Southwest Texas Wedding

The design inspiration for this shoot revolved around the Calera Chapel in Balmorhea, Texas! Far west Texas set in a dry desert scene in the valley of the Davis mountains, is where this little chapel sits. Calera chapel was built for the local priest to preform baptisms and marriages for the community beginning in the late 1800s. While the building has been updated, the bones and the dream of it's purpose in history still remains. You can read more on the chapel HERE

To go along with the theme, I chose to keep the details to a southwestern vibe with pops of dramatic color, chunky jewelry, and natural elements. Our amazing floral arrangements were put together by Becky's Flowers from Midland, Texas. Bright pops of red, yellows and natural colors were a great contrast to the desert scene of the location. Along with the bouquet, the table centerpiece and welcome sign also were designed to match the theme of Southwest!

A three tiered cake made by The Cake Company of Odessa matched the theme perfectly, the unique squared tiers decorated with matching florals and cow skull! All to draw together all of the details within the shoot.

Absolute Bridal of Midland provided two dresses for this shoot. We wanted something simple yet a show stopper. A two piece bridal gown served the theme perfectly, the high neckline of this dress provided the perfect canvas to show off jewelry. The second dress from Absolute Bridal was a more elegant and sexy dress. The low cut back with elegant straps paired with the low cut bust with translucent details along the neckline was the show stopper we wanted! This dress also brought the more traditional long train and detailed pattern that was beautiful. Our third dress was from Saved by the Dress, this more casual gown with crochet top really played the part of the southwestern vibe. Chosen for the companies mission to help women in business from lower income countries, this dress speaks more to the giving back movement and it just so happens that it is also very beautiful! Beautiful dresses paired with a gorgeous bride, rockin' boots and amazing hair and makeup was just a dream!!

Handmade details of the shoot started with the added of landscaping to the chapel, provides by Natural Ponds and Gardens of Odessa, Texas. Large terra cotta post filled with natural floral arrangements with pops of color, hallowed out logs filled with green succulents, and wash tub with prickly pink cactus really helped bring to life the chapel's desolate landscape.

The welcome sign and pottery pieces with calligraphy were designed by Celeste Saenz. These elements gave the elegant feel to the day as well.

The tablescape was full of the classic west Texas chunk! Big and bold pieces worked together with the terra cotta chargers, The Pioneer Woman plates and tumblers, deer skull and bright coral dinner napkins. Paired with amazing floral centerpiece with large wood elements filled with pops of color to bring in all of the details from the day. Table place cards on leather with calligraphy names add to the table for a more personal touch!

To top off the shoot Sadie Girl and Blue the newest rescue dogs from Alpine Humane Society, made their grand enterance! I mean you cannot have a southwest shoot without a working pup in there!

Brought all together, this shoot was a complete success! Check out the list of vendors at the end of this post!

A special thank you to everyone involved with this shoot, from our amazingly gorgeous couple, Jacy & Cash to the team of photographers that trusted my vision to add to their portfolios and most of all those who helped behind the scenes! Behind the scenes is never glamorous or ever highly praised but this shoot would not have been possibly without them!

Enjoy some peeks into the day!