WOW! Joni and Chip had an INCREDIBLE detail-packed wedding celebration! We couldn’t even begin to talk about all the wonderful minute little details that they thought to make part of their wedding day. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that both of them are just a *tad* creative — Chip is the co-owner and primary designer for HybrID, and Joni is an industrial designer working for Goody. So they were more that qualified to do crazy stuff like…

-renovate Joni’s father’s tractor hanger in Ellaville, GA to create a wedding chapel/reception venue
-use cotton blossoms as boutonnieres
-create their own pattern for a custom line of ties, bow-ties, and sashes, designed and manufactured just for their wedding party and guests

…really, the list goes on and on. So instead of boring you with written details, we’ll share PHOTOS!

**You can check out their slideshow by clicking here, or scroll down to see just a handful of our favorite photographs — and the stories behind them!

A big thanks goes out to Marc Climie for referring Joni and Chip to us — we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect November 3rd couple!

Joni and Chip had a gorgeous sign screen-printed and posted at the end of the drive for Harrison property. It was so cool to drive up and see the old John Deer tractor with their custom wedding sign in the trailer hitch!

Joni was absolutely the smiling-ist person we’ve ever met! (Of COURSE “smiling-ist” is a real word!) She just lit up when she got her dress on for the first time…

Dan gave Chip antlers… Heeheehee…

Joni’s aunt and uncle draped a tarp in a trailer, and the entire wedding party (plus photographers and videographers) rode all around Ellaville in John Deer style!

Joni and Chip chose to see one another before their ceremony. Not only was it really great to be there as they saw one another “all dressed up” for the very first time, but it was also wonderful to have plenty of time — and daylight! — in which to create portraits of the two of them!

…the whole wedding party! Because we weren’t rushed for time before the ceremony, we were able to create quick portraits of all the bridesmaids and groomsmen!

Nothing is as nice as the chance to make family portraits in an informal environment. Church alters are great and all, but sunny fields are oh-so-fabulous!

The last portrait of Joni and Chip… and perhaps our favorite.

It was dark by the time the ceremony got underway, but we threw up a couple of lights and captured the ceremony anyway! They hung old windows from the back of the pavilion, an we really loved the view through the back of the “church”.

You’ll have to see the slideshow for some of the great First Dance photos! We skipped straight to the dance between Joni and her dad, and Chip and his mom…

This was a favorite from the end of the reception… all the guests gathered around while the newlyweds danced a last dance.

Kudos to videography team Sanctified Crack Gorilla for being so amazingly easy to work!

This photo cracks me up every time I see it. Girl-In-Black is demonstrating her bouquet-catching move, while Girl-In-Turquoise has already caught the bouquet and is running in for a hug with Joni!

THANK YOU, Joni and Chip, for sharing your celebration with you! You guys are an amazing couple, and we can’t wait to see what the years have in store for you!

We were totally prepared to freeze our butts off at Lisa and Jason’s wedding, but the weather was GORGEOUS! YAY!

We started the day with Lisa and Jason at the Emory Conference Center, which sounds like a pretty bland place, right? But honestly, it felt like we were at a lodge in the mountains somewhere! Nestled into a rather secluded part of the Emory campus, this hotel/conference center has some gorgeous landscaping, and is connected by a long bridge that arches over the road to Houston Mill House, where the wedding took place. Pretty nifty, huh?

Houston Mill was the perfect spot for Lisa and Jason’s “vintage harvest” wedding (with just a touch of superhero added). The grounds are stunning, and the staff kept everything running smoothly. Another wedding had wrapped up only an hour before Lisa and Jason’s crew arrived, and they completely transformed the house in only about 45 minutes!

The transformation was certainly due in large part to the amazing floral design by Joanne Webster, Lisa’s friend who create THE most gorgeous fall floral arrangements. (I hear she does it all out of her basement! We’re all about that kind of commute!).

So wanna see photos?

**Check out the slideshow here, or scroll down to see a handful of our favorite shots from the day!

Boys, boys, boys… didn’t your mothers tell you to make your beds? (That’s Jason on the phone — probably chatting it up with his bride-to-be!)

Lisa is SUCH a wonderfully expressive person; she was a blast to photograph! She bought her bridesmaids these beautiful hand-crafted cigar boxes that had been converted into mini “purses”. The girls had a cute way to store their “necessities” without lugging around their whole purse.

Jason bought Lisa this iPod with their anniversary engraved on the back, along with the message, “Hey love.” Aww…

So, Lisa and Jason are both creative geniuses, and Lisa is especially gifted when it comes to drawing and visual arts. She created all the incredible graphics used at their wedding, including the covers and labels for these CDs that they gave to their guests!

Their rings are laying on the cover of the comic-book-style program that Lisa created for their ceremony. See the full cover in the slideshow

This is Jason with his son Kalin… this kid is gonna be a heartbreaker, for sure!

