Anne & Jonathan were married at one of my favorite venues, Butterfly Gap Retreat, last year. Anne and the girls got ready in one of the guest houses. Unfortunately, a bit of rain prevented the outdoor ceremony that they had planned, but the couple didn't let it spoil the day. They are both very happy, fun-loving people, and the ceremony was lovely anyway because BGR has an indoor location overlooking the lake. The rain stopped, leaving a light mist hovering over the water. Everything was bathed in a beautiful, blue light which went well with the wedding's color scheme. The bridesmaids wore different shades of blue and carried blue hydrangea bouquets. One of the bridesmaids performed a song during the ceremony, and Anne's brother performed his own song for the couple during the reception.

Marcus and I spent the weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a great couple. On Saturday Crystal & Matt were married beside a mountain stream in Elkmont. Crystal's daughter Billie dropped petals along the forest path that led Crystal to her waiting groom.

It's rare to find a groom that is as excited and interested in the wedding as the bride, but Matt wanted their wedding day to be perfect. From the way he had decorated their hotel suite and picked out the perfect gifts for Crystal, it was obvious that he had put a lot of time and love into the details and preparation.

On Sunday morning, we woke up early and drove to Cades Cove for a sunrise photo shoot. It was a beautiful morning, and even with very little sleep Crystal was just as gorgeous as the day before. With such a wonderful couple in such a perfect setting, I have a lot of favorite photos from the weekend. I'll try to post more from the actual wedding once I start processing the photos, but for now here are some of my favorite portraits.

Last year Allison Isbell and Kevin Gaddis were married at Church Street United Methodist Church in downtown Knoxville. The church and weather were beautiful, and we got some great photos of the bride and couple in the courtyard and around the church. After the ceremony, the wedding party rode a trolley to the reception at Southern Graces Bistro where everyone let loose and enjoyed the evening with dancing, drinking, and laughing. The DJ was provided by Special Notes who I recommend for wedding music.

Allison's sapphire engagement ring was beautiful (sapphire is my birthstone, and I have a couple on my e-ring as well).









At many weddings, the guys are reluctant to catch the garter, but these guys were practically fighting for it. Unfortunately, the chandelier caught it before they could.




I'm photographing the wedding of Allison's sister Sarah in October and can't wait to see everyone again.

On Wednesday, I drove out to Deerfield Resort on Norris Lake to photograph a family reunion. Anyone in the area this week knows how very hot it has been so we did photos outdoors and indoors at one of the lakeside houses that they had rented for the week. It was a large group with lots of happy children of all ages.

The first set of twins, Nicholas & Caitlin.


Fiver-year-old Sarah. Tracy & her daughter Ella.



Second set of twins, three-year-olds Erin & Kelsey.



and one of the two together


... and Hannah who started out being very shy but turned into a little model



The last photo is a HUGE moth that was hanging on their rental house. It was just too pretty not to be included in the photos. ETA: I did a little research and discovered that this is a Luna moth.

On a sunny August day in 2005, Alicia Sawatsky married Brent Altum on top of a mountain near Gatlinburg. The bridal preparations took place in a nearby cabin that was included in the venue's wedding package. Alicia's family traveled in from as far away as Canada to share in the special day. After the outdoor ceremony, the couple released doves and then retreated into the enclosed pavilion for dinner, toasts, a bit of dancing, and of course cake.











A tip on destination weddings in Gatlinburg:

There are many small venues in Gatlinburg that specialize in destination weddings. These places can be an excellent choice for couples who want a small wedding, and they often have various packages to fit different budgets. However, these venues usually do perform many, many more weddings than venues in other cities, and couples often have less say in how their day will play out. The main problem that I have seen is that venue employees will agree to special requests by phone or email and then the people there on the wedding day know nothing about it and can't allow the changes.

If you are planning such a wedding, absolutely get everything in writing, and take it with you to the wedding. Learn who will be there on your wedding day and only deal directly with them. The day before (or at least as early on the wedding day as possible), get together with the person to go over your plans for the day and reiterate any special requests that you have made. Alicia and Brent did have a problem with their venue early on their wedding day, but they were able to speak with the owner and straighten things out because they were well prepared.

Many of the venues will not allow outside photographers, and many will not even allow guests to take photographs. They will even separate the guests from the wedding party and couple during the photographs. I once witnessed an employee yell at the groom's mother for trying to take photographs. She then stood in front of everyone to keep them away from the couple and to block photos.

However, you may be able to work out a deal with the venue in which you either pay an additional fee or pay for their photography service and then just don't use it. This is an example of a special request that you would want to have in writing.