Lonestar Mansion Texas Wedding. Audrey + Chad
I actually can’t wait for you to see this one. XOXO - Miles.
Weddings in Dallas are just different. I don’t really know how else to say it. The DFW area has this remarkably developed wedding industry that is just as refined as it is hard to break into. They like it like that and to be honest, I don’t blame them. There’s this sprawling city in the middle of the biggest state in the continental US and weddings are big business. What has always sort of surprised me though is how approachable the weddings and the vendors in that area can be. I’ve had my fair share of odd encounters. Just last week at a wedding in New York I had a vendor laugh and ask where I was really from when I said Arkansas. The truth is I suppose that Arkansas doesn’t seem like the most logical spot for a traveling photographer to call home and yet - here I am. Sitting all cozy in my home office looking over photo after photo from all over the country with a smile on my face because I get to call this home. I digress.
Audrey and Chad called me to be a part of this wedding ages ago. She had heard about me from Cameron and Sam Best’s wedding at the McKinney Cotton Mill years and years ago and these two were absolutely the sweetest right off of the bat. I had never heard of the Lonestar Mansion and to be honest didn’t know where Burleson, Texas was but I would have followed these two to a cardboard box in a back ally to see them get married. Their joy is just beautiful and the way they magnetize to each other made my job holding the camera almost too easy.
Anybody that has followed along with me for long knows that I’m a huge believer in just shooting the wedding in front of me. Not chasing “style” or “look” over authenticity has opened some really cool doors for me. I didn’t shoot the Ocean House in Westerly, Rhode Island “dark and moody”, I didn’t shoot the sunset ceremony in California’s wine country “light and airy” and I didn’t walk into this amazing old home tucked away somewhere between Dallas and a million miles of nothing with a huge plan in mind. I just wanted to see the light, the architecture, and most importantly Audrey and Chad and let the images tell their own story as I took them.
What came together surprised me. Two of the most beautiful clients I’ve ever worked with, both of them successful and stylish and elegant juxtaposed against this beautiful old home with it’s gorgeous lines and quirky imperfections and a small army of happy friends and family who were just excited to celebrate and have a few drinks together. The band was flawless, the planner lovely, the venue light amazing and with the exception of trying to roll my camera bag through the gravel parking lot at midnight there wasn’t a hiccup. (I’d call that a pretty big win to be honest)
It was the last wedding I would photograph in 2022, now the first I’ll blog about in 2023. I have plenty of other stories to tell. Merritt and Brady at Osage House, Lauren and Dolf on the edge of White Rock Mountain, Aubrey and Harrison’s incredible rock quarry engagement session but this one felt right. Audrey wrote the most beautiful and articulate review for me on the Knot just after her wedding and though I’ve absolutely never done this before I’m going to share it below not because it brags on me, but because it so perfectly sums up who she was as a client. Kind, generous, lovely to be around. I get asked a lot these days in our training programs and small groups how I attract my “key clientele” and my answer could easily be something like this.
As a photographer when a bride like Audrey and a groom like Chad calls the world doesn’t need to stop, but it should slow way down. These are two people who’s love for each other is valuable, beautiful, good. All weddings deserve photos, all couples deserve these moments but this couple was the perfect fit for me as a creative. I never wanted them to feel for a second like there was anything or anybody else on my mind, just their wedding, their day, their photos and what came out of that was work that I’m so proud of but more importantly friendships with two beautiful people and two amazing families. I hope sincerely that I get the chance to hang out with them at a few of their friend’s weddings soon!
Unbelievably amazing. Miles was 100/10 the best person we worked with for our wedding.
1. He was easy. When I say easy I mean process, attitude, outlook, and our experience. We ran into zero bumps in the road unlike other vendors we worked with, and Miles’ easygoing attitude and process made me feel like at least one bow was fully tied and secured despite the chaos of planning a wedding. Also, his general booking process was intimate, personal, and felt specifically tailored and as if he would remember us. Small details we mentioned in meetings way back were remembered, and it was little things like that where we knew Miles was going to be amazing not just as a wedding photographer, but as a person. For us, it felt like Miles treated us as people vs a job that needed to be done, which is how we felt with other vendors we worked with.
2. Nothing was gimicky. Though we have not received our photos yet, our experience in taking photos was not staged, cheesy, or cringe feeling at all. Everything felt natural and simple. From the images we have received, it’s crazy how this simplicity has created images that look so magical and editorial. Any cues were general, and really, Miles was there to capture US. He was quite the opposite from a wedding photographer checking boxes for cookie cutter images that are a dime a dozen. Miles created from who we are, and for that, we will forever be appreciative.
3. Overall as a person, Miles is someone my husband and I wish was our actual friend, is someone we admire for his mixture of professionalism and fun, and his added experience to our wedding day was honestly amazing. We know we had crazy guests, a crazy venue, and who knows what else left an impression on him, but the impression he made on us was truly special. I am so glad that he basically joined in on the fun and was right there with us the whole time. We could not recommend anyone more than Magic, Miracle Miles to capture your special day, it will well be worth it.
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