Tops in Lexington TOP WEDDINGS… 2nd year in a row!:)

Yes… so we’re pretty proud to be featured, for the second year in a row, as one of Kentucky’s TOP Weddings in the TopsinLex.  This is such a fabulous publication and we are always proud to be a part of it!  Check out our work… Kristen and Alan were the featured wedding for their “Book” Themed reception!  It was VERY beautiful and totally personal!  I loved it.  Definitely one of the more uniquely beautiful weddings I have ever seen!

Location was the gorgeous Talon Winery.

The florals were amazing by Suzi Hjorth of Magnolia Floral Design.

Cake by the awesome Martine of Martine’s Pastries.

Wedding Planning by Jackie Lee of Every Last Detail.

View the COMPLETE ISSUE HERE

Not to mention our amazing ad with another of our fabulous couples, Maureen and Chad (wedding pics to come!)

Maureen & Chad’s Southland Christian Church Wedding

Maureen and Chad were blessed with an AMAZINGLY warm January day.  It seems that my couples are lucky like that!  ( I like to call that blessed! )  We had plenty of time to run off to Keeneland for some beautiful photos with the couple before their candlelit ceremony.

There were so many unique and special touches to their wedding… It was like a photographer’s playground!  Maureen and Chad’s intimate wedding culminated in dinner at Malone’s, a fabulous cake by Brenda of the Sugar Forest and post wedding drinks at the Bigg Blue Martini!  Pretty perfect wedding day if you ask me!  Here’s the sneak peek!

Brittany & Caleb’s Ashland, Kentucky Wedding Photos

Brittany and Caleb were married in November, in their hometown of Ashland, Kentucky.  We traveled to Ashland to photograph their ceremony at the Historic “Chocolate Church” (First United Methodist Church).  Their reception followed at the Bellefonte Country Club.  Although it was a bitterly cold day (for November anyhow) and the skies spit snow at us all day long, the spirits were warm and our bridesmaids braved the cold to create some pretty awesome images for Brit and Caleb!   (Kudos to bridesmaids who are willing to take on for the home team! – no pun intended)

At any rate, the wedding ceremony was beautifully candle lit and yes, I cried, a couple of times as a matter of fact.  To see Caleb’s face light up when he finally got to see Brit turn at the end of the aisle… priceless.  Of course it is always an emotional moment to watch a father hand his daughter over, turn and walk away but that is another post for another day   Stay tuned!

Here is a sneak peek!  They had amazing details and their reception venue, and decor was stunning!  Of course I LOVED that they used enlargements from their engagement as decor!    Always makes me smile to see a print or engagement guest book because I automatically know how proud my couples are of their life, their love and their images!!

I loved that Brittany had tons of BLING!  Her necklace was fabulous.  Be sure to look for pics of it in the movie.  The back of the necklace had these long strands of crystals so every pic we took from that back of her dress had some bling in it!  I had never seen a necklace like that before I brides, I HIGHLY recommend it!  It photographed REALLY well and added a pop to each photo!

Their historic church was beautiful (quite dark- which any photogs know that dark church + no flash= tough lighting situation!) but there were lots of twinkling candles!!!

And of course the reception at the Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland was awesome!  The tables were draped in beautiful flower centerpieces, and even the CAKE had bling!!!  LOVED IT!

And yes, I could not resist.  Brit and Caleb had a stunning sparkler exit from the church and I snagged some spare sparklers to play with later at the reception.  I am just a big kid when it comes to wedding!  I think that your wedding should fulfill all your childhood dreams and should be one of the most emotional, spiritual, FUN days of your life!

Brit & Caleb’s Wedding Movie is still to come!  Check back later in the week for it!

Wedding “ish” session at Keeneland

We were unable to photograph this beautiful couple due to a conflict in our schedules but we were able to spend a little time with them at Keeneland for an impromptu session. Keeneland happened to be one of the ONLY locations in Lexington that actually had fall color this year and God smiled on us and gave us an absolutely stunning evening with blue sky and unbelievably warn light.

Yes… I broke out the fisheye… gotta love the modern look it bring to the photos as well as the wide angle!  Our favorite fisheye happens to be a 10mm so I always have to be careful to not catch my feet in the pic!  LOL

Hot Wedding Trend: Using antique jewelry to jazz up your bouquet

Recently I had the privilege of photographing a very thoughtful (and beautiful!) wedding.  The bride had put beautiful sentiment into every single inch of her wedding and I was truly touched by so many things that it is hard to highlight just one.  Although, I literally welled up with tears when I saw her bouquet sitting on the coffee table of her hotel room.  It was stunning!!!  See for yourself :

Gorgeous right?  Then she laid it on me… the jewels inside the flowers, are pieces of antique jewelry from her grandmother’s collection.  The stems are also bound with a bracelet.  Instant tears… how special, and beautiful!!!  I SO wish that thoughtful things like this had been trendy years ago when I was married.  I have always kept a few pieces of my grandmother’s jewelry and will continue to in hopes that Kyleigh may want to use it when she is married.

So how does one go about attaching these pendants?  These were actually attached to SILK florals and arranged sporadically with her beautiful fresh flowers.  The floral design was created by Suzi of Magnolia Floral Designs here in Lexington, KY.

