Sarah & Jack | Il Mercato, New Orleans, Louisiana

After booking over a skype phone call with Sarah & Jack,  I knew we would get along, and I had such a fun time with them when they came to New Orleans to look at venues. We looked at multiple places, and nothing was just right for them, until Sarah and Jack saw Il Mercato and fell in love. I’m so happy they ended up booking it for their venue because it turned out to be a perfect fit!

Sarah & Jack were married on a perfect March day. I was obsessed with her dress and hair, she looked like a beautiful ballerina. The florals by Pistil & Stamen really blew me away. Sarah had contemplated doing her own flowers for a long time, and I was very happy when she made the decision to go with Pistil & Stamen. The color palette was so rich and looked beautiful at the venue.

From the beginning, Sarah had an idea of doing a seated dinner with long tables. I loved how it all came together—the linens, tableware, and floral garlands. We don’t do a ton of seated dinners in New Orleans, so I’m always excited to do one—a full table setting looks so elegant compared to our usual cocktail style tables dressed with only a centerpiece.

This crowd was so much fun and dancing all night long! I think these are my favorite secondline photos from any wedding I’ve done, Catherine Masters does an amazing job of capturing emotion. Congratulations to Sarah & Jack!

Vendor Credits

Planning, Design, and Styling | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Lens of Ren

Prep Location | Air BnB

Ceremony Venue | Il Mercato

Officiant | Friend of Couple

Reception Venue | Il Mercato

Florist | Pistil & Stamen

Ceremony Music | Harry Hardin

Band | TNT

Transportation Companies | First Student Charter

Hair & Makeup | Glam Nola

Secondline Band | Kinfolk Brass Band

Michelle & Adam | The Audubon Tea Room, New Orleans, Louisiana

Michelle & Adam were married in an early March wedding ceremony at the Sea Lion Exhibit in Audubon Park, followed by a reception at the Audubon Tea Room. Throughout the planning process, I got to know Michelle and her mom Denise really well, and they are one of my favorite mother-daughter duos! Denise was so excited about every little detail, but always deferred to Michelle on what she wanted. After this wedding was over and all the constant planning, I really missed these two!  

Michelle & Adam are one of those couples that I could tell right away are perfect for each other. You can tell they are best friends, and seem have a great time together!

During the wedding ceremony, a peacock flew up into one of the live oaks around the Sea Lion Exhibit and decided to start making some noise! Despite our best efforts, we can’t plan out everything!  After the ceremony, Papa C & the Slammin’ Horns secondlined all the guests to the Tea Room for the reception. The Tea Room looked elegant with a gray color palette, and florals by Nola Flora, which were very natural in just whites and greens.

At the end of the reception, guests sent them off with a rose petal exit. Congratulations to Adam & Michelle!

Vendor Credits

Planning, Design, and Styling | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Eau Claire Photographics  

Prep Location | Hotel Monteleone

Ceremony Venue | The Sea Lion Exhibit, Audubon Park

Officiant | Reverend Robert Patin

Ceremony Music | Fine Arts Ensemble

Reception Venue | The Audubon Tea Room

Videography | RZ Productions

Invitations | Invitations by Fergie

Florist | Nola Flora

Lighting | Firefly Ambiance

Cake | Bittersweet Confections

Band | Papa C & The Slammin’ Horns

Linen & Other Rentals | Event Rental

Transportation Companies | Bonomolo Limos, Big Easy Limos

Hair & Makeup | Erin Richard (Hair) & Lynna Vo (Makeup)

Happy Birthday Marion & Minor!

The twins are one! To celebrate their birthday, I’m sharing their newborn session with Lauren Carroll Photography, taken almost a year ago when they were around three weeks old. I don’t know how it feels like the year has gone by so fast, but at the same time it feels like they have been here forever. I can’t remember what it was like before these two arrived, and it’s hard to remember them being this small!

I can’t look at these without crying, and it’s too hard to put the last year into words, so I’ll just leave these pictures here. Tomorrow we celebrate their birthday with all of our family, and I’ll have a whole new set of pictures to share!

This is no longer styled with plants and vases. It's covered with a ridiculous amount of video monitors and a random assortment of bibs! 

The rug underneath the dining room table is gone to allow for little babies in walkers to chase each other around the table! They have almost outgrown their walkers now, Minor started taking a few steps this week. 

