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Melissa was such a pleasure to work with and she was absolutely stunning!!!

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, even though it was a rainy one! Spent time with my kids and booked my daughter's photographer for her upcoming March Wedding! What a relief that is! We booked one of the best photographers in the area... David Wright! Truth is, I've been a huge follower of his work ever since I started studying photography....About thirteen years now!

Wanted to salute some of the fabulous Mothers we've worked with once again!!! We love you all....

We're so very fortunate to have worked with some very special Mothers in this AWESOME industry!

What does it mean to be a mother... I believe the best feeling in the world is the feeling of mothering! Your children starting at birth, rely and are nurtured by their mother. There's not a better feeling in the world knowing your child has accomplished a goal, has succeeded in high school and then college, taking the world into their hands in stride. All that time, we mother's are thinking, "I did my very best at raising my children and the pride is very much streaming through our veins!"

But mothering never ends... we are mothers' until we take our last breath and we love every minute of it... Through the good and the bad!
I give thanks to God everyday for my daughter (24) and my son (19)... I wouldn't know life without them... They are my life, my soul and my happiness!!!

Here are some beautiful Mother's we've had the pleasure of getting to know and work with!

Happy Mother's Day to these and others... brand new Mama's too!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a beautiful engagement shoot this was!
Introducing David and Kelsey... What a perfect couple they are! The session was April 18th at the Arrington Winery on an absolutely gorgeous afternoon! The grounds were lush green and the vineyards were thriving in blooms!  

David proposed to Kelsey at this beautiful location because it's one of their favorite places to go together. They dressed causal as they see each other everyday! The blues and purples were perfect for the location and setting... We recreated his proposal and it's one of the sweetest proposals I've seen in a while! Very well done David!!! 
We LOVED working with these two and looking forward to Kelsey's bridal session and their beautiful wedding day!

Getting close guys!!   

What a beautiful way to accentuate a wedding.....

Jars, flowers~ Flowers & Jars.....

Happy Monday everyone!! Another week has gotten away from us and April is about over....It's hard to say where the time goes.... But wherever it goes, it seems to go quickly! The wedding season is being kicked off with a boom....We had a beautiful engagement session at the Arrington Winery and a beautiful bridal session right here on the farm this past week.... We have another busy week coming up and several weddings in the very near future!

We love doing our on location sessions....Especially ones with a great story to tell! We enjoy seeing young love in their element and hearing their romantic stories...The Arrington Vineyard story was absolutely beautiful in it's own right (we'll give a preview shortly)! "A couple that's been dating for some time with romance concocted by her sweet man!"
To be continued....

Have a wonderful Monday!!!

We have a shoe obsession.... We LOVE a beautiful pair of wedding shoes!!!

Wedding songs... I saw this blog and had to share! It's so true that one of the most intimate times of your wedding day is your first dance as husband and wife... What a beautiful time shared with family and friends!

Well, the wedding season is here and in full swing! The weather's been absolutely gorgeous and we have a very busy spring and summer ahead!
The wedding business is like no other... Let see, I've been in the restaurant business... My husband's been in the construction industry for over thirty years... been an office manager/bookkeeper for many years... And last but not least... I'm a mother, which I think is the most meaningful and toughest job of them all!

Weddings.... this industry is the most interesting... Meeting and working with couples in love is the best work I've ever done! Building a working relationship with our couples is almost unexplainable! Some relationships we'll keep for many years to come... Watching families grow and expand with children is a wonderful feeling and the friendships we make are just amazing!

We're looking very forward to our upcoming Save the Dates, Engagements, Bridal sessions and our Weddings... We love and cherish each and every session and Wedding!

This beautiful pair was very creative in their "Save the Date" session!
We love it when our couples incorporate their ideas to their sessions!
One of our beautiful June Weddings upcoming!

This gorgeous couple had a beautiful late winter Engagement session...
Their wedding is May 5th, getting close!!!

This GORGEOUS Bridal session Portrait, a 24"x36" is hanging in her parents living room,
which I was personally invited to go see in their home and it's absolutely beautiful!

A September Wedding we'll always remember!!! Two medical professionals become as one...
A doctor with his beautiful RN!

Introducing David and Brandi's engagement shoot....
We had a wonderful session with David and Brandi on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at their venue. Their wedding venue is the Ring Farm in Columbia, TN.
Brandi wore a beautiful lace style dress and David blended very well with Brandi's dress with his casual khaki shorts and blue oxford shirt. Loved their matching shoe colors and ABSOLUTELY LOVED Brandi's cowgirl boots... We LOVE everything country!!! The Ring Farm property is so gorgeous with rolling hills and a river running through the property! Their ceremony will be held in a beautiful meadow by the riverside!

We left the Ring Farm and headed to the studio for studio work.... Brandi and David are going to have a house divided! We've seen this before and it's always fun to watch! We always love hearing the trash talk between love birds!!! :)

We had a little fun....Let me rephrase that...."We had a lot of fun in the studio!"

A huge thank you to David and Brandi and their family for allowing us to share and photograph their wonderful Wedding Day!!!!

