A beautiful wedding at Chapel Dulcinea and reception at Tuscan Hall! Austin and the Central texas area are the home of many wedding venues, but this one is special; it’s free!

Allie waits before walking down the aisle, at Chapel Dulcinea.

Allie walks down the aisle at Chapel Dulcinea.

David and Allie at the alter in Chapel Dulcinea.

David and Allie were married in a wedding at Chapel Dulcinea, one of the most popular wedding venues in the Central Texas area. It was a beautiful afternoon, and family and friends all gather around the couple as they went through their vows together. We had a good bit of a breeze, which in many cases helped with the photography; Allie’s veil looked really nice as it flowed out beside her or behind her.

Just Married – Already Making Plans

The reception was held at the nearby Tuscan Hall, with a great band and lots of fun. The hall is decorated beautifully, with lots of interesting things around. My understanding is that it is all about Don Quixote.

David and Allie in the first dance.

A highlight of the evening for me was the bouquet toss; there was quite the tussle for the winner to get the flowers as they flew across the room. It’s always fun to photograph events where everyone is really engaged in the activity!

As Hannah and I sometimes do, we brought along a third photographer to capture some of the day; he got some wonderful photographs! One of my favorites is that image of the fight over the bouquet. It always helps to have more than one photographer at a wedding; we work to get different parts of the overall story so the day is preserved. Go check out Gary’s work over at grhookphoto.com.

Previously, we photographed the couple at the chapel for their engagement photographs.

Wedding photography with Tom and Hannah

Yes, there really is an Industry, Tx. And yes, there is a cool place to get married there; it’s called the Welcome Hall, and has that name because the hall was moved there from Welcome, Tx. What a great old place, with awesome wood all on the interior of the hall and a fantastic wood floor. In fact, I used the wall as the backdrop for my award-winning portrait of the sound guy.

We started our work with Hannah at the home of a family friend, where she dressed and the bridesmaids prayed over her for blessing. We photographed a few portraits outside as the sun began to set. Then it was off to the Welcome Hall for the wedding and reception. At the hall, we prepared for the ceremony by setting up our lights near the ceremony site and working with the bride and her maids in a couple of extra spots for portraits. Then it was off the the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we had to have a little fun with the wedding party and family by photographing them under the outdoor heater; they were all kinda cold in the evening air.

After the few posed portraits the family wanted were taken, we moved on to the reception, with dancing, fellowship and fun. A great way to spend the evening before heading off to the honeymoon. We typically set up our lights in the corners of the reception hall; we really needed them here since the interior was so dark and the ceiling so high.

Without the lights that we brought and set up, we would not have had the capability to create the photographs of the day that were possible; it was simply dark. Since the wedding was outside, and started after sunset, it was dark. And since the interior of the hall was dark, and the hall lights were not really capable of lighting the whole room, the reception was dark. So, we used our own lights to augment the evening. I think this is one of several key values that I, as a professional photographer, can bring to a wedding; we can make beautiful light in almost any circumstance as long as the bride and the minister allow it. And with light, we can make great photographs.

A couple of months back we photographed the wedding of Ben and Sarah at Hope Chapel. Some amazingly important moments fill out the day of any wedding, and this wedding certainly had some great moments to photograph. Here are my selections from the day!

While the bride’s party and the groomsmen are still getting dressed, Hannah and I shuffled back and forth capturing some individual portraits. Here’s a pretty cool one in the youth annex:

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Relaxing

A while back I photographed the beautiful outdoor wedding of Mary and Jonathon. As you may recall, Hannah works with me to capture the wedding day in most cases, but she was at that time a little too occupied with the last days of her second pregnancy to be available. So I brought a fine second photographer along that I really enjoyed working with. Thanks for working with me, Todd White!

At the start of the wedding day, Todd followed the groom and his men while I focused on Mary. Then throughout the rest of our time with the couple we backed each other up and came away with some beautiful photographs. As always, having two different vantage points and two different perspectives on the events of the day ensures we capture everything that matters, bringing the whole story to the sequence of photographs we come away with.

This was the first time I had worked at the House on the Hill, and I was very impressed with the facilities and people. I recommend it as a great location.

Here are some of my favorite images from the day. The couple was so much fun to work with!

Sarah and Ben held a perfect ceremony in the courtyard at the Mansion at Judges’ Hill; I say perfect because the weather was just right, the temperature was awesome and the bride and groom were beautiful. We gathered in the morning in the middle of the week; a great time to have a wedding as the family has so many more options available to them for all the wedding day needs. We grabbed a few photographs of the party gathering and getting ready, then quickly set up for the main ceremony. I set up my portable flashes to bounce off the wall behind the arbor; this is how we get the best light on the bride and groom. Of course Hannah and I also add fill flash from our camera when it makes sense. As the wedding location was outside we really had an abundance of pretty light around; the goal was to manage it a bit in the deep shadows and strong highlights. I love it when the family says something to the effect of “Do whatever you need, make us look beautiful and capture the best images!”.

After the ceremony, we grabbed a few portraits with the family outside on the stairs and we spent a little time with the couple by themselves on the balcony while the guests all went into the main ballroom and started eating lunch. We always enjoy that time since we can really focus on getting some keepsake portraits the couple will love forever. Then, into the reception for dancing and fun for several hours in the early afternoon. My favorite time during the reception is almost always the father / daughter dance. I have such strong emotions wrapped around giving my own daughter away on her wedding day and I get to remember them as I photograph. Pretty cool. Then, before we knew it, it was time for the couple to head out so we set up the bubbles over on the other side of the Mansion. I always love getting a photograph of the couple running throughout the bubble cloud.

Here are some of my favorite images from the day:

Congratulations to you both and may you live a blessed life together!