A little off-camera lighting thanks to Jason Huang of Table 4 Weddings.

Some lovely posing by Heather Essian for our model Melissa, who is sporting the ultra cute hair fascinators by Ink and Button.

Don’t you just feel swept back to the 50’s?

Love this hat. I’m so glad we found it!

And Cassie rocking it out in the cold. Seriously. It was like 40 degrees. Ok, Texas cold.

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That’s right, I married a younger man. By two whole weeks. And the weird thing is that we are exactly fourteen days apart.

And I’m in Las Vegas right now, nerding it up with fellow photographers, so I’m missing his actual birthday. But I’ve already given him his gift, and I surprised him this year too, SCORE! So we’ll be celebrating yet again when I get home in a few days. And he gets to play all the video games he wants on the flat screen.

Here’s Cent with his granny on our wedding day. LOVE that big grin.

I apologize in advance, if my scary/excited/celebrating face scares anyone.

(photos by Travis Hoehne)

Happy Birthday, Love! I love you and I’m thankful everyday that our paths crossed in Orlando, almost five years ago. Although I’m not with you on your birthday, it can be like old times catching up on the phone, since we are kind of out of practice these days. Can’t wait to get home to see your shining smile.

Well, I only started using my office last week.

And we only put my desk together about four weeks ago.

While I’m not giving reasons about not using my office sooner, I am here to stress the importance of a good chair.

You see, after my desk was ready to go and became a landing spot for laptops, pens, and notebooks, I couldn’t work at it because I didn’t have a chair. And I wanted to stop having an excuse for not using my office. Because up until that point, I was using the living room as an office. And hunching over my new desk or kneeling on tiles didn’t seem like a very conducive way to work.

So I ventured out to one of my favorite stores, Target. I know, Target isn’t Office Chair Central, but I needed a chair, and while I’m saving up for a swanky, cushy office chair, I figured I could just do with a regular metal folding chair.

I started working in my office yesterday and after about an hour of editing, my butt cried, “Uncle!” and forced me to get up. Seriously, this metal chair is like sitting on the tile floor. Hard. And not butt friendly.

I should have at least purchased the padded metal folding chair. But at $9.99, what was I to expect?

The tag should have said, “Comfort not included.”

One day, I’ll have my chair.

• Wear comfortable shoes. Seriously. The MGM Grand is ginormous. I believe my Nike+ pedometer recorded that it was about 1/2 mile from the hotel rooms down to the conference center, one way. If you don’t wear comfortable shoes, you may want to hack off your feet, just sayin’.
• Bring water. Go to Walgreens or 7/11 and stock up on water. The desert is dry and the casinos are smoky. I actually learned this the first time I went to Vegas (when Cent proposed!), and you probably don’t want to pay $8 for minibar bottle water. I wouldn’t.
• Look at the speaker schedule ahead of time. You won’t be able to do everything, so pick out the speakers you absolutely must see and a couple of backups, in the event that there’s no room to sit. It happens. So if you’re going to a really popular presentation, get there early!
• Make a list of gear that you want to see. Figure out what your budget is beforehand, and stick to it. The tradeshow is HUGE and the deals are AWESOME, so it’s easy to buckle under the temptation to buy, buy buy! But if you have a plan for what you can buy, you’ll leave Vegas with more money in your pocket.
• Bring cash with you. What I mean is, the casinos have ATMs, but as I learned last year, it’s a $200 minimum withdrawal. Plus the “convenience” fee. So I advise withdrawing cash at home and bringing that…if you’re rolling with cash that is. Of course, you probably don’t want to advertise that you’re packing a couple hundred or thousand (whatever the case may be…)
• Bring a point & shoot. If you’re going to any of the parties, (and you should be!) you probably don’t want to be lugging around your big camera…because it’s not exactly pocket sized. But you’ll want memories with all your new friends! So bring a P&S.
• If you have a SmartPhone, start using Twitter. There are a bunch of companies doing giveaways and the info is being given out on Twitter. Last year, I didn’t have my iPhone yet, so I got mobile updates from friends and from the contests…and I’d have 18349251 text messages a day. It was hard to keep up! Go ahead, start tweeting. For more information about Twitter and how to tweet, check out this post.
• Don’t be afraid to say hello. Like I mentioned, you’ll be surrounded by people who love the same thing you do! So say hello to people in presentations, in the tradeshow, and in line at Starbucks. Since I didn’t have an iPhone last year, I asked a complete stranger if I could borrow her phone to quickly check my email.

Learn hard. Play hard. Make friends. Share stories.

Oh, and an announcement!

