A few days ago, the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE)  was in town for their annual convention.  When the organizers here in Austin asked me to help out, I was both flattered, and excited.  I knew that it was going to be an incredible event.

To start the conference, two Event planner powerhouses in town teamed up to produce the opening night Gala at the Driskill Hotel.  Tacy with Meritage Events, and Cindy with Red Velvet brought in the very best Austin event vendors and talent.

Scroll down for some of my favorite shots, or visit the temporary event photo gallery to see all the fun!

The Driskill Hotel in Austin

9-foot tall Glamazons in the Driskill Lobby greeted guests.

Entrance to the Driskill Ballroom, where all the incredible NACE food was displayed

The Driskill Mezzanine, decorated for the NACE opening night with red light by Ilios, and tables from Townsley designs

The Driskill Ballroom

Cowboy hats as take-away favors by Hatbox in Austin

Authentic Can-Can girls gave a special Hello, to guests of the NACE conference.

Real-live cowboy statues greeted NACE guests as they arrived to the Rhinestone Cowby opening night event

The stage was set for American Outlaw at the Rhinestone Cowboy event

Watermellon and Mozzarella appetizers

Proof!

The Hatbox booth was a huge hit.

The mezzanine at the Driskill with special lighting.

Chefs at the Driskill prepared authentic Austin Cuisine for all the NACE members.

Cindy Lo of Red Velvet Events, and Tacy Infante of Meritage Events planned the whole opening night for NACE. Great Job!

Some of the great folks from Townsley Designs

American Outlaw started their set with Fireworks from Special FX in Austin

Come back tomorrow to see the rest of the photos from some of the conferences and the closing night awards ceremony and finale party!

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So if you want a classic car to make a fast get away from your wedding, take a look and then give them a call.  Don’t forget to tell your photographer, and make some time for an impromptu photo session with the car, too.  You won’t regret it!

1959 Jaguar Mark IX Saloon at Villa Antonia

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Lauren & Vince – You had an amazing wedding – I don’t know where to start.  There were so many UT touches, too – the orange flowers, and vests, cufflinks, and even cake.  Let’s just let these pics tell the story:

The bride and her bridesmaids decided to get ready at the Island on Lake Travis

Lauren had a makeup test run before the wedding at her bridal session, and came up with this plan for the big day.

Applying wedding makeup

White wedding shoes

Reading a note from her soon to be husband.

Pink and gold wedding bouquet

Silver UT Longhorn cufflinks

A golden calla lilly

Groom's shoes

Looking out the window at everyone at the wedding.

Flower Girls and Ring Bearers at Nature's Point

One of the must have wedding photos at NP is the bride walking down the isle near the fountain.

And I love to get the look on the groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time.

Dad giving his daughter away

Nature's Point Weddings

My favorite time at a wedding are the moments immediately after the ceremony.

Then we headed to the altar to do some formals

And every couple should have a standard wedding portrait - I'll show you the right pose

Before we knew it, it was time for the first dance.

And then there were some great detail moments during the toasts.

Everyone was dancing at this wedding.

This wedding was full of Texas Exes

Everybody lined up for an incredible bubble exit

Here's the last shot of the night, as the couple sat in their get-a-way limo

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All in all we spent an hour walking the grounds, finding all the best spots, and just having a great time.  There were well over 100+ incredible shots, and the couple will get all of them on the CD so they can do whatever they want with them.  By the way – if you do hire me, I love to see how you use the photos.  One couple even made a custom CD of their favorite songs and handed it out as a wedding favor.  And on the cover of the CD case was one of their engagement pics.
Anyway, these two were so very cute together. At first, as always, things were a bit stiff, as they didn’t know what to expect, but after 10 minutes or so, they were super relaxed in front of the camera. Enjoy your photos!

It didn't take long for these two to feel comfortable in front of the camera.

In addition to all the standard engagement poses, I like to do engagement detail shots.

My favorite engagement photo from the session.

There are so many different poses you can do.

Hi Key Engagement Photos

Black and white Engagement Photos

Sepia epics

I always do a couple of more traditional poses, in addition to all the fun creative stuff.

Holding Hands

E-Pics Poses

Austin Engagement Pictures

These are the back steps leading up to the back of Laguna Gloira

Even though the couple didn't wear vintage clothes, I decided to do a little post processing to this shot, and gave it an antique look.

Cute!

Here's a pretty standard, traditional engagement pose.

Congrats you two! Enjoy these photos!

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There are so many different resources for learning how to Photoshop your wedding photos. I’e personally spent countless hours reading on-line and looking for the best photoshop tutorials. The ones that give a very subtle, but unique look. In my opinion, the tutorials written by David J. Nightingale. David’s blog is one of the most popular photo-blogs in the world Chromasia.

Click this to access the tutorials.

If you are looking for that desaturated look for your photos, or don’t know how to get the look of the photographs in Dwell Magazine, or perhaps you need to do an amazing custom Black & White conversion, or you are just looking foran alternative to Totally Rad Actions, turn to the Chromasia Tutorials.

There is a small charge for this information, but I’ve paid for it, and can tell you that the information is some of the best on the web, and well worth the small membership fees.

I highly recommend them.

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Tilt-shift photography at Nature's Point using a large format camera.

The photo from today, and the one yesterday at the Mansion are not the kind of pics I usually take at weddings, but if you are interested in having a one-of-a-kind wedding portrait like these, let’s talk!

