Vendors:
Venue – Bluff Mountain Inn
Vendors:
Venue – Bluff Mountain Inn
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!
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!!!
Their emotions were captivating. I knew I was going to FALL in love with Dana and Michael’s big day from the get-go. Dana has probably the biggest heart of anyone I know and Michael is right there with her to match her every step! They are perfect for each other! And their day went by so smoothly; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the weather was incredible, the flowers were so colorful and every single one of their guests was there to have the best time! This was my first wedding out at the beautiful Dara’s Garden in Maryville and I loved every second of it! Its a lovely venue and it was definitely Dana’s ideal choice for her big day!
Dana is a book lover like none other and used books as inspiration for their big day and helped showcase the natural beauty of Dara’s Garden! Dana’s beautiful bouquet was dreamed up by Echelon Florist as Dana said she wanted a “happy and colorful” bouquet. I think they nailed it! There are many things I love about this wedding, but by far my favorite part was watching Dana and Michael together. You can tell these two are just absolutely smitten with each other! I could have taken pictures of them all day…and I’m sure they would have loved to canoodled the whole time! Enjoy!
There’s nothing quite like a World’s Fair Park wedding, let alone one that falls on the date of the Orange and White game. This seemed like the perfect coincidence for Katie and Robert’s wedding, as they are both BIG Volunteer fans and would probably have been at the game if they weren’t getting hitched! They were surrounded by not only their friends and family on their big day, but a bunch of Volunteer fans rooting them on too! It was one for the books!
Katie and Robert are pretty picture perfect. I cannot begin to express how excited and humbled I was that they asked me to be their photographer. I’ve known Katie for many years and when I met Robert, I saw how perfect they were for each other; they balance each other perfectly. I loved every tiny detail and every tear shed at this wedding (most by the big guy himself), and am beyond grateful that I was there to witness this family being created. Robert’s daughter Hadley was a big part of the festivities. We originally wanted to have a “First Look” with Hadley and Robert so they could have a lovely moment together, but decided that surprising Robert with Katie and Hadley all dressed up would be the perfect start to their day! I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction than what you will see. This little family has absolutely stolen my heart and I hope you enjoy their beautiful day as much as I did!
I also want to give one of the biggest thank you’s to my amazing second shooter Anna of Anna Hedges Photography.
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! 😀
I love when couples trust in me and make the decision to have the First Look be a part of their day! Let it be known, a first look isn’t for everyone. I 100% understand this and never push it on my clients. However, there are many reasons why I will express my “sincere hope” that they really think about it.
In East TN especially, the Fall is one of the most beautiful times to get married and definitely the most popular time! The leaves are beautiful, there’s less likely the chance for rain and, man, the weather is perfect and crisp! But the sun also tends to make a disappearance a little (or a LOT) earlier in the fall than in the earlier seasons of the year. If a couple of mine is getting married in the later parts of September – December, I usually will talk to them about the First Look and see if its even a thought to them! Many times, my couples haven’t heard of a First Look or they have, but they are still unsure of what it all entails. I’ve even heard HORROR stories about first looks and how they are handled. Eeek. With me, first looks are private, quiet and as natural as possible. I love for the bride and groom to still feel the effects of seeing each other as the bride “walks down the aisle”, which is normally how I set up the First Look. I also love to give the bride and groom time before the ceremony to be separate from each other; allow them time by themselves and to get excited and have those butterflies resurface again.
Here is Callie and Matt’s super sweet and pretty awesome First Look!
“Well, I must say I was apprehensive at first. I thought I wanted the more traditional option…him seeing me for the first time as I am walking down the aisle! I decided to go with the First Look because it worked with our wedding day timeline better and we did really want to see each other before the ceremony. The morning of the big day I felt super excited and relaxed! I knew we had made the right decision to do the First Look! Leading up to it, I had butterflies! I was so excited, I couldn’t stand it! All of these months of hiding the dress and keeping it a secret had finally come to this moment! It was so wonderful and intimate to have those moments just the 2 of us before the ceremony. It was a feeling I will never ever forget, and to think I could have never had it…is crazy!
