This wedding was beautiful for many reasons- and this couple was a joy to work with, their family and friends added a lot of creative details to make their wedding special.

His Brother Alan is a set designer in NYC . He made this incredible stage for them to be married on in the courtyard of the Copa. ( he also shot super 8!)



Alan said
"The inspiration for the wall was a bit haphazard, and came together after a series of discussions I had with April and Mark.  We knew the color palette was going to draw from the aqua/greens of desert plants - namely the agave plant since this was a loose theme for their wedding as seen in April's bouquet - and I wanted to integrate Texas plants into the design since they were traveling to Austin for the ceremony.  I wanted the piece to be rustic, even dilapidated and crumbling, so I started with the idea of a decaying wall made of old fence boards.  I found an ad on Craigslist and acquired the fence wood from a dude who was removing his old fence, and then dry-brushed the boards one of three colors: white, robin's egg blue, and pale green.

 Much of the design was created to cover the backyard fence of the venue, and thus came the idea of the cloth 'water' wall.  I dyed large sheets of muslin three shades of aqua, and then tore them into strips and stapled them randomly into a large, rectangular frame.  I wanted the 'water' wall and fence wall to work together, so I adapted the design to allow the strips of fabric to 'flow' through the fence wall, which also provided the bride and groom with a color platform to stand on.  The fence wall had small planters built into it to allow me to plant the aforementioned Texas plants into the structure".


The stage was donated to a vegan restaurant on the East side of Austin where it now resides in their garden......







After the ceremony everyone moved upstairs for dinner, dancing and CUPCAKES.  Their friends dubbed the "Cupcake Girls" spent the day before at Camp Verde  baking delicious chocolate cinnamon cayenne cupcakes w/ ganache topping and a red velvet cupcakes w/ cream cheese icing.  The cayenne in the chocolate were so deliciously memorable that I had to ask for the recipe....here it is:

Devil's Food Cinnamon Cayenne Cupcakes

I used 1 1/2 tbs of cinnamon and 1/2 tbs of cayenne pepper.
You can view the complete recipe online at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/109594

Cinnamon-Scented Devil's Food Cupcakes
30 2 1/2-inch-wide by 1 1/2-inch-high paper panettone molds
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups freshly brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (about 7 ounces) mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly spray insides of 30 paper molds with nonstick spray; arrange paper molds on 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Sift flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into large bowl. Combine sugar, coffee, buttermilk, oil, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in another large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until blended. Add dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed until blended, scraping bowl occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each paper mold. Bake cupcakes, 1 sheet at a time, until puffed and center is just firm to touch, about 24 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to racks and cool completely.

Frost cupcakes with almond frosting. (Can be made ahead. Arrange cupcakes in deep disposable roasting pans. Cover pans with foil. Refrigerate up to 2 days, or store at room temperature 1 day. Bring chilled cupcakes to room temperature before serving.)

Decorate cupcakes with mini roses up to 4 hours before serving.

Ganache topping:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ganache-109253

* * *

Red Velvet Cupcakes

This is Paula Deen's recipe, we made a few adjustments, I edited the recipe accordingly
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (or 2.5 TB of red food dye)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 18 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

for the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.

Cook's Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip.

they were decorated with handmade pins that were inspired by the bride and grooms many interests...from the  radio tower images (she works for NPR) to the microphones ( he's a sound engineer) to their cat- Seattle tower where the bride is from to images of India- where she spent working.



 holga blue filter makes daytime look night!













Before everyone departed back to DC they all spent the  day after at Barton Springs and the couple flew to England for  a driving  honeymoon in the UK.
Cheers to April & Mark and their many exciting adventures!

I also loved this "Uncle Bob" shooter- everyone is a photographer but the real ones go to this extra effort for great pics! I would definitely hire him to second shoot for me!