A few months have passed since my last update, and during that time, a lot has been going on here at Stacy Reeves Photography. In addition to packing up our lives and moving across the globe to France, we have also set up two amazing new businesses, and we’re thrilled to finally be able to share them with you.

The first is L’Amour de Paris, a blog resource for couples visiting Paris, France and the surrounding area. Through this blog we’ll provide hotel and restaurant recommendations, travel tips, information on must-see attractions and events, and helpful resources for couples planning proposals, elopements, weddings, and honeymoons in the City of Love. We’ll also be offering portrait and wedding photography services in Paris for those who want to capture their time in Paris through photos.

The second is Blushd Beauty & Boudoir, a portrait studio that is committed to providing beautiful portraits of women of all ages, colors, shapes, and sizes. Making women feel beautiful through photography has long been a passion of mine, and for years I have wanted to expand my boudoir business to a broader audience. Blushd is my way of opening my doors to all women who want the chance to feel like a supermodel, whether that’s in sexy lingerie in a hotel room, a beautiful ballgown in the streets of Paris, or a simple and classic beauty portrait.

Check out our new sites by clicking on the previews below. You can also LIKE us on Facebook here: L’Amour de Paris and Blushd Beauty & Boudoir

For those located in Dallas, don’t worry, we are not closing shop!  We will be returning regularly to photograph weddings and sessions in the DFW area, and we are continuing to book at our normal prices (no extra travel fees required!).

If you have any questions about these changes, or you’d like to know more about our new services, please contact us for more information!

This is quite possibly the worst kept secret ever, but for the past few months, my husband Jason and I have been quietly planning the biggest and most exciting decision of our lives.  It has been a long and crazy road,  but I am so thrilled to announce that as of December 12, 2012…

We are moving to Paris, France!

 
Living abroad has been a lifelong dream for both my husband and I. We’ve always longed to expose ourselves to other lifestyles, cultures, languages, and environments in more meaningful ways than just one or two week vacations. The world is a big and wonderful place, and for us personally, life is too short to spend it all in one place. We’re so excited about the opportunity to immerse ourselves in an environment completely different from what we’re used to, and even more excited about embarking on our first big adventure together as husband and wife.

So what does this mean for Stacy Reeves Photography?

All 2013 inquiries and clients were notified of our plans several months ago, before we opened up any dates for 2013. I can assure you that no brides or grooms for 2013 weddings had this news sprung on them after a contract was signed. We have been working with our clients to ensure that this transition will have the most minimal effect possible on their wedding photography experience.

For those of you in the US who are interested in our services, I am continuing to book weddings in the US and will be returning to Dallas many times in 2013 for weddings, portraits, and boudoir and beauty sessions. Pricing will continue as normal – weddings and portraits in the DFW area will not incur any additional travel fees (nor will weddings booked in Paris), but weddings in other locations will be billed accordingly for travel costs. For portraits, I will be scheduling weeks scattered throughout the year where I will be back in Dallas. If you are interested in portraits next year and would like to be notified when availability opens up, please contact us using the contact form on this website. We will also continue to book portraits through December 7th of this year.

Speaking of Jena, many of you know her as my second shooter and a regular fixture at all of our weddings, but in the wake of this news, we have now brought her on as Studio Manager to handle all client relations. She will be here to meet for consults, answer emails and voicemails, schedule appointments, and generally be of assistance to all current and future Stacy Reeves Photography clients. I will also be regularly available via Skype for consults with potential clients.

I will also be opening up a new on-location portrait studio in the Paris, France area. My focus will largely be on American couples visiting Paris to get engaged or celebrate birthdays, weddings, honeymoons, babymoons, anniversaries, or any other special events. I will also be offering French-inspired beauty and boudoir sessions, as well. If you are traveling to the Paris area next year and would like to schedule portraits, please contact us for more information!

You will see many changes to our website in the coming weeks. We will be unveiling our new boudoir and beauty portrait website as well as our new Paris portrait website. We will also be making some changes to our wedding website and opening up our first ever Facebook business page, which will feature regular photo updates as well as special pricing and scheduling offers. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us and ask!

