DALLAS BLOG
Phew! So much has happened! This will be a full blog of my Thanksgiving and Dallas trip so bear with me.
Thanksgiving break was a nice restful time with family and friends before the rush of the end of the semester. I am so grateful for my family and friends that are encouraging and support me with this business and read my blogs and keep up with where I am at. THANK YOU! While it was restful, I should have done WAY more class work than I did because now I have the daunting task of writing a 12 page paper alongside a presentation TODAY with 2 other papers and presentations and 2 projects.
On Friday, I woke up early and made my way to the airport to head to Dallas for a wedding. I don’t do much travelling and if I do, it is usually by car so security checkpoints and flight check-ins are not my cup of tea. BUT I did try to think of flying in a positive way because of how many individuals, from several backgrounds, are all together in a small space all for the same purpose which I thought was cool. In the middle of the morning, I landed in Dallas and was picked up by the bride, Luna, and the groom’s, Joe, family. I am from the city, Albuquerque, but that is NOTHING compared to Dallas. The amount of suburbs and highways I was on this weekend was absolutely insane and I honestly had no sense of direction (which I was so grateful I didn’t have to drive anywhere!). When we got to the place that their families were staying at, I was able to help them make bouquets and boutonnieres. [The thing that I love about shooting weddings is that I can learn from what they do for (hopefully) my own wedding one day! Like making the bouquets are so smart!] We then headed to the rehearsal and then rehearsal dinner then hotel. [Literally the most overwhelming day, not in a bad way. I was just pushed outside of my introverted shell and was forced into an extroverted mindset which is necessary sometimes!]
On Saturday, I took engagement pictures for my friends Sean and Rachel. They picked me up from the hotel and we headed down to the Dallas Arboretum! Like I said a bit ago, I had no sense of direction at all so to show up in the middle of the city and be surrounded by the most luscious, exotic, green garden alongside a lake, made no sense to me. But it was the most beautiful backdrop for their pictures. I had so much fun laughing with them and sharing with their love. After pictures, they took me Chick-Fil-A for lunch and gave them sneak peaks of their pictures. They brought me back to the hotel and I edited their pictures, sent them off then attempted to write my 12 page paper. It didn’t go very well cause I started watching the Great British Baking show to clear my brain but I got enough done on my paper that I wasn’t too stressed out. The bridal party and bride and groom went to Six Flags that day as a part of their bachelor and bachelorette party so later in the evening, the bride and bridesmaids came back to the room and we ate pizza, watched Friends and put on facemasks. They played games while I, again, attempted to write my paper (still didn’t work).
On Sunday (the big day!), the bridal party and some of their friends all went to brunch before getting ready and I legit ate so much food I was worried that I would look pregnant in my dress (which is fine because I wasn’t in front of the camera). We rushed back to the hotel room and I hurried to get ready so I could photograph all the girls and all the details. I have been a part of bridal parties getting ready but this one was the most special. Luna was so worried about everybody else and helping them get ready and make sure everyone was doing well that we had to remind her that today was about her and that she could be selfish and take moments for herself. Seeing Luna be transformed into the MOST stunning bride and coming to the realization that this was HER WEDDING DAY, was so emotional. As she put on her dress and looked in the mirror and seeing all of her bridesmaids just melt knowing that she was getting married, I’m crying right now just writing this blog. Once everyone was ready and looking picture-ready, we headed to a park for a first look session. I headed down to where Joe and his guys were and directed him as to how it was going to go and then I had Luna walk up behind him and they took it from there. Tears were shed, kisses and hugs were shared and it was SO BEAUTIFUL (I don’t think I am going to stop saying that). We all took beautiful pictures and their families were happy so we all headed to get smoothies before we all went to set up the venue for da wedding. It was so humorous with everybody walking around in the elaborate dresses in the most mundane places like the park and smoothie king. Once we were at the venue, everybody was rushing to set up tables and gift tables and all the fun wedding details while Joe, Luna and I took pictures outside and inside and everywhere in between because they love each other so much! The ceremony started and my heart was beyond full to see their love and once they had their first kiss as man and wife and walked down the aisle, I could NOT help but start crying and I had to hug them! Everybody went into a small side room before the reception, and cried and breathed and loved on each other because of this beautiful moment. They then headed into the reception and we ate BBQ (from Rudy’s), cut the bundt cake (from Nothing Bundt Cake) and ate popsicles (from Steel City Popsicles)! Dancing and hugs were everywhere! They then did a fun bubbly send off and drove away to their new life together.
Now onto Monday where I woke up at 4:30 to head to the airport at 5 to make it to my flight at 6:40. Headed to Albuquerque then drove back to Las Cruces in order to make it to class at 2:30. Now here I am on Tuesday, remembering that I am actually in school and have responsibilities and papers to write.
The amount of free food and Starbucks drinks, hugs, laughs, tears from this weekend alone has been the loveliest thing! Being surrounded by so much love and support from every person I was around was amazing and I so enjoyed being around people that made me want to be a better person. I was so encouraged by the bride, groom, their families and bridal party and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to be part of their special day even more than just photographing them!
(The images I included are not the final images of the wedding, just some quick screenshots)
Flying over Albuquerque and the Sandia Mountains
Sean and Rachel!
Luna and I!
Bridesmaids during ceremony
AHHH THE BEST
