“I knew he was the one…”

“There are a million moments I could attribute to being “the one” when I knew Ben was the one.  A lot of those moments could be when other people said he should be the one, including my sister the Christmas after Ben and I started dating (we had only started dating the spring of that year).  My sister had had a few cocktails and suggested we get married.  Ben and I weren’t phased by her comment…perhaps another sign.

The real moment I had that “feeling” was the next spring, about a year after we’d been together when I called him to see if he wanted to help me move a friend into a new house at 6am one Saturday.  Ben was in law school spending long weeks studying and not super inclined to wake early on a Saturday.  However, he is someone who finds a lot of joy in manual labor so I thought I’d at least ask. He responded with a genuine “I would LOVE to help them,” like that’s the only thing he would want to do that day or any day for that matter.  I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised because of course Ben would want to help – I learned that about him long before this moment.  But I remember thinking that time, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.  I want to spend it with someone who gets so much joy from helping others.”

I think even when I tell Ben that story, he kind of rolls his eyes like “there has GOT to be some other moment,” but I honestly knew right then.  However, to appease anyone else that rolls his or her eyes as well, I also knew because when he looks at me, from the day I met him and even today, I know I’m special.”

- Shelby

Last night we photographed Katie Stewart & John Walker’s wedding at Laguna Gloria. (Austin Museum of Art) It was a beautiful intimate affair, shared with their favorite 60 people in the world.

Photographing for photographers is fun, and I was thrilled when John & Katie chose us for their wedding! They are an incredibly talented–now husband and wife–creative duo.  As a photographer, John conceptualizes, art directs, lights and photographs ‘vignettes’ that are ironic and darkly funny. His commercial photography work and the projects he and Katie do together stop me in my tracks. Check out some of the work here: www.johnmoorewalker.com

(By the way, their “Save the Date” was a comic book that was drawn, written and colored by John! Photos to come…)

For Katie’s bridal portrait, she wanted to do something outdoors, and something with the Hill Country landscape as our backdrop. We decided on a road trip to a one-of-a- kind, only in Texas, place: Luckenbach.

Katie’s wedding design was Art Deco inspired, as was her look for the bridal session, with vintage earrings and a Russian stole inherited from her grandmother. I wanted to post a few of my favorites from our bridal portrait session in honor of Katie & John’s wedding last night, and in honor of today… Happy Valentine’s!