags for the family and friends, and an extra special Texas flag. The Flag was sewn onto a canvas bag filled with some soil from their homestead, and placed on the ground at the beach altar. Both the bride and the groom had one foot on the flag during the ceremony so they would be “married on Texas soil”.

This is the first of a two part series – today I’m including some of my favorite film pictures (yep I do film destination weddings). Stay tuned, because the next post will have way more photos, and a ton more detail shots.

Arial picture of Cancun

Arial picture of Cancun

The ground level rooms at El Dorado Maroma in Playa del Carmen have swim up entrances (the upstairs rooms have infinity pools)

The ground level rooms at El Dorado Maroma in Playa del Carmen have swim up entrances (the upstairs rooms have infinity pools)

The bride and her friends hanging out before the wedding

The bride and her friends hanging out before the wedding

Inside the bride's room at El Dorado Maroma resort

Inside the bride's room at El Dorado Maroma resort

The groom reads a letter written to him from his future wife

The groom reads a letter written to him from his future wife

Lacing the corset on a wedding dress

Lacing the corset on a wedding dress

wedding altar on the beach at El Dorado Maroma

wedding altar on the beach at El Dorado Maroma

The groom and wedding party see the bride for the first time

The groom and wedding party see the bride for the first time

I know it sounds weird, but I actually like a few clouds in the sky when photographing a beach wedding.  It makes for better pics.

I know it sounds weird, but I actually like a few clouds in the sky when photographing a beach wedding. It makes for better pics.

The sand ceremony has become a popular wedding tradition, especially for beach weddings.

The sand ceremony has become a popular wedding tradition, especially for beach weddings.

wedding formals - right after the ceremony, I like to grab one traditional formal wedding picture of the couple.  This is the "mantle shot" that all the mom's love.

wedding formals - right after the ceremony, I like to grab one traditional formal wedding picture of the couple. This is the "mantle shot" that all the mom's love.

After the wedding, it's fun to do a couple of beach-ey poses like drawing a heart in the sand

After the wedding, it's fun to do a couple of beach-ey poses like drawing a heart in the sand

The staff at Maroma attended to every detail.  Look how beautiful these tables are decorated!

The staff at Maroma attended to every detail. Look how beautiful these tables are decorated!

All my travel plans were made by Skip of your Honeymoon guru dot com. He’s a great person to talk to for all your destination wedding travel arrangements, and if you want to make a custom destination wedding package.

More pictures from this amazing destination wedding are coming tomorrow! Stay tuned for part 2.

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wedding cookie pictures

Dessert Bar

by Eric Hegwer on 8 March, 2010

One of my most popular pages is the one of the yellow candy bar at weddings. I guess people search google, and it comes up pretty high in searches. So I thought I’d add a few more shots of dessert stations at weddings, with these pics of a dessert bar. Enjoy!

Dessert Bar with wedding cake, fresh fruit, and bite size desserts

Dessert Bar with wedding cake, fresh fruit, and bite size desserts

Welcome to Stardust Pastry

Welcome to Stardust Pastry

Mini Bite-size cupcake

Mini Bite-size cupcake

Fresh Raspberries

Fresh Raspberries

Teal candies and silver hearts in a glass jar

Teal candies and silver hearts in a glass jar

Cookies with stamps in the icing

Cookies with stamps in the icing

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