Did I ever tell you the story about how he proposed?  This is a story I’ll never forget.

Jonathan’s grandfather had an annual tradition for his bride.  Every year, Grandpa hid a special ornament on the Christmas tree.  Grandma would have to find the ornament and inside would be a glorious piece of jewelry.  After Jonathan’s grandmother passed, he asked his grandfather for permission to carry on the tradition with Melissa.  For their first year of their new tradition, Jonathan made it one to remember.  He carefully placed an engagement ring in the ornament, hid it on the tree and told Melissa she had one more present to open, but she had to find it first.  When she did, it was more than she could have ever imagined.

There is so much love and laughter between these two souls!

To Melissa & Jonathan – Getting to know your little family was an extreme pleasure and while we didn’t get to spend a ton of time together, I feel as though I know so much about you both!  Your laugh, your smiles, your grinning baby boy.  They all make my heart smile and I wish all three of you the absolute best for many many years to come!

<3, Kori

And now we unlock the Motley vault and finally can release the amazing moments we captured during her bridal session on an April afternoon at Crystal Springs!

Shelly, you’re awesome and we had so much fun shooting you! Kori and I both participated in this shoot, along with Shelly’s mom, now mother-in-law, and best friend!  They were a team that remembered, well everything, even down to the dryer sheets! Yup, dryer sheets, originally packed for static cling assistance, and doubled as mosquito repellent, per previous recommendations from Brandon to Shelly on the usefulness of dryer sheets! Yup, they really do work, and leave you feeling like a fresh load of laundry rather than the wonderful fragrance of OFF.

Shelly’s dress was awesome Alfred Angelo masterpiece! Gorgeous tiers of ruffles for her ceremony and first dance, were later taken away to reveal a fun and more casual reception dress!

And of course, no cowgirl is complete without her  boots! Picked out with Brandon’s help, Shelly worked those boots, showing off the details and shininess! She loved them!

Shelly’s smile and happiness was contagious, as everyone was smiling and laughing, and we definitely got a few “ooooohhhs” outta Kori during her sneak peaks at the previews.

A beautiful bride and beautiful wedding! Brandon, you definitely got a spunky and classy girl! We are very happy for your both and wish you all the best in love and life!

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Meleski!!!

By far, one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever been to! Congratulations Brandon & Shelly!!

Cinco de Mayo will forever be remembered in the Weiershausen house as the day Natalie & Landon began their lives together.  So many great things to say about this couple so stay tuned for their full wedding day post!  Here’s a little preview to tide you over. Enjoy!

Leave them some love in the comments! <3 <3

Here’s a sneak peak of Kristin & Michael’s wedding photos!

Ahhh!! This was an AH-MAZINGLY beautiful couple!  Their wedding details were out of this world.  I’ve been so crazy busy but I didn’t want to leave the weekend without you guys getting a little taste of the photos to come from Mr & Mrs Turbeville’s wedding day!!!  <3 <3

Leave Kristin & Michael some love in the comments below! <3

Following a great engagement shoot with Shelly and Brandon (get excited about their upcoming wedding in May!), Shelly’s mom was  showing off her photos and talking about how much fun they had at the shoot to all of her friends. One of these lovely ladies was just amazed and intrigued, and immediately called and explained that she had desperately wanted to get some photos of her 14 year old daughter, Ciarra. A wonderful phone conversation followed by numerous emails led to a picture perfect sunset shoot at Gleannloch Farms in Spring, TX.

Ciarra is a spunky, outgoing freshman who just knows how to work a camera! She posed easily and could switch back and forth from those serious enchanting faces to sweet smiles of innocence to laughter that was infectious.  She obviously has been watching America’s Next Top Model and knows how to knock out those poses!  She definitely proves that they don’t make 14 year olds like they used to!

Ciarra comes from a large family, but she obviously doesn’t let that hold her back.  With several sisters, she’s learned how to dress, how to shop, and how to work the crowd.

She loves animals, especially horses and rides at a local stable frequently. She connects with these creatures in a way that is just heart-warming, and brings a fresh breath to the teenage years.

Ciarra, welcome to the Motley family! You were a joy to shoot and hope you enjoy and cherish these memories of your freshman year forever!

