That being said, I wanted to share with you all the amazing talent of Sarah Q. Below are excerpts from a wedding in San Antonio (of photographer Jennifer from Bend the Light). I love Sarah’s style and her ability to capture such happiness, personality and the emotion of the moment – after all, isn’t that what weddings are about – complete and total happiness?! The second photo is a-ma-zing, right?

More photos from this wedding available here.

Looking through her photos caused me to spit-up coffee — in a good way. I couldn’t stop laughing at the dry humor captured in these images. Too often women get caught up in the stress of wedding planning and forget that it’s actually just a big party with people you love. Your wedding should be fun, and should capture your personality.

I look at the children in these photos and am reminded that life should be treated a big, fun party when you’re surrounded with the ones you love.

So have fun with your wedding planning. And don’t take things too seriously…even if your grandmother (like mine did) is insistant on sewing lace on your gown because “your bosom is showing.”

With flavors like green tea, coffee, wasabi raspberry, cigar, lavender and so many more….I was intrigued. After I took a bite of a milk chocolate truffle made with real Texas honey, I was hooked.

Delysia Chocolatier has a variety of products – from 9-truffle boxed collections, customizable chocolate menus and 2-piece favors, there are a million and one reasons to order truffles for your next affair.

A few months ago Nicole called me to assist with developing a photoshoot for her products. Working from two separate cities and on the phone incessantly, we pulled together details from our collective homes (as well as my mom’s fabulous china).

Below is a collage of the subsequent photos taken by Thompson Poole Photography and styled by myself, Nicole and BZ Events.

We recently showcased at an open house where all the guests were raving about Blue Note Bakery’s cakes. While the cakes did look amazing – and the artistry of their sculpted cakes was unlike anything I’d ever seen – I’ve never been a fan of fondant. I’m a buttercream icing kind of gal, so I was extremely skeptical about whether I’d like their cakes. But, I’ve never been one to turn away dessert.

I remember wandering over to their table thinking: “Surely these can’t be that great.”

That being said, my heart nearly stopped and my knees buckled underneath me the moment I bit into my first cake sample from Blue Note Bakery. The buckled knees resumed for the four or five additional samples I rapidly devoured.

Directly from their website:

Angela Jiles is the “Confection Composer” @ Blue Note Bakery.  She is a Professional Pastry Chef & a 1993 Graduate of Johnson & Wales University. Over the years she has been the Pastry Chef @ Dell, Moose’s in San Francisco, Vespaio here in Austin as well as a Pastry Instructor @ The Culinary Academy of Austin. Angela has been in the Pastry profession since 1990, loves what she does & believes each cake & dessert should be a work of edible art.

Their cakes are pure deliciousness (yes, so delicious that I have in fact created a new word)! I highly encourage you to set up an appointment and sample some cake. If you’re not getting married or don’t have a birthday coming up, who cares! There are a million worthwhile reasons to eat cake. Go. Now!

Stacy has impeccable timing, capturing the most beautiful moments of weddings. Smiles full of love and laughter fill her images – the emotion, excitement and beauty that every wedding encompasses.

I absolutely fell in love these photos, though. The details of the wedding, the bride’s beautiful dress, the groom’s super swank suit – how sexy is this couple? I’m not really sure this was a real wedding – I’m convinced Stacy staged this wedding with models, it’s just too perfect!

To top is off, Stacy traveled to Europe to shoot a “Day After” session with the bride and groom. You can view the entire European Day After Session on her blog – here’s just a small snippet of this gorgeous couple:

Absolutely beautiful – thank you so much, Stacy, for sharing your work. Looking forward to many more perfect weddings!

Little ones bring such joy into our lives. Although I am not yet a mother, I see a mother’s face warm every time she holds her precious angel in her arms, and I see the laughter and excitement as your child ever so innocently puts you in your place with a matter-of-fact answer to questions such as where are we? — “We’re right here.”

In celebration of life, and the next steps after marriage, I have compiled photos from child photographer, Kelley Ryden. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Kelly’s photos warm your heart and bring a tear to your eye. Such innocence and perfection in every single child. Life is such an amazing wonder, and it’s these little newborns that captivate one of the sweetest things in life – parenthood.

I am absolutely in love with his work. And I absolutely love his honesty, outlook and passion for capturing love on film:

I received a letter once from an old friend. She mentioned that she recently had her heart broke and could only wish to one day find someone that sees her the way that my couples see each other. How would she know when she has found the “one”? Trust me when I say that tender gaze, that almost kiss, does not come without work. There will be joy, there will be pain. I have known both. If you are reading this I want you to know that you are amazing. He is not. And this is my advice to you. Find a boy who calls you beautiful instead of hot. Who calls you back when you hang up on him. Who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep. Wait for the boy who kisses your forehead. Who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats. Who holds your hand in front of his friends. Who thinks you’re just as pretty without makeup on. You will know he is the one because he will apologize first even if he feels he was in the right, because being right won’t matter if you go to bed angry. When you tell a joke he will laugh out loud.He will constantly be reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky his is to have found you. He will turn to his friends and say, ‘that’s her.’

This is the bird that my grandfather spoke of. When you find this bird hold onto it but remember to give it room to grow. Room to breathe. Do this together. And when you find him, call me. I want to photograph it.

My name is Clayton Austin. I am just a man and I tend to see things better with my eyes closed.

While this may be the end of this post’s story, fortunately, Clayton continues to capture more love stories and share with the world. All the photos below capture the love Clayton has so eloquently dictated in his response to his friend’s heartache. With much delight, I share his incredible talent.

This wedding was hosted by the Wild Onion Ranch in Austin, Texas. I am continually in awe at the creativity of brides when it comes to staging their ceremony – check out the gorgeous altar facade of candles on a stone wall. Love, love, love it! This is such a great combination of modern elegance with rustic, Texas chic.

More photos of this adorable bride and groom are available on Stacy’s blog in a recent post: Steve and Lesa’s wedding.

People are extremely funny, and humorous situations are all around us. Perhaps this is why I fell in love with the perspective of f8 studio. Their unique angles and ability to capture raw emotion create extremely captivating imagery – their pictures are worth a thousand words…and more!

So who is this quirky team of incredibly talented photographers? Taken straight from their website:

Based in Dallas, TX f8studio is a co-operative of three accomplished photographers with a common commitment to photographing real meaningful and powerful moments of the wedding day.

With the highest technical craftsmanship, a quirky sense of humor, and genuine appreciation for family bond, f8studio photographers create dynamic imagery that reveals the day moment by moment.

I love their work – and to showcase the talent of this magnificent trio, I’ve compiled various photos from their wedding blog. Thank you to Gary, Kim and Huy for sharing your point of view with the world.

This week I was on a quest to find some Texas wedding photographers who have recently shot unique weddings. Enter Austin, Texas photographer, Jennifer Lindberg.

I thought this wedding was extremely appropriate since it’s Easter week. Brightly colored birds, floral decor and precious “love bird” stationery were the cornerstone for this Wimberley, Texas wedding at Red Corral Ranch. I cannot look at these photos and be in a bad mood – they are cheerful and whimsical and can instantly make me smile.

To see more photos from this wedding, check out Jennifer’s blog post titled An Exquisite Ranch Wedding.