How do you pick the best Wedding Photographer to fit your needs for your wedding day and family's needs?? Ask yourself.... What's important in pictures for you?... Are you wanting that classic wedding album?.... What style of photography do you LOVE?.... Do you want images on CD or just prints?... These are all very important questions when choosing your wedding photographer and I'm just hitting a few topic questions! You should thoroughly interview your wedding photographer...We've heard so many horror stories about wedding photography gone bad!

Here's a short "horror" story for you....
There was a friend a couple has that's a very successful wedding photographer. The photographer offered his services to the friend at a $500.00 fee for their wedding... The wedding day came and their photographer appeared to do a fabulous job. They went to view their wedding images and he proceeded to tell his friend he needed $5000.00 more for his wedding images! Of course, the couple told the photographer / friend that wasn't the deal we made. To this day, this particular couple have no wedding images to treasure and share with their family, plus they lost an old family friend! We've heard more family friend stories that just make me cringe!!! I don't understand how things like this happens, but it does... more than you know!!!

And that's just one story, folks... Please be aware of your choices! Do research, interview several different photographers (all professional photographers have different styles and prices) and you'll know in your gut who will work well with you and your family! Happy planning!

Well, as I've mentioned in past blogs...My daughter is getting married!
We're in the first stages of planning and I think we have come to a decision on the venue! Being on the other side of the spectrum in the wedding business is a whole other ball game! I'm a consumer and a mom, which is actually pretty interesting thus far!! We've selected this particular venue because of history, location... And it fits their theme "rustic and country style" to a tee! And yes...What can I say?...We're true southern people at heart! We love the south and what it represents...My sweet southern daughter wants a down home southern style wedding!
The venue is Lillie Belles... Lillie Belles is in the heart of Franklin! Dawn (my daughter) loves the house and all the attributes that goes with it! Her Dad and I went and toured the venue yesterday evening and we saw how she just lit up with excitement about this house! Her date is in Lillie Belles' calendar and the next step is to meet with the venue coordinator and planner. I'm actually quite happy she and her fiance' decided on Lillie Belles because of the all inclusive vendors they offer! We also may opt out of any vendor if needed, which is another great attribute about the venue!

We're all very excited about the upcoming nuptials....

The wonderful world of Weddings....The planning, the romance, the time we spend preparing for this day!! We had a family bridal shower to attend yesterday and saw family we haven't seen in a while!
The guest of honor was talking about her Brooch Bouquet....I was very intrigued! This morning I had to do a little research on Brooch Bouquets and it seems to be popular and awesomely unique! I absolutely love them!!

The bouquets are so beautiful and there are many designs to choose from or you can custom design your own! This is something you can keep or preserve as a family heirloom. Kristi (the honored guest at the bridal shower) sent out a letter to all the special women in her life to have them contribute a piece to her bouquet...What a beautiful idea for her and her family!!

Congratulations to Kristi and David on their upcoming nuptials!!!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend!

My husband and I attended an auction benefit for a sweet little baby girl who needs a kidney transplant this weekend! Sweet little Emma (you can make donations here) was part of one of our past Weddings...And I believe the benefit was a huge success!!!
We'll always have this entire family in our thoughts and prayers!!!

The wedding season is here and we're so excited on our upcoming spring and summer weddings...Engagement happenings and talking to new brides just about everyday!

We went to a beautiful on location engagement shoot yesterday and enjoyed every single minute...The bride and groom were relaxed and had a wonderful time! We'll blog about them in the very near future!

We are on your end of the spectrum as far as Wedding Planning is concerned...My daughter (my right arm) is getting married March of 2013! It's been almost twenty-eight years since I've planned a wedding! Wow...How things have changed!! But it's going to be a wonderful adventure...We've talked about going with a venue that's all inclusive, but my daughter said to me yesterday that she doesn't want to be left out of the planning process! I really can't much blame her there....But the all inclusive idea appealed to me very much... It's my sweet daughter's dream Wedding, so she wants to have all the say so....She's very much a planner and organizer and I should've expected no less than her wanting to hold the reins!!
Every moment she gets (which aren't too many), she's looking at venue's, photographer's...Yes, I said photographers because I'm going to be the mother of bride on my daughter's wedding day!!! But anyway, you get the point....She's looking at all vendors for her wedding....She's crunching numbers, making lists....The whole kit and kabootal!!! My husband and I are so excited and proud for her!!

We wake up in the morning and expect the day to be as it is everyday...A busy day...Then it makes a complete turn and you wonder...Is what we're doing in our lives the right way or the wrong way??
These days times are rushed...There's never enough time...There are never enough hours in a day...Unless something happens in your life to make you slow down for a little while...

This week, I've had to sit and think about why some really bad things happen to some...Is it the way we live our lives?...Is it the way we treat people?...Is it our faith? Who really knows these answers? There's no man that can answer these questions...I feel if we live our lives in a truthful and honorable way and have faith, that's all we can do... Raise our children to be the same way...Be loyal...Be faithful and consistent in each of our everyday lives...That's a good way to live! That's all I know to do...I don't believe man unless he shows me belief!

Marriage is a belief system...We stay with our companion...Believe, have longevitiy, children, then grand children...That's life! It's all about our relationships starting at birth with our parents. We learn, we're taught and hopefully we've listened! That's a huge key for me is listening...If we listen, we'll learn!

