Mr. + Mrs. Turner//Southern Charm Wedding

Imagine taking a big piece of land near Macon, Georgia and creating an entire wedding venue from scratch.  And not just putting up some folding chairs and round tables but chandeliers, couches, monogrammed hand-dyed burlap, and real "church-like" doors for the bride to enter in through.  I have to say I don't even think these pictures will do it full justice because of what a beautiful occasion it was for Brad and Ginny Rae's wedding.  Thanks to the talented Molly McKinley of Chancey Charm weddings this day was filled with the most amazing details, and it really was incredible to see how a venue was created from the ground up.  The reception food was a dream come true for most southern guests with one buffet dedicated to starch foods like macaroni and cheese and cornbread, and a taco bar and soup bar with bags of Fritos.  And to top it off- an elegant wedding cake and a GREEN EGG groom's cake! This was the first I had ever seen, and anyone familiar with the Green Egg knows what a following that smoker has.  Ginny Rae and Brad might have had the most fun of any bride or groom in history at their reception, and it was so fun to photograph all the dance moves and happy faces.  I'm sure their wedding video is going to be amazing with the talent of Hampton Road Studios (check out their videography work here, including a little trailer for this lovely wedding).  I felt honored to be a part of this wedding!!

quick note about this next picture... Ginny Rae had seen a fun shot on Pinterest with the groomsmen jumping over the bridesmaids.  She really wanted to get that picture so I gathered the wedding party to attempt it.  BUT after consulting with the bridesmaids who were going to have to be on the ground with guys potentially falling on their head we decided to spread out a little and stagger everyone.  And then we did some practice rounds, which turned out to be pretty funny.  It really was just a big wedding party leap frog- and the bridesmaids kept saying, "Only Ginny Rae would want this!" and "This is how much we love Ginny Rae!"  The picture didn't turn out quite like the Pinterest one but nonetheless it made for a memorable wedding moment!!

This next picture maybe one of my favorite photo booth pictures ever.  The hat, the parrot, the hook... there is so much to love about this

and an epic bouquet catch caught on camera with my talented second shooter, Alyssa Alig!

Best wishes to Mr. + Mrs. Turner and thanks for asking me to photograph an INCREDIBLE wedding!

Mr. + Mrs. Smith//John's Creek Wedding

First of all I had to post the above picture of Caitlin because she is absolutely stunning.  I usually post pictures of super happy couples and people but I thought Caitlin looked like such a model bride that she had to make the cover page:)  Caitlin and Nic's wedding ceremony took place at Perimeter Church followed by an uber fun reception at the Payne-Corley House in Duluth.  The dancing at the reception was pretty exceptional, with wild dance moves from people of all ages! Caitlin and Nic are such a sweet couple, and Caitlin really had a regal bride look to her more so than I've ever seen before.  Oh and how cute are these shoes Caitlin wore?!

Caitlin and Nic both wrote letters to each other to read before the ceremony and their faces just showed how special the words were.  You can always tell a really heartfelt totally in love couple from these moments!

best moment- right after the couple walks out of the ceremony officially as husband and wife!!

My talented second shooter and dear friend Kathryn Kimmel spotted this potential 3rd photographer for the wedding... and he loves Canon:)

After Caitlin and Nic left for their honeymoon, I had some AMAZING bridesmaids' help with sparklers to spell out "Smith"... I should post the outtakes from our time trying to do this because it took lots of attempts-- I even tried it and did a horrible job! I'm pretty sure this one was Jules Ryan's artwork so LOTS of credit to her! Best wishes to Caitlin and Nic!!

Mr. + Mrs. Elder//state-line wedding beauty

So I've been really behind with blogging but I knew I had to post this wedding as soon as I got back to the blogosphere because of how beautiful it was! Justin and Lindsey have such a sweet story.  They began dating as teenagers and decided to get married in a civil court before Justin entered into military service, knowing that at some point they wanted to have a wedding celebration when the time was right.  So Lindsey and Justin planned this lovely day to celebrate with friends and family what was already true about them, but with an added bonus... Lindsey found out she was pregnant only a few months before the wedding day! So just a week before the wedding Justin and Lindsey found out they were going to be adding a new baby boy to their family.  I got to take pictures of them finding out if the gender of the baby and it was so so sweet!  Lindsey still looked AMAZING in her wedding dress even being 18 weeks pregnant and was such a trooper in the colder weather- smiling and happy for this celebration.

The wedding was held at High Point Farms, which is a family owned property near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  It is just minutes from the Georgia/Tennessee state line (technically located in North Georgia).  It is an amazing venue with so much charm.  The property has a great barn and one particular building that looks like it came straight out of Ireland with mountains for a backdrop and rolling green hills.  I LOVED it to say the least.

How awesome is this bottle wall? Way to go 'tina for taking this picture.  Love my photografriend Christina and thankful she could shoot this wedding with me.

thanks so much Lindsey and Justin for such a fun, laid back celebration!! and I can't wait to see the newest member of the Elder family in just a few short months:)