Since going to the Making Things Happen Intensive back in January, I started a new blog. I’d love if you would check it out and tell me what you think. I’ve kept the project under wraps, but I figured that (and with encouragement from Lara Casey) this would be a good time to unveil it to the general public! Its content is on a different wavelength from this one, so it’s totally worth a look. Go ahead. Do it. Please?

Without further ado, I present, Project: Joie de Vivre!

Are you going to be in Vegas? I’d love to meet up with you!

Sunday: Arrival and AIRHORNS & LASERS party!
Monday:
Possibly getting up early for the 8am platform
10am-1pm: Tradeshow
4pm-5:30pm: Fast Track Shoot Out
6:30pm-8:30pm: Jasmine Star Platform
8:30pm-whenever: hanging out with new friends!
Tuesday: Cent’s birthday!
12pm-3pm: Tradeshow floor
3:30pm-5:30pm: Dane Sanders, Mary & Justin Marantz, Elizabeth Messina platforms (still undecided!)
10pm: [b] school party & Pictage Party (but not at the same time)
Wednesday:
10am-12pm: Tradeshow floor
2:30-4:30pm: Amber Holritz platform, Melanie Nashan platform (possibly)
1pm-4pm: Photog Shootout
6pm-whenever: hang out with new friends!
Thursday:
9am-11am: Photographers Ignite Presentation
3pm: Fly home!

Plans are subject to change, but say hello!

Together with Amy Karp, Natasha Brown, and Anna Routh, we were the local contact getting everything in order. We had three fabulous Hair and Makeup artists, Emily Hudspeth, Adina Wright, and Zsanae. We had four awesome models, Cassie, Erica, Melissa, and Tristan. We shot at the lovely Ryan Manor that Chris Ryan so graciously opened his doors for (and the weather was dreary, by the way!) And we had knock out outfits, that Amy and I were able to find at the eleventh hour. (That expression always seems weird to me…) We also had three great teaching photographers, Heather Essian, Jason Huang of Table 4 Weddings, and Amy Karp.

Miss Cassie was also a contestant on one of the seasons of America’s Next Top Model, so she totally knew how to work the camera. Admittedly, I’ve never even seen a whole episode of ANTM, but I often hear all the hoopla from friends who can’t stop talking about it.

Jason taught lighting. Because he is a master at it. If you go check out his photos, you’ll understand what I mean. I was glad to get a couple of shots with his help. Erica and Tristan looked like the perfect vintage wedding couple.

There were about 30 photographers in attendance and were split up into three groups. One group with each teaching photographer. Then after about 45 minutes we rotated. So all the attendees had a chance to learn from all the teachers and work with all the models.

And the lovely Melissa. Isn’t her hair fascinator cute? It was made by Lisa Raser, of Ink and Button. And it just so happened to work perfectly with Melissa’s outfit. More to come of Lisa’s cute fascinators!

More to come!

Are you interested in participating in a Shootout? Email me!

So why Red Velvet cake? What’s the deal? Well, I didn’t even know about Red Velvet cake until 2005 when I was in the internship program at Walt Disney World, where I met Cent. My first introduction to Red Velvet was from the Duncan Hines variety. That’s right box cake. I was totally intrigued by the color and the flavor wasn’t quite chocolate and wasn’t quite vanilla either. As my sister puts it, “It’s red flavored.”

When Cent came to visit me in California for the first time (and met my entire family!), my sister baked a Red Velvet Cake from scratch. And made the cream cheese frosting from scratch. In his honor. Red Velvet cake (at the time) was kind of a novelty. It wasn’t as commonly known as it is in the South. So it kind of became our thing. Although, I’ll admit, I’m waaaaay more head over heels for Red Velvet than Cent is. I’m not sure if it’s the color, the cake and cream cheese frosting combo, or what, but I can’t shut up about these.

So this year, for my birthday, I went on a Red Velvet cupcake quest, to find the best one in Dallas. And then my sister sent me two tupperwares of homemade Paula Deen Red Velvet cupcakes. Let’s just say that the scale and I aren’t friends at the moment.

Since the ones from Sprinkles were the first to hit my belly pre-birthday, I’ll start with those.

Sprinkles cupcakes are distinguished by the little adornments on the top. This one with the pink flower is the Spicy Red Velvet cupcake. When we were at the boutique I was intrigued by the “spicy” as I tend to like spicy foods. So we ordered one to go with the others.

Sprinkles Cupcakes are delicious. I’ve actually only had them once before in California. They are rich, moist, and substantial. I love that they use real cream cheese frosting, which to me, completes the Red Velvet. I think they might use a little more cocoa, as on their description list, they call it “southern style light chocolate cake”.

