Erwin is a little town in the middle of the Cherokee National Forest near the North Carolina border. I had never been there before, but I enjoyed the drive last weekend as we made our way to Shallow Ford Baptist Church for Afia and Paul's wedding. After the ceremony, everyone headed over to Johnson City for a reception at the Holiday Inn.

Afia and Paul have a couple session planned with me, and I am really looking forward to seeing them again. Since I will be sharing photos of them later, I decided to do something different with this post and am just focusing on one little part of the wedding day.

Weddings are about many things, from the dress and cake to the actual ceremony, but one very emotional and important aspect is the relationships. Family and friends were a very important part of this wedding day. Even though the members are scattered in different states and continents, it was obvious that these are very close, loving families. Many guests came out to support and celebrate with the couple, and they were all so very nice. As a wedding photographer, it is important to document the special little moments between people, and here are a few from Afia and Paul's wedding.









A creative (and pretty) wedding idea to copy:
Although many modern brides are skipping favors in order to save money, if you ARE going to give your guests a gift then edible options are always popular. This wedding used the tulle-wrapped favors as part of the table decorations with several different variations. The tall centerpieces had the favors tied to branches while others had them placed around the bottom of a flower arrangement or inside a fish bowl vase with a pillar candle.

The Magnolia Manor is only a few miles from my house, but you really feel like you are out in the countryside when you are there. It's also one of the few venues offering an outside ceremony site with abundant natural shade. This may not be on everyone's list of criteria when choosing a venue, but when you have a hot, sunny wedding day like that of Molly and Matthew, then shade is very important.

As a Southern Greek Revivial Home, Magnolia Manor has wide porches that offered a nice spot for Molly and Matt to share a moment together early in the day. I don't know how he resisted peeking, but Matt kept his eyes forward to avoid seeing her before the ceremony.



I enjoy garden ceremonies like this that allow the guests (and my camera) to be close and really share in the ceremony with the couple.



These two are so perfect together, and the love and happiness were overflowing right after the ceremony.





Instead of tossing petals, the guests tossed whole flower heads as the couple exited to Matt's convertible and shared a kiss.




An idea to copy:
I always love when the men in the wedding party wear lighter suits instead of black tuxes. It looks great for outdoor ceremonies, and it especially smart when the weather is warm.

Marcus, Hayden, and I flew over to Sweden last month for Sara and Dan's wedding in Luleå. It's always fun to visit Marcus's family, but it was especially neat to be back in Luleå. That's where Marcus was living and going to school when I first visited him back in 1998, and I later spent a semester there as well. One of my favorite places to visit in Luleå is the little church village (which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site) so I was super excited when Sara told me that she would be getting married in the medieval stone church there.

Swedish weddings are a bit different from what I'm used to (mainly the reception which consists of a very long meal with lots of speeches), and it was an exciting day. Dan and Sara are so great together, and we are really happy to have him in the family now.

It's tough to do engagement photos when your photographer lives on another continent, but we did manage to fit in a few on the morning after the wedding.



In Sweden, couples typically walk down the aisle together, and they don't have our tradition where the groom avoids seeing the bride before the ceremony. I'm glad that Sara and Dan decided to do a special "first meeting" though.





Sara fits the Swedish stereotype. She's thin, blonde, and beautiful. Her hair was gorgeous too.







Opposite from here in the states, Swedish brides get a basic engagement band and a nicer ring on the wedding day. Dan was showing off the bling in the middle of the ceremony.



Rice tosses are still popular in Sweden. There were several weddings that day, and the steps to the church were almost hazardous from all the rice that had already been thrown. It is fun and does look cool, but (before any American brides get any ideas) Sara had a lot of rice stuck in her hair and down her dress for the rest of the day.





The weather was actually warm compared to the week before the wedding, but it did threaten to rain on us all afternoon. Besides the obvious reasons that you don't want rain on the wedding day, I was a bit worried because of the ride that we were taking to the reception - a helicopter (my first time in one). I do hate heights, but I don't mind flying so I was excited but nervous. The view along the way was really cool though.





The guests were waiting outside the reception hall and expected the couple to arrive in the convertible car that they had left the church in. Sara and Dan's parents didn't even know about the helicopter until they saw (and heard) us circling around overhead.





And for those brides who are afraid that something will go wrong on the wedding day, let me assure you that something almost always does, but it is never as bad as you'd imagine. At this wedding, the power went off in the reception hall. While it didn't present a big problem in terms of lighting since it stays light all night this time of year, it did prove challenging for those preparing the food. The staff lit up some grills outside and eventually served a very delicious meal.

Marcus is often my second shooter, but he was busy tending to Hayden. Special thanks to Petra Hall for helping me photograph the wedding!

Kristy and Kegan are currently living in on a military base in Germany, but they were able to come back to Tennessee for a wedding at Dara's Garden this past weekend. The roses are in bloom at Dara's, and we had beautiful, clear skies for their outdoor ceremony. Kristy and Kegan are so in love, and the day was very emotional for everyone.

Kristy may be surprised to see this, but her dress took a little trip outside while we waited on her and the girls to arrive.



Kristy and Kegan chose to have a private meeting in the gardens and spent a few moments together laughing, hugging, kissing, and crying.



Lisa Foster did a great job designing the flowers, and the girls wore canary yellow dresses. Everything was light and summery - perfect for a garden wedding.







The couple entered their tented reception through an arch of sabers where Kristy was ceremoniously spanked with a saber and welcomed into the army.





I've seen a lot of touching father/daughter dances, but this one was very special. The DJ (who did a fantastic job all night) used a full-length-version of Butterfly Kisses, and I know that at least some of the guests were crying through the whole song.

Part of what made this wedding so wonderful is that the couple and guests were really able to just relax,  enjoy themselves, and be "in the moment".









Want to guess who went home with the bouquet?





Special thanks to some of the other vendors that helped make Kristy and Kegan's wedding day so memorable:
Dara at Dara's Garden
Bob Kerr at Hightech Video
Peggy Love at Plan it with Love
Salon Visage on Market Square
Drew Holloway with Ogle Entertainment

I was SO glad that it didn't rain until late on Saturday so that Melissa and Ross could have their ceremony outdoors at Whitestone Country Inn in Kingston. They exchanged vows in front of the gazebo overlooking Watts Bar Lake and then moved indoors for a sit-down dinner and dancing. As always, the wedding director Deneise was great to work with, and the food was delicious. It was a perfect beginning for a very sweet couple.

I hope to post more photos later, but they're returning from their Caribbean honeymoon soon so here's a sneak peek - one candid shot from their first dance and my favorite photo from their couple time together.