This proposal is from the 2011 Epiphany. Clearly, he “got” her!
(…and if you want to skip to the song and get to the goods, slide in to the 2:40 mark.)
Winter Sale on Holiday Boudoir Sessions
Show him how hot the winter can be with some steamy images of you! A boudoir session is the perfect gift for you…and the images from the session are the perfect gift for him.
And, with our Winter Sale going on, you save, too!
Hot Winter Nights
- Up to three hours of on-location boudoir photography
- 10×10 album, 30 pages
- DVD-ROM of all the images and the album design
- 20% off additional orders in your gallery
Save 35%: Valued at $1276, this package is only $830!
Cozy With Cocoa
- Up to two hours of on-location boudoir photography
- 10×10 album, 30 pages
- DVD-ROM of all the images and the album design
- 20% off additional orders in your gallery
Save 30%: Valued at $1001, this package is only $600!
Little Love Notes
- Up to 1.5 hours of on-location boudoir photography
- a printed image box containing your favorite ten 5×7 images
- 20% off additional orders in your gallery
Save 25%: Valued at $708, this package is only $531!
We routinely donate to a few fundraisers and have lovely relationships with some local organizations and event planners. Having recently learned the results from two fall events, we’d like to share their good works.
SAHELI for Asian Families
The Silk Road: An Asian Epicurean Journey is a wine and food event that raised $13,200 for those in need. SAHELI represents six words that define their services: Support, Advocate, Heal, Empower, Listen, and Inform.
Bollywood 2011
“Bollywood Nights keeps getting better and better! This year we had a band, multiple dance performances, henna, a big silent auction, delicious food, and a Bollywood dance lesson for all to round out the night. We raised $4,500, topping our past two years!”
Consider As You Wish
If you are helping with a fundraiser, we might be able to make a donation. See if your group is a good fit for us!
November is your last chance for family portraits in time for holiday greetings and gifts. And, the weather, now is great for late-afternoon sessions.
Portrait Sessions
Mini Sessions
- A 30-minute family portrait session for up to five people/pets
- Available at one of several picturesque locations in Austin
- $ 170 for the session
Full Sessions
- A one-hour family portrait session for up to nine people/pets
- Available the greater Austin location of your choice
- Includes 30 5 x 7″ greeting cards
- Bonus: additional greeting cards are only $50 per set of 25
- $ 275 for the session with 30 cards
Hurry. Sessions in November get priority for Holiday delivery!
We are thrilled to be a vendor in this year’s LGBT Wedding Expo. If you are planning a wedding in Austin, this is a great place to find everything you need for your big day.
“Join us on Saturday, November 5th, 2011,
from 12:30-3:30pm
for an afternoon of elegance, joy, music & activism
at the beautiful Renaissance Austin Hotel!”
Learn more at SameLoveSameRights.com.
Brilliance Loose Diamonds
Friday Fun: Kardashian Wedding vs. Average Wedding
So, what are your thoughts? Was her wedding worth the publicity for her careeer?
It was our distinct honor and privilege to work with Traci, Michael, and their family and friends on their special day at St. Catherine of Siena in south Austin.
Some of our favorite moments
- the way Traci and Michael leaned forehead-to-forehead during their First Look Moment; it’s just so “them”
- the loving-while-witty priest, Fr. Pat
- the deep sense of love and adoration not only for the couple, but also for the sacrament they shared with Christ
- the great sense of humor from many of their family and friends, especially Traci’s dad
- the “like no one is watching” style of dancing…truly from the heart and soul, even from Michael’s grandmother
- the way in which everyone treated everyone like best friends and close family…from couple to attendants to family to guests to vendors, we all felt honored to be present on this special day
- the fun rabble rousing between college affiliations
- the strong/sincere hugs from Traci’s mom, Shannon, at the end of the day; these are the moments we live for
So, to go with those sentiments, here are some of our favorite images from Traci & Michael’s big day.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password and view the full gallery.
What a day!
The official “As You Wish” Wedding Party of the Year award goes to the maid of honor, bridesmaids, best lady, and groomsmen who honored Traci and Michael with their support this past weekend. They were truly perfect in every way.
Traci & Michael, Congratulations! Thank you for inviting us to be part of your wonderful day.
Now, for the goodies! Here is our Sneak Peek of some of our favorite images.
We had the honor of attending Traci & Michael’s rehearsal tonight. What a fun wedding this is going to be tomorrow! Here’s a little sneak peek!
Happy Bride. Proud Dad.
She looks like this tonight? Imagine tomorrow!
The groom is all grins, too.
And tonight’s star of the show! He’ll get upstaged tomororrow, for sure!
Michael & Traci, we are so happy for you both…and honored to serve such a special role in your weekend.
Lydia’s husband, Bob, pulled off a miracle. He planned a surprise party for her that she did not find out about. Most of Lydia’s family and many friends turned out for the event. Her face is just priceless!
Click any image to enter the password for the full gallery.
Click any image to enter the password for the full gallery.
Bob, Thank you for including us in this fun event!
We just love the Bollywood event hosted by the Austin chapter of Room to Read. This annual event raises money to build a library in India and gives girls, in particular, access to education and learning.
This fun event features Indian food, music, art, and dance. And, in just a few short hours, the event raised almost enough money for an entire library!
Kudos, Room to Read Austin! Good work.
Click any image to view the full gallery.
Click any image to view the full gallery.
Click any image to view the full gallery.
Click any image to view the full gallery.
This Wedding Wednesday, is all about contracts.
Contracts are a necessity in the wedding industry, particularly for photography.
