Groomsmen Gift + Party Bag Ideas

Gifting dudes is hard. Finding a gift or party presentation that doesn’t scream “my lady friend helped me with this” is a tough task. So when grooveyGuyGifts.com got in touch with me, it was a vendor collab I couldn’t resist. They sent me a bag to sample and said, “only if you like it, vouch for us and say something cool and you can keep it.” So i got it, the COMBAT COOLER SPECIFICALLY and gifted it to my husband with the question… do you think men would like this?

The monogram, the color, the fit and the style of the bag is masculine, well built, well lined and waterproof. Considering that my husband has used it as a cooler MULTIPLE times for a couple evenings camping and fireside with some whiskey and good conversation—this is not manipulated opinion. My man loved the color and said, “yea, that would be a sweet gift to get as a dude.” Success! And legit fist bump to this crazy intentional company who actually says great product for an audience of men hoping they might get a gift as cool as the girls’ . Come on guys, we can do better. Wow and woo with groovyguysgifts.com. AND check out the rest of their recent updated inventory!

ITS LKM'S ANNIVERSARY.....10 YEARS!!!

10 years ago today I shot my very first wedding :)...

I'm gonna be honest, I have thought of this day all year. I have dreamt up promo launches and fancy videos and feature posts....

but today, I paused it all and just have to say thank you. thank you to those who have encouraged me, invested in me, been patient with me in the busy seasons and reminded me of His perfect provision in the good and the hard. I sat down this past week to map out the timeline of being a photographer.  This is mostly a table of contents for my brain and the conversation of "how did you become a photographer" Read if your interested. Comment if you can. Otherwise--thank you for being here and for being part of the journey. :)

January 2008  - I PICKED UP MY FIRST DSLR and took a local community college course which I failed miserably--mostly because we had our first baby during finals week and didn’t quite finish. :) I did, however, learn about prime lenses and my instructor had a coffee shop meet up and took a portrait of a little girl standing near a window that turned my head. I loved what he froze and the light that he captured--it was something beautiful and real.  I wanted to capture people like that.

(my very first headshot session by my dear friend Emily Rickard)

August 2008 - My first official wedding….and I didn’t know WHAT the crap I was doing. I floundered more than thrived but fortunately still delivered a portfolio the clients were pleased with. I discovered that low light warehouses were no joke and that the art of photography was harder than it looked. I had a LOT to learn. 

October 2008 - Shot a picture of a bride that made me fall in love with the elegance and anticipation of a wedding day. (andrea burns...you haven't aged a bit :D)

January 2009 - My first season of portraits and captured one particular session with twins. They were as crazy and rambunctious as they come and yet the raw journalism from that shoot and just “go where they go” style flipped a switch with lifestyle photography. I loved that the pictures made me feel the kid's wildness and curiosity. I wanted to do more of that.

Summer 2009 - i loved the connections i was getting to make with couples and shot several weddings i was proud of.

Spring 2010 - went to my first WPPI - wedding and portrait photography international  conference. Met my photography celebrity crush -- Kelly Moore IN THE FLESH, shook hands with Kennie Kim (my destination wedding muse) and came home with a keen sense of ambition......tempered HARD by my season of life as a MOM. My kids were young. I had a 2 year old and a 4 month old. They needed me more than I needed photography...but i'm not gonna lie--the tension was real and my heart had to fight to stay present in the home.

Summer 2010 - I stopped booking weddings. Hubby was facing a career change and were headed to Saudi Arabia to teach English as a Second Language.  Long story for another time.

Spring 2011 - Our time in Saudi Arabia adventure met a detour and we ended up in Tucson with hubby’s family. Started from scratch and we opened LKM’s doors again.

Spring 2012 - Went to WPPI again and Susan Stripling made me weep and fanned a flame for excellence and creativity. SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY was so very loud in my brain. I had been out of the loop of photography and felt inspired to GO FOR IT. It was my first portrait season in Tucson. I went crazy and gifted ALL THE PEOPLE with portrait sessions. I shot 75 sessions, hyperventilated, had some bad-apple client experiences, got to know Tucson culture better and unraveled melodramatically by the end of the year. Below are some of the highlights during that first year launch in Tucson...

Winter 2013 - rebranded and booked a celebrity wedding for the coming summer. "Celebrity wedding photographer" was a fun label to own but I didn’t want my clients to be my stepping stones. I fought against the pressure to compete and "need" for like and followers. I was surprised by how toxic the hustle could be and I knew my "why" was being challenge and I couldn't quite answer that question.

June 2013 - I shot 6 weddings in the course of 4 weeks in 3 different states and nearly came home with my 2 weeks notice ready to flop on my husband’s side of the bed. BUSY was a hat I started to wear--a badge given by everybody else. I had to figure out a way to slow down but still make ends meet. 