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A wedding portrait on the steps of the Mansion on Judges Hill

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You see, every spring, this couple had a housewarming.  It was a nice affair at their home, fully catered, and pretty low key.  Just a way to get together, and see each other at least once a year.  But over the years this particular spring fling had grown to around 200 guests:  family from around the country, friends, business associates, and even the neighbors were invited.

Of all the guests only a handful of us knew what was going on.  Of course the caterers knew because they were hiding the wedding cake.  And the band knew, because they were going to interrupt the set with the wedding march, as the couple came down the back steps of their house to be married by a minister who was hiding in the garage until the moment arrived.  And I was instructed not to tell anyone what was going on, and to be sure to get lots of reaction shots of the guests as people began to figure out what was really happening.

Boy oh Boy!  let me tell you.  It was absolutely incredible to see the expressions on people’s faces as they realized what was going on.  Nobody had any idea this was going to happen.  Not mom.  Not even the bride’s best friend.   Nobody knew this was a surprise wedding.

This wedding started out as just a regular spring party. Adult Pink Lemonade was the signature cocktail.

There was tons of great food. Lobster egg rolls were passed as appetizers.

Gourmet sliders were grilled on the back patio BBQ

When you come to Austin, you might see someone playing washers, a game similar to horseshoes

Cold drinks were on hand to keep everyone refreshed

Over time, guests knew to dress-up for this annual party.

This is Austin, so of course there was live music.

Mom's reaction when she realized her daughter had changed into a wedding dress.

This is the moment when everyone learned this was more than a regular spring party. The band began playing the wedding march, and the bride and groom came down their back stairs together.

The bride's best friend, who was pointed out to me earlier, didn't even know.

The expressions on the guests was priceless!

The couple had simple handwritten vows.

The couple had simple handwritten vows.

I think it was a relief to finally let everyone know

Here's the happy couple. We decided to do the wedding portrait on the very steps where everyone learned about the wedding.

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I love photographing bridals at the same location where the couple is getting married.  Of course that isn’t always possible, or even wanted by the couple.  But when it comes to locations like Nature’s Point, overlooking the Lake, and it’s spring, when everything is in bloom, the first place I’ll suggest is the venue.

Scheduling bridal pictures is always a bit tricky – we want the dress to be ready.  So I like to wait until after the final fitting.  But sometimes this runs close to the wedding date.  Whatever the case, I’m actively involved and super flexible when it comes to scheduling your bridal pics.  We will work out a time together, and make sure your photos are absolutely incredible.

And we can go in any number of directions with the style.  High fashion.  Casual.  Ranch Style.  Formal.  Relaxed.  I’ll ask you a few questions, and take suggestions (and provide a few, too).  I’ll put you in flattering poses, in great light, and find incredible camera angles.  You will feel comfortable.

Our bridal session was about an hour long, and both her mom and maid of honor came along to watch/help (which is totally cool with me).  Enjoy your photos!

Sometimes a black and white photo just works in a colorful outdoor setting.

Lauren's Bridal Pictures

Pink and orange wedding bouquet

Pictures of an up-do for a wedding.

Bridals at Nature's Point

Lauren's Bridal Pictures at Nature's Point

This dress had such an easy bustle.

Pink and orange baloons!

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All in all there were around 170 people at this relaxed Jewish wedding.  There were so many great moments – I only have room for 20 or so shots in this blog post, but the rest of the gallery will be ready soon.  With over 1000 photos.

This couple decided to have both a first look (where the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony), as well as having all the formals before the wedding.  Yep, I arranged and photographed the bridal party, as well as all the family formals on time, and prior to the ceremony.  The light was amazing, there weren’t any guests wandering around, and after the ceremony everyone was able to enjoy the cocktail hour and greet the couple and their family.

And there were so many great decorations.  Incredible white flowers were everywhere – from the bouquets, to the ballroom, and even an antique chandelier covered with the white blooms.

If you attended this wedding, either as a guest, or a family member, or in the bridal party, be sure to leave a comment below.  For every person that comments, the couple gets a free 5×7 photo of their choice.

The bride is getting her hair and makeup done before the wedding.

One of my favorite shots is getting mom's hands as she zips up the wedding gown.

White wedding bouquet.

I love it when the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony. Here she comes, and catches the first glimpse of her man.

The first look photos are have the best reactions.

Now the guy gets to see his bride for the first time.

And this is always the result.

I love some great candid formals.

I love to incorporate nature into the pictures as much as possible. Thankfully that's not hard to do in Austin.

But everyone needs a traditional wedding portrait for the mantle.

There was this great antique chandelier, covered with white flwoers, and crystals hanging from the chuppah.

Weddings at the Four Seasons in Austin with a chuppah, and white flwoers.

Guests were able to take a fan (a great way to keep cool during the wedding ceremony).

Somebody is pretty excited at this wedding.

This is another great moment, when the father kisses his daughter.

What do you do with your hands at a wedding? One thing is to cross the right over the left at the belt line.

Dad crying at the wedding ceremony.

Just married!

4-tiered white round wedding cake with rose petals. It was delicious!

Weddings at the Four Seasons in Austin - decorations inside the ballroom. Round tables for 8.

Up they go in the chairs for the Hora!

Some of the best moments and looks at a wedding happen during the toasts.

For the cake cutting, I like to have the groom hold the knife, and then the bride stands in front of him, and puts her hands over his, guiding them.

Dancing at weddings

The reception and party went late into the night...

Be sure to leave a comment below, because for every person that comments, the bride and groom get a free 5×7 photo of their choice. Tell us your favorite moment at the wedding, comment on your favorite photo, or tell us about your wedding

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