Sarah & Jerry, the wedding

They met in one Asian country, dated in another and were engaged and married in the States. Sarah and Jerry's story is just as precious and unique as the route it was created on. I had the privilege of meeting Sarah in Asia, discovering that she was a very talented photographer and storyteller. I had no idea when I met her that she would one day ask me to photograph her wedding, but I was extremely honored when she did. Photographing another photographer's wedding could seem like a pressure filled situation, but Sarah was exceptionally encouraging to me!

I hopped over to Florida in August to be a part of the whole wedding weekend and couldn't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to celebrate the beginning of this couple's journey together. They are two of the most genuine and sincere people who love as richly as I think it is humanly possible. Their wedding was one of the deepest and most Joy-filled I have ever been a part of.

Sarah's niece Abbie was the most adorable and spunkiest flower girls I've ever met.

How timeless: a wedding photograph we found from (possibly) the early nineties, complete with tulle and bouffants + Sarah's facebook page and a million people's congratulations on her wall.

Abbie looking on as Sarah gets her finishing touches. Oh goodness, I love this expression she's making.

Oh wow, I have enjoyed editing these photos so much because I have missed all these wonderful bridesmaids. Sarah has such a precious group of friends and I'm so glad I got a chance to get to know them.

Sarah's best friend and maid of honor, Erin, was 8 months pregnant at the time of the wedding. Seriously...most stunning pregnant woman I've ever met! She has since welcomed her cute little boy into the world, just a few weeks after the wedding.

Working intercoms between the bride's room and the groom's: cool!

Did you know that two out of every three weddings has some sort of gaming system in the groom's room? :-) At least this is what I've found!

Sarah and Jerry opted to spend some time together before the ceremony and boy, talk about some emotion! These few moments they shared were some of the most moving of the whole day. I smile so big every time I look at them!

Annnnnd another moment where my eyes were anything but dry. You could feel the thickness of her friend's love through their prayers like a hundred down comforters.

Abbie took her job VERY seriously and she knew SHE was the flower girl and Ethan was the ring bearer. Ring bearers don't throw petals. This moment wins most hilarious-part-of-ceremony EVER!

The details at the reception were so ornate and cute! Sarah and her mother made each one, proving that there really isn't anything this girl doesn't do well!

Sarh and Jerry are big time coffee drinkers...that's really the only reason we get along. :-) I had to incorporate that into their day somehow!

Sarah and Jerry, thank you for being the most welcoming and loving couple in the world. I'm so glad we're friends and that I was able to be a part of something so beautiful.

Sunless Sunday.

It's pouring cats and dogs. And hippos and unicorns.
I'm thoroughly pleased with the puddles and just keep wanting to dash off to Target to find some really cute galoshes to splash around in.

Since the skies have seemed to open up all over the great state of Texas, shoots have been rescheduled, some extra Zzzs have been caught and many cups of tea and coffee have wiggled their way into my hands to warm them. This has kept me happily inside organizing my business thinking and dreaming up some new ideas for the months to come and being inspired by the pitter patters that keep coming from my window.

Speaking of coffee, I'd like to tell you a story about how much I love it. A friend of mine recently compared the camaraderie of coffee drinkers to the same of smokers' tight circles. I think that makes sense, so if you're a coffee drinker, I hope you feel welcomed into this story. If you're not a coffee drinker...well, pretend it's hot chocolate we're talking about. 

I didn't start drinking coffee habitually until I lived in Asia. It wasn't even real coffee at that point, but nonetheless, my affection for it started there. While I was becoming acquainted with this new substance, I had access to three coffee cups, all identical. I chose one that would become mine and spent many mornings with it. Just like a mother knows her triplets apart, i could tell which of the three was my special cup.
This cup, my favorite, was lime green and somewhat 70s-ish. I loved it. So much that I kind of brought it home with me. :-)

This past year, Marissa, one of my roommates, had a cup that just would NOT stop looking at me. Every time I'd open the cupboard, BAM! It would beg me to use it. I didn't resist, not with it's creamy yellow inside and white ceramic shell. We spent many nights together and once again, I was attached. When we were all moving out, Marissa kindly gave me the yellow mug and my collection count was officially at two.

In this new season, I hadn't quite found just the right cup to share my time with. The other night, I was out with a friend and I heard it practically going hoarse for yelling my name incessantly. I saw it, loved it and happily purchased it. And now there are three of them.

Please meet the blue one:

It gets to sit with me at my desk almost every day. Sometimes I still pay attention to Lime and Yellow though.

I hope it feels safe here.