The emotion in their faces in the right photo is just so beautiful. What a great match…

So… the groom’s cake… let’s talk about that… When we first got to Houston Mill, we actually overheard a staff member tell Lisa that the cake “made her want to vomit”. Lisa then laughed, clapped her hands, and literally jumped up and down with glee. For Lisa and Jason, it seems it would have been a travesty to NOT have a gruesome zombie-hand-popping-out-of-a-grave cake at their wedding. AWESOME.

The party was kicked into high gear by Sound Decision; Darrell Osborne was seriously one of the NICEST deejays we’ve ever worked with. (This is just TOO funny.)

Lisa was wearing a Batman garter. We’re PRETTY sure Jason thought it was hot stuff.

One of the last shots of the evening… Lisa and Jason escaped back to their hotel over the bridge!

Congratulations, you guys! We had such a great time working with you both!

*Achievement unlocked.*

;)

Anne and I just wanted to give an update on what we’re doing behind this scenes here, because we’re really excited about going into this 2008 wedding season.

First off, Collections are back! We’ve worked really hard to re-arrange our pricing and structure so that folks end up with more for their money. We really think we have some fantastic coverage and product options available, and now it’s really easy to bundle it all together so that you come away with exactly what you want. As always, our main thrust is providing you with your Digital Negatives and that will continue with the new Collections. Existing clients whose weddings we haven’t completed yet will have an opportunity to take advantage of the new stuff too – more on that soon.

Second, we’ve introduced some new Books and Albums from some really great vendors. We spent a lot of time researching and trying out tons of different companies, and after exhausting every resource, we really feel like our current products are truly the best we’ve ever offered. There are now a full-range of choices including flush-mount albums, matted albums, coffee table books, and our brand new Look Books. (A Look Book is just our name for a proof book, but we really love these things, with their cloth covers and superior binding quality, they make a fantastic way for you to quickly browse through your hundreds of images — or thousands if you’re Lauren & Mike). Look Books are included with every new Collection.

So, to sum it all up, we’re really excited about the new things we’re doing for 2008, and we hope you guys like what we’re doing too. Be sure to head on over to our main site and check this stuff out. We can’t wait to fill these new products with the amazing images from all of your weddings!

Just a reminder:

We will be CLOSED from December 2nd through January 6th.
We will reopen for regular business on Monday, January 7th.

The holiday deadline for print orders is December 1st!
Orders received after December 1st will not be processed until we reopen after the New Year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Both coming and going, the drive to Jessi and Brad’s wedding in Kingsport, Tennessee, was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The east Tennessee mountains were just stunning. It was an incredibly relaxing weekend for us, and SO much fun to share Saturday with such an awesome couple!

Check out their slideshow here, or read on to learn more about their celebration and see a handful of our favorite photos!

A huge thanks to the folks who gave us so much beauty to photograph, and were so very easy to work with:
Ceremony: First Baptist Church Kingsport
Reception: Allandale Mansion
Video: JC/DV
Flowers: Flowers By Copper Creek
Food: Main Street Catering

Dan started the day at Brad’s family’s house in Kingsport. I love this photo of Brad helping his mom with her necklace.

Brad and his groomsmen got ready quickly and took Dan into downtown Kingsport for some great photographs of the guys! (So few guys want to spend any real time on photos, so this was a pretty cool change of pace!)

Meanwhile, Anne got to see Jessi’s dress for the first time — a dress that this beautiful bride MADE HERSELF. Yes, this incredible gown was handmade by Jessi. WOW. We were so stunned to see it for the first time and realize that, contrary to what one may expect, it was NOT some sweet, simple sundress, but a full-on wedding gown with 60 yards of silk. AMAZING. Now please pardon the over-abundance of subsequent dress photographs…

Jessi’s sister helping her walk down the stairs through the church… I love the way Jessi’s arm trails behind on the railing.

Brad sees his bride for the first time!

Now more shameless photos of Jessi in her dress — oh, yeah, and Brad. *grin* Honestly, the sun was beautiful, and we really had a blast creating portraits with these two. It was SO hard to narrow down which ones to share here!

Now for the reception… AWESOME decor! The whole setup was just so beautifully done, and so “THEM”, if that makes any sense. From the toile table runners to the pumpkins to the multi-colored lanterns, every details felt so right, so warm, and so very Jessi-and-Brad.

This may have been the most expressive best man speech ever. This guy cracked us up.

Before the wedding, Jessi’s garter wouldn’t stay on, so she tucked it into the front of her dress. When Brad went to remove it at the reception, he (needless to say) was having a VERY hard time finding it! He literally fell backwards laughing when Jessi pulled the garter out of her cleavage!

Thank you, Jessi and Brad, for sharing your wedding with us! You guys ROCK, and we’re so thrilled to share these photographs with you!

A HUGE thanks to my friend Rebecca Harding for introducing Amy to our work! It was so much fun to photograph this expectant couple!

Keep an eye out for Amy once the baby is here and settled… she’s building a fantastic event planning business that will soon be booming, I’m sure! Check out Knots ‘n Such, the adorable website she has in the works!