Now, here’s the deal. This cupcake is PERFECT for anyone who like Red Hots or Hot Tamales. I’m talking spicy cinnamon flavor. It’s in the frosting. Sadly for me, I’m not a fan of the spicy cinnamon flavor. But for reviewing sake, I ate the whole thing anyway. Don’t hate. The cake was delicious and moist, I just wasn’t digging the frosting flavor. Now if you do like that, then go for it. I’ve told a couple of people about this cupcake, and the idea of the spicy cinnamon was their idea of a good time.

Overall, Sprinkles are super yummy. I mean, if I had a bad cupcake, you’d know it. Just ask people who know me well. I love that they use quality ingredients and have wonderful presentation. Seriously, buying cupcakes at Sprinkles is an experience. It’s like going to the candy store, except it’s all cupcakes.

And their Red Velvet Cupcakes get an A for moistness and the cream cheese frosting.

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I finally got to meet Carrie, owner of The Event Messenger, in person a few months later at Debby Jewesson’s Open House for Branching Out Events. And guess what? She’s just as fabulous and friendly as her creations. Love her!

I recently got together with Carrie to photograph some of her recent work. And let me just say that if I was still planning my wedding, I’d go straight to Carrie. After designing and assembling our invitations, I understand all the work that goes into it, and would gladly hire a pro to do it. And Carrie is a pro!

While I photographed these, I commented that even simple stripes can dress up an invitation. Simple and bright.

After the recent snowstorm, I ventured out to Carrie’s home to help her assemble this project. It’s so simple, and yet makes a statement.

This piece is perforated for guests to tear off and mail as an RSVP postcard. The flipside of the piece is stamped and addressed. Genius.

Carrie brought these pieces together for a Bridal Event. Who knew twine could add such pizazz. Yes, I just used the word pizazz.

To me, this screams Texas. Or at least picnic. It’s probably the gingham ribbon.

A little Latin flair, anyone?

Placecards with style.

And then there are these super sweet Bridal Shower weekend invitations.

And how cute are these boarding pass Save the Dates for a destination wedding?

And Carrie can also create the CUTEST stationery for those expecting! Check this out:

Please excuse some of the blurring out going on, but gotta respect people’s privacy, right?

If you are looking for custom event stationery, be sure to check out Carrie’s work on her website, The Event Messenger. You’ll get lost in it. At least I did.

Happy Tuesday!

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I just met Emily last week and I can tell you she is not only a fabulous hair and makeup artist, but she’s also so fun to be around! She used to live and work in Los Angeles, so we quickly related through our California connection. We were lucky enough to have Emily on board to do some hair and makeup for the Dallas PhotogShootout (which I’ll be posting this week!).

Check out some of Emily’s work from Friday:

Working her magic on our lovely model, Erica.

And the end results!

And on a photographer’s note, let me just say how important it is to have awesome hair and makeup that not only makes you look and feel fabulous, but will last all day long through the all the photos, your tears of joy, and of course, sweating on the dance floor!

In order to win:

Leave a comment on Kelly’s blog (not mine!) and tell us about your most interesting hair and makeup experience…you know, the best haircut you’ve ever had…the funniest experience getting your makeup done, how your hair stylist saved the day, etc.

We’ll choose the winner by midnight this Friday, March 5th and will announce on Monday, March 8th. Winner will need to use the complimentary hair and makeup trial by August 31, 2010 and will need to be a bride getting married in 2010.  Winner will also need to visit Emily’s studio in Addison, TX for the hair and makeup trial.

So hop on over to the Sweet Pea Events blog for your chance to win!

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While I don’t consider myself a Twitter expert, I started out as someone who didn’t understand the point, to someone who checks in frequently. I mean, how else would I know what’s going on everywhere else?

So how has Twitter worked for me? Well, from Twitter, I’ve found out about photo shoot opportunities, get-togethers, spur of the moment lunches, and most recently, met a wedding planner, collaborated an Etsy seller, and planned a girls night out. Seriously. And I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have been privy to that information or those opportunities without being on Twitter.