I had to take the lamp out of the room this past week because Minor wouldn't quit climbing on it and pulling on the cord. 

Marion slept through the whole session, and Minor's eyes were wide open, the same way he has been since the moment he was born. 

The cribs that have never been slept in, ha. 

Marion used to cover her face with her hands all the time, she was laying that way in my stomach too. We could never get a good ultrasound picture of her face. 

This was my dress when I was a baby. 

This was my brother's outfit. 

Alexa & Ryan | The Jaxson, New Orleans, Louisiana

Alexa and Ryan were married in early December, with a ceremony at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, and the reception following at The Jaxson.  These two are the cutest, I loved the way they looked at each other, and how sweet Ryan is to Alexa. And, they are both doctors!

There were a lot of logistics to work out for this wedding. Guests were staying in the French Quarter, and their wedding ceremony was in Lakeview. There was a Christmas parade going on in the Quarter that blocked in the Sheraton Hotel, where the bride was staying, for part of the day. In addition to getting all the guests to Lakeview, we also needed to get the large bridal party to City Park for pre-ceremony photos. With a little extra planning, all the transfers happened smoothly! I’m always excited when we make time in the wedding day to take photographs in City Park; they always turn out so well!

Alexa wanted a lavender color palette, and I loved the color of her bridesmaids’ dresses-kind of a smoky lavendar-gray. The bouquets by Leaf + Petal were perfect, and the pale lavender and dark smoky silvers worked beautifully at The Jaxson.

This group was ready to party. Swarma Entertainment was such a fun DJ! Kinfolk Brass Band kept the party going with a secondline at the end of the reception, which took guests out into the French Quarter. Congratulations to Alexa & Ryan!

Vendor Credits

Planning, Design, and Styling | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Eau Claire Photographics  

Prep Location | The Sheraton Hotel New Orleans

Ceremony Venue | Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Reception Venue | The Jaxson

Videography | OLP Videography

Florist & Candles | Leaf + Petal Nola

Cake | Swiss Cakes

Cocktail Music | Dr. Jazz

DJ | Sawma Entertainment

Linen & Other Rentals | Event Rental

Transportation Companies | Louisiana Coaches & American Luxury Limo

Hair & Makeup | Glam Nola

Secondline Band | Kinfolk Brass Band

Susannah & Karl | The Audubon Tea Room, New Orleans, Louisiana

Susannah & Karl were married in an early Spring wedding at Rayne Methodist, with a reception following at The Audubon Tea Room. These two are world travelers, and have lived in multiple locations, so they had guests coming from Australia, where Karl is from, and London, New York, and San Francisco, where they make their current home. 

Susannah was a very laid back bride, and knew the real focus was on marrying Karl. Because she lives in San Francisco, and her mom, Missy, lives in Baton Rouge, Missy and I did a lot of the groundwork.  Susannah was very go with the flow, and I loved how she didn’t get too caught up in the details, and was just really excited about getting married!

There was rain on and off on Susannah and Karl's wedding day. We had a ton of décor planned for the back courtyard at the Tearoom, and I was watching the weather trying to decide what we would do about the rain plan. A tent went up, of course, but we also had lights in the trees and dozens of luminaries to put out on the lawn. The safe option was to place them under the tent and under the Tearoom overhang, so they were still outside, but covered from the weather. Susannah’s dad, Jonathan, made the final decision for us to the put the lights out on the lawn. The rain stopped and cleared, so I’m so glad we went with our Plan A. 

This reception was a blast. The band kept everyone, including the bride and groom, on the dance floor the whole time. All their guests came to party and celebrate, and I don’t think anyone left early! Congratulations Susannah & Karl!

Vendor Credits

Planning, Design, & Styling | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Brocato Photography

Bridal Prep | The Windsor Court Hotel

Ceremony Location | Rayne Methodist

Reception Location } Audubon Tea Room

Bridal Transportation | Limousine Livery

Guest Transportation | Hotard

Florist | Poppy & Mint

Lighting | Luminous Events

Other Rentals | Event Rental

Reception Band | The Atlanta Showstoppers

Hair & Makeup | Verde Beauty Studio

Cake | Melissa’s Fine Pastries

Other Desserts | Gambinos

Church Music | Harry Hardin

Invitations & Paperie | The Little Blue Chair