I'm excited because I just received an album in the mail and wanted to share. I'm always looking for new products to offer my customers, and this album is from a new album company that I've been wanting to try. Like other albums I offer, it's a digital album with the photos printed directly on the pages, and the cover has a photo that wraps around from front to back. What I really like about this album is that there isn't a gutter gap between the pages. When you open the book, the spreads lay flat, and the photo is printed across the crease in the center.

Because the bride, Mandy, helps run Butterfly Gap Retreat with her family, I'm giving them a copy of the album to show their clients at BGR. I'll also have a copy to show my prospective clients. Butterfly Gap is a gorgeous venue, perfect for a bridal or couple portrait session, and I designed the album to showcase photos of the couple. Here are the cover and a few of my favorite spreads:

Since this is my first year with a blog, weddings from past years have missed out on being featured. To rectify this, I want to go back and do postings for those couples in honor of their anniversaries.

Lindsay Anderson & Brian Ison had a 2005 destination wedding in Gatlinburg, TN. They rented a large cabin from Majestic Mountain Vacations so that they could have the ceremony and reception there. It was perfect for the intimate event they had planned, and the view was incredible. Fortunately, the sun came out and melted the snow that had fallen the day before or I'm not sure we could have made it up the hill to the cabin!

The view looking toward the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Gatlinburg.



Brian is in the U.S. Airforce so Lindsay wore a dog tag on her garter.

While planning my 2004 wedding, I looked at several venues in the area. Aesthetics are very important to me, and I knew that I wanted something picturesque and elegant. Initially I liked the idea of having a ceremony outside, but the stress of not having an indoor option for inclement weather turned me off at a few locations. Once I visited Whitestone Country Inn, I knew that I had found the perfect place.

Whitestone has a cute little gazebo area with a gorgeous view if you want to have an outdoor ceremony, but they also have a little chapel available. Since our wedding was in June, I was a bit worried about the temperatures outside and decided to use the chapel. A spring or fall wedding overlooking the lake would be beautiful though.

Not only are the grounds beautiful, but the buildings are all great inside and out. I stayed in a large room with my girlfriends the night before the wedding and then stayed in another nice suite on my wedding night. All of our family and friends were well taken care of and commented on how nice the venue was. The food was excellent, and the coordinator worked with me to accomodate all of my requests and to make the day run smoothly.

It was the perfect venue for us, and I am so glad that I found it. Here are a few snapshots:

The early morning view from my balcony:



Looking up the hill to the chapel and reception building:


The gazebo and heart-shaped courtyard located next to the chapel:


Not every venue will work for every wedding, and there are a few things to consider with this location. The ceremony areas and reception hall are not extremely large. The inn is located out in the country down some small, winding roads. This may present a problem for guests traveling home afterward. Due to the inclusive nature of the weekend wedding packages and the exclusivity of the venue, many budgets will not be able to afford this venue. However, if you fall in love with the location then you may be able to find other areas to cut back in or work with the venue on a weekday or off-season wedding.

I ran into an interesting report online today about how much people are spending on weddings. It sounds a little unbelievable, but anyone planning a wedding can attest to how fast everything adds up. I thought that those of you planning a wedding might want to see how your budget compares to that of the average American wedding couple.

The average American wedding in 2006 cost almost $27,000 with the average for weddings around Knoxville closer to $23,000. The following numbers are a general breakdown and should be adjusted for inflation since 2006.

Wedding attire (dress, tux, hair, makeup, veil, accessories) = $1,800-1,900
Wedding Ceremony (location, decorations, officiate, rehearsal dinner) = $1,800-2,300
Favors & Gifts (for parents, attendants, and guests) = $800-1,100
Flowers (bouquets, decorations/centerpieces, bouts, corsages) = $1,400-1,700
Jewelry (his & her rings) = $1,500-1,700
Music (ceremony & reception) = $700-900
Photography = $2,700-4,000
Reception (wedding night hotel, beverages, food, venue, rentals, cake) = $10,000-13,000
Stationery = $600-800
Transportation = $300-500
Engagement ring = $3,100
Honeymoon = $2,600

It all sounds very expensive, but it is possible to have the wedding you want and still stick to a budget if you prioritize. My husband and I paid for our wedding ourselves and had to find creative ways to keep the price down. By finding ways to cut back in some areas, we were able to spend our money on the things that were most important to us.

I booked the venue I wanted - Whitestone Country Inn. I picked the rings I wanted (after all, I do plan on wearing them every day). My husband Marcus wanted a sit-down dinner so that is what we had.

So which areas did I save money on? Luckily, I had a wonderful friend to do the photography. I found Hallmark invitations on sale, and we printed the inserts and STD magnets ourselves. I bought flowers and did the bouquets myself. We ordered his wedding band online. I made my own veil, tiara, and jewelry. The centerpieces were bought on sale at Target after Easter. We had a sit-down dinner but did not serve alcohol (would have been a bad idea since our guests had to drive home in the dark). We kept the guestlist small. We had live music for the ceremony but used CDs for the reception. We did not have a rehearsal dinner (our rehearsal was the morning of the wedding). We did not give out favors to the guests (from experience, I know that they aren't missed). The ceremony and reception were in one location so there were no transportation costs and no rental fees. Happily, Marcus's parents gave us some money as a gift to use toward the honeymoon, and I had enough frequent flyer miles to cover the plane tickets so we were able to go to Italy like I wanted.

Also, we did not hire a videographer. We did, however, have a friend shoot some video throughout the day and put together a little video montage for us. The first time I watched it, I cried, but now we can't help but laugh at ourselves when we see it.

We had an amazing, beautiful wedding. By deciding what's most important to you and what areas you can cut back on, you too can have the wedding you dream of.

Edited 2008: This thread has received some renewed interest lately. Unfortunately, I don't have up-to-date numbers so keep in mind that these figures are a couple years old now. My current clients usually spend between $3,500 and $5,000 on their total photography coverage. My clients appreciate good photography and consider it an important part of their budget so they are willing to pay for the time and skill necessary to create beautiful imagery. However, I am not in a high-end market. Those living in large cities or different parts of the country can expect to pay considerably more for comparable work.

I snapped photos of these two little girls at weddings last year. They loved having their picture taken.





Of course not all kids are as cooperative, and once in a while you just need to wait until nap time.


Regardless of which type of child you have, there's no better time to set up a photo session than right now.

To get more people to visit my new blog and to reward those who visit regularly, I'm going to start offering some random photography prizes. Today's prize is a free baby portrait session. The first person to email me and set up the appointment will receive a complimentary session in their home (or location of their choice) for their child and a free 8x10 print from the session.

Details: No purchase is necessary. The child must be under 1 year of age and cannot have been photographed by me before. The session location must be within Knoxville or Farragut and must take place on a weekday before March 15.


Also, there are only a few more days to take advantage of February's portrait special. All sessions booked within February and shot before March 31 will have the $125 session fee waived.