Kara Nicole Photography © 2010: Nicole+Brandon ~ Fort Worth, TX Wedding Photographer

I have been so excited to finally show these.....

My 1st big wedding and 1st with my husband. Who btw is a FANTASTIC photographer!

Lets back up a little here and start from the very beginning...

Nicole contacted me last winter about wedding pricing. At the time I wasn't offering wedding packages or even sure weddings were in my future ... but after a little persuading from Nicole I was in! LOL She loved my work and knew I was what she wanted in a photographer. Needless to say, I'm glad she called me... it's wild too... when she called I was about 9 weeks pregnant ...hadn't yet announced it to most people and well now our son is 2months old.

Nicole said she and Brandon were planning a not so traditional wedding. They wanted to do things a little different... and I was all in!! They wanted a first glance. Which is becoming more common in the wedding industry and I can totally see why. It was such a rush to photograph them seeing each other for the first time before their ceremony. We had it planned out pretty good too. We were going to meet in front of the Love Shack. Their favorite place to go and hang out together in the stockyards. But on this very day they were having some sort of Harley convention out front... and while I knew it would have made for some great pictures. I also knew we needed a little more privacy. So we opted to have them meet at the train ..... and we had to hurry because it was scheduled to leave in 5minutes. Matt stayed with Brandon on the train and I waited on the street for Nicole to arrive. We had about 30 seconds to make it all happened and it worked out P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y....

September 18, 2010

Fort Worth - Stockyards

Los Vaqueros

nicole+brandon

What was the most memorable moment of your day?

nicole: running up to Brandon while he was waiting on the train! I couldn't wait to wrap my arms around him and give him a big smooch! He looked so Sexy!

brandon: Standing at the altar knowing that it was the perfect moment; family & great friends watching, while Nicole & I started our life together.

What was your favorite detail?

nicole: Brandon & I did so many DIY projects. I had a blast planning every detail with him. I'd say making the flower arrangements, the boutonnieres, and the bouquets. Brandon, our moms and my grandma worked together to get them done...they turned out beautiful!

brandon: I loved the Garden Setting. Everything about it, from the laid-back atmosphere, to the great food, to the music & dancing…and spending the whole evening with our family who we don’t get to see very often.

Any advice for future bride/grooms?

nicole: Don't stress about things you can't control and remember what the day is really about. And EAT!

brandon: Have fun and don’t get too wrapped up in all the planning. Make sure to get all of that out of the way a few days before the wedding, so you can enjoy the wedding day to the fullest…like we did!

Funniest memory from your wedding day?

nicole: Dancing to "We are Family" and getting down in front of Brandon's family....to which Brandon's mom said "you go girl". And saying our vows while my heels kept sinking in the ground.

brandon: Hoping and praying that our little flower girl would make it down the aisle without any problems. She froze up during rehearsal, and it was pretty hilarious (for me at least).

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

nicole: Nope, it was perfect! We had our closest friends & family there, it wasn't showy and it was pretty casual...everything we wanted.

brandon: Nothing at all….it all turned out exactly like we hoped!! The venue, the music, the ceremony, the pictures, the food, and especially all of our family & NO drama.

What was your favorite wedding purchase?

nicole: The rings, since we will have them forever :)

brandon: I thought Nicole’s dress was perfect for our outdoor Garden wedding. Sophisticated and elegant, but still easy going and fun…and I really liked finding ties & shirts for me and my groomsmen to match!!

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

nicole: We haven't gone yet. We are planning to go somewhere this winter. Perhaps skiing!

brandon: Haven’t gone on one yet…we may go skiing in Colorado this winter; we’ll see.

What songs did you pick for your wedding and for which part?

Brandon: I handled the music & loved it….we went with traditional wedding music for the ceremony, including Cannon in D for when we walked down the aisle. Our first dance was to Stoney LaRue’s “Feet Don’t Touch the Ground,” which is a favorite of mine, and a new favorite of Nicole’s!

Who was the DJ/band?

brandon: Hackberry Road (Jon Hodge)….they played the 2-man acoustic music, along with Djing. They were OUTSTANDING!!! Everyone kept commenting how great they were, and they worked with us to have the perfect evening.

And my favorite question.... How did you meet?

nicole: We met on Match.com. I was browsing to see who was out there and came across "SouthernBuckeye5". Since I am from Ohio and knew he was a Buckeye fan I emailed him. I didn't have a completed profile so I didn't have pictures. Brandon made me email him pictures before he would talk to me. Upon approval of my pics, we chatted online and went to dinner the next day. Dinner lasted 3 hours, we instantly hit it off! At the end of the night he went in for a kiss, but I turned my head. He planted a kiss on my eye...to this day I melt when he kisses me on the eye. (BTW, he only had a few days left on his membership so I like to say I got him on the clearance rack! It was the best $30 I ever spent!)

brandon:We met on Match.com on June 12th, 2009. We went out to dinner the next night, and hit it off immediately. The last 15+ months have been amazing.

How did he propose?

nicole: It was 7 months into the relationship when Brandon proposed. While I was traveling for work, Brandon decided to "make room for me". He emptied out half the closet and prepared for me to move in with him. When I came home from traveling for work he told me to come with him. He led me to the closet and told me that he was ready to move forward and asked me to move in. I started shaking because I really thought he was going to propose in the closet. However, he didn't. Later in the evening I asked him if he was planning anything else. He told me we would go ring shopping. We went ring shopping and picked out the perfect ring. The following week I rushed home from Louisiana, hoping he would be waiting for me on bended knee. Instead I walked into the house and he proceeded to show me were he moved all my stuff. He showed me dishes, clothes, furniture, etc. Bummer. Then he told me to check out the garage. I really didn't care what the garage looked like, but opened it to make him happy. To my surprise he set it up for his proposal. He had romantic music playing and a path of petals and candles. The path led to a table with yellow roses (my fave) and a box that had a sign on it. The sign read "Open Me". I opened it and it was empty. I turned around and Brandon got down on one knee and proposed. We both teared up! Yes, I got engaged in the garage and yes it was perfect! He is perfect!

brandon: Nicole probably has a better answer to this one. She knew it was coming, just didn’t know how. I surprised her when she got home from a week of traveling for work, and she cried and said “YES.” I sorta teared up too.