A Little Bit of Heaven Inspired Wedding Shoot

By Christina Lewis – Wedding Warriors Eco-Chic Events – Wimberley, Texas

A little town nestled between Austin and San Antonio welcomes visitors with a sign saying ‘a little bit of Heaven,’ and for couples getting married here in the Hill Country, it really is. Thinking out of the box, eco-chic wedding planner Christina Lewis of Wedding Warriors and the artistry of Mariah Milan Photography decided to join their creative forces for a whimsical and vintage Wimberley inspired wedding shoot. ‘We wanted brides, especially those with a smaller wedding and budget, to think out of the box when it came to their day.’

If you are getting married in a smaller town like Wimberley, why not make use of your environs for some fabulous and offbeat photos. Mariah and I started the journey at Wimberley Inn, where innkeepers Denese and Dan were gracious in opening the revitalized and absolutely adorable doors of ‘The Greenhouse’ for us. This charming venue on the edge of Wimberley town will be available for smaller weddings soon!

We moved on to Star Antiques on River Road, where owner Lisa, was happy to participate in this creative process that Mariah and I had been discussing for some time and then decided, no more talk, let’s do it! By the way the beautiful chandelier at Wimberley Inn is from Star Antiques.

Keeping it local, the beautiful bridal bouquet was designed by Kari Shelton from WOW Factor. Breathtaking is definitely one of the words that came to mind. Kari also provided a wedding dress for us to use – the one that she wore for her wedding day!

We roped in the talented, versatile and oh so much fun Margo Mead, hair and make-up stylist! Margo is based with the award winning Jco and Company Salon in Austin.

A thank you to our groom, Justin Gadd and to our lovely bride Melissa Wells for their laughter and joy in a downtown Texas adventure.

First let’s start off at Wimberley Inn…. the afternoon light was dreamy.

The green cottage was beautifully styled by Christina Lewis.

We then moved on to Star Antiques… lovely!

A huge Thank You to all the vendors involved!

A little peek at an awesome collaboration wedding shoot in Wimberley – more to come later!

I often tell my family that I have the best clients in the world… and I truly do. Thank you wonderful Austinites for making our second year in Texas such a success – for inviting me into your homes to witness your children growing, your marriage vows, and so many small moments that I am grateful for all the time. I truly, truly appreciate it and am so very thankful for each and every one of you.

Wishing you a prosperous, beautiful 2011 and beyond from my family to yours.

Makenzi Laine came and did my makeup (LOVE HER!) and we put the kids in the car and went down to the field. I metered the light and let my husband have at it! Here’s what we came up with together and I am thrilled and so happy. I haven’t felt that pretty in a long time. Oh yes… and Ryenne was my creative art director here!!

I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am – of all of us – for making such wonderful contributions to this important charity!

I am now officially beginning my slow season. Orders have all been placed for Christmas delivery and I can now sit down and design my own Christmas card (and hopefully get them out on time!).

I’ll be taking it easy the rest of the month to enjoy time with family (my brother is visiting from Maui!) and experience the magic of Christmas with my children. I’ll also be prepping some fun things that will be going into two really awesome Austin locations. I will blog about each… I am tickled to be invited to these awesome spots…. so stay tuned.

As I enter into my third trimester of pregnancy, I’m happy to announce that I will be taking the month of March completely off! But let’s not leave out January and February… so I have a little special for these months… 50% off session fee!!

Email is always the fastest way to reach me! mariah@mariahmilan.com and telephone is 512-940-6116. I am happy to return all phone calls when my kids are nice and quiet

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Saxon made me wait just a bit while she got nice and full and tired and then she finally drifted off to dreamland and so far, to date, she has been the baby that has slept the longest for me! Yay Saxon!

This is part of why I love to come to a clients home… I can incorporate their things and their style into the session. It makes each portrait unique and special. So thank you Rochelle for explaining your vision for Saxon’s portraits and welcoming me into your home for your beautiful baby girl’s newborn portraits!

above: we all know how much I love baby lips! below: fresh hydrangeas and a vintage wash

above: pure and total sweetness. Look at those wrinkles on her tummy! below: a basket of baby and tiny little toes.

above: Big sister Suri got in on a few portraits while Saxon was getting fed. below: what a sweet, sweet bunch of girls!

The kiddos haven’t felt cooped up and have been so smiley and happy and I’m so happy for that!

Heading out for a newborn session this afternoon. So until the next post, here is my baby little boy, Kai Eric.

I’ll start with a few Finao albums. These are my lovely’s…. I’ll be keeping one in house for showing everyone in person, and the others are going out to a client and to a birth center for display. These come in so many amazing covers. Seriously… hard to pick. I do have full swatches to show off. These books shown are 20 pages.

Next we move on to the Couture Books. These are completely  hand made (here in the US). Both of these are wedding albums, but they make amazing displays of portraits with quotes, song lyrics, ect. This first is a studio sample of the French-Paris line. It comes with a vellum overlay, but sadly my children have gotten to it. So this is the woven cover underneath the vellum.

And finally is the Couture NYC book. It comes with a slipcase and a full image wrap cover. This is going out to El Paso today for Nasla & Amador.

Each of the Couture books shown have 100 pages. This give me lots of room for image display

Thanks for letting me share!!!

above: The amazing cupcakes that were served and one of the coolest things… a wish tree. All the guests left wishes and messages on the leaves. Sweet!

above: Seriously fun when the guests are all dancing!!

below: one of the last images of the night. It started to rain POUR on everyone. I asked Leighanna to stay on the dance floor just a moment longer and she was lit by the lantern. Love it.

Two beautiful people + one amazing wedding = one very happy photographer.

I took the weekend off to celebrate Halloween and my husband’s birthday – so I’m back to work this week with some great sessions coming up and lots of editing to catch up on. Here is more from Justin and Leighanna’s gorgeous wedding on Maui on October 10th. I still have more to edit. And they have been soooo patient with me. Love them…. really… my clients are just the most awesome people. I am so happy that many of you have become my friends as well.

Okay… onto the gorgeousness!

The bridal party was really awesome!

All of the above images were taken at their friends taro farm. The light was magical. The love in the air was palpable.

And then we walked over to the creek where Justin played as a child. It’s so neat that they got to get married in such a special place.

See?? Magic, right?

Hope you all are enjoying these teasers. More to come!

XOXO, Mariah

I’m shortening this part so there are some surprise images for the bride and groom to go through. But here’s one of dad and daughter that I absolutely adore… and a close up of the amazing bouquets that each of the bridesmaids held.

Leighanna sees Justin waiting for her.

A couple of my favorite moments from the ceremony. The light was a bit of a challenge for the ceremony. As you can see from the aisle walking in, the light is PERFECT. But then there’s a clearing and the sun beamed down directly on the bride and groom and nobody else. I felt like the sun was blessing them, and I loved that inent, but it made it quite difficult to shoot!

Okay this one totally cracks me up!! After we did the family portraits, it’s always advisable that the bride and groom get something to eat and drink. OYSTERS! And everyone is making sure that nothing spills on the gorgeous dress!

Such a secret garden locale…. beautiful.

And today I leave you with a very happy bride skipping along the road. Part three features images from the taro farm.

XOXO, Mariah