I love my job. I know, I know I say that all.the.time, but I really do. I enjoy being constantly surround by smiles and laughter, brides who are nervous but can barely control their excitement, grooms who seem collected but are really doing cartwheels on the inside, I just love it. All of it. It’s not always an easy job, but it sure is fun. One of those not-so-easy days was the Saturday Charlene and David got married. You see, that Saturday also happened to be the day that Megan and Wayne got married. Our studio was all booked up that Saturday and a bit short handed, so Chip and I stepped up and shot 2 weddings. Back to back. For 14 hours straight. Though by the time I got home I could barely feel my feet, had a bit of an aching back, and didn’t want to lift my camera to my face again for a week, I couldn’t have picked two better weddings to have on the same day. Both Megan and Wayne and Charlene and David made what could have been the longest day of my professional life, an incredible day. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of two amazing weddings with four amazing people. And since you have already met Megan and Wayne, let me introduce Charlene and David!

Charlene and David were married several weeks ago at the beautiful St. Laurence Catholic Church followed by a killer reception at the Sugar Land Marriott. Shooting weddings almost every weekend, you see a lot of customs, traditions, and unique styles that are a part of each wedding. Charlene and David’s wedding was at the top of the charts for unique style. From Charlene’s gown, to the tuxes with coattails, to 24 person wedding party, to the surprise quests at the reception, their day was simply amazing.  Chip and I were honored to be just a small part of it all.

I couldn’t pick just a few favorites from this wedding, so I put up a whole bunch of favorites! Enjoy!

Charlene looking absolutely amazing

All the lovely ladies

All 19, yes 19, of the gentlemen

I really liked this church…the sanctuary was gorgeous

A little dip action during the kiss

These are the ’surprise guests’ I mentioned earlier. Charlene and David thought they’d hire a few belly dancers to come preform at the reception.

After a beautiful wedding day, I headed over to Hotel Zaza with the newlyweds to grab a few more pictures of them as bride and groom.  We had such a great time. By this point in the day, Megan and Wayne were able to relax because the wedding was over, they were husband and wife, and they were t-minus 20 hours from Hawaii! They had also become comfortable enough with me and my camera to let loose and take some great images. Enjoy!

We had fun in the chairs…

Now this shot was a specific request of the bride. She saw something similar in a magazine and wanted to replicate it…so we did

This one makes me giggle and I love it!

In my previous post I mentioned that Wayne is quite the accomplished musician. I wanted to get a few of the two of them in front of this piano, but Megan had other plans. This one really cracks me up

He had to sneak in there and show her how it’s really done.

Then we headed outside for just a few more

One of these next three is my favorite, I just can’t decide which one!!

Megan and Wayne are awesome. Seriously, these two are just great. I first met them a few weeks before their wedding to go over some details of the day. They were telling me all about their intimate ceremony they had planned followed by a great lunch at Ouisie’s Table. They also told me that after it was all over, they wanted to spend the last hour of our time together in and around Hotel Zaza getting some great pictures of just the two of them. Ahh, a photographer’s dream! So, not only did I have an awesome wedding to look forward to, I had a super cool bride and groom who wanted to take some time to get some super cool pictures. I knew their day was going to incredible.

And incredible it was. From the emotion of the ceremony to the intimate setting of their lunch reception at Ouisie’s, their whole day was perfect. They got to spend time with the ones they love and celebrate their love for each other. Then, to add to all the greatness, we got to take some time to get some amazing shots of them being them.

Megan and Wayne: Thank you. You treated Chip and I as friends and not just your photographers. It was such an honor getting to know the two of you and being able to document such a incredible moment in your life together. I hope you had an AMAZING time in Hawaii! Many blessings to you both

Be sure to check back here in a day or so to see the images of these two from Hotel Zaza!!

So I mentioned she rocked, but did I also mention she was gorgeous?!

Megan’s dad stepped up mid-ceremony to preside over the vows and the ring exchange.

Chip grabbed these next two and I think they rock.

Wayne is an extremely talented and accomplished musician who has had a long and successful career in the music industry. Before the meal was served, he wanted to sing a song he wrote for his bride. I think the look on Megan’s face says it all..

Many of my loyal blog readers know that almost 6 months ago I was married at Briscoe Manor in Richmond. Now, anytime I get to shoot at Briscoe and work the the super cool ladies behind the scenes out there makes me very happy.  When I found out Kristi and Chris were getting married at this beautiful place, I knew I for sure would be heading there with Craig to shoot one awesome wedding.

Kristi and Chris are just a great couple. Their love for one another is palpable, but so is their desire to have a great time. With only a few tears here and there, the ceremony went off with out a hitch and the reception that followed was nothing short of a rockin’ good time. The champagne was flowing, the band kept the dance floor packed, and Kristi and Chris celebrated their love for one another all night long!

