We would love to invite everyone to the upcoming open house evenings at StudioWed. The next event on, August 10, features photography. If you are looking for a wedding photographer this is the night to come. Whitney and I will be there along with the four other photography members of StudioWed. We hope to see you!

Leanna and Daniel are getting married! We always love when we get to work with other creative-types. Leanna is a graphic designer. What I love about getting to photograph other artists, is that they appreciate the photographs on a different level. It’s not that artists like the images any more, it just that the things they like are different than the things other people like. So, it’s fun to see how they react to seeing their photographs. All of you artists out there who are reading this post, what is it that you like about these images:

As we all know, Nashville is a melting pot of people from all over the country and the world. It is rare for me to meet someone that was actually born and raised here. So for many of you, that are not from Nashville but are getting married here, you will have a lot of family and friends coming from out of town. And if you are like me, I know when I have family come in from out of town I want to show them the great local restaurants and attractions that this city has to offer.

I am big into supporting our local businesses and restaurants this year, and that love has grown even stronger for me since the flood. That is why this week I put together a list of some local “goodies” that you could use in your gift bags for out of town guests, as bridesmaids gifts or even as guest favors at your wedding.

Just to preface this list, I am known in the office as being a “foodie”, so yes this list does consist of a lot of food and yummy treats.

1. Wine from Arrington Vineyard.

If you have not been out to Arrington Vineyard yet I really encourage you to go as a date night or with some friends. The grounds are beautiful, and the wine tastings are free. You can then purchase a bottle and enjoy a picnic out on the hillside over looking the vineyard.

2. Olive & Sinclair Chocolates

According to the Olive & Sinclair Chocolates website: “Scott Witherow, founder and maker of Olive & Sinclair Chocolates has been celebrated as one of Nashville’s up and coming gourmet superstars. His chocolate is slow roasted and stone ground in small batches using select single origin beans combined with pure brown sugar for a smooth and robust flavor that is unique to southern artisan chocolate.” While I have not personally had their chocolate I have seen it in a lot of stores and it looks delicious. They can also do custom labeled chocolate bars for your wedding.

3. Note Cards from Anderson Design Group

These note cards from Anderson Design Group are a great way to share some locally famous places with your guests. And when your guests use them they will be reminded of the great time that they had at your wedding.

4. Jewelry from Bijougirldesigns and Route Thirteen

This is more of a gift idea for your bridesmaids, but I am in love with Amanda Conley (bijougirldesigns) and Sarah Tams (Route Thirteen) designs. They are so simple and really fun.

5. Coffee from Davis Cookware in Hillsboro Village

Even though I don’t have a picture to go with this entry I had to include it on the list. The owners of Davis Cookware roast and grind their own beans. And let me tell you it is one killer cup o’joe. If your friends are coffee drinkers they will definitely thank you for including this in their bag.

I realize that this list does not even begin to cover everything, but hopefully it is able to offer some ideas that had not been thought of before.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

Liz and Jamie like music, so we took them down to one of their favorite Nashville concert halls.

Liz and Jamie like to read, but sometimes they have different tastes.

Liz and Jamie like Pizza. The top right image in this series is my personal favorite. It makes me laugh pretty hard whenever I look at it.If it was named like a fine art piece I would call it “The Romantic Deep Dish” or “Sexy Pie”.

More music influence to this above photo.

Congrats Liz and Jamie!

I pulled 24 ticks off of my body after this engagement session, Whitney had 17, but it was totally worth it. Danielle & Cade made this session a very personal expression of their relationship. This couple met when they had box seats next to each other at the Kentucky Derby. So, horses and big hats were a must for their photographs.

Danielle is a city girl from New York and Cade is a country boy from Texas. We can’t wait to see the mixture of guests they have at their wedding.

Thanks guys for putting up with the tick infestation. We had a lot of fun and can’t wait for your wedding day!

Thank you everyone who has booked Dove Wedding Photography! For over three years now Dove Wedding Photography has been donating a portion of our wedding bookings to Invisible Children, an organization fighting to end a war in Uganda that has enslaved children as soldiers. The above video shows the outcome of a bunch of small voices combining to become one large voice. We are proud to be a part of this.

I wanted to link to a blog post we made from last year’s Invisible Children event titled: The Rescue. While looking for it I realized we never posted the blog. So, here it is:

A large group, made up primarily of college and high school students, met in Centennial Park: a location titled “Abduction Point.” The location symbolized children being abducted from their homes and marched long miles to the Lord’s Resistance Army’s Base Camp. This evening the location was Bicentennial Mall.

