Sister

One of my little sister's got married this past July to a wonderful man. I was her Matron-of Honor and enjoyed every single minute of it. It amazes me how much hard work and planning are put into every little detail of a wedding and how it all miraculously falls into place for ONE ah-mazing day. There were major bumps in the road on her wedding day but nonetheless it was beautiful. I kept reminding her not to worry about all the problems that arose and just enjoy the celebration of love between her and her husband. My sister is such a perfectionist, so it was hard for her to let go.
While shooting their wedding photos with the talented, Cristina Navarro, it was joyous to see my sister finally just enjoy the moment. The locations she had originally picked out for their photos didn't work out but where we ended up shooting was magical and perfect. We were supposed to shoot in a private property in the upper valley but we were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes, so we made our way downtown. When we arrived downtown it became horribly windy and rain clouds began to move in but the newlyweds "worked it." Alfresco! Fridays just happened to be going on at the same time we were taking photos and Mariachi's were performing. I decided to surprise the newlyweds by asking the Mariachi's to dedicate a song to them and at that moment they had their first dance in the middle of the Arts Festival Plaza in front of hundreds of people. As they were finishing their dance rain started to pour down and then a beautiful rainbow appeared. We will always remember how bittersweet that moment was and laugh about the circumstances. Everything was put into perspective and we realized that these are the moments we need to cherish because that is what life is all about.
Photographer: Cristina Navarro
Cinematographer: August {meets} December
Dress: Ella Blu
Flowers: Fiori
Makeup: Jessica Avila

Kathy and Charlie - July 23, 2010 from August {meets} December on Vimeo.

Boudoir

Ohhh Laaa laaa!!! Ok ladies, I have found the perfect gift for my brides to give to their husbands-to-be. A very sexy, gorgeous and unforgettable photo album or prints of your beautiful selves in your lingerie! Believe me you will have plenty of lingerie to model in your "boudoir" photo shoot after you get all your gifts from your bachelorette parties. A local photographer, Ivona, has awesome "boudoir" photography skills. Below, I have put together a few of my fav's from Ivona's blog. These photos are so classy and ooze sexiness. I can't imagine your hubby-to-be not loving this gift.

Hybrid Nails

On one of my many trips to the salon to get a mani/pedi, I decided to get Shellac done to my nails. Shellac is a hybrid gel/polish and leaves a gorgeous, flawless, shiny manicure. Some benefits to having a Shellac manicure done is that it dries instantly under a UV lamp for a few seconds; and it lasts up to two weeks. I have received plenty of compliments on my nails and people even think I have fake nails on. In my profession I am constantly washing my hands and my Shellac manicure has lasted 2 weeks and looks fabulous. I would definitely recommend for brides and bridesmaids to consider this manicure for the big day. You can find many local salons that offer Shellac manicures, the only downfall is there aren't tons of colors to choose from. 

Diamond-Inspired Bridal Shower

Jasmine Star is my favorite national photographer. Her images and blog posts just brighten my day and rock my creative world! Her twin sister got married this past year and I remembered a blog post she had about her sister's Diamond-inspired bridal shower. The images she captured of all the details of the shower are so inspiring, so I made an inspiration board from her photos. Hopefully, it will help some bridesmaids get started on planning their bride's bridal shower or bachelorette party. This bridal shower was considered so inspirational it was published in Inside Wedding Magazine. Awesome. The photos at the bottom left of the inspiration board show "love" notes that the brides guests placed in a calender box so that on the month of the brides wedding she could open an inspirational note everyday until the day of her wedding. The photos on the bottom right of the inspiration board show a customized body scrub station for the brides guests to make their own bath scrub by adding their prefered scent. I love the creative details and elegance of this bridal shower.

FriENDI Engagement

So my best friend is getting married this year. Unfortunately, she lives out of town and I am bummed that I can't be by her side during the whole wedding planning process. I miss her so much. She had a recent engagement session done by Lewchan Photography and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you all. Our friendship began our freshman year in college and I remember the first thing I told her was "Has anybody ever told you that you look like Salma Hayek" Awww sweet memories. Love ya End.

Boda

My cousin is getting married this year and has asked me to find some Mexican-themed wedding inspiration. I made two inspiration boards with two different approaches.
The first board is more fun and vibrant! I LOVE the cake and Loteria centerpieces!




The second board is more formal and elegant:



I like both of them but my personal favorite is the second board. I just noticed the boards didn't have any pictures of Mariachis. Brides, don't forget a wedding isn't considered a Mexican wedding if there aren't any Mariachis! haha

EP Engagement Session by Kristen Swanson

I LOVE this recent engagement session that the talented, Kristen Swanson, photographed and I had to share it with you all. Love the different looks the couple went for and Kristen captured. They have the urban look and somehow captured the beach look, luckily the river bank was dry. This doesn't even look like it was shot in El Paso. Great job Kristen! Congrats to the engaged couple! To see the rest of this engagement session visit www.kristen-swanson.com

Ombre Trend

In fashion terminology Ombre is a color effect in the fabric which graduates from light to dark. This has become a popular trend with hair styles, fashion and now weddings. Below is a board with some Ombre wedding inspiration.

Breathtaking

I came across this photo while blog-stalking my fav photography and cinematography group, Stillmotion. I just wanted to share it with you because it took my breath away. It's like the gates of heaven opened up for a quick second to shower God's love on this newlywed couple. All you can do is *smile. Happy Thursday Peeps.

