Lauren’s thoughts…

When trying to find another wonderful bride for my “wedding thoughts” I could not resist asking Lauren… why… Because she is amazing and looking at her wedding images make me SMILE!!!! I actually still keep up with Lauren via FB and from her BLOG and it makes me soooo happy to know her and Ryan are doing great! It’s nice to read about her adventures in NY or Kentucky or even just hearing about her old traditions and the new ones she is making with Ryan. I think her thoughts below really express how she is in true life. THANKS, Vanessa

Ryan and I got engaged during our senior year of college after dating for five years.  We grew up in the same town and were high school sweethearts.  We actually went to two different colleges and realized that if we could make a long distance relationship work we could make a marriage work.  We originally thought we would get married in Houston where we grew up, but every venue we looked at just didn’t seem right.  They were all beautiful but nothing seemed to fit with what we wanted.  We had a recommendation to look at a venue out in the Hill Country.  We were a little skeptical at first but we ended up going out there and fell in love with idea of a mini destination wedding.   Not only would we get to celebrate this occasion with our family and friends for one day, but this way we would get a whole weekend!   The next big challenge was the fact that we lived in Houston and we were planning a wedding near Austin.  A good friend had given me advice to pick three things that are an absolute must for your wedding and let everything else fall into place.  That was easy for me; Location, Photography and Entertainment were at the top of my list.  I had found the perfect spot for a wedding and next I needed a photographer.  I found Vanessa through the Internet and fell in love with her style as soon as we met her.  We felt very at ease with her and I knew she would capture every moment, detail and smile throughout our day.  Next, I knew I needed good entertainment and we found an awesome band/DJ combo for the wedding, and I knew everyone would be on the dance floor all night.  We wanted everyone to have a good time and I think we pulled it off.  Now, even though I had my priorities set I still managed to stress over other minor details like flowers, the cake and even napkin ties.  Thankfully, I had an amazing mother who was extremely helpful in pulling all of the details together that weren’t as big of a deal to me.   All in all, my advice for other brides would be to focus on a few things that are an absolute must at your wedding and not to stress about the little things. It will all fall into place! Lauren