On Saturday, Marcus and I photographed the wedding of Emily and Clay. Their evening ceremony was held at Broad Street United Methodist Church. Emily and Clay wanted a lot of formal group photos so they did decide to have a private meeting and get most of those out of the way before the ceremony. The first meetings are always different. About half of the time couples just exchange hellos and are then ready to get down to business with the photos. The other half of the time, they're really emotional with the guys crying as often as the girls. Emily and Clay fit into the second group, and it was really touching to see how much they love each other.

After the ceremony, they had a petal toss exit before a horse-drawn carriage ride to their reception at the Old Woolen Mill. Both the church and mill are really unique, historic venues with lots of brickwork and high ceilings.

It was a special wedding in that Clay is the last child in his family to get married , and I photographed all three siblings - Clay, Ben, and Jenni. Also, I think that Ben and his wife Sarah hold the record for being at more of my weddings than anyone else. I've photographed Sarah as a bridesmaid once, a bride once, and a guest twice.

Emily had one of the most beautiful veils ever. It belonged to her mother, but it matched her dress perfectly. She also had really lovely bouquets and floral decorations. Her florist used deep reds characteristic of fall, but they incorporated some uncommon flowers into the mix to make things interesting. The Big Table also did an excellent job with the food. Anyone planning a wedding in the Chattanooga area should check them out, because it really was very good. Marcus tried the carved roast beef and stuffed mushrooms while I tried the jumbo shrimp cocktail and the pasta station. They also had an extensive cheese and fruit display by the bar on the outside patio.

A few photos to tide you over...

I was at Butterfly Gap yesterday for a wedding, and the owner reminded me that I was at the retreat for a wedding this same weekend last year. The weather was just as warm and beautiful last year for Kelley and Austin's outdoor ceremony as it was yesterday.

Austin's posse (guns included)







I know it can be uncomfortable to dance in front of everyone, but try not to talk too much during your first dances. Especially with couples turning, it can be impossible to catch a decent photo without someone having their mouth open talking. This photo of Kelley with her dad is a perfect example of the sweet moments you can have if you just relax and enjoy the dance.



The same little girl who decided to join Kelley and Austin on the dance floor later decided that she should be the DJ.

Melinda and Stephen are celebrating their second anniversary today. Their evening ceremony at Trinity United Methodist Church was followed by a reception at Link Hills Country Club in Greeneville.

Looking back through their photos, I noticed that their wedding cake had both chocolate and white layers. Especially if you aren't having a groom's cake, I think this is a great idea. At yesterday's wedding, the chocolate layer of the cake disappeared before I even had a chance to try it, and I was so disappointed.

Here are a few photos. They had the cutest little flower girls (and ring bearer)!

Happy belated anniversary to Matt and Amber who celebrated their first year of marraige last week. I'm behind on blogging so I decided to speed this one up by just posting their story from the current issue of the Premier Bride magazine. The wedding was held at Holston Hills Country Club.

If your screen resolution doesn't allow you to read the text then you can head over to the premier site or pick up a copy of the magazine.



I'm currently trying to design a new ad for the next issue of the magazine so I thought I'd go ahead and share some of my past ads. At first, I did half page ads. The photos in the first ad are from Butterfly Gap. The bottom photo in the second ad is from Riverwood.

            

This is the ad (featuring Amber and Lois) that I've been using for the past year.

Earlier this week, we saw a sneak preview of the new movie Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell. I'm an Office fan, but I didn't have high expectations for the movie. It was funny, but I was glad that we got in for free. At the screening, we received tickets for a private screening of Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show, a documentary about a cross-country comedy tour that Vince and Peter Billingsley put together to showcase some new comics.

We had fun. First they gave everyone a wristband which entitled you to a free bag of popcorn and a drink at the concessions stand. Once inside the theater, Vince gave a brief introduction and then sat in the crowd and watched the movie with us. The movie is funny although it's always more fun to see movies like that with a large crowd. Laughing is contagious, and it's more comfortable to laugh out loud when hundreds of others are doing the same. Afterward, Vince introduced a surprise guest... Peter Billingsley! The Christmas Story is one of my favorite holiday movies and one of the only movies I've ever liked enough to actually purchase and watch repeatedly. It was fun to see Ralphie all grown up. The two did a short Q&A before Vince did a quick exit out the back.

One of the funniest scenes of the night had to be the moment when Vince first got in front of the crowd. Everyone had their camera phones out trying to take pictures, and he said he felt like an ape at the zoo. It reminded me of the last time I visited Cades Cove, and we were stuck behind a guy trying to take pictures from a moving truck (with his phone) of a deer that was about 30 feet away in a dark forest. His deer pictures probably looked very similar to the pictures that everyone took of Vince in the dark theater tonight. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of Vince, but here are some photos I took of a "celebrity" who visited Knoxville about 5 years ago.