Frida Kahlo Inspiration

My best friend, Endi, is getting married this year. I thought I would help her out with some inspiration. She adores Frida Kahlo. I thought it would be awesome if she drew some inspiration for her wedding from her favorite artist. The color scheme is beautiful....so many colors to choose from. I hope this helps you End....Love ya.

Black Swan Inspiration

The Oscars are right around the corner, so I thought it would be perfect to create an inspiration board inspired by Black Swan. Brides can either decide to have the White Swan or Black Swan look. It would also be interesting if you decide to be the White Swan by day then transform into the Black Swan by night. That sounds like it would be fun. The movie is so original, beautiful and disturbing simultaneously.

Best Photographers in EP

In my opinion these photographers are the BEST El Paso has to offer. Visit their websites and blogs to see their beautiful work. They will definitely capture the moments you will cherish forever.

Cristina Navarro 

 

Kristen Swanson

Dan Dalstra

Cristina Navarro and August Meets December

Just wanted to share one of my favorite wedding "mini-movies" from 2010 that August Meets December created in collaboration with Cristina Navarro. August Meets December creates one-of-a-kind wedding highlight "mini-movies" and works exclusively with Cristina Navarro.  Watching this video brings butterflies to my stomach and tears to my eyes every time. Enjoy.



Shannon and Austin - September 25, 2010 from Joe Centeno on Vimeo.

DIY Family Tree/Guest Book

I am a blog stalker when it comes to photographer's blogs. I heart photography. While browsing through Sara Rhoads blog, I came across this photo that inspired me to show my very neglected blog some AMOR. It is a photo of a family tree made up of your family members finger prints. How awesome is that? Freakin' awesome and so different than the average "guest book."

Love in Motion

I am so ELATED to share a unique video that a local photographer, Cristina Navarro, has posted on her blog. She is going to begin to offer video services packaged with her awesome photography. I LOVE this video because it looks so candid....no posing, no acting, just REAL RAW LOVE!!!! I can feel Robby and Rocio's love for each other seep through the video and cause me to have butterflies in my tummy :0) It makes me want to get married with my hubbs all over again. This is exactly the type of video I would have wanted for our wedding. Short, Dramatic and Sweet. Tell me what you think. Enjoy!!!!!

Rocio and Robby - June 26, 2010 from Joe Centeno on Vimeo.

Gypsy Bride

I am so happy to share the work of a very talented local artist, Luciana Cazares. Luciana is the owner of Gypsy in Stilettos. Gypsy in Stilettos is a place where you can purchase redesigned and re-purposed furniture and accessories. As Luciana states on her blog, "Design is an opportunity to tell a story." On the blog you will find beautiful bridal accessories such as bouquets, jewelry and hair accessories. All of these items can be purchased in Gypsy in Stilettos Etsy shop. True Love Nation is going to share some of their favorite Bridal pieces. Photos courtesy of Omar Mena Video and Photography.

Romantic Whimsical: DIY Wedding Invitation

My sister is getting married in July so we have been preparing for her big day. One of the big projects we worked very hard on was making her wedding invites. Thanks to her wedding planner, Arlene Carrion, us bridesmaids just had to put the finishing touches on the invitations. It was a lot of hard work but tons of fun. This project also allowed the bridal party to have some quality time. We are very happy with the final results. They look beautiful. LOVE the butterflies, they add that whimsical detail we wanted.
Brides and Grooms, designing and making your own invitations can be a good way to save some money. A benefit to DIY wedding invitations is that you can make them unique and personalized to you all as a couple.

Romantic Meadow

In many of the books I have recently been reading there is a meadow that the couple escapes to in order to be alone. They secretly meet in a meadow, THEIR meadow, to profess their love for each other.  All this romantic meadow canoodling made me very ambitious to find an El Paso meadow.  This weekend I went to see the beautiful blooming poppies on the Northeast side of Transmountain and fell in love with a mountain meadow. I thought this would be a prefect place for a bride and groom that are getting married this spring to take the opportunity to have photos taken while the poppies are in bloom. It is only once a year and for a limited amount of time that the poppies are in full bloom and cover our beautiful mountains with a soft blanket of yellow. Even when the poppies aren't in bloom anymore this area is still a beautiful place to have wedding photos taken. I encourage all El Paso brides and grooms to go escape in a world of romance in this gorgeous mountainside meadow and allow your photographer to capture it.

Mexican Wedding Traditions

The lasso and the arras are important symbolically in a traditional Mexican wedding ceremony. The lasso is typically a large rosary that is placed around the bride and groom's neck and signifies their never-ending union. According to my grandfather, he says that the lasso is placed so the groom can't escape. haha.  The arras are 13 gold coins that symbolize the couple's wealth and also Christ and his 12 apostles.  Both the lasso and the arras are blessed by the priest during the wedding ceremony. A lot of modern Hispanic brides and grooms opt to incorporate these traditional aspects into their weddings.

Wax or Thread

 

I personally have always had my eyebrows waxed but this weekend decided to try eyebrow threading. I loved it and will never go back to waxing. My skin is very sensitive to the wax and sometimes I would end up with minimal burns. Eyebrow threading is considered an art and doesn't use wax or chemicals, instead it uses cotton thread and a special technique to remove hair. Read more about eyebrow threading on http://www.perfectbrowthreading.com/

 

 I would definitely recommend eyebrow threading to brides, grooms, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Full facial hair removal can also be performed with the threading technique. You could get it done the week of or even the day before the wedding without worries of burns or skin irritation.