Nashville brides who are looking for a resource to help with planning elegant and completely unique weddings now have a place to turn. WedCandy is a new Nashville weddings blog that showcases high quality wedding ideas along with premiere Nashville wedding vendors.

Some of our photographs were recently used for a feature blog that can be viewed by visiting wedcandy.com.

At the end of photographing a wedding, we are usually worn out, sweaty, sore, and ready to hit the bed. But before we leave we make sure everything is backed up, all our gear is ready, and last but not least we partake in the best way to end the day. We eat cake! I feel as if I have now become a connoisseur of wedding cakes and have tried every sort of flavor you can think of. From carrot cake to white cake, the possibilities are endless. And I love all these possibilities because I LOVE CAKE! There are several tragedies that can befall cakes, and I have seen it all. There is the absolutely beautiful cake that tastes so bad you can’t finish a piece. There is the cake that doesn’t look so great but tastes amazing. And there is the mediocre looking cake that tastes just as mediocore as it looks. The rare jewel that is found is the cake that not only looks stunning, but tastes so good you have to force yourself not to go back for seconds. That is exactly what Maples Wedding Cakes is. Jay Qualls of Maples creates such beautifully elegant cakes that are so moist and delicious I sometimes crave them during the day. It is a dangerous habit to fall into. For the last few years I have had the honor to go to Jay’s business in Murfreesboro and photograph these cakes for his website. This year we styled the set even more, and I love how the images turned out. Here are a few of my favorites!Jay created this cake for Martha Stewart and was featured in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings!Have I made you hungry yet? I sure am!

Every now and then I take photos of Whitney working. She never lets me show them on our blog. Just the other day she photographed an engagement session for Kimberly and Rashad in downtown Nashville. McNeal Wedding Video was on hand to film the session. They just posted a blog with a few still frames that shows Whitney at work. So, I figured it was OK to now show all of our readers what a session looks like from “outside” the camera. Thanks McNeal for posting these stills: check out their blog post from this session on the McNeal Blog.

As you can see, Whitney is all over the place and works very hard at every session and wedding. Check out the bottom right photo. Yes, that is Whitney lying on the ground. Here is the shot she got while she was on the ground!

Sometimes, we find ourselves getting into all sorts of different places so that we can get just the right angle or capture the light just perfectly. I photographed a senior portrait last week in a field. I didn’t realize I was crutching over a bees’ nest. Needless to say, I walked away with a few stings including a big one on my butt. Don’t worry; I am not going to share the “behind the scenes” photos from that session.

- Peter

Whitney and I recently had the opportunity to photograph one of the coolest salons in town. Harlow is a hip salon on music row that has a taste for very classic and retro styles. They also have a knack for having fun.

We first met a few of the ladies of Harlow at a recent fashion shoot for Premier Bride Magazine. We were really excited once we found out we have similar tastes and styles. We also found out that we are business neighbors. We both love the Midtown/Music Row neighborhood.

Harlow has some great packages for weddings. They will take care of your hair and makeup needs and will treat you right on your wedding day.

So, here is what happened when Dove and Harlow got together for a shoot at the salon.

Not everything was serious. This crew knows how to have a lot of fun together.

You probably have already noticed that the look of these photos are a bit different from our normal use of natural light. We loved getting creative with our off-camera lighting. I have to admit, being I was busy moving strobes around, I felt a little left out because I did not have the time to pick up a camera. However, I am very proud of Whitney’s shots and glad that we can make a great team when we do projects together.

Owners Eva Marie Clarke and Shana Dyer have a great vision for their business and have definitely created one of the most unique salons around.

Heather & Chris

Stacey

Katie & John

Jodi & Julianne

Thanks Harlow for letting us be creative with you!

- Peter

So I was one of those brides that did not want a long engagement. Ben, my husband, popped the question on June 19^th and we were married on October 27 of 2007. So as you can see I did not have a lot of time to plan a wedding, and I knew that finding the right wedding dress was the first thing I needed to do.

I had heard rumors about the sale rack at Brides by Sugar Drop in Brentwood, but could not believe it when I actually saw it. Beautiful wedding dresses for $60, cash and carry. Plus there was a whole other rack in doors with dresses that were marked down. In order to move inventory and make room for the new season, Ms Carol puts dresses on sale often. However, if you are not in need of a bargain, they also have a wonderful selection of really gorgeous full price, high-end dresses. Another great thing, other than their prices and selection, is that their customer service was amazing! Since they are a smaller shop they can give each customer the personal attention that they deserve. Ms. Carol spent 5 hours helping me try on dresses and would even hold the back of the dress so that I could see what it would look like after it was altered. Because they don’t use the clamps on the back, all of their dresses are in beautiful condition right off the rack.

Recently, I was able to recommend Brides by Sugar Drop to one of our Dove brides. Sarah’s first wedding dress was not working out and she was 6 weeks from her wedding and did not know what to do. I recommended she go see Ms. Carol and check out their dresses. She emailed me a few days later and was excited to tell me that they had taken great care of her and she had purchased a dress that she loved.

So if you are still looking for a wedding dress I would definitely check out the hidden gem of Brides by Sugar Drop in Brentwood. I can say without a doubt that they will take great care of you. They have dresses in all styles and price ranges.

Below are some pictures of Sarah and myself in our wedding dresses from Brides By Sugar Drop.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers!

Boy, does this team know style! We had so much fun visiting Harlow Salon and doing some photos for them. Harlow is located just a short 8 minute walk from our studio on Demonbreun. Their salon is beautiful, and has a fun vintage yet modern feel to it, which I always just love. We did several set ups, but the following image is my absolute favorite! They could all be models, don’t you think! I’ll post more about Harlow when I post some of their individuals, but for now enjoy this HOT group of stylists!

-Whitney