The inspiration for the event came from a brainstorming session to plan a laid back informal event for brides to attend in order to have a more personal and less overwhelming trunk show experience. At so many bridal events, ladies are provided millions of color schemes, reception and ceremony ideas, dress designs, centerpieces, however, do to over-stimulation or high volume of people, do not always provide the opportunity for brides and bridal parties to ask specific questions openly or truly develop workable ideas for their weddings. The brainstorming initiated by Kori and Natalie turned into a text message discussion between Kori and myself, as we together planned and developed the concept and purpose of this event. Natalie is a representative for Stella & Dot Jewelry, and a close friend to the Motley team. And so, after several hours of debating, inspiration word lists, hundreds of web searches, and about 6 pages of text messages, Motley’s Night of RAW Elegance was born.

The planning commenced with a great group of vendors coming forward to offer their products and services, from DJ and lighting specialists, to party planners, to cakes, to catering. An awesome planning meeting in March brought all the ideas together and we pressed on for the great Thursday night of fun.

The event was held at Kori’s home in Houston, making it a truly laid back environment. However, Kori soon learned that my creativity goes far beyond blogging, and we quickly transformed her home into a mock reception hall by moving furniture, clearing her office accents out, and bringing in 3 large tables and 2 bar height tables! The backyard (following a gorgeous DIY makeover by Kori and her husband, Cody) became an elegant outdoor wedding venue example, including overhead strings of lights and tiki torches! Both indoor and outdoor uplighting was set up in complementary colors by Elegante Entertainment, and myself and Melissa from Perfectly Planned helped to set the tables with elegant centerpieces and flowers. Kori even planned a magical and dramatic entrance for the brides, including a DIY sign-in table example!

Stay tuned for more information regarding the next Motley’s Night of RAW Elegance!

She’s the first person to bring you up on a down day, offer help in times of complete chaos, and the first person to arrive when someone says “Let’s meet for happy hour!”  Over the past few months, she has proven to be my creative soulmate and has pushed me out of my comfort zone when I’ve needed it the most!  So without further ado, meet Anna!!

She’s been helping me out with so many things! I know if I try to list them all I’ll forget a ton, but here are a few of the biggies:  blogging, experimental photo shoots, creative design ideas, assisting during sessions, reorganizing my office & being a vital part of Motley’s Night of RAW Elegance.

She’s creative, a huge goof-ball, and completely stunning!  So here’s a little big about Anna:  She married her BFF, Ben, in March of 2011.  They had quiet and gorgeous beach ceremony on the coast of Costa Rica.  She’s traveled all over the world from India to the Galapagos Islands and back.  One of her favorite things to do is grocery shop, calling it “therapeutic” (so she says… not once has she taken me up on my request for her to do mine!)  Her favorite toys are power tools, which is part of the reason I think we get along so well!

The first time I knew that we were meant to be definitely had potential in working together was after a run at Memorial Park in February…or March (I’m not sure…I have a terrible memory, as you’ll soon figure out).  We were saying our farewells for the day and Anna mentioned that I probably needed to get headed to my meeting.  My heart stopped.  A meeting?  What day is it? I grab my cell phone to look at the time.  5:15PM.  I had a meeting today? Frantic, my brain switched into overdrive trying to pull up every email, phone call, and calendar entry that I had received and created in the past month.  Then it clicked.  I have a meeting with another wedding vendor at 6PM!  Once my heart began to beat at a regular pace again, the next thought in my head was, “How in the H-E-double-hocky-sticks did Anna remember that???”  I was sold.

Never mind Anna’s intense modeling ability that makes my photos look like images from a Victoria’s Secret catalog, her steel-trap brain, or her contagious good mood, Anna makes my life more calm.  While I’m severely busy with weddings, emails, sessions, editing photos, updating blogs, tweeting learning to tweet, album designs, and keeping all of my clients happy with Facebook sneak peeks of their recent photo sessions, Anna has a way of figuratively patting my head and telling me it’s all going to be okay.  And without me having to say it, she knows exactly when I’ve hit my wall I need help the most and that’s one of my FAVORITE qualities about her!  An unspoken understanding.

Together, we have a TON of new ideas, fresh perspectives, and an undying motivation to make a bride-to-be’s experience with their vendors as fun and memorable as possible!  We’re gearing up for some amazing additions/changes to Motley way of life and I’m COMPLETELY and UTTERLY excited to have found such an amazing person, inside & out, to work with to get there.

To Anna:  Words can’t explain how thrilled I am to have a friend like you!  Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to make the Motley family a close knit & loving group of brides & grooms-to-be and for helping to keep me focused and motivated through the ups and downs, crazy times and slow times.  From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!  Now you can stop ghost-writting for me and tell the world you’re here!!

<3, Kori