We both agree that the First Look was perfect for us! It is such an intimate, special moment. It releases any nerves and tension for the rest of the day and it also helps your wedding timeline 🙂 ” Callie
You’ve seen them recently, but when I read Jackie and Justin’s responses to the First Look, I knew I wanted to share them in a separate post. These two had me from the beginning. I just fell in love with them! When we met a few days before their Big Day, I loved Justin’s outlook on everything. He said to me many times, “Its about me and her. That’s all that matters.” I hope his thoughts tell people that, yes, your wedding day (and the days leading up to it) will be nuts. Even for the most organized person EVER (uh hmmm, Jackie). But when the day comes, if you keep what is most important to you in mind, whether its having a great party, spending time with your family and taking tons of family photos, or really taking those 5 minutes with your soon-to-be and milking them for all their worth, you won’t walk away from your big day regretting one thing! 🙂
I’ll let Justin start!
One of the other reasons I wanted to do a first look was so I could see Justin during a point in the day when I knew my anxiety levels were going to be up! Our wedding was at 7 p.m. and that makes for a long day of hair, makeup, getting ready, and everything else in between. While I spent the whole day completely giddy, I was definitely growing tired. Seeing Justin in that moment revitalized me and calmed me at the same time. Your other half becomes what you need in the moment you need it, and after our first look I definitely felt ready for the rest of the day. (Until all of my family showed up late for photos, but that’s a whole other blog…)
And one of my silly reasons was so I wouldn’t cry when I walked down the aisle! I figured it would help if I had already seen him, which it did. The emotional stuff was out of the way and I could concentrate on the excitement!
By the time we got to the venue, I was beyond ready to see Justin! I was probably overly excited and the down pour that caused him to be late made me even more anxious! I just wanted to sneak away and steal a minute with him. I was excited to see him and for him to see me. I had gone to great lengths hiding my dress from him and was so excited to finally get to show him. When he finally arrived and was in place I remember riding down the elevator just wanting to run out of it and find him. He was getting directions on where to look and I knew if I stepped off the elevator he would see me. I almost shouted to him where to look so we could do this and see each other. I just wanted to see him!
When the moment finally happened, it was perfect. He turned, walked up to me, and we just talked and laughed for a minute. I have no idea what we said to each other, but I remember feeling so happy and so calm. We just got to hangout for a minute, just us. We weren’t being asked questions or told where to go or what to do, we were just there with one another. Well except for one interruption by my spying nieces. 🙂 lucky for them, they were super cute!
I think the best part of the first look though was being able to kiss Justin right before he went down the aisle for our last non married kiss. I’m really happy that I remember the last time I kissed my fiancée and the first time I kissed my husband.
Our first look was awesome and I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m so happy that we did this and had the chance to spend some time with one another before the wedding and reception started. It was our little perfect piece of the day!
I would also add that for brides hesitant on doing a first look because they don’t want to take away from that walking down the aisle moment, do it! I felt so calm walking down the aisle and wasn’t thinking about him seeing me for the first time. I got to make eye contact with our friends and family that were there, I got to joke with my dad, and was able to take in every detail from the ceremony. I still got to see Justin’s expression when he saw me the first time and was able to hear him say that I looked beautiful. I was able to stand there with him and tell him about my dress and hear his thoughts on how he wasn’t surprised because he knew I would end up with a big, fluffy dress. :). And then when we met during the ceremony, we just relaxed and enjoyed it. Seriously, it was perfect!” – Jackie
These two have incredible hearts! It always amazes me how I continue to have the sweetest, caring, laid back and humble clients again and again. Callie and Matt were absolutely no exception! Their day was incredibly beautiful; from the weather, to the decor, to their friends, families and guests, the day was full of love and so much support!
Twin Cedar Farms in Maryville, TN was such a beautiful backdrop for their September wedding! And Callie’s dress…I’m a little bit obsessed. 🙂
I also want to give a lovely hug and shout out to my amazing second shooter for this wedding! Jenn Brown with Jenn Brown Photo absolutely rocked and was 8 months preggo…She’s a champ!
Another reason why I LOVE Jackie. It poured…more accurately thunderstormed, the entire day of her wedding! August + rain + the south (read humidity) = miserable weather. But Jackie put a smile on and didn’t think twice about it! Photos were taken inside the Atrium at Cherokee Mills. I believe because of her amazing attitude, the clouds departed for their ceremony and it was held outside under a gorgeous tent backed with orange and pink streamers. Talk about karma! 😀
I absolutely LOVED going back and visiting this wedding! Jackie and Justin, I hope your first year of marriage is magical and I am waiting to hear when you guys are going to come visit us in SF!!! I see a Giants vs Braves game in our future! 😀