elizabeth & john | engagement |

 

A game of scrabble, a school house, a blanket and music, and two of the most in love and FUN couples I have had the pleasure of photographing! I just adored watching Elizabeth and John have fun with each other during their engagement session one early Monday morning in East TN! That’s what they did…they had fun with each other and it was SO refreshing! They giggled, they kissed, they squished each others’ noses, they talked about the honeymoon they will be taking to Maine…they were adorable!

Elizabeth and I go back…like back to the days of high school. I was beyond excited when she reached out to me and asked me to be their photographer! I was ecstatic! There is something incredibly humbling about having someone from your past ask you to document their future (ohhh, that was kinda corny, but you get it). In talking with Elizabeth about her and John and where they are in their lives now, it came to me to have their session at a school house. After some research and some digging, we landed right back to where I had been before, Riverdale Elementary School out in Strawberry Plains, TN. One look at it and Elizabeth was in love! I was so happy when they decided on the school for their engagement location! I had a blast with Abby & Ben there back in December, and was excited to see the school in the summer with green all around it!

The ideas are all Elizabeth & John’s! They are avid scrabble players (Elizabeth even brought their score sheet), they LOVE music and John is a marathoner and has done 2 half Iron Man Triathalons so having his bike included was a great idea! There are times when you know that a couple has it in their cards…these two are definitely one of those couples!

  

 

Elizabeth & John…I’ll be seeing you in 5 weeks! Eeek! 

Smiles,

Kayla F

Aaron & Chelsea | Engaged

 

I simply ADORE these two! I was thrilled when they told me they would love to have their engagement session somewhere that was special for them and that it would be at Aaron’s family lake house. Lets just say, I immediately started imagining amazing things and it did not disappoint! Not only do I love Chelsea’s fashion, but even better than that was the way Aaron was completely enthralled and in love with Chelsea! He made my job sooooo easy!

Aaron & Chelsea also have had the distinct pleasure (or lack thereof) of having their wedding date affected by the University of Tennessee football schedule. Oh yea. TN changed their opening football date (which pretty much runs the city) so Chelsea & Aaron made the decision to change up their date so their friends and family could still sport their Orange & White and NOT be running to any back rooms for play by plays! 🙂 I love how they chose to share the news! (Pun totally intended)

I’m beyond excited for August 30th and can’t wait to see how beautiful this wedding is going to be!!!

dana & michael {the question}

Spring is FINALLY here and with that comes a wedding I have been SO super excited about! I will be traveling back to TN this coming weekend for Dana & Michael’s Big Day at Dara’s Garden and I couldn’t more excited!!

I’ve known Dana for a few years through one of my best friends. She is such a sweet person, has a heart of GOLD and is just so tender and caring…and so funny! When I saw that Dana was engaged I couldn’t have been happier for her. Skip forward to a couple of days and I received an email from Dana! Squee!!!! When I met Michael, everything just clicked. I knew from the moment I said “Hi” and gave him a hug that he and Dana were PERFECT for each other! We sat and chatted and they booked me on the spot! Lets just say, it was Heaven! 😀

We immediately started planning their engagement session at Dara’s Garden. Dana absolutely fell in love with the house and knew for a while that was where she wanted to have her wedding. I’d never been to Dara’s before, but when I pulled up I saw why Dana loved it so much! It has so much charm and is so Southern you’d expect Sweet Tea to be in the creek! 🙂 The weather was crazy East TN weather…there was a huge threat of a thunderstorm lurking in the distance so it was nice and hot, but we had a blast!

This weekend is going to be magical and I can’t wait to share the yumminess I know is in store! 😀

Smiles,

Kayla F

katie & robert {the question}

There is just way too much cuteness and sweetness in this session for me to NOT share! {As a precaution…I am ridiculously behind on blogging. And well, that’s about to change!} I have known Katie for years! We went to middle and high school together and when she asked me to take her wedding photos I just about fell over. {I think my mouth stayed open for a solid 3 minutes}.

I’m absolutely in LOVE with this little family! Robert and his daughter Hadley {as if there was any question, she looks just like her daddy} are two peas in a pod! You can just tell when you are around them that there is an incredible amount of love between those two! I felt so honored to be able to experience and capture Katie fitting right into their adorable family! Hadley was so silly and cute and sweet and just loved watching Katie and Robert have their picture taken. I’m not going to lie…she wanted to be in the pictures more than watch and I was SO happy for that! She was a little firecracker!

Katie and Robert decided to have their engagement session downtown and we were greeted by very chilly weather! But they were such champs! Robert did a very good job of keeping his girls warm! Snuggle up while peeking at these…they are so worth it! 😀

A fav…I just love this one! 😀

Emily & Blake {the question}

“Quintessential Knoxville” is what she asked for, and Quintessential Knoxville is exactly what she got! 😀 Emily & Blake are not originally from Knoxville, but have fallen in love with the city as most do when they go to the University of Tennessee! I loved listening to Emily talk about how much of a die-hard Volunteer fans her and Blake are (Emily worked for the football team while going to school) and knew that we had to start this session off down at Neyland Stadium! We were totally bummed that the field was closed, but decided to tromp around and we discovered the backside of the stadium. The area all of us alumni are familiar with…the student entrances! What could be a more perfect spot to start the session off? 

 I finally got Blake to loosen up a bit and to see Emily blush like she did was just the cutest moment ever!

 Oh Emily, you are going to be a stunning bride!

I am beyond excited to see Blake & Emily’s wedding day and all the hard work I know Emily has put into it!!! Can’t wait to see your amazing pictures you two! 

Smiles,

Kayla F

the question | kendra and greg

You know when you meet two people and you think, “YES…they’ve got it right!” Well, thats exactly how I felt when I met Kendra and Greg. These two…man oh man, they’ve got it. They are over the moon in love with each other, they are sincere, and they are just so genuine. Not to mention, they are super fun!!! Kendra is actually old college roommates with one of my FAV brides Katie (see Katie and Henry’s wedding here) so I was thrilled when Kendra said she loved Katie’s pictures and they wanted to book me! :insert BIG smile here:

Kendra and Greg actually live out near Murfreesboro, but decided to come into town and head out to Ijams Nature Center for their engagement pictures and I am thrilled they did! I’ve shot at Ijams before, but this time I wanted to find new and awesome places! I think I succeeded! I loved shooting there…LOVED it! 

Kendra and Greg actually met while working at Carmax and had to keep their relationship on the quiet for a bit…so they wanted to have some fun shots of them in their uniforms for the pictures. I thought this was adorable!!! 

 Kendra had the CUTEST style!!!! Loved her spring dress, cardigan and her awesome necklace!

Omgsh…do you see what I mean about being so sincere! They were the cutest and cuddliest couple EVER!!!!!

Something happened when Kendra and Greg changed clothes. It was like the first part of the session was practice for all this magic that started to happen. I sound so silly, but things just started to click! This is definitely one of the number one reasons why I HIGHLY suggest an engagement session. I figured out how they work best together and they were so comfortable with me. 😀

 Yes…Yes…this is a tent. I died. Well, not really, but I did lay on the ground and just die over the pictures. It was amazing! I could have put 30 images of just the tent in here, but thought I would use some form of self control! 😉

Kendra and Greg, you two know how obsessed I am with you! Can you imagine how crazy I’m going to be at your wedding?!?! Squee!!!! I can’t wait! 😀

Smiles,

Kayla F