As always, here’s a few of my favorites from their day!

I love me some Briscoe Manor!

Reading a letter from his bride…this is always one of my favorite moments to capture

Like I said, there were a few tears

Craig caught these next two and I think they’re awesome.

Just a quick post to tell all of you out there in internet land Happy Halloween! Jackson and I are going to be excitedly passing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood tonight. He has his costume all ready:

His jersey is doing double duty this halloween: it’s his costume AND his way of showing our support to my Red Radiers! Our undefeated football team has a BIG game against the University of Texas tomorrow. We will be watching and cheering them to win #9! WRECK ‘EM TECH!!

The lovely Samantha of sorieebliss! tagged me in her recent blog post, so I thought I’d give this fun little survey a try!

Four things I did this today:
1. Edited.
2. Edited some more.
3. Had some Subway for lunch
4. Oh and then I edited some more

Four things on my to-do list:
1. Get my hair cut.
2. Get the pups groomed!
3. Finish decorating the second of our guest rooms.
4. Actually do the super fun shoot I’ve been envisioning!

Four of my guiltiest pleasures:
1. Chocolate covered strawberries…mmmmmm!
2. Pedicures. I love them and my husband doesn’t understand why!
3. Massages. I love these also.
4. Triple Chocolate Ice Cream from Blue Bell…a tub of this ended up in my freezer after my birthday shin dig a few weeks ago and I can’t seem to get enough!!!

Four random facts about me:
1. My husband and I were friends for 7 years before we started dating. All those years it was the running joke in my family that we’d get married some day. Looks like the joke is on them
2. At one point in my life, there were 5 generations of Strodes alive and well. Their ages ranged from 3 to 102!
3. Come April, I get to be an aunt once more!
4. The sound of people popping their gum drives me bonkers! It’s like nails on a chalk board!

Since I was tagged, it is now my patriotic duty to tag 4 others to give this a whirl! So, I tag:

1. Kasey of Kasey Lynn Photography because I know she is reading this
2. Sarah Shalley because she left me a cute comment
3. The whole 563 Houston gang: Craig, Chip and Scot
4. Jasmine * well, because she’s awesome and I can

I loved this wedding. In fact, I loved everything about this wedding. There is always something so intriguing about weddings that have a flare to them and Bronwyn and David’s wedding was no exception.

David was born and raised in Scotland, only coming to the States less than a decade ago. Most of his family still currently lives in Scotland, so as any good group of Scottish men would, they all wore kilts to this wedding. And it was fantastic! It brought so much culture and tradition to their day, and so much flare that you just don’t see very often. It just added to an already beautiful wedding with a even more beautiful couple. The love that Bronwyn and David share is so real, so honest, and so obvious. It was such a pleasure to be able to document such such shared love and respect.

Bronwyn and David, you guys were awesome. Thank you for having Chip and I along to document your expressive love for one another. I hope Japan was simply amazing; I hear you got A LOT of pictures! Congraulations and many blessings to you both

Did I mention Bronwyn was absolutely stunning?!

Seriously, fantastic…

I love when you just happened to catch a cute moment like this…

The toasts were great. David spoke, as did his borther, and both had the room roaring with laughter!

Last week, I met up with Brooke to get a couple quick shots of her looking fabulous in her wedding dress. She is getting married late in December at the lovely Ashton Gardens and seems to have every last detail taken care of! Brooke, you were so much fun to hang out with a shoot for a bit! I’m so looking forward to December…you’re wedding is going to be great!

Here’s a few a my favorites from our session.

Yes that’s right, today is my birthday! And what a great birthday it is.

To celebrate, Jeff and I spent yesterday evening with some family, some friends, and some really great fajitas! I love birthdays like that. The kind of birthday when it’s not so much about it actually being my birthday as it is about those I love getting together, watching football, grilling out, and sharing lots of laughs.  We told stories, caught up with one another, ate some cake (thank you Erica), and I got lots of great cards too.

My biggest thank you goes to my AWESOME husband not only for grilling up the fajitas and helping me host such a fun party, but for getting me such an incredible birthday gift. You see, being the photographer that I am, I am constantly talking to him about all kinds of photography gadgets and he just nods and listens usually not having a clue what I’m talking about. But not today. Nope, today I got the newest, coolest addition to my bag and I L.O.V.E. it! It’s not only something I wanted to add to my bag of gear, but needed to add. So thank you sweet husband! I love you

Isn’t it lovely?!

As promised, here are a few more images from Michelle and Mark’s wedding. This was by far some of the best late evening light I’ve seen in a long time. Add to that a fabulous couple willing to take a few minutes out of their reception to head outside and into the grass. I think Chip and I came home with some pretty awesome shots of some pretty awesome people!

This might be one of my favorite shots I’ve taken in a long time

Judging by this series, I’d say these two had some fun at their wedding!