January 2014 - We raised our prices and then held on for dear life. I was scared I was shooting myself in the foot. But in the spirit of “if you build it, they will come” we set our prices to be what we needed to make to sustain a healthy business that paid the bills and its taxes and might even help put food on the table while allowing me to be more present. Business slowed but the clients who invested in me that year were ones that breathed life and joy into the art of wedding photography. They were eager to engage and trusted me. I found a stride and a "why" -- to be better at storytelling with people I could connect with and build a rapport--to tell their story authentically.

November 2014 - Business picked up and I was meeting my max capacity so I reached out to a colleague whom I respected and loved his work and had heard he "hated the business part of things." I asked him if he wanted to come shoot with the studio--under my name, take some weddings and function like a team.  He agreed.

Spring 2015 - It was the year i started to travel. I had several friends who were getting married abroad-- one in the Philippines, Alaska, Northern California, and then a cute little elopement in Mexico. That launched the "travel wedding photographer" part of the brand. To be honest though...we weren't quite sure what to do with it.

Christmas 2015 - wrapped up the year with our 1st attempt to function as a studio with an associate and became acutely aware of how unorganized our back-end was. We had no systems, no workflow. I knew if we were to grow if not thrive forward, I needed to stop looking so much externally or function autonomously. I had to start tending to the bones and foundation of the business. So we went into what I call the "ostrich" season. 

Early 2016 - We started working with an accounting firm who knew their stuff. They asked us hard questions and gave us hard numbers. I started to actually KNOW my business.

May 2016 - I started working with an editor who I’m convinced is actually an angel. Learning how to outsource was a game changer. My world turned to color again and I started sleeping more. (Jo -- you are a gift from God.)

Summer 2016 - We were stabilizing but I still couldn’t keep up. Accounting, studio management, social media, lead generation and retention, shooting, editing, marketing, planning--I felt like all the spinning plates were beginning to wobble. I needed to figure out how to tend to less plates and spin the right ones well.  Introducing …. INTERNS.

Fall 2016 - Makayla McGarvey joined the LKM team and I trained her on back-end tasks while being a regular second shooter. I exposed her to all the things -- family portraits, weddings, headshots, seniors. I wanted her to experience "on location" real world and find her preference. (below are a few of my faves from her this past year as second shooter)

January 2017 - Makayla and I reconvened for a studio pow wow and I offered her a promotion with a bare minimum gaurantee of work and a whole lotta "i don't know what's gonna happen but i do know i need help." She accepted the unknowns and we promised we would take the teamwork in intervals of 6 months.

Spring 2017 - We started focusing on technical and portfolio development. We set hard goals and high standards and she was more eager for feedback than I knew what to do with. Our trip to Maine was a big game changer. I asked her some pretty deep, hard, life, goal questions. I thought she'd run and peace out. Instead, a tearful plane ride home was filled with silent nods and an expression of "i want life to be more than pretty pictures and social media. I want to ask "why" more." We hunkered in and started applying...

November 2017 - Makayla shot her first independent wedding without me...and SHE NAILED IT. Despite the wedding being a rough experience (involving crazy mean park rangers, gnarly wind and wonky scheduling) she handled it beautifully. We officially promoted Makayla to associate shooter.

February 2018 - Major highlight.... Taxes were coming due and I was cleaning up the books. My jaw dropped when i saw the final profit/loss statement for our accountant. We had grossed over SIX FIGURES. My net was modest but it was something real and sustainable--and an intense moment when I sat in front of my husband and showed him the numbers and realized I had matched the average salary of a teacher -- the job i went to college for. I felt like a legitimate business owner and had hit an elusive goal in a changing and challenging industry. 

WPPI 2018 - 2 new interns joined us for WPPI and I experienced a passion for mentoring small businesses and start-ups. Asking hard questions and challenging people’s “why” lit my fire. A shift began in me.

Spring 2018 - Makayla & I traveled. A Lot. It was a season of me passing the baton. It was also our first Indian wedding which rocked our worlds. The culture and 3-day emphasis on family and "celebrating well" had me in tears by the end. 

June 2018 - We soft announced the shift for Makayla’s role as the New England point person

July 2018 - We spent this past month revising workflows, updating backend software, rewriting templates and projecting numbers for 2019. We also honed in on Makayla’s travel/adventure packages... coming soon to instagram feeds near you :)

CURRENT… I've decided to slow down and focus on local gigs and stay in the southwest while Makayla takes over most of the traveling abroad. I am firmly convinced, especially since working on the healthy bones of the business, that it is worth the sacrifice of busyness to live at a cadence I can keep up with and share stories with soul more than stress. 

So, in the spirit of “remember and remember well” this is the timeline of God’s provision...both the chaffing, the challenging and the championing.

