Tony + Jessie: Pre Wedding Portraits | Austin Wedding Photographer | Texas State Capitol

I'm so happy to finally be blogging this sweet couple and their pre-wedding portraits! Funny story, this session had some fun surprises as I had no idea Tony and Jessie would be in full wedding garb haha. Jessie first contacted me on instagram earlier this year about doing portraits for her and her fiance as they'd be visiting Austin from Houston. I just assumed it would be your average engagement session so we set up the date, time, locations and then waited for the day. Before the session started I was waiting for them at the bottom of the elevators at the Capitol's visitors parking garage and was totally surprised to see them come out in a wedding dress and tuxedo. I was a little worried that I missed an email haha. But right after that shock came a wave of excitement to get do some beautiful wedding attire portraits with no constricting timeline (It's pretty much every wedding photographers dream). After chatting, I found out that Jessie and Tony are both originally from Vietnam and are getting married later this year back home. They were telling me that a traditional wedding for them didn't have a large block of time for wedding portraits like I'm used to, so they get their portraits done ahead of time and use them as decoration at the reception. How awesome is that? Like I said before, unrestricted wedding portrait time is the dream. Doing pre wedding portraits (or post wedding) ensures you'll get the wedding couple images you want really want. You can pick any location and just focus on each other instead of every other thing you think of on your wedding day. It may not work for everyone, but I think it's a lovely idea to take some stress from your big day!

I adored getting to take images like this for Jessie and Tony! Jessie looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress and Tony gave her the most loving looks at every turn. It was so much fun to spend the afternoon with them, capturing their love around some famous Austin sites. We started out at the the Texas State Capitol in celebration of their life together in the great state of Texas. Then we moved to the Zilker Botanical Gardens for a more whimsical nature look. It was so much fun to have such variety for their pictures. Even though I won't be shooting their actual wedding, I'm so honored to have played a part in their love story. They are one of the sweetest couples ever and I'm so excited for them to be husband and wife! Thank you again Jessie and Tony for trusting me with your pre wedding portraits <3 Can't wait for our lunch date next time you visit Austin or I visit Houston!

Keep scrolling to see some of my favorite images from their session at the Texas State Capitol and Zilker Botanical Gardens: