ABOUT THIS SERIES: Besides being the signature to Luke’s email, this blog series features the things we’re loving as we start each Monday morning with gratitude and coffee!

View previous editions here:
Love & Coffee #1
Love & Coffee #2
Love & Coffee #3

Here’s what we’re discussing over our morning coffee on this week!

• Post Workshop Exhaustion Syndrome. We hosted our first workshop in over a year last week, and as anyone who hosts workshops can tell you, PWES is a real thing. Post Workshop Exhaustion Syndrome hit us all hard on Thursday and we're still recovering. We both have colds and sore throats and we're just trying to essential oil our way through it and keep baby Knox from catching the illness! Luke's mom and sister flew down from Indiana to help us put on the workshop, so I think PWES may be sweeping through the midwest as well!
• Just hear those sleigh bells. We haven't put up our tree yet, but we did decorate our mantle for Christmas over the weekend. One of the best moments of parenthood so far? Hanging Knox's stocking for the first time using Cat's great grandpa's red hammer. 
• Baby's first laugh. Other people have heard it, but we still haven't gotten to hear that first giggle from Knox. What the heck! We're around him the most of anybody. I guess he just doesn't find his boring ol' parents that funny.
• Cereal and Carrots and Sweet Potatoes, Oh My! We started Knox on solids this week. So far, we've had cereal and carrots. I did a lot of research on whether we even wanted to feed cereal or not, but we ultimately settled on this oatmeal and Knox loves it! He had his first taste of vegetables this morning with carrots and although the first couple of bites made him make some funny faces, I think they gave him a ton of energy! He was shrieking with delight! In 3 days, we get to add some sweet potatoes to the mix, just in time for Thanksgiving.
• Thanksgiving Cooking. We'll be hunkering down in the kitchen starting tomorrow to prep dishes for our family Thanksgiving. Luke's the main chef in our house, although I (Cat) am pretty proud of my dessert making skills. We have a few dishes left to be determined, but I'm most looking forward to carb loading on Luke's famous yeast rolls. He also makes a dish that is a staple in his family but something we had never heard of on a holiday table until Luke joined us: chicken and noodles. 

Have a fantastic week!

Love & Coffee,
(In our well-used Anthro chipped L&C mugs this morning!)

Luke & Cat

ABOUT THE WEEKEND SNAPSHOT SERIES: It’s our weekend ritual. Every Friday before shooting a wedding, we spend a few hours feasting on inspiration: glossy magazine spreads, favorite Instagram feeds, wedding site editorials, ads for luxury brands, Sprinkles’ cupcake window displays…. It ensures we arrive at every wedding fueled by fresh ideas. Now, we’re bringing a delicious bite of inspiration to you. Start your wedding weekend with a Luke & Cat Weekend Snapshot. The icing on the cake? The hands-on, how-to advice that accompanies each photo. Sweet.

View others in this series:

Weekend Snapshot #1 Bookend Those Bridesmaids
Weekend Snapshot #2 At The Reception
Weekend Snapshot #3 Best of Both Worlds
Weekend Snapshot #4 A Classic Toast
Weekend Snapshot #5 Our Favorite Ring Shot Backdrop
Weekend Snapshot #6 Genuine Smiles

The Hands Have It

Look away from the cake...we know it’s hard! Today’s Weekend Snapshot is about where to focus instead to get the best cake-cutting photos for your wedding clients.

During the cake cutting, one of the photos we make sure to take features the bride and grooms’ hands as the focal point. If you frame the image where you can also see the cake, you get a gorgeous horizontal image that has a great chance of being featured in the cake baker’s marketing. Vendors are always looking for professional-quality photos of their products ‘in action’ on the wedding day!

Love & Cake
(two essential elements for a perfect wedding reception),

Luke & Cat

We started out our first full day of the workshop with a drive through the ranch and we were so thrilled to pull up and introduce them to our brand new workshop space, The Lodge.

Originally used as the Girl Scouts Lodge in the tiny town of Newgulf, Texas, Cat's parents purchased and moved it onto the ranch many years ago. We are so thankful to have it as a space that we can use for a 'new version' of it's original purpose: learning and community.

First up was the individual headshots of all of the attendees, but afterwards, we all settled in with coffee in our cups and minds primed and ready for learning. 

Luke and I spent the morning talking about all things shooting, from the gear we use (and the gear we don't) to exactly how we shoot and expose. We then got to wow the attendees (I saw lots of shocked faces) when we told them we don't use any off-camera flash. We showed them many of our "looks like OCF" images and exactly how we're able to produce those well-lit reception images that fit right in with our natural light images.

After a wonderful home-cooked lunch by our 'Chef de Cuisine' (Luke's mom!) we got back to work - this time teaching about building a brand, the differences between a brand and branding, communicating with clients, and publication. 

We finished up with one of my favorite parts of the workshop - websites, blogging, and social media. We went page by page through our website and explained the buyer behavior that led us to design and present our portfolio and pricing on our website as we do.

As golden hour approached, we headed out to our favorite picture spot (gorgeous sun and mossy trees!) for a real engagement session. While today's shoot focuses on shooting details like you would a normal wedding, yesterday's engagement session really focused on how we interact with our couples to create an experience they won't soon forget (and one that leaves them bragging about us to all of their friends!) during their photos. 

After the shoot, we came back to The Lodge for dinner while Luke showed off his culling, editing, and workflow tips and tricks that allow him to edit a wedding in 2 hours flat.

On the agenda today is lots of pricing talk, a lesson in styling by Wendy from Birds of a Feather Events, and finally, our wedding editorial. 

If you'd like more information about our next workshop (scheduled for April 9-11, 2018 and just announced) visit this link. Read the day 1 recap here!

Learning & Community,

Luke & Cat