Thank you for being a part of the LKM journey. If you made it this far down the rabbit trail of a blog post, you must either be crazy, creepy, competition *cough* colleague, commuty or a companion in this ride. The last few--thank you. Bless you. Cheers to the future and by all means--glory be to God for this job that has been a gift and a joy and a challenging petri dish of faith training. Cheers! | LKM & CO.

Vista West Ranch | Austin Texas Wedding Weekend | Jade Green, Babies Breath & Southern Charm

“ One reason I knew I wanted Laura to photograph my wedding, even before I was engaged, is because she has a personality that will bring the fun, smiles and spunk out of people. She can fit into any crowd. She loves to tell a story with her photography. She wants to capture the emotion and thoughts during each and every moment of your special day... ~ Katie Dollar, Bride”

The Wedding Day Story...behind the scenes recap

Wedding photography for this Austin wedding day began early. My team and I (Makayla, Gavyn & I) made our trek (but first, coffee) to Molly, the make up artist’s house and our jaws dropped with the shiny chrome and class that oozed from Molly’s home studio. Her work was stunning and you could tell that the girls were being pampered well. We hung out a little while the bride relaxed with her girls and mimosa.

We peaced out to the venue 10 minutes down the country road to Vista West Ranch -- a hidden boutique gem of a venue in the middle of Dripping Springs Texas on the outskirts of Austin. The whole location was perfect--nailing the casual but classy vibe of the couple's personality colors were fresh and the sunbeams ROYALLY on par. Also note, Austin wedding coordinator Jordan Smith with Coordinate This helped move things along from the very beginning of the weekend and kept everything smooth and organized!

//VENDORS //

Wedding & Reception Venue: Vista West Ranch // Photography: Laura K Moore Photography // Event Coordinator: Coordinate This // Florist: The Flower Girl // Gown Boutique: Paisley Crush // Bridesmaids Dresses: Alfred Angelo // Grooms Attire: Men's Wearhouse // Hair & Makeup: Molly Makeup // Caterer: Freebirds // Cake: Gale's Cakes  // DJ: Premier Entertainment // Photobooth: Posers Photobooth // Rehearsal Dinner: Trudy's // Farm table + Vintage Chairs: Petal Pushers // Bartenders: Bar Butlers // Videography: Gavyn Gates Cinematography

The first look was one of the most precious. The couple being nonsense "lets just have fun" kind of people seemed to sink into the moment alone--reading their vows to eachother and breathing in the first real moments of the wedding day. Their affection and eagerness was palpable. From there we swayed into wedding part pictures, family portraits and all the relaxed, casual moments with the VIPs. Can we just take a moment to note that First Look's are crazy intensely game-changing? It was, at least, for Eric & Katie. They had been on the fence but experiencing that space of sweetness and unprompted freedom and privacy--it set the tone of joy for the day!

The ceremony time approached and the bride made her way back to the room to freshen up and cool off a little. (It was a warm one that day). Guests trickled in and the bride watched eagerly from above through the window of the bridal parlor. Because the timeline had provided these margins of space to just breath and enjoy eachother, she used this pamper time to give a few letters to her girls. Good grief were those notes special!

Because we   been able to capture so many of the signature portrait moments and enjoyed family time, bride and groom grabbed a few relaxed moments in creme de la creme late afternoon light and then surprised the guests by joining cocktail hour early and doing a super special receiving line--welcome their guests personally into the dining hall!

The rest of the night was spent eating yummy food, enjoying cake and being merry. (note the Baylor Stadium Groom's Cake!) 

“It was an absolute pleasure working with Katie + Eric on their wedding day. They are such a sweet and laid back couple and their love for each other was evident from the moment I met them. They put together a fabulous vendor team, including Laura Moore Photography. Not only were they fun to work with throughout the evening, but their professionalism made the event run smoothly and the whole night went off without a hitch. Of course the images are stunning and something Katie + Eric will be able to treasure forever as they look back on their wedding day. ~ Jordan Smith, Owner & Lead of Coordinate This”

“What a firecracker and joy to have (LKM & her team) photograph our wedding.... They want to capture the emotion and thoughts during each and every moment of your special day! I would HIGHLY recommend LKM for an engagement and wedding photographer. Thank you, Laura, for all you did for Eric and I. Thank you for going above and beyond! ~ Eric & Katie”

Eric & Katie, it was an honor to be part of your wedding weekend! Thank you so much for trusting us with your crazy fun and spaztically awesome wedding day! :D Joy, LKM

To see more from Eric & Katie's wedding weekend, go HERE for their engagement session, HERE for their rehearsal & mini sweetheart session and HERE for their wedding video!