Thank you Kristen for allowing me to share your creative efforts!!  Your wedding was truly gorgeous and I count it my honor to have been there to capture the day!  Congratulations and Best Wishe as you celebrate your new life with Alan!

Kristine & Steve’s Dayton Wedding

Kristine and Steve were married at St. Joseph’s Church in Dayton, Ohio.  After a brief (and hilarious) stop at Radio Shack to pick up Steve’s new phone we made our way to the Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark and Dayton Art Institute for some photos.  This wedding party was GREAT considering it must have been 100 degrees outside and we managed to narrowly avert some pretty huge storms earlier in the day!  The reception followed at the historic Hope Hotel on the grounds of the Wright Patterson Air Force Base.  Great fun was had by all and some pretty amazing photos are left to show for it!

Congrats Kristine and Steve!

What a beautiful location!  Such a grand old church … you cannot help but feel “spiritual” in a place like this.  I love churches that a huge long aisle!

The day started off with hair at Square One Salon and makeup by Liz Fenner… PS… if you are in Dayton you MUST try Square One!

There were, of course, GORGEOUS flowers… and the thing that made these special is that they SMELLED awesome!

I just LOVED this capture… nothing like the stolen glaces between two people about to be married!!!  The love is palpable. 

We chased away the rain so there was really no need for umbrellas but we paid homage to the rain earlier in the day with this photo at the Dayton Art Institute.

Then we stopped off at the Wegeryzn Gardens   TONS of fun places there to take pics… I wish it had not be so unearthly hot or we could have been there for hours.  Unfortunately we could only handle a few minutes in the 100+ degree heat!

We were able to steal a few minutes away from the rocking reception to capture a few shots on the base at Wright Patterson outside the historic Hope Hotel.

James and Randa’s Asbury Wedding

So I made it mostly through proofing James and Randa’s images before I completely lost it.  That is a side effect of being so close to your clients… although you give them a gift of photography, they are forever emblazoned in your heart.  I enjoy all of my clients.  I have fun with all of my clients.  I say goodbye to many of my clients knowing that it may be a long time before we see each other again as they move on with their lives, out of state, to bigger and better things.  But every now and then a client wanders into is divinely placed in your life.  You know that they are there for a reason and you feel lucky and blessed by their friendship.  James and Randa are one of those.  Those people who leave a footprint on your heart and you know you will never be the same.

I watched as their wedding ceremony was as much about worship as it was about them.  It was as much about friends and family as it was about them.  These two are the single most selfless people I have known in a very long time and in proofing their photos, in seeing the love and light inside them, they make me want to be a better person.

I am sure they never set out on their journey to plan a wedding thinking “I think we’ll go change some lives today” but … for such a time as this… we were given the privilege of spending their wedding day with them.  We were the lucky ones.

Congratulations James and Randa.  I know that God has a truly “beautiful ending” for each of you.

Kenzie & Chris’s Andover Wedding Pics Coming SOON!

Check back this weekend! Until then here’s a sneak peek!! ~  I have to add… Mackenzie had the COOLEST bouquet… her simple rose bouquet was spruced up with tiny jewels courtesy Magnolia Floral Design in Lexington.  In every single photo it seemed that her bouquet just sparkled in the sunlight.  There were many more cool floral aspects to the wedding but you will have to check back later to see those.    I was totally impressed!!!  We also know that I am a TOTAL sucker for a crisp clean uniform (I am an equal opportunity… Marine, Air Force, Army, Navy, take your pick!) so to get to photograph Kenzie’s dad walking her down in the aisle in his uniform made me smile (and cry… of course)!  Colonel Adams even brought out the SWORD!!!  (see last pic!)  Congrats Mackenzie and Chris!

Andover Golf Course Lexington Wedding

Alex and Mark’s Wedding Pics are Coming SOON!!

But here’s a sneak peek until then! Check back this weekend

And this one I thought was hilarious.  This is a text that Alex got from her brother on her wedding day… I literally LOL… look at her response………………………….. HAH!

Carol Lynn Originals & Events (A+ Florist!)

Because we have been in the wedding vendor community for several years now we find ourselves working with many of the same vendors over and over.  We have our favorites and we were TOTALLY stunned when we had the privilege of working with Ruth of Carol Lynn Originals this past weekend (Kimberlee & Denver’s wedding).

Not only were the flowers in stunning arrangement, the combination of flowers was something very unique and the quality was definitely nothing short of perfection.  Even after 5 -6 hours of wear and tear the bouquets were holding up well and showed no signs of wilting (even the hydrangeas and that is a tough thing to accomplish apparently) !  As a wedding photographer you learn to have a discerning eye.  You have tasted and seen the BEST and the worst.  I have shown up to weddings where the flowers were wilted before they even walked down the aisle!  It makes me so sad to see that happen KNOWING that there are some TRULY great florists in our area!

Add to that, the personal instruction that Ruth gave to the bridesmaids on proper placement of flowers when holding them, walking with them, standing with them and I truly have to say that we give two thumbs up to Carol Lynn Originals & Events and HOPE to see more of our couples choosing Ruth and her team VERY SOON!

Check out their work!

(YES those are CALLA lilies AND peonies in the SAME bouquet!  Is that cool or what?)

Be sure to give them a call at: 859.253.0545

Contact: Ruth Babcock, Carol Lynn Originals & Events, 645 E. Main Street, Lexington, Ky 40508, 859.253.0545