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I have a major crush you guys… and its on this wedding!!  I know we don’t play favorites here, but….  you know, off the record and all, this miiiiight be in my top tops, just sayin!  Starting with the couple’s {Amber Smith & Charles McGaw} love story which crescendo’s around their love of music & engagement at THE live music festivals of festivals, SXSW, to finding THE most amazing lil boutique hotel to call their own with their closets family & friends.  If that weren’t enough, I adore this couple’s style & swag and it clearly comes out in spades on their day in both personal style as well as decor touches, even the their invitations which center around music in the form of records, yes records! with custom labels containing wedding info and so on!  Genius!  What puts me over the top about this wedding however is the incredibly beautiful & artful stylings of the imagery shoot by the wondrous Suzuran Photography.  Not only are the finishings on the ‘normal’ photographs lovely, but ah…. hello!, Polaroid amazingness at play here, & ya’ll know how much I love a good Polaroid!  Yet again another absolutely beautiful example of how an intimate wedding can be equally as gorgeous as their big budget tons of guests counter parts.  Love love love!!!

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A Word From Suzuran Photography

I can honestly say that every wedding we photograph offers up a unique beauty, whether it be through fingerprint-rare narratives, family and friend dynamics, or the surprising little moments that no one expects but end up being cherished, like a bookmark in the pages of memory.

Amber and Chuck’s wedding was brimming with all of these varied elements, to be sure, but also provided us with a very special opportunity to stretch our creative muscles. Chuck and Amber’s Austin wedding at The Hotel Saint Cecilia was SUPER DUPER teensy. All the guests were seated in the few armchairs you see in the photographs. The intimacy of the day paired with the choice to go sans bridal party gave us the opportunity to spend TONS of time with the bride and groom, who happen to be nearly carbon copies of Dan and I! Amber and Chuck have a love and admiration for the vintage and the analogue, whether it be music, tchochkes, or film. When Amber expressed her desire to introduce Polaroids into the mix, we jumped at the chance. It’s not difficult to take the occasional instant photo at a typically busy wedding, but on this day we were able to document aspects of the whole day, which was absolutely marvelous. One of my very favorite parts of the day was after dinner, when we spread out all of the photographs onto a table and pointed out what we liked about each one; the slight painterly blur of one portrait, the unexpected color of another. It was really special to us – don’t think we didn’t leave giddy!

Special thanks to The Impossible Project for keeping this cherished medium alive and for challenging the creative spirit in all of us, and to Scott Meivogel of Aperture Photography & Variety Store for stoking Cleveland’s analogue fire and for the incredibly useful tips regarding the beautiful (and potentially costly) idiosyncrasies of Impossible Project films!

Novella of the Bride…

After getting engaged during SXSW and staying at Hotel Saint Cecilia during Fun Fun Fun Fest, we knew we wanted to exchange our vows in the live music capital. Austin is such a special city that holds many of our fondest memories of one another and our love of music. We wanted to share our favorite city with our family as we became husband and wife.

Our love of all things vintage was our muse. We used 100 year old love postcards gifted from my mom and a stamp for our save the dates. Hand selected 45 vintage  records were sent as our invitations. Jakprints designed a record label for us that provided our guests with the details of our wedding. The design was based on the Soulville Records label. Antique sheet music accompanied the invitations.
Furbish Vintage Rentals provided the upholstered armchairs for seating. The ceremony took place under a large tree on the stunning grounds of Hotel Saint Cecilia. Terra Vista Strings played a unique set of music including Neutral Milk Hotel and Sigur Ros.

The reception took place in the 150 year old Sunday House at Moonshine. Self collected and curated antique china, lace tablecloths and handkerchiefs were used for the reception dinner. The handwritten place cards were also made from antique love post cards and sat atop the mismatched china. We opted for a cherry pie as our “wedding cake” and used vintage owl figurines as our “cake toppers”.

Vendor Love

Venue: Hotel Saint Cecilia | Wedding Dress: Dolly Couture | Shoes: Vivienne Westwood | Jewelry: Twigs & Honey | Floral Designer: Petals, ink. | Musicians: Terra Vista Strings | Invitation Designer: Jakprints | Caterer: Moonshine Grill | Cake Designer: Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop | Equipment Rentals: Furbish Vintage Rentals | Officiant: Pamela Legate | Photographer: Suzuran Photography