//VENDORS //

Wedding & Reception Venue: Vista West Ranch // Photography: Laura K Moore Photography // Event Coordinator: Coordinate This // Florist: The Flower Girl // Gown Boutique: Paisley Crush // Bridesmaids Dresses: Alfred Angelo // Grooms Attire: Men's Wearhouse // Hair & Makeup: Molly Makeup // Caterer: Freebirds // Cake: Gale's Cakes  // DJ: Premier Entertainment // Photobooth: Posers Photobooth // Rehearsal Dinner: Trudy's // Farm table + Vintage Chairs: Petal Pushers // Bartenders: Bar Butlers // Videography: Gavyn Gates Cinematography

Dripping Springs Texas Wedding | Rehearsal & "Day-Before" Sweetheart Session | Austin Wedding Photographer

We adore storytelling and are a bit obsessed about people...the natural, real side of people.

As part of our "wedding weekend" packages we often are able to be a part of the rehearsal and maybe some dinner flare. It offers a chance to meet people, break the ice with our destination wedding folk and start storytelling off on the right foot--with relationship and candor. :)

Eric & Katie spent some sweet moments with us during their wedding weekend -- we met each other Thursday morning before the wedding for a sunrise engagement session on PennyBacker Bridge on the outskirts of Austin Texas. Afterwards we parted ways, edited a few highlights and then met back up again later that evening to casually watch, shoot and meet friends and relatives at their rehearsal on wedding venue property: Vista West Ranch in Dripping Springs. 

Below are a few highlights of the chill evening and camaraderie between their favorite people. It set the tone for the weekend -- celebratory, energetic and deeply affectionate and grateful. See highlights from the evening below a!

Go HERE to see Eric & Katie's engagement session on Austin's PennyBacker Bridge & HERE To see their full wedding day highlight story! 

WPPI 2018 | Highlights & Behind the Scenes

Every February/March the world of photography converges in Vegas at a conference called WPPI (Weddings and Portrait Photographers International). Photographers, vendors, industry leaders, trend setters and market voices stand on podiums, walk the halls, hug familiar faces, wave to familiar fans (and even those not familiar), vouch for their favorite products, attest to their current equipment and speak boldly about failures and successes over the years. It is a place where proficiency is honored and a few prodigies are identified. 

WHY WE CAME

This year I, Laura - LKM owner and exec. photographer,  am returning with three ladies who are the current #LKM&CO team. Megan Lange, Makayla McGarvey and Miranda Rico are walkin' the halls as a team--representing LKM with vigor, class and an affirming sense of trust in myself as their boss/leader/trainer/mentor. Attending this conference is something we've been preparing for for months. The girls have gotten used to my invasive questions. They've even started to anticipate them and when they catch me approaching another gut-kicking/self-awareness-challenging question they often say, "uh oh, it's a laura question." #suchasatisfyingthingtobeknownfor

I came this year for these ladies. I wanted them to get dunked into the industry and hear voices other than my own. I wanted to hear different value systems, different strategies, different histories and "how i made it work" stories. I wanted them to observe the variety of personalities and dynamics; assess what organically attracts them to other photographers/other work and what might confuse them. I wanted them to get training in areas that are not my fortes while hearing an echo of things that are the lifeblood of the LKM brand--i.e. LOVE PEOPLE, CAPTURE REAL STORIES, YOUR WORTH IS NOT DEFINED BY YOUR PRICE TAG BUT YOUR PRICE TAG SHOULD REFLECT THE WORTH OF WHAT YOU DO, etc etc etc. (I have several soap boxes that I get very feisty about so i'll have self-control for the moment.)

DAY 1 - SATURDAY - PRINT HANGING / CONFERENCE PREP

First stage of the whole experience was working alongside Jerry Ghionis & his Print Competition Crew and fearless "hangers" leader Garret Winslow. We worked in shifts all day. Below are highlights from our time watching a bit of the print judging and hanging the winners on the floor in the expo hall! I very much consider the experience a VIP pass and "sneak peak" to the competition's results.  It was a sweet dunk into the deep end of competitive quality for the girls too. Immersing ourselves into international standards of excellence across a variety of genres in photography was healthy and challenging and inspiring. I especially caught a lump in my throat when 5 internationally renowned judges bantered back and forth fighting the score and integrity of a particularly journalistic image. It was 1 single image and they were peering at it intensely--discussing every gnitty gritty detail that went into a perfect picture--the convergence of old school, new school and just standard rules of storytelling and composition and color grading. I felt myself sobered to think of how FAST i approach pictures and don't always slow down for the perfect elements or patiently comprise something that is one step more refined or thoughtful or patiently precise. I was challenged to be more patient--respectful and engaged with my role a storyteller as well as an artist as well as people person.

once done we hung out and fleshed out the classes and instructor and vendors we wanted to connect with

to be continued...