Tara and David's wedding has came and gone (booo!) but we finally get to share their beautiful day with you (yay!!) so that's the good news. This amazing couple got married at 7F Lodge in College Station. We've never shot a wedding there, but we were fans of the venue, so we were really excited when we first heard from Tara and David. First, we love College Station so any time we get the chance to go back to that town we do. Aside from that, Tara and David were a really cool couple that we hit it off with from the beginning.

It's easy to see that Tara and David "get it." And by "get it" I mean that they understand that personal details are so important when it comes to planning your wedding. Now don't get me wrong, I like "stuff" just as much as the next person, but I *reaaaaally* like "stuff" when it is personal to the couple. I'd been following Tara's wedding Pinterest board for months now, so I had a hunch that this wedding was going to have some spectacular personal details. As we arrived at 7F and saw everything being set up, I was so excited for Tara and David - this was truly going to be *their* day.

The first cool detail I saw was the favor table. Tara and David are coffee people... so they had a few of their favorite blends out, along with scoops and oh-so-adorable burlap bags for guests to fill and take as they left. What a cute idea!

Another one of their favors are the little takeaway cards with the blue heart on them. These are actual wildflowers! You just plant the heart in the ground and wildflowers will pop up when they are in season. We can't wait to see ours when they bloom!

Here's the glamourous Tara, along with her mom and sister finishing preparations for the day.

A helping hand from Grandma.

I know many photographers encourage a first look but Luke and I aren't partial either way. I believe each couple knows what's the best plan for them. Tara and David chose to do a first look (as did Luke and I, by the way) - which was great for them! I loved seeing how excited David was waiting to see his bride, and then how overcome with emotion he was as he turned around. It's a special moment to be shared with each other.

One of the big perks of a first look is definitely the portrait time. Tara and David took lots of portraits before the wedding. Photographers dream couple!

7F Lodge has soooo many fun nooks and crannies, so we loved walking around with Tara and David and seeing what we could find. This was actually their cabin for the night of the wedding. How cute!

Another amazing personal detail! David and his father made this box to use during their wedding ceremony. It's such a cool idea! Tara and David each wrote love letters to one another and put them in the box, then sealed it up during the ceremony. According to the instructions that the pastor said, they are to only open it up on their 10 year anniversary, or if they're going through a rough time. I'm fascinated by this!

This adorable chapel is where they said I do!

And they are married! After a few portraits, we all walked over to the reception to get the party started!

These folks knew how to cut loose and have a good time!

One of the highlights of the night was when Gangnam Style came on. The entire wedding party knew the dance and got out there and made it look easy. Can I be your friends forever?

Tara and David - thank you for letting us be a part of your day. We are so glad to have met you and become friends during this time! Thank you for letting us in your inner circle, expanding our Harry Potter knowledge, being our Instagram buddies... and the list goes on and on. I can't wait to see where life takes you both.

To sign their guest book and see the rest of their wedding day photos, click here.

I'm obsessed with the cooler weather. There, I said it. Every evening when I walk outside and sit on the deck while the dogs play in the yard, I feel that cool, crisp, just-askin'-for-a-hoodie weather and just think... wow... what a blessing. And as if I couldn't be more obsessed with the weather, I am even more excited when we get a gorgeous sunset to go with it. Most people are sunset fans anyway, but it sure is nice to watch one here in Texas without breaking a sweat. Even if I weren't a photographer, I would still be in love with these gorgeous Texas fall sunsets.

But since I am a photographer, I'm even more in love. And I was especially excited when we got a beautiful day for Kassi and Ian's engagements. You see, Kassi and Ian drove here for their engagement session all the way from Missouri. So, outside of the 2-3 day forecast that was available on the day they needed to leave home to drive, from that point, rescheduling due to the weather just wasn't an option for us. Thankfully, we ended up with one of the most beautiful days we've had in a while.