Ok, so if you’re new to Twitter and trying to figure it out and be like all the cool kids, here are some tips:

• On Twitter, you “follow” people and get “followed”. My general recommendation for this is to follow people who:
  • are your friends (in real life)
  • people in your industry (so for me it’s people in the wedding industry)
  • those who have interesting things to share (for me it’s some crafters and cooks).
• Anyone can follow you on Twitter if you have an unlocked account. This means anyone can see your tweets. It also means potential for spam. However, you can protect your account and people have to request to follow you. This prevents spam, but it may deter people from following you.
• The “@” in front of the name, means that you are mentioning or replying to someone on Twitter.
  • When I tweet “I went to the Dallas @photogshootout today and it was so fun,” that is called a mention of Photog Shootout, and a tweet that anyone can see.
  • So when I tweet “@celinagomez That was so AWESOME,” that is a reply directed at my friend, Celina, and if my followers follow her as well, they can see it too.
• In order for Twitter to “work” for you and it not just be about reading tweets from people talking about their lunch or trip to the bookstore, you need to engage in a conversation.
  • If someone tweets something interesting, reply back with a comment or question. This gives the other person the opportunity to reply to you.
  • If someone replies to something you tweet, consider replying back to them. You never know what kind of opportunity is there.
  • I’ve used Twitter to ask a question, get local information, and to get instant feedback.
• If you want to send a message to someone privately, it’s called Direct Message and you can only send those to people who follow you. Sometimes it can be tricky if you follow someone and they don’t follow you back because they can direct message (DM) you but you can’t DM them.
• You can mark tweets with the hashtag (#) in order to facilitate learning. I’ve used this recently for #TheSimplePlan and #MTH2010. Anyone can search to find all the tweets with the particular hashtag.
• If you like something that someone tweets, there’s a thing called a “ReTweet” and is marked in a tweet with “RT” and who tweeted. For example, it would look like this: “RT @EmilyLey: So proud to introduce :: EMILY LEY PAPER :: http://tinyurl.com/ygmhhby” And then you can add your own comment to the end.

And that’s a basic rundown. Twitter can be used to announced new blog posts, promotions, questions, anything, really. But to really get the most out of the Twitter, you need to engage in conversation with other “tweeps”. It’s not meant to be one-sided. For me, I met a ton of other photographers through Twitter, and then had the chance to meet them in person either at WPPI (a HUGE photographer’s convention in Las Vegas) or in California or here in Dallas. It’s been great!

And if you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m @CatieRonquillo.

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And the way that I booked our photographer was probably pretty unconventional (knowing what I know now). It was completely over email. We didn’t meet our photographer until our engagement session. And since he lived out of our area, meeting him between the engagement session and wedding day was not as simple. But I have zero regrets about our wedding photographer, because he was SO AWESOME! And everyone at our wedding had a fantastic time.

But now that I think about it, it was because I didn’t know the ins and outs of hiring a wedding photographer, let alone the rest of the wedding vendors we worked with. Namely, because I had never been married, nor had I ever planned a wedding.

So since I’m guessing most brides who will come upon this post probably haven’t been married before or have never planned or contacted wedding photographers before, here are some helpful hints for getting the most out of your search.

1. Ask for referrals from recently married friends. That’s actually how I ended up finding our photographer. And it’s the best way to find out about the style and personality of the wedding photographer. Were they professional, fun, adventurous, traditional, modern, etc. Make sure you find someone whose style you LOVE. And, it will give you some insight to their price ranges.
2. Check out the photographer’s work. Read their blog. Can you get a sense of their style and personality? Is it something that you connect with, or is it not you? If it’s not you, that’s okay, it doesn’t have to be. Can you imagine yourself in the photos of the photographer? Can you imagine loving the photos fifty years from now? If the answer is “YES!” then start contacting your favorites.
3. When you send out initial inquiries, most wedding photographers will want to set up an in-person or phone meeting. My mentality (at the time) was that I just wanted to know their price point, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. However, now I know that most wedding photographers want to ensure that they are a good fit with you. Because having a good rapport with your photographer who will be documenting your day is KEY. Imagine a wedding day where you don’t trust your wedding photographer or you don’t get along. It could make for a very uncomfortable time for a very important day.
4. Narrow down your choices to three max. Make it easier on yourself. But if you’ve found the photographer that you ABSOLUTELY must have, contact them and let them know just that! We work hard to make it easy for a client to make that decision pre-meeting, and your meeting should solidify that conviction.
5. If you are ready to book your photographer, book them! Most wedding photographers book anywhere between 6 and 12 months before your wedding date, so if you know that you want a particular wedding photographer, make sure to secure your date! And when you inquire with photographers, make sure you have a date! A photographer can’t secure a maybe this date or that date, and will require a retainer to book a date. So, it’s easiest if you have a wedding date set.

I hope this post was helpful. I know that if I had known what I know now, I’d be better prepared for hiring wedding vendors. I hope this makes things easier for both brides and grooms as well as photographers!

*NOTE: This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but merely a starting point for brides and grooms. A comprehensive list would probably take up a series of posts.*

If you have any other suggestions or helpful hints, please leave them in the comments!

Happy Thursday!

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