I think I want some more coffee now! :-)

Oh and one last thing before you go read that book next to the window, or watch some more football...I decided to do a little creative project I've been thinking of for awhile. I had some work to do today, so I thought I'd let you in on what a day looks like around here. Don't forget to look for Blue Cup!

A regular work day, time lapsed from Jessica Mooney on Vimeo.

Happy Rainy days!

Ben & Robin, the wedding

Ben and Robin are some of the most peaceful people I know. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with them, but I've known them both for years from college and can tell you that they are both very kind and considerate people. It works out nicely that they are married to each other now. :-) Their wedding was one of the most beautiful and fun weddings that I've been able to be a part of.

The day of their wedding was the day after this video hit the news big time and amazed the world. Weddings CAN be fun and extremely entertaining. I love seeing the wheels turning in the bridesmaids' heads.

Seriously, Robin was one of THE most laid back brides I've ever worked with. I've heard and seen that she is already extremely organized and calm, but to add that to your wedding day=impressive!

I've never seen a group of bridesmaids as elated for the bride as these girls were. Robin has been so blessed to have such a supportive group of friends.

The florist did an amazing job at making this place spectacular! Ben and Robin wanted to incorporate wheat from the story of Ruth and Boaz in the Bible, so there were lots of touches of it throughout the decorations and bouquets.

Ben and Robin decided to see each other before the ceremony...I love that!

This wedding party was fantastic to work with! Seriously, they were so much fun and were all so excited to be celebrating the happy couple together!

And the best first dance award definitely goes to Ben and Robin. They have skills, some serious ones.

Ben and Robin...wow, thank you so very much for having me. It was an absolute pleasure.

Libby & Tiffany

While I was in Nashville at the internship, we were challenged with a photo shoot of our own. We had a couple of girls come out and model for us and Sarah created a list of more difficult locations for us: a parking garage (with weird lighting), the postal room in her building (also unique lighting), and a swimming pool. Yep..talk about a different line up! We had to be creative with what we had around us and I loved the challenge!

This is Libby, but I really think she is Alexis Bledel (from Gilmore Girls) living in Nashville incognito. She was a fantastic model for us and was just nicer than anything! I had such a great time working with her.

These mail room images turned out to be some of my faves!

Then we jumped into the pool. When I say we...I actually mean I didn't at all...but Libby did!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Tiffany as well. She was too sweet and impressed me with how many looks she could pull off!

Thank you girls SOOO much for being so willing to come out and model for us! I'm glad Sarah knows such awesome gals!

the Interns

This is a girl named Sarah Barlow. She is a photographer and has created an internship for other women photographers who are wanting to know anything and everything there is to know about this business called photography. If her vibrant red hair matched anything about her, it would be her dynamic personality that allows her to run a business in a seamlessly effective way. She's also got a unique eye for photography too! I was so glad to be able to experience 'the Interns' for 10 days this summer!

She is based in Nashville and has access to this spectacular view every night and day!

Our internship landed on Sarah's birthday, as well as one of the other interns, so there was lots of celebrating happening!

Sarah had some of her friends over for her birthday to play in the sprinklers fountains!

These are the other lovely gals that I spent my time in Nashville with! It's really amazing how close you can become with people when living with them so closely for 10 days! We learned about business and photography, but also learned a lot about each other's views on life! I love these girls!

Sarah taught us about her camera tricks and posing ideas too!

I'd only driven through Tennessee before this trip. Goodness, that place it pretty! It was so nice to take a break from the Texas heat and enjoy the very comfortable weather of Nashville!

This is my new friend Michelle Anderson! She's from Utah, but living in California now! I so thoroughly enjoyed all of our great conversations and the wisdom this girl taught me! She is so talented too...and beautiful!

Katie Haller! Wow, this girl just laughed the entire time we were in Nashville! Not only is this Ohio girl so joy-filled, but she has also got some serious skills!

Rachelle Ferrier is just my new favorite Illinois-ian! Is that what you call Illinois people? Rachelle and I were roommates during the internship and I just learned so much from this humble and sweet girl. She's loves photography so much!

Sarah took us out for some photos for our blogs/websites....which you may have noticed at the top of the blog! It was definitely an experience being on the other side of the camera!

I love Sarah's style...clean and simple. She inspired and taught me so much and I'm so grateful for the chance I had to learn from her. You can check out the blog post she wrote about the internship here!

While I was in Nashville, I met some other fantastic photographers from around there. If you want to, check them out!

Amy Conner-she was the middle girl in the fountain photo!
Kelli Trontell- goodness, this girl is talented in way more than photography..check out her music too.
Erin Lawlor- Erin was another intern from a previous internship! She's got such a great style and a fantastic eye!