It was a joy and pleasure to meet the Kyrish family–and their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren–at their home. Not everyone was excited for family portraits, which made for some great expressions! 
Click any image to go to the full gallery.
Click any image to go to the full gallery.
Click any image to go to the full gallery.
Click any image to go to the full gallery.
Laura, Thank you so much for inviting us to join your family!
Thanksgiving through Valentine’s is “engagement season”. The holidays and time with family can create a perfect setting. And, what’s more romantic than New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day?
Newly-engaged couples have several initial tasks ahead of them as they embark on the journey of planning their wedding.
Announce your engagement.
Northern brides and grooms may find themselves the guests of honor at fairly formal engagement party. In the South, an engagement announcement runs in the society pages of the local newspaper. Tech-savvy brides and grooms will set up websites, Tweet their friends, and change their facebook statuses.
Parent meetings.
If your parents haven’t yet met, now is the time. Any help they are going to be during the planning process will go much more smoothly if they have met.
Select a wedding season.
Selecting a wedding date can depend on your ceremony and reception venues, and even your favorite planner/coordinator and photographer (most other vendors can handle more than one wedding on a day). For now, get an idea of what time of the year you’d like to get married and consider a window of ~6weeks while you shop for venues and your key vendors.
Guests.
Outline a rough guest list: 60 family members on his side, 30 on yours, 40 friends, a handful of his guy friends from work, a dozen or so from your job. The numbers need not be exact for now (but you might as well start a list for the rough count). But, having a general idea will help you narrow down ceremony and reception venues and may influence the style of wedding/reception you select. Be sure to consult with both sets of parents on this, too. And, be willing to stand your ground when things go too far. If your parents are going to invite all their colleagues and business associates to your wedding, be sure that they are helping you foot what will certainly be a heftier bar tab. Be sure, too, they they all have their own section or room at the reception. You’ll want to concentrate your attention on family and your friends.
Budget.
Establish a budget. There are many great tools for this. Find a tool that works for you. Involve all those who are contributing to the cost of the wedding. Parents always forget how expensive weddings are. (They know how much inflation has occurred since they got married, but they are still floored by the updated costs…every time.) If they are helping you pay for the wedding, you should show them some hard numbers. Your vendors can help you explain to them why things cost what they do.
Next, take your total budget and divide it by the number of months in your planning process minus 2. Put that much money into your wedding fund every month. The extra two months will give you a cushion to handle unforeseen expenses, last-minute splurges, or contributions from family that don’t quite work out like you’d hoped.
Here’s an example: You get engaged on Valentine’s Day and decide you want a May wedding the following year (14 months away) in Austin, Texas (average cost $26,722).
$26,722 / (14 – 2) = $2,226.83
is what you’ll need to put into your wedding account each month.
Then, in April and May of next year, you’ll have some breathing room in your budget and can splurge on a couples massage or that special thing you didn’t think you wanted early on, but now you really want.
Gown.
Once you have an idea of the season and the time of day for your wedding, shop for your wedding gown. Take two truly honest friends with you. There is a statistic floating around out there that something like 93% of all brides buy the first gown they tried on. The theory is that they can’t replace the feeling of seeing themselves in a bridal gown for the very first time. Consider your emotions and factor this in. Try a wide variety of dresses including styles you think aren’t quite you. You want to see a wide range of dress types. Ask your friends which dress looks the best on you and which one accentuates your best features. Do not fall for that “first dress” experience. After all, a savvy saleswoman has just put you in a dress just “this much” more than your budget…and with accessories, you’ll spend far more than you had planned.
Riley’s parents were all set for her to be a boy! They just “knew”. They’ve actually had to adjust to a little pink bundle of joy.
Oh, and at this age, she prefers Mom’s alma mater, Florida, over Dad’s, Louisiana State. Don’t worry, it won’t be too long before she’s a Daddy’s Girl!
Cari & Luke, you can use your password to view the gallery online.
We LOVE these Womb-to-Bloom sessions. It’s such a joy to get to see all the fun stages of the first year of life. On the day we went to see Ethan, he was cutting his first tooth! awwwww..
Melynda, you can use your password to view the whole gallery online.
The Youngs have a gorgeous new slate/stone deck and waterfall, so family portraits there were a no-brainer!
Drenda, you and your family can use your password to view the entire gallery online.
The Betts have a gorgeous bundle of joy and wanted to mark an important milestone with a portrait session.
Julia, you can use your password to view the entire gallery online.
Sarah simply exudes sweetness, so working with her is already a real pleasure and joy! We did a bit of sun-dodging and fought a little haze on her portrait day, but it was fun to chat while we waited for the return of a cloud or other good light.
Sarah, you can use your password to view the whole gallery online.
What a cutie! We had so much fun at home with this chunky hunky bundle of joy.
Sevren, your parents can use their password to view all the images in their gallery.
Lakeway park is just gorgeous and was the perfect location for these sun-loving kids. We wandered out to the rocks along the water and back to the shore line where they even fed the ducks. What fun!
Heather, you can use your password to view the whole gallery online.
The Reicholds have a lovely front lawn and sweet canine members of their family. They were a perfect fit for a truly on-location portrait session!
Pam, you can use your password to view your whole gallery online!
Before the Granada family grows by two more feet, they wanted to capture one more series of family portraits. The front of their neighborhood made a lovely setting where we could keep cool on a very hot day.
Joanna, you can use your password to see the whole gallery online!
The Fry toddlers are precious and we had a blast photographing them and some of their family.
Taylor, you can use your password to see the whole gallery online.
An afternoon play date at Grandma’s!
Jones cousins, you can use your password to view the whole gallery online!
Laura and Kellen were so much fun to work with. They wanted casual images that show off their vibrant and funny personalities. They even changed into their triathlon gear for some running images!
Kellen & Laura, you can use your password to view your whole gallery online.
Photographers, Austin, TX
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