Marriage is learning from one another everyday of our lives...Your partner in life is very important through all... Thick and thin!

Another Pink Bridal Show happening tomorrow at the Embassy Suites in Franklin! This will be our last Bridal show until August...The Wedding season is coming up on us in a big way, and wow, it's going to be a busy year! We're looking to book a few more dates for the year and we'll be completely booked for the season!
If you're a 2013 bride...we're already booking dates for '13...so come on in for a visit and be ahead of your planning game, we have great show specials!!!

What a wonderful start to a wonderful year! Big plans and projects going on at the studio / farm....Hoping to finish up by mid Spring (weather permitting). There's going to be tons more to offer our couples once the transformation is finished! We will be so glad when that time is here...construction is always a nightmare and messy...But the outcome is always worth the trouble!

Looking forward to working with new Brides and their families this year! The Pink Bridal Show is going to be very informational and fun, so hope to see you there!
Ask about our show specials!!

I have to say that our Engagement Sessions are where we start building that relationship with our couples....Coming in to their engagements, they don't know us yet and aren't sure what to expect or how things will turn out! Once our couples work with us, get comfortable and get that feel of what to expect from their Wedding Photographer...it's smooth sailing from there!!

This is a couple we met during the Murfreesboro bridal show and what a GORGEOUS May Wedding it will be!

It was a beautiful warm winter day at the farm / studio! Steven and Melissa dressed beautifully for the day...The first outfit was causal dress and it suited their personality to a tee! The second outfit was well planned business attire...We surprised them a little by taking them out on the farm, but the images turned out fabulous as you can see! A little different from the normal business attire stroll, but they really seemed to have a great time and the weather was absolutely perfect for the day!

We finished up the day with a soft black background where Melissa and Steven rocked their very casual attire.
They're a pleasure to work with and we're looking forward to their May Wedding!
Y'all were absolutely AWESOME!!!!

We had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful Engagement/Dinner party for one of our couples who are planning to be married in February of '13. What a beautiful and wonderful couple they are....They seem perfect for each other!

The Engagement/Dinner party was held at Chappy's in Nashville on a Friday night....

Their theme was LOVE...Which was perfect because it was around Valentine's Day!

The beautiful bride to be with her Dad....

The Party and beautiful details done by Wedding coordinator Tanza @ Lily's Fomal Wear of Nashville....

Their guests....


His proposal....

I think she showed her engagement ring to everybody in the room....

Ms. Tanza going over details with the bride to be...She looks very pleased!

Kori and Bambi....

Very nice capture of Kori...He wasn't fond of the camera!

Mom and Dad seem very proud! :)

What colors are appropriate for a Spring Wedding?

This question was asked during a conversation my daughter and I had last night....She and her fiance' are getting hitched March of 2013. They really wanted a fall wedding but in order to plan the way they have to plan, this fall wasn't feasible...So they are planning for early Spring of next year.
The way Wedding planning is these days, it seems to me most couples do what they want...They plan by their standards and not necessarily by traditional values! My daughter really LOVES fall colors over spring colors! I said to her.... "Use whatever colors you want....It's your Wedding!!!" Traditional  etiquette is out the window...We've been doing Weddings a while now and every Wedding is so different! As much money and time that you spend on planning your Wedding, you should be 100% satisfied with every little aspect of the day!  It's your day....And it's your memories that you and your future spouse are creating....These memories are going to be documented in an album that you will have for the rest of your lives together....You want to love these memories 20 years from now as much as you do on that special day....Enjoy this time.....Make it yours....

I've seen black in June....Pinks in September....Lavender in September....One of our couples had the colors of the rainbow as their theme and it was beautiful...Does anyone really look at the colors that you're using at your Wedding? Most weddings I've attended are more focused on the bride and groom....And not so much on the little intricate parts of their wedding...but that's just me!

Please, we would LOVE to see comments on this subject...We need feedback desperately!!!!

What a beautiful and colorful Wedding this was!

Who's going to be your Valentine?
My husband and I have been married for twenty-seven years.... So you can take a wild guess who will be mine....

Where will you take your Valentine? Will it be a little romance brought home?...Maybe a simple rose and a card or even a dozen roses (or favorite flower) and a card? Will you tell your Valentine how important they are to your everyday living or will you show them?
There's tons to do with your Valentine in our beautiful Tennessee state! OMW...Shall I make a list? How about a weekend trip to one of our beautiful state parks for a picnic or a hike...How about going to an area winery for a glass of wine and some great conversation...How about going to Historic Downtown Franklin or Nashville to walk the city and hold hands! That's just a few very romantic suggestions from the top of my head that I love...I'm a huge romantic from the heart! I guess that's why I love the Wedding industry so much! I love watching the romance in a couples eyes when they're together holding hands....And I absolutely LOVE seeing all the engagement rings and the stories behind the proposals...Some are fascinating!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!!!

Congrats to my daughter and my future son-in-law...A proposal was my daughter's Valentine's surprise Saturday evening in Centennial Park where they had their first date! So romantic!!!