Jenna Cole Photography-Dallas, TX

This weekend I’m headed to San Francisco (my last trip of the year, other than Christmas, and I’m so happy about it, as this pregnant body of mine is exhausted!) and I delayed the scheduling of my photo sessions so long I’m now finding out that people already have their schedules full, leaving me with a few openings! If you are in San Francisco Friday-Monday and would like to do a session with Jenna Cole please email me: jenna {at} jennacole.com.

I’d love to try to work something out!

And to jumpstart you to action I’ll leave you with a favorite from my session at the Texas State Fair last weekend…

I love portrait time. The wedding is about the marriage and I’m so excited for the couple to go through the ceremony, but for me the best part of the day is doing portraits. Watching a newlywed couple kiss and snuggle and giggle about what they just did and the life they have ahead of them is what gets me through (what can sometimes be a very long!) wedding day.

Dayna chose to do her wedding part portraits in the area next to the Camino Real hotel in downtown El Paso, a great spot with lots of variety!

Daniel and Dayna did not disappoint, they were darling together! And Dayna brought props! If I had more money I would invest it in props for all of my shoots, wedding or otherwise, because I love how adding an additional element almost always helps couples to loosen up in front of the camera.

After a few minutes spent exploring with the happy couple the entire wedding party joined us. For some reason the guys really liked it when I told them “Go sit in the background and do whatever you want for this photo, the focus will be on the girls.”

Notice all the guys but Daniel are looking right at me? It’s because he couldn’t take his eyes off the bride!

I love love love walking shots. Double bonus that everyones laughing and enjoying themself in this one.

That girl to the right of Dayna? That’s her sister. They’re super cute together.

I admit I was a little nervous when I saw Dayna and Daniel for the first time in person and realized the height difference they had. How would they get in non-awkward positions to kiss? Turns out the height worked in my favor as I think it’s super cute to have Dayna up on her tip-toes giving her new husband a smooch!

I’m always looking for movement in photos so I prompted Dayna to spin and walk toward me. I loved the results!

This though, is my favorite shot of the bunch. A beaming bride with bridesmaids really enjoying themselves in the background. Darling!

After a delicious dinner and a good night’s rest I made my way over to the salon to meet up with Dana while she got herself all prettified. I drooled all over her veil (figuratively) and whisked it away for some shots utilizing the gorgeous decor of the salon. I’m still not sure which thing I love more in this photo, the veil is to-die-for in a wedding-y way, but what I wouldn’t give to be blogging every day from the comfort of that gorgeous damask chair!

Taking pictures of dramatic and fresh eye makeup is my favorite part of the getting ready portion of the day.

Dayna is uber-crafty and the day was littered with personalized details such as these tank tops featuring her wedding date and the name of her bridesmaids.

Dayna and I drove home from the salon together and it was finally time for the best part of the day. The moment when a girl with pretty makeup and fabulous hair becomes a bride. Dayna’s hand reaching up through her mountain of a dress cracks me up every time I look at it.

This moment between moths and daughters was so touching. Blessings were given in Spanish, which meant I didn’t actually understand what was being said, but I felt the emotion in the room as it was happening. I consider myself lucky to be present for such moments.

Although it wasn’t all serious ooey-gooey stuff between these three. They’re super close and have a great time together.

My favorite shot of the bride that day.

Gift exchange!

And then it was finally time to head over to the chapel…

Not everyone looked quite ready for things to get underway though.

I love learning about and witnessing different cultural wedding traditions and the lasso used in this ceremony was particularly beautiful. It’s a tradition performed to show the love that will bind the couple together for the rest of their lives.

Did you know the first kiss in a Catholic ceremony occurs way before the recessional happens? Luckily I knew this so I was positioned to capture the big moment. Everyone in the room was beaming just like the priest you see behind them!

They made their way back down the aisle and the unavoidable receiving line began (maybe some couples like it, but I think most do it out of necessity). Future brides, would you like a quite tip? It might be a good idea to remove your veil if you are going to do a receiving line because hug after hug after hug will tug that thing right off your head!

Up next: The photographer’s favorite part of the day… the portraits!