Wayyyyy back in the fall of 2005, when I was still occasionally shooting on this awful thing called “35mm film” and we all thought that MySpace was the most amazing thing since the Pontiac Aztek, I photographed my very first wedding as a lead photographer, and I was lucky enough to have Villa Antonia as my backdrop. As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Villa Antonia has changed plenty over the years, but unlike Myspace it’s just gotten better, and without the help of any glitter bling. When you add in a bride and groom that look as amazing as Julia and Brance did on their big day, well, it’s almost as if all of the hard work was taken care of for me…except for hauling around those giant equipment cases, of course.

Austin Wedding Photography – Los Angeles Wedding Photography – www.jakeholt.com

So, what do you do when the forecast shows rain for your entire wedding day – and the forecast ends up being correct? Well, it always pays to have a good rain plan, and possibly the best rain plan imaginable is to have gigantic floor-to-ceiling windows allowing for a fabulous view of storm clouds blowing through downtown Chicago and into Millennium Park. Part two of that ideal plan is to have the entire modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago all to yourself, along with a huge covered patio, so that you can party the night away, dry as can be, with the beautiful lights of Chicago in clear view. Sunny days – who needs ‘em? I’ll happily trade this current 106 degree sunny Austin day for a monster rainstorm. Please, please allow me to trade for a monster rainstorm.

All of these images are now available for ordering at www.jakeholt.instaproofs.com - hundreds more to come soon!

Austin Wedding Photographer – Los Angeles Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com

Dread Pirate Roberts & Princess Buttercup cake-toppers. Dread Pirate Roberts & Princess Buttercup cake-toppers. Do you hear what I’m saying? DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS & PRINCESS BUTTERCUP CAKE-TOPPERS! Legendary. Add to that a choreographed Thriller dance, yellow flip-flops and an exit on bicycles with Hawaiian shirts and you can probably guess that Katie and Ben’s wedding was about as fun as they get. Did you see the cake-toppers?

All of these images are now available for ordering at www.jakeholt.instaproofs.com – hundreds more to come soon!

Austin Wedding Photographer – Los Angeles Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com

One of my favorite photos from Weneva & Mark’s April wedding at Becker Vineyards just won an award in the Creative Portrait category of the prestigious Wedding Photojournalist Association’s international photo contest! For those unfamiliar with the WPJA, it’s a merit-based organization comprised of some of the most talented wedding photographers in the world, so this award is quite an honor. If you take a look at some of the other winners, even just in the same category, you’ll see that they come from all over the world: Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, NYC, England, Brazil, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Paris, etc. Wow and wow. Honored. Thanks so much to Weneva, Mark, Becker Vineyards and the WPJA!

Austin Wedding Photographer – Los Angeles Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com

When I tried to describe how awesome these centerpieces were, it didn’t really do them justice. “Yeah, there were old books, and antique cameras…and succulents!” Only a photo truly does them justice. And how crazy cute is that ring bearer? I mean, I know that ring bearers and flower girls are there to be cute and they always do a really great job at it, but seriously, just look at that little guy!

All of these images are now available for ordering at www.jakeholt.instaproofs.com – hundreds more to come soon!

Austin Wedding Photographer – Los Angeles Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com

You get to know a few things about someone when the shuttle-bus from their hotel to their wedding ceremony runs 35+ minutes late and they have to drive themselves (and their wedding party and photographers, crammed into an SUV) across town with only minutes to spare. In this case, I learned that Kevin has an amazing ability to keep calm under extreme pressure and also has great respect for traffic laws and red lights, running only one in the process. But that light totally deserved it, as did many others. I would have run at least 3 of them, at least.

Austin Wedding Photography – Los Angeles Wedding Photography – www.jakeholt.com

There’s both an upside and a downside to spring weddings in the central Texas countryside. On the downside, there are a good number of, ummm, “little flying creatures” that seem to be very attracted to bright things such as my modeling lights, as well as anything that my lights are shining on, such as bright white dresses. On the upside, however, where else do you get to shoot portraits on a John Deere tractor and use a real-life pitchfork as a prop? I’ll happily deal with the bugs any day…

Austin Wedding Photography- Los Angeles Wedding Photography – www.jakeholt.com

Sometimes, a random passerby gives you an elegant balloon-flower bouquet. Sometimes, a 40 MPH gust of wind rips your photographer’s lighting umbrella to pieces in the middle of a shoot on a crowded sidewalk on South Congress Avenue. Sometimes, your wedding cake has the most amazing cake-toppers known to man. Sometimes, you just need to KEEP CALM AND EAT A CUPCAKE!

Austin Wedding Photographer – Los Angeles Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com

Karen’s nickname is “Monkey,” so I knew there would be SOMETHING monkey related going on…and while I was a bit disappointed to find that there wasn’t a pack of wild monkeys running free at the reception, the awesome monkey cupcakes were almost as amazing. Almost. Still, I hope to one day see a wild monkey walk down the aisle tossing flowers…

Austin Wedding Photographer – Los Angeles Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com

Jake Holt Photography was just awarded “Best Of The Knot” in the Austin Wedding Photography category by The Knot brides again for 2011, second year in a row, hoo-rah! Thanks so much to all of my awesome clients who have put up with and trusted in my silly ideas – this honor is so much more rewarding than some silly photo contest award. Ok, those are pretty good too, but still…this is way better. Soon, I’ll have a fancy-pants “Best Of The Knot 2011″ award graphic that I can upload all over the place to dazzle you all, but for now, this photo of my cat with pipe-cleaner antlers will have to do. Thank you Kasey.

Austin Wedding Photographer – New York, New York Wedding Photographer – www.jakeholt.com