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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