So as the day of their session arrived, we were excited to meet Ian. We've known Kassi for a while now but this was our first time to meet the guy who got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Secret Photog Confession: Sometimes if guys don't like having their picture taken, they can act like a bump on a log. Ian = not that guy. Ian smiled and laughed and had a good time, and in turn (most importantly) made sure Kassi smiled and laughed and had a good time. Score! I think the only way this good looking couple could look any better is if Ian grew a beard {inside joke.} Anyhoo, when I look back through these photos, all I can do is get even more excited about their Wyoming wedding next year.

I only get stamp 1 photo each blog post with "Cat's Favorite" but if I got 2, this would be it. Just over-sharing, here. Don't mind me.

Now lets talk about the sunset we got. Seriously.

One of our favorite parts of our 'job' is when we get to hang out with other photographers. The longer I am involved in this industry the bigger I feel our world is getting. By 'our world' I mean mine and Luke's world. And that's just the best way that I know how to describe it. The world of photographers is so big, and I'd venture to say no matter where you are located at, there's a photographer who could be a perfect fit for you. Just the other day, I had a Facebook friend (never actually met her in person) message me and ask if we were ever coming to West Virginia. While the answer was, "No, not in the immediate future" (booo) I did have a wonderful photographer that I could refer her to that I knew who was almost in her backyard.

Add another photographer to my list now who I'd be happy to refer, if anyone is around either Wyoming or Missouri. Kassi is originally a livestock photographer. For my non-agriculture related friends, YES there is an actual profession for that. And it ain't easy, either. A lot of people view wedding photography as a tough genre just because of the different situations you can get into (dark churches, rainy outdoor weddings, etc.) while the show must go on. Imagine photographing a moving 1500 pound animal who may or may not like you being there in the first place, in lighting situations you might not have control over, and having to 'pose' an animal who you can't easily communicate with! Posing a couple doesn't sound that hard, now does it? :) So... I came into this mentorship with a tremendous amount of respect for Kassi.

So Kassi has relocated her business from Wyoming (yee-haw) to Missouri and is building a senior-focused business. I love that! Being a specialist is the way to go, and Kassi has a real knack for working with seniors. She already had an awesome senior portfolio, so we knew this was going to be a great mentorship. Kassi has a really sweet personality and is easy to be around - we had a great time with her. We spent most of the day pouring over her business and talking through where she is now and where she wants to go, and then in the afternoon we had our trusty model for the day, Abby, all dolled up and ready to help us teach Kassi how we shoot our photos.

Here at the beginning of the shoot Luke is showing Kassi how we use a custom white balance to make sure we get our photos as close to perfect straight out of the camera, because Photoshop = time waster! Can I get an amen?

Here Luke was changing a few of the custom function settings on Kassi's camera to help her get the images she is wanting!

Plenty of laughs were had, of course. You know us.

One of the specific things that Kassi wanted to know about as far as how we shoot is how we shoot our photos that have a sun-flare. These are our favorite images of any shoot and we may or may not be a little pouty if it is cloudy and we don't get a sunset.

We did take a few photos of Abby ourselves that evening while we were teaching, and here's the results!

Like I said earlier, we believe Photoshop is a time waster and therefore shoot our photos so they are ready to go as soon as we download them off our cards. From downloading cards, importing into Lightroom for minor tweaks (mainly just bumping up the color just a little bit), to uploading to our blog, the only thing we had to do in Photoshop was run our little blog action that puts our logo on the picture. In the words of our preacher friend, "Shazam!"

Here's what Kassi had to say about her mentorship experience with us:

"After making a good name for myself as a livestock photographer, I found my creativity being stifled and, for me, the answer was to start focusing more on "people" pictures, specifically targeting seniors. I've been watching Luke & Cat's work since they started and it was a no-brainer for me to partner with them on a mentorship session. Even though I don't have plans to be a wedding photog, Luke and Cat are business savvy photographers and helped get me on the right track to expand my business into a new market. It was a day filled with laughs, planning & questions, and I couldn't be happier with my experience!"

Did we mention Kassi is also a Luke and Cat bride!? We can't wait for her wedding in Wyoming next summer, and keep an eye out here for her engagement blog post coming up.