Over on our sister site, Racy Steeves Boudoir Photography, I just posted a gorgeous new session that I am so proud to show off.  I’ve been wanting to shoot more outdoor boudoir, but I had never found the right location that would allow me everything I need while still maintaining privacy for the client.  I’m thrilled to announce that I now have the perfect spot.  It’s super secluded, includes an air-conditioned space for changing or doing hair/makeup, and has an endless supply of props, backgrounds, and structures to shoot with.  If you’ve been wanting to do a boudoir session but wanted something a little bit different than the typical hotel room location, I’m happy to say that I now have the perfect spot.  Shoot me an email and let’s get your session scheduled before winter arrives!

Also remember that you should schedule your session two months before you need the photos, and our holiday deadlines are in early November, so if you’re wanting to deliver some sexy photos to your husband for Christmas, you need to get your session scheduled ASAP!!

Click on over to Racy Steeves Boudoir Photography to see our newest session!

Continuing on in our series of destination weddings, today I’m featuring one of my favorite commissions in my entire career. When Erin and Tyler first booked me, their wedding seemed fairly normal – a ceremony at a beautiful church followed by a lovely reception with all their friends and family. However, as the weeks of planning went on and the guest list grew, Erin and Tyler realized that all they really wanted was to be married, and the rest was just details. They decided to eschew the fancy centerpieces and table linens and pare their wedding down to the people and places that mattered most. I’ll never forget the day when Erin called me up and asked, almost apologetically, if I would be willing to fly with her, Tyler, and their pastor to Dublin, Ireland, the place that they met and had their very first date, and document their elopement. Naturally I just about jumped out of my seat with excitement, and a few months later we were off to the Emerald Isle!

I can never thank Erin and Tyler enough for introducing me to the beautiful wonderland that is Ireland. Traveling throughout Ireland is like walking into a postcard. Everywhere you turn is a new breathtaking vista – rolling hills thick with lush green grass, packs of sheep wandering alongside winding gravel roads, craggy mountains stretching up to the clouds, and rainbows everywhere you turn! As if the stunning natural landscape wasn’t enough, the people of Ireland are by far the nicest on planet Earth (high praise, coming from a Texan!). Everywhere we went, the locals embraced us with open arms and big smiles. I’ll never forget walking into an ancient looking pub in the middle of a tiny Irish town, hoping only for a drink and a warm meal, and instead being seized upon by a group of locals who had clearly known each other for decades, but they took us in as if we were old friends, and we drank and sang and danced into the wee hours of the morning. From the bustling city of Dublin to the little villages dotting the Ring of Kerry, every place and person we encountered was a charm. I understand now why Erin and Tyler were so anxious to return there to say their vows, and I am counting the days until I get to return there myself!

True to their mission of focusing only on the things that mattered most to them, Erin put a whole new meaning to the term “last minute.” When I shot their engagement session a mere week before we were to leave for Ireland, I asked Erin about her wedding dress, at which point she just shrugged, gave me her genuine and infectious smile, and said “I don’t have one yet.” You could have picked my jaw off the floor! Being a very planning-oriented person, my mind immediately raced with all of the options she had left – perhaps a sample sale, or Craigslist, or maybe she could borrow one from a friend – but Erin was unphased.  She gave another shrug and a smile, and told me that she trusted God would make it happen for her. Sure enough, Erin found a gorgeous lace wedding dress online, had the owner overnight it to her (and crossed her fingers that it would fit), and with only a handful of hours left before she had to board the plane, she picked up her dress from the mail and we set off across the globe. When we arrived in Dublin, Erin called up a local florist and asked them to put together a bouquet with whatever they had lying around, and she grabbed a small cake-for-two from a local baker.  Everything came together and Erin and Tyler got exactly what they had been hoping for – a beautiful, meaningful beginning to their marriage. Here are some of my favorites from their day:

Follow the link below to see more!

I am thrilled to announce that I will be speaking at the I Heart Faces Photography Conference for Women at the Southfork Ranch in Dallas, TX on October 6.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with I Heart Faces, it’s a website devoted to providing articles, advice, seminars, interviews, and contests for women in photography.  The website is run by two wonderful women, photographers, and bloggers Amy Locurto of LivingLocurto.com and Angie Arthur of TheArthurClan.com and features articles from top photographers around the globe.  The annual conference will include classes from myself as well as many other incredibly talented photographers from all over the world, including one of my personal heroes Sue Bryce, and various social and crafting events for the attendees.