As a peaceful demonstration students from across Tennessee walked single file through the streets of Nashville.

This is me leading the youth group from The Village Chapel.

Upon arriving at Bicentennial Mall, the plan was to wait until we were rescued by fulfilling three things:
1) Having the news media show up.
2) Having two or more political figures or celebrities show up.
3) Raising an assigned amount of money.
Fortunately for the Nashville crew, all three happened before night fell.

Upon arriving at the park, we hung photographs of ourselves with our family. Circling images of ourselves symbolized the family that we left behind during the abduction. Here is a family portrait of Whitney’s family at our wedding.

During our wait, we wrote letters to our senators and created art projects. Here is Whitney and our friend Emma making a poster.

Even though we were “rescued” we still decided to spend the night in a downtown parking lot…

…However, that ended when a few drunk club-hoppers decided to get into a fight and the cops showed up. As exciting as it was Whitney and I decided drunk guys, cops and youth groups are not the best mix. So, we rolled up our mats and called for a ride back to the church.

Wow! It get’s hard to narrow down your favorite photographs to a wedding that was so much fun. Kim & Rashad are the nicest, most friendly, couple you will ever meet. Whenever I’m around them, I instantly feel like I’m around old friends. They came in a couple weeks ago to view their wedding images with Rashad’s parents and we spent the evening laughing! It’s people like this that make our jobs the greatest.

This was was easily the largest party of groom’s-men I have ever photographed. Everyone is not even showing up in this photograph. I think Rashad had around 15 guys who filled the roll of groom’s-men, ushers, ring-bearer and fathers.

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A few of the flower girls experienced a long day and it was hitting them already by the ceremony.

If you know me, you know I love my Chucks apparently Kim does as well. Yet another reason to love this two people.

Here are a few of the details from the amazing day. Thanks to A Delightful Day Event Planning for of course being wonderful, Maples Wedding Cake for a gorgeous cake, Rhonda Patton for her stunning florals, Hutton Hotel for their beautiful facility, Sweet Life Designs for the lovely paper goods, & McNeal Wedding Films for being a joy to work with.

We are so excited to be participating this weekend with Photos for the Flood! Sarah Gilliam has graciously and creatively set up this fund raiser to help victims of the fund. Both Erin and I will be participating as well as many other photographers in the Nashville area. Here is the description from Sarah:

After the flooding in our wonderful state, I’m sure many of you want to help those affected by flood. Maybe you have already, or are unable to roll up your sleeves or you were affected, too.

Please join me, my favorite ice cream shop- Pied Piper Creamery and my fellow photographer friends in a benefit for the victims of the flooding.

The sessions are 20 minutes (booked every 30 min) from 9 AM- 5 PM on Saturday and from 10 AM-6 PM on Sunday.
100% of the proceeds will go to the Nashville Area Red Cross and Hands On Nashville.

There are NO rules for this shoot- take advantage of the talent, folks- this could easily be your engagement photo, 1 year pictures, updated family photo, senior picture, pet portrait… Just know that you have 20 minutes.

Bring some props, bring a friend, bring a giving attitude!!!

Pied Piper Creamery will be donating 25% of their profits from this weekend to these organizations as well. So grab a homemade waffle cone and a homemade icecream for the road, for bribery, whatever

Here are a list of the incredible talents donating their time:

Abby Gray
www.abbygrayphotography.com

Amber Vongsamphanh
www.lotusblossomphotography.net

Andrea Behrends
www.andreabehrends.com

Jessica Winn
www.jessicawinn.net

Kate Crafton
www.katecrafton.com

Kristen England
www.kenglandphotography.com

Melanie McLellan
www.mclellanstyle.com

Sara Rose
www.saraerosephotography.com

Shea Halliburton
www.byshea.com/blog

Kristin & Eric are one of the most fun couples we have photographed. This was the perfect wedding to start the 2010 wedding season. I knew I would love these two when Eric tried to negotiate a deal that involved paying for their wedding photography with Star Wars toys.

We had so much fun goofing around with little props like Eric’s monocle and a little army man that came with a Transformers action figure Kristin had recently given him. Of course Kristin presented Eric his wedding gift in a sweet Optimus Prime gift bag.

After getting ready at Union Station Hotel, we had a quick bite to eat, spent a little time photographing around the hotel and then moved to the ceremony location,the elegant Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville, for a little more photography.

The night ended in downtown Nashville with the sweet sounds of the 80’s cover band Max Headroom at the newly renamed Patron Platinum Club.What a great couple! We wish yall did not have to live out of town. Thanks for making the night so much fun!