Magazine

Behind The One Cover: Knolle Farm & Ranch

By The One Staff, Photos by Resendez Studios

Cover shoots are one of our favorite things to do with The One Bride Guide. The February issue is always an interesting one, in that we never know what we are going to get! We have to plan each issue well in advance. For the February issue, this means everything gets put together over the holiday season, which is usually difficult.

Our February 2020 cover we got to work with a bunch of people we had been dreaming of doing more with, after experiencing some events with them: Angela Resendez of Resendez Studios, Beth Knolle of Knolle Farm and Ranch, Christina Treviño with Blow Dry Therapy and Robin Dudley of Southern Florista, plus some other generous contributors like Christina Tidwell from All About the Dress and Ashley Kenney of A. Kenney Jewelers. Between Angela’s calming demeanor, Beth’s unmatched service, Christina’s humor, and Robin’s ability to pull together gorgeous things at a moment’s notice, we knew we could relax. This shoot was going to be a fun one.

“When I sat down with the lovely team at the One Bride Guide,” Angela Resendez recounts, “we threw some ideas around for this photoshoot, and the one that really stuck out to us was the ethereal theme. The word “ethereal” has always been one that I love to use when describing artwork that I love which has sortof a dreamlike quality. Who doesn’t want to have a wedding which feels like a dream? Right away, we knew that we had to use Knolle Ranch because of their gorgeous trees-a-plenty. The dripping moss on their trees was a must-capture because it seemed so surreal and unlike anything I have ever seen around the Coastal Bend.”

April Ames was our gorgeous model for our ethereal shoot and looked like and angel. April is a Registered Nurse Case Manager at Driscoll Health Plan. She was a natural in front of the camera. The only problem was getting her to stop admiring the enormous rock on her hand so we could change her pose!

Ashley Kenney of A. Kenney Jewelry trustingly loaned us some extremely valuable pieces for the shoot, all of which had rich history. Our bride’s ring held a rose cut diamond believed to be from the 1800s. The ring was originally bought at a Paris auction and made it’s way to Florence, Italy, where it caught Ashley’s eye from the window. The tiny shop was off the Ponte Vecchio and was the biggest and finest rose cut diamond she’s ever seen. Ashley suspects the diamond was most likely taken from a crown or scepter at some point! The 9 karat gold, cross necklace was a hand-made piece by Ashley Kenney which started as a vintage stick pin. Ashley transformed the cross pin into a necklace and hand-picked all the pearls, taking quite awhile to find perfect matches to make the necklace. The earrings were hand made, vintage opals with gold leaves surrounding, from a 50’s era estate. We are always so blessed to get such unique pieces from A. Kenney (and a little freaked out that we take this priceless jewelry to remote locations).

We fell in love with several gowns from All About the Dress in Victoria, TX, but our winning choice was a Private Label design (number 55008). It had drama, was flowy & ethereal, had interesting texture and lace, and was perfect for our theme. Plus it fit April perfectly! We love how the bottom of the dress on the cover shot mimics the top of the treeline in the distance.

Another group we’d been dying to work with was the team at Blow Dry Therapy. We’d been chatting with them at the bridal fairs and finally got Christina Treviño and her team to come on board with The One, as well as help with the shoot. Blow Dry Therapy styled April’s hair in natural waves and expertly applied makeup which brought out April’s best features.

Our gorgeous bouquet was designed by Robin Dudley of Southern Florista using unique silk flowers. The funny thing is that Robin didn’t tell us she was using silk flowers. We probably would have thought it wouldn’t look as good as fresh, but she did such a great job, we didn’t even notice they were silk until we inspected up close! Well done Robin!

This particular photo shoot team was all about joy. We had April sending us into fits of laughter with her impersonations and sound effects, Beth was wowing us with her expert, off-road driving and cow-patty-clearing skills (talk about service – you know Beth likes you when she’s willing to toss dried cow manure out of the way for you!) This was the first Bride Guide shoot for our sales lead, Emily Rodriguez, even though she’s modeled and worked countless shoots herself. Emily kept us laughing and full of joy all day as well. And we send big thanks to God she didn’t fly out of Beth’s off-road vehicle.

“To top it all off,” Angela says, “the night ended with a fabulous sunset that we were hoping for – over the water and near the cutest chapel across the pond. I really had so much fun working with The One Bride Guide team, the makeup artists, our model, and the owner – we were laughing half the time and creatively brainstorming the other half of the time. All of this combined with the amazing dress and jewelry, I couldn’t have asked for a better team or photoshoot!” Well said Angela! It was a fun day and we lucked out because it was super cold and rainy just one day before! The shoot had glorious weather and we bonded with new friends, which might be the best part. Thank you