Industry
Save the Date
In the wedding industry, there are only a few dates per year when weddings are likely to happen.
- Most brides want Saturday (52 in a year).
- Most brides do not want a holiday weekend. MLK, Passover, Easter, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s eve/day can eliminate anywhere from 7 to 11 weekends.
- Some local events can make that weekend a bad choice for your wedding date. After all, you probably don’t want your reception and the local prom in the same hotel on the same night. Area graduation weekends could affect your family’s ability to be at important events for everyone.
- Vendors take vacation and have family responsibilities, too.
- So, 52 Saturdays – 7 holidays – 2 family weekends – 1 vendor day off = 42 weekends left.
In order to secure your date with any vendor, you need a contract so you are sure you have them on your date.
The vendor needs a contract because they can only take a certain number of weddings on any one date. They have to know if they are your final decision or not before they can turn away another couple.
Set the Standards
A contract is your written agreement to ensure everyone has full understanding of what the costs, services, and products are. The contract should repeat all that you discussed verbally. There should be no surprises.
For Photographers
Contracts are especially important for Photographers and other sole-proprietor vendors, because we can only take one wedding per date. A baker can bake multiple cakes and drop them off during each ceremony. A florist can arrange flowers for multiple weddings and deliver them to each ceremony venue. A photographer is there for you all day or weekend.
…and Planners
The same is true for Professional Planners. While they may have more than one wedding per day (with a staff of Professional Coordinators to be on site for each event), you still need all their services and prices in writing. That part of the industry is diverse and varied. Be sure you know what you are getting!
…and everyone else, too.
In all honesty, it’s just a good practice for all your wedding day services. It only adds clarity. And, if you happen upon a vendor who “doesn’t do contracts,” you’ll know to run fast and far away from them.
Kids at Weddings
This weeks’ Wedding Wednesday tip is about inviting kids to weddings.
An Observation
At a recent networking event, we were part of this conversation:
Guy 1: We missed you at [a friend's] wedding. You missed a good time. It was a great meal and an open bar.
Guy 2: Yeah, we were invited, but what were we going to do with the kids on a Sunday night?
Guy 1: There were a few babies there, but kids weren’t invited. (With an implied “it was nice to go to an adult event where no kids were present”.)
Me: It’s actually really expensive to invite kids to weddings. Catering charges the same for them as they do for adults. It can be as much as 30% of the budget.
Guy 2: I never thought of that.
Guy 1: Me either. I never considered that.
Me: Yeah, the most recent average I heard was $37 per guest for a wedding reception.
Guys 1 & 2: [Clear look of shock on their faces....and them digressing into a conversation about the "extremely fiscally conservative" nature of their friend.]
The Stats
In the above conversation, I was simply quoting what I have heard. So, I did a little digging for real data.
Wedding budgets are different for every couple, of course, but thanks to our wedding magazines, we have some averages we can apply. However, almost no one would invite kids to the ceremony and not the reception. Furthermore, while receptions cost a lot more on the per-kid basis, we’ll use the whole wedding. However, if you want to apply the numbers to your real budget, then feel free to use the most conservative percentage we’ve found: 46%. Just consider each kid’s attendance .46 of the amount of your total budget.
Using averages
$27,000 Average Wedding in Austin
$27,000 is the average wedding cost in Austin, Texas
($26,984 to be more exact, but for simplicity, we’ll just add in the extra $16), average wedding cost
46% of the average wedding:
$12,420 for kids to attend the wedding. That’s a pretty big chunk of change just to guests who, for the most part, don’t want to be there, anyway.
More Specific Prices
Online published per-person meal prices in Austin, Texas (rounded up to the whole dollar, including real (not disposable) place settings.
$18 Chicken-Fried Steak
$39 several beef options
$50 hors d` oeuvres, two light courses, main course
average: $36
…without linens, extra tables & chairs, a larger venue to accommodate more people, etc.
The Etiquette
There is no reason for a couple to invite any one group of people that does not fit into the budget. Weddings are a very personal, and sometimes private, occasion. Weddings might be a social occasion, but they are sacred to the couple; there is no reason for a wedding to be “the” social occasion.
Inviting kids to your wedding is a big decision.
If your budget is tight or if your tastes are more elegant, excluding children might be a good choice. Still, we present both sides, so you can make the decision that is best for you.
Wedding invitations have become more and more–ahem–exotic in the last few years. Small bottles with a hand-scrolled invitation inside was all the rage for beach weddings a few years ago. Then, we saw wedding websites full of information and DVD invitations to get guests to the site. Now, invitations might be hand-crafted origami cranes, laser cut silhouettes of the couple, or gold-leaf/engraved on linen and banded in silk.
While beautiful, exotic invitations are not within the style and budget of every couple, especially not our “weird” Austin weddings! What do you do when…
- …exotic just isn’t you?
- …the embossed invitation folios in those big/heavy books just not the right fit for you?
- …you are not interested in making or are too busy for handmade invitations?
- …fully-custom invitations from your photographer or a designer aren’t within the budget?
Our affiliate, Wedding Paper Divas, could be just the solution you need. The steps are simple and fun!
- Browse their extensive catalog. Narrow your choices by price, color scheme, etc.. Mark your favorites as you go.
- When you select an item, you can personalize the text/copy, colors, and fonts. They will even let you know if your text won’t fit. Play, play, play! Once it looks just As You Wish, their design experts will see to your special instructions and will verify the details of the layout and design.
- Add in more information like the return address for the envelopes.
- They will even recommend other matching pieces you might need to complete your wedding stationery set: invitations, RSVP cards, menus, etc.
Photographers, Austin, TX
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