Thomas is a wonderful guy and also a photographer. You can tell he has a great eye, because he chose the sweet, beautiful Rebecca. They share a strong love for the Lord.
Rebecca is also incredibly talented as at wedding design and coordination. She designed and made every single floral design at the wedding, the various cakes, and even her own underdress. (It was gorgeous!) She also added beautiful sleeves to her gown.
I loved the way they looked at each other all night. The love in their eyes was inspiring.
The wedding was so lovely, and so well done, that it was hard to believe Rebecca had done all of it on her own, and she wasn’t the least bit frazzled on the wedding day. When I asked her if she had any advice for future brides she told me “take every moment in time”. Not only is she a beauty, she is wise as well.
After leaving the wedding, they headed out to Honeymoon in the Keys. Rebecca reported it was beautiful and 70 degrees. They also had a blast parasailing. I can’t wait to see the Tom’s photos from the Honeymoon.
Venue: Historic Fort Worth YWCA
Floral: Rebecca Bombardier
Food: Rebecca Bombardier
Coordination: Rebecca Bombardier
Honeymoon: The Keys
If you are interested in Rebecca coordinating your wedding, give me a shout and I’ll get you in touch with her.

Yay, we did it again!

“Congratulations! We are excited to announce that Visions In White has been chosen to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2010. This award recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service and professionalism. ”

A big thank you to all our brides and grooms who reviewed us to be tops of the tops in Dallas yet again this year! We love our peeps! And a big thanks as well to Martha Stewart’s Wedding Wire for putting together a wonderful site for people to get real reviews from.

Happy day…again! What a month it’s been!

Almost all of our couples choose a package with an album, or several albums. We let our clients choose the photos that they want. We send out a worksheet to help with this process. We don’t limit the amount of photographs (yet), but we might find the need to.

The problem is that people want to put so many photos on a page that it’s just not achievable to have a clean sleek look. Don’t get me wrong, we are happy you love all the photos, but when we try to cram them all into an album, it starts to look really cluttered. Remember you have the disc of images, and you can make other albums to go along with your Showcase Album.

Here are some suggestions for a gorgeous album:
1. Choose no more than 8 photos for a spread. (A spread is two pages).
2. Please send the worksheet back. The worksheet is designed in “spreads”. Many times I start working on an album designed in single pages only to find that the first page is a single page on the right hand side. When this happens, I have to scrap the design and start over again. The album should be in spreads starting at 0102, 0304, ect. When the couple designs the album as 01,02,03 it’s hard for me to tell how to design the album.
3. Another problem with the “page” vs. “spread” is this: On one page, a couple might say they want 15 photos. On the cooresponding side, they want another 20. They don’t realize that on a “spread” that’s a total of 35 photos. Those thirty five photos will be about the size of a postage stamp, or smaller. (That’s on a 10×10 album. You would need a microscope to see them on a parent album).
4. Naturally, when the couple sees the finished album design with too many photos, they start deleating photos. That means I need to go back in and fix it, and that takes time. I have to get rid of the photos, and then redesign the entire thing. Which basically means that I have to stop what wedding I am working on, and redesign an entire album. I’m trying to juggle everything in attempts to making everyone happy and keep on time with everyone, but it’s getting to be a huge problem.
5. When you make album changes, please list them all in the first edit. Albums can be very hard to build and sometimes have as many as 30 layers on a spread. It is very hard to move things from one page to the next, switch things around, and totally change a spread that you have requested.
6. Please don’t send hand drawn design suggestions. They are normally not to scale, and don’t conform to the album design specs my album maker adhears to. (They have trim lines, gutters specs and soforth that the Bride and groom might not be considering)
Below is a screen capture of a spread I am currently working on. The lovely bride Blake chose well, and she is going to have a beautiful album. I’m putting the screen capture here, so that I can demonstrate what I’m doing here behind the scenes:

And here is an example of the guides that I am seeing as far as bleeds and soforth as I work on a design:

Hopefully, the photos above explains why album design, and especially redesign can be so difficult.

Therefore this year, (excluding past client), I will be installing a photo limit. I will also be installing an album edit limit. I will only accept album photo choices in spreads, and will no longer accept hand drawn design suggestions.

My goal, like yours is to design a BEAUTIFUL album for you. I want to keep letting the couples decide what photos are best for them, and how they want the designs to be laid out as far as storytelling. Not all photographers let you do that. But I’m commited to the album being your vision of your wedding day, and not mine.

Here’s proof that a good man will do anything for the lady he loves. Shortly before their wedding date, Logan, a McKinney, TX Firefighter had a horrible knee injury which required surgery. He was told that he would have to be in a wheelchair during the scheduled time of his and Kathleen’s wedding. Did he postpone the wedding?
Nope!
Did he get married in a wheel chair? With the aid of crutches, or even a leg brace?
Nope!
Fueled by pure love for the beautiful Kathleen, he walked down the aisle, and just as manly and touching, cried when he saw her enter the chapel. He stood tall and steady during the vows and ring exchange. He even braved through the formal photography.
After entering the reception, and surprising Kathleen with a first dance (she hadn’t thought him able), even the pain meds couldn’t keep him on his feet any longer. Finally this calendar model Fireman couldn’t stay on his feet any longer, and enjoyed much of the rest of the reception from his wheelchair.
But low and behold, when it was time to cut the cake, or throw the garter, or perform the last dance, or particiapate in the leave, he hobble from his wheelchair for a moment. He was afraid that his being in the chair would ruin the perfect wedding Kathleen had planned. Kathleen of course was worried for him and begged him back to the chair.
Now that is two people who totally love each other!

Wedding Venue: First United Methodist Church of Garland
Reception Venue: The Atrium at the Grainville Arts Center Garland
Wedding Coordinator: Charky Wilson
Floral Design: Judi’s Flowers
Cakes: The Cake Stand
Catering: Grainville Arts Center

Special Thanks to JD Cooper of jdcooper.net for helping us out on this wedding. He’s an amazing photographer and a wonderful friend. Thanks JD!

JD and I

May is now closed out to all new photography. If you need to book after June, please book right away!

Ok, last year was nuts! We were featured in the best selling “Spectaular Weddings of Texas” for EIGHT weddings (worldwide), recoginized as Best of Project Wedding (national), DPPA award (regional), but now, the award we are most proud of, is placing in the hard core, hard fought, close to our hearts “WPJA International Quarterly Contest”. This contest is not for the faint of heart. This is the best of the best of the best, type of contest.

My phone rung off the hook the night we placed. We didn’t even know we won.

The reason why it’s so hard to win in this area, is because the people we are up against are hard core photojournalist from across the world. Members of this organization are Pulizter Prize winners, major photojurnalists and the like. To even be able to enter, you must first pass a panel of amazing photojournalistic experts before you even become a member of group. We are judged each and every year to make sure we are keeping up with standards. You can’t just write a check and become one of the Elite “WPJA”. You earn that right, and only %5 percent of those who apply, are actually accepted. This is the toughest group I know of.

So to win in this group is freaking amazing. To check out the full bounty, please go to:
http://www.wpja.com/. They are all amazing photos, but go to see the “ceremony” section to check out our winner:

What the judges said:
JUDGES COMMENTS: Strong graphics, both the simplicity of the black and white and the echo of the girl’s arms in those of the women standing behind her, add to the strength of the image. One wonders what has caught the attention of the young girl; the unanswered question actually makes the image more interesting.

Hi All,
These months are now closed:
January
February
March
April
June

July will close soon.

If you need recommendations, please give me a shout.
Hugs to all!

Ok, who has the best job in the world???? Me! Every week I get to photograph FANTASTIC people, and share in the biggest day in their lives. We are constantly honored to work for the sweetest, most gorgeous people (inside and out), at the most outrageous venues that DFW has to offer. Believe me, we are constantly counting our blessings.

Amber and Kyle got married at the First United Methodist Church in Keller, TX. The FABULOUS reception was held at the Sky Creek Ranch Golf club in the same city.

Amber’s dress was crazy beautiful. She added jewel encrusted straps just for the ceremony. (At least half of our brides could be designers!) Amber is blessed with natural good looks, as is her now hubby, Kyle. Kyle was a bit freaked out about a last minute hair cut gone wrong, but I think he looks fantastic.

When Amber was walked down the aisle by her father, I saw in my lens a guy who tried really hard to keep it together. He smiled, he laughed, he cried…..she was truly stunning.

The kids, as always, were adorable. The little ring bearer, entrusted with the actually rings, had some wonderful moments on the altar area. He was a little comic.

Then….off to the reception which was beautifully lit. They had a signature monogram lit on the floor, and the ceiling was lit with stars and a very realistic lighting of the moon. The music and decor were other highlights. The Rodney Booth Band was incredible, and oh so reminesant of the big bands of past days.

Everyone had a wonderful time. Kyle and Amber danced the night away with all their families and best friends. What could be better?

Church Venue: FUMC of Keller
Reception Venue: Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club of Keller
Catering: Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club
Live Band: Rodney Booth Band
Honeymoon: Saint Lucia

And special thanks to Ashley Munn of Ashley Munn photography who helped us out on this huge wedding

Check out this dress! It’s AMAZING! It had a really Grecian feel to it, and I tried to capture that kind of feel with her photos. She loved them!

We just photographed her wedding, and I should have them blogged in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

It’s been years since I made Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving. Due to family obligations, I’ve made it after the fact on the following weekend. This year I got to make it the day of.
In the past, I always made what my Mom (otherwise known as super chef) made. Holy cow that lady can cook! My Dad too! They team up for this amazing meal. The food they cook is traditional to the family, so this year, I broke away from Mom and Dad’s tried and true recipes in an attempt to start a Mike and Cindy traditional dinner. Some of the recipes were fantastic….one was a great disappointment.
But then again, food is a really cool part of Thanksgiving, but not really the true meaning of the day.
What I’m thankful for:
Our close relationship with all our extended family. They are amazing, supportive, and fun to be around.
Our children. Each one of them is special and wonderful in their own unique way. We adore them.
Our grandchildren. Yes, we are amazingly goodlooking for having grandchildren…LOL. Our grandkids are so smart, so cool, and so loved.
My personal most thankful moment is my beautiful husband Mike. I could not ask for a better partner, lover, friend, or soulmate. He is my everything. Anyone who meets him will instantly know why. He is quick with his laugh, and slow on a temper. (Does he even have one?)

Now unto the food. Yumm!

Herb Roasted Turkey

Roasted Apple, Sausage, and Cranberry Stuffing

Apple Cider infused Gravy

The big hit of the day: Potato and Wild Mushroom Gratin

The disappointment…Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil and Goat’s Cheese Salad. It sounded good on paper

The spread

Ok, don’t give me too much drama for the lack of makeup. After all I spent two days cooking

Magic Mike carving up the feast

Our darling Bennie, fully stuffed with Turkey, chills out. He is crashed out on Turkey overload soon after.