It’s becoming more and more frequent that our brides and grooms are scheduling sessions shortly after their wedding. If you follow our blog, you may remember seeing Christal & Michael’s wedding photography. The photography I want to share with you today is from a session we photographed about three months after their wedding.

If you are not familiar with these sessions, you may be asking, “why would a couple want or need more photographs of themselves in their wedding clothes?” Their are actually numerous reasons.

One major reason is that a couple can dedicate more time to their portraits than they could on their weddings day. We will spend up to two and a half hours photographing a couple at a private session. We love when we get to spend this amount of time on the wedding day to photograph the bride and groom! However, we typically find many wedding time lines will not permit it.

Similarly, by booking an after session, the couple can free up even more time on their wedding day as they know they will have plenty time, on another day, to get great photographs. This makes the wedding day even more relaxing for the couple.

Another major reason for an After Session is that the bride is less nervous about getting her dress dirty. Wedding dresses are very durable and do not stain as easily as most people think. However, when a bride is having her photographs taken before the ceremony, it is important to keep her as clean as possible for when she walks down the isle.

On an After Session, a bride can get her dress as dirty as she desires. We have had some brides go as far as painting their wedding dress. Christal was not worried about getting her dress dirty on her wedding day, but this is often a concern for many brides.

A change in location is yet another reason we have found to be an attraction for couples to schedule an After Session. If a couple is married in the country, they may want to have some more urban wedding photography. So, they will schedule an evening with Whitney and myself to capture some photography in the city.

Christal and Michael were married in the country, but considering it was rainy on their wedding day they wanted to get some images with sun. The rain did not stop their ceremony, but it did put a damper on their reception. Christal’s outdoor reception vision was not seen on her wedding day. However, we were able to capture her hard work with photography at this additional session. Here are a few of the details she worked so hard to create:I hope by now you understand a little more about why our After Sessions are becoming so popular. In my next blog post, I will share with you yet another reason to schedule an After Session with us. Stay Tuned!

Yesterday Whitney and I photographed a very intimate wedding at Historic Cedarwood. We never get tired of working at Cedarwood because they are always thinking of something new and special to make every wedding unique.

Carol and Lannie only had two witnesses be a part of their special day. So, the Cedarwood crew created an entirely new ceremony layout by using the large tree toward the top of the hill behind the barn. It was AMAZING!

Wedding photography is something very important to this couple and we were incredibly honored to be invited to share the day with this very fun and outgoing couple. We can’t wait to show you the other creative things Cedarwood put together as well as the fun times we had in downtown Nashville.

Congratulations Carol and Lannie! You can tell your mom we will have all your images finished by October 19. We are excited for you to get to see them!

Another wedding day that involved rain and yet another great day for wedding photography.

Beth & Cameron we’re married this summer at Historic Cedarwood. By now you probably have noticed we photograph a lot of weddings at Cedarwood. One of the many things we love about this gorgeous Nashville venue is we rarely take the same photograph more than once. We’re always inspired to capture something new when we are at Cedarwood.

Beth & Cameron love to have as much fun as Whitney and I do. So, we got a little carried away and used some cinematic inspiration with the photograph on the above right. Can you figure it out?

Whitney and I are constantly doing something new. When Beth & Cameron where up for making their family portraits more unique, we were all about it! Why get stressed out when kids don’t want to stand still? This little guy made this family portrait even more interesting.

If you are one who follows our blog regularly, look really closely at the couple just to the left of Beth & Cameron. You may recognize Kristen & Mason from an earlier wedding photography session we posted.

When Beth came to meet with us for the first time, she had no idea we knew Cameron’s brother Mason. It was fun getting to know Beth and stumble upon the fact we already had a mutual connection. It amazes me how small Nashville really is.

When it rains… take it indoors! It forces you to do new and creative things! The above and below photos were all created because it was raining.

I leave you with these fabulous detail images that show off all the incredible work that Historic Cedarwood does.

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!

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.

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!

Last fall we had the honor to photograph a number of weddings at Nashville’s Belle Meade Plantation. The first one we want to share with you is Jill & Chris’.

Jill and Chris were so fun to get to know over the past year. Every time we saw Jill, she had to remind us how her wedding photographs were the thing she was most excited about on her wedding day. We had to keep reminding her that marrying Chris should be the part she should be the most excited about. Of course it was, but this conversation always made us laugh.

Amy Parman of Williamson County Weddings helped plan an amazing evening for this fabulous couple. Here are some of the photos to prove it:Here are some details that Williamson County Weddings designed. Flowers were by Jimm Wright Designs. Catering was by our friends at A Catered Affair. Cake was by the always great Maples Wedding Cakes.

The kids at this wedding were soooo cute. We couldn’t help but take lots of photos of them.

Congratulations Jill & Chris!

We never post blogs on a Saturday and it’s not very common for us to post a wedding on the blog the same day we photographed it. However, today is unique. Christal and Michael were troopers as they celebrated their outdoor wedding on a stormy rainy day in Delano, TN.

Things did not go as planned. Guests got wet. Decorations were not set up the way they planned. The reception was packed up and moved indoors. So, we wanted to share with Christal how amazing her wedding looked.

Thank you for being so laid back, happy, and willing to tromp through the mud with us to get this and many other incredible wedding photographs. We had a blast! Your wedding was by far the most unique wedding we have ever photographed. Congratulations on a wonderful marriage!

Well, we are now officially back in the blogging world! Thanks for being so patient with us being silent on here for a while. We have been so busy and working super hard on several things to make Dove even better! While we love to blog and know its importance, keeping up with our clients takes precidence over everything. With our new workflow now officially in place, be ready for a lot of new things coming soon to the blog!

Before we start with all the new stuff that is going on, I am going to use the next couple of weeks to share some images from last year that we haven’t shared yet! One of our favorite experiences from last year was traveling to New Orleans for the Pictage Partner Con. You can read about what we did there here.

One session at the conference I was able to learn from wedding photographer David Beckstead on an actual shoot around New Orleans. I learned so much from him about light and composition and was really happy with my results from the shoot. I can’t wait to go there again this year and explore the city even more!

It has been crazy in the Dove offices finishing up our 2009 weddings! And boy do we have some great ones to share. Here is just a tast of what is to come!