One of my favorite things about I Heart Faces is that they really cater to women at every end of the photography spectrum, from bloggers who just want to improve the images they post on their blogs, moms with cameras who just want to get better shots of their kids, or women who are seriously considering photography as a career.   Regardless of where you are in your journey with photography, IHF is committed to helping and encouraging you along the way.   It’s a wonderful resource and I am so proud to be a part of it!

If you register before June 1, the cost is only $375 which includes a full day of classes, lunch, and a tour of the famous Southfork Ranch (the original home of the Dallas TV series).  After June 1 the price jumps up to $475, so register now and reserve your spot!

For more information or to register, visit the website here!  Hope to see you there!

Continuing on in our series of destination weddings…

I’m fairly used to getting emails from girls who are planning their wedding before they actually have a ring in hand (let’s be honest, I was planning my wedding before I even had a boyfriend, so I can’t begrudge a girl who wants to get a head start on her planning!). However, getting an email from a groom-to-be before the proposal is definitely something that doesn’t happen on a regular basis, so when Doug contacted me months before he was planning to pop the question, my curiosity was piqued. He and his then-girlfriend were both photographers in the New Orleans area, so naturally photography was one of the most important vendors to them, so much so that Doug was prepared to drop a deposit in front of me before he had even dropped to one knee in from of CheyAnne! A few months later, a very excited (and newly engaged) CheyAnne inquired with me, ready to book her photographer, not even knowing that her sweet fiance had already beaten her to the punch. As New Orleans is hands-down my favorite city in the United States, I was thrilled at the chance to go there not once, not twice, but three separate times to capture their engagements, bridals, and wedding, and I felt that as I got the know the city of NOLA better and better, I also got to know CheyAnne and Doug better and better. I learned about the struggles they faced together, how important their families are to them, how active they are in the New Orleans community, how passionate they are about their photography business and their clients, their love of New Orleans Saints and LSU football, and how long CheyAnne has been patiently waiting for this day to come! When CheyAnne and Doug finally danced down the aisle, surrounded by friends, family, and curious tourists peering through the gates of Jackson Square, I truly felt like I was sharing the day with them, rather than just documenting it, and it made the experience that much more special. Here are some of my favorite images from their day:

Follow the link below to see more!

One of my all time favorite things to do is to travel. Seeing a new landscape and culture that I’ve never experienced before is one of the most thrilling things about life, and for me personally, it’s ten times better when I get to take a camera and a client along for the ride. I’ve been lucky enough to visit so many different states and countries as a photographer, including Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Paris, Venice, Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Nebraska, Arkansas, and so many others. In a few weeks my husband Jason and I will be jet-setting off to Europe for a couple of weeks immersing ourselves in new cultures and testing what we’ve learned in our year’s worth of French lessons, so to prepare myself for the trip, I decided to blog some of my recent destination work!

This week I’m starting off closer to home with a detail-rich wedding down in Marfa, Texas. Although it is in my home state, Marfa is much further away than many out of state weddings I’ve shot, and the culture is so drastically different that it feels like entering a new country. If you’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Marfa, the best way I can explain it is that it’s a hipster’s paradise. The town revolves around art, music, and culture and very much embraces its different-ness.  Everywhere you turn there’s a new art gallery or installation, musical performance, food truck, unique and innovative boutique, farmer’s market (quite an interesting variety considering it’s surrounded by desert and canyon), or trendy restaurant, as well as being the home of the famous Marfa Lights. You’d never expect to find an artistic haven nestled in such an isolated area, but if you’re willing to make the trek, it’s well worth it (especially for the Grilled Cheese Emporium).

Considering the Marfa culture, it’s no surprise that musician and artists Sissy & David decided it was the perfect place to say “I Do.” I had the privilege of photographing Sissy’s sister Rebecca’s wedding a few years prior, and I had been dying to check Marfa out for myself for years, so I was super excited to travel down the the Big Bend region with their family and friends and photograph their wedding at the Thunderbird Hotel and Capri Lounge. Sissy and David really put their style and vision to work in every aspect of their wedding, and the details were some of the most personalized and unique I’ve ever seen.  Here are a few of my favorites from their day:

Follow the link below to see more: