Thank You, and You, and You and You...

Expressing your thanks

"After the wedding, you must give credit where credit is due. Here are the answers to the burning questions: Whom must you thank? What form is correct? How much time is allowed to send out the notes? How can you manage to get it done correctly and on time?"

Great rules of etiquette on writing thank you's after your wedding.
http://www.examiner.com

First in August

I had a lot of fun working with Carrie. From the get go she knew she wanted Starfighter Lilies (yes they're not Stargazer as more commonly known) The Marquardt Ranch did all of her flowers of which I am quite proud. This is also the first wedding where I was able to use my SRL camera. Carrie and Matt were awesome and let me play with them and my new camera. Here are a couple of photos I was able to take. Enjoy.


Bride and groom koozies for their sweetheart table. Super cute.




My FAVORITE!





Such a pretty couple


I love this photo. Its made to look like a painting.
It's like we're peaking in on a private moment.


On the Bell Tower =).

In Door Ceremony

This bride chose to do an indoor ceremony and reception with what we call a "change over". We had all of the chairs set up in rows just like a church would be, then afterward we "changed it over" into the reception. It went very smoothly and the bride was able to get some amazing photos thanks to Brian Sprayberry with Sprayberry Photography.

New Ideas

During my endless searching on the web I ran across this blog post that I thought would be a nice change of pace from the 100's of photos that I post. I'll try to make a more equal mix of things I come across that I think you will enjoy and photos of weddings at the ranch.!

Feather Bouquet Inspiration

July Weddings!

I'm slowly catching up, I promise!
I loved working for Delanya and Joey. They and their whole wedding party (all 19 bridesmaids and groomsmen!!) were super easy going. Their wedding was simple - no huge bins of decorations- but very classy. The Marquardt Ranch did all of the flowers and centerpieces for her wedding. Special thanks to Francis Joseph, who shot with the photographer Arol Horkavy, for graciously sharing his photos with us. Check out his blog to see more photos from this wedding (we're currently on page 3).


Photo in the door was taken right before the ceremony began.
They didn't want to see each other but were able to get this very popular photo.
I love these because it builds up the excitement of seeing
each other in just a couple of minutes at the ceremony!

They borrowed the arbor that Shavaun's husband and father built for their wedding last October.



I normally don't post photos of the inside after the reception begins as its always the same with people in there. But check out the front doors. The sun is shinning directly in through the cross making a perfect cross all the way on the floor up to the doors!





I love this sunset. Thanks again Francis!

A Different Eye - Cont.

Lauren just sent the rest of her photos about 10 minutes ago. I just couldn't wait to get them on the blog! Thank you again Lauren for sharing your beautiful photos.

A Different Eye

I sometimes love and sometimes very much dislike having a new photographer at the ranch. Some photographers need/want a lot of help getting good photos out here if they've never been here before. We're a very unique facility and there are tons of photo opportunities here. Being able to pick out the spots, do them well and quickly can be difficult.
This is one photographer didn't need my help at all! She definitely had an eye for the facility shots and for what Shalin and David were looking for. Lauren Angell with Memories by Lauren was fantastic and fun to work with! B.c the bride and groom are friends of mine, I was able to suggest some daring shots that they were more than willing to do. These are just teasers that Lauren sent, can't wait to show you more of the truly unique eye she brought to their wedding.



Right before the ceremony after she came from the bride's suite.
I love the grainy old time look to these photos.






Classic!

Yet again, Yellow!

If you've been following our blog you'll notice a lot of bride have chosen to use yellow this year. This bride paired it with a very bright aquamarine teal and it turned out great! She used simple daisy centerpieces with ribbon around the rustic metal vase. Sorry for the quality of the photos.






The cookies were hand made by I believe an aunt of the bride. They were a huge hit.
The Bride's cake was also hand made by a friend.


I loved how the bright yellow flowers popped out against the blue/teal bridesmaids dresses. For those of you who like our arbor this was a very simple yet pretty way to decorate it.

1 Year & 1 Month

A whole lot has happened at the ranch in the last year since my first blog. We've had over 5000 hits on the blog, we've done over 75 wedding and several non wedding events. Thank you for continuing to visit the website and blog. Many of you come back often to see the new and interesting ideas for here at the ranch. Be sure to comment on things you like!
Here's to the next year!