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!

Hot Wedding Trend Alert!! : Decorate the aisle with a monogram

I have to say one of those things that I think is a REALLY neat idea and something that I would like to see a LOT more of (hint hint brides!) is a monogram on the aisle.  Whether it is a monogrammed aisle runner in a church or a neatly placed FLOWER monogram in the grass for an outdoor ceremony, they add such a pop of color and a touch of class to ANY ceremony.

This monogram (above- “P” monogram) was created with Rose petals by the fabulous Suzi Hjorth at Magnolia Floral Design for Mackenzie and Chris Powers’ ceremony at the Andover Country Club in Lexington.  A simple drape between the chairs was a gentle urging for the guests to enter the aisles from the exterior so that the monogram would stay in place until after the bride walked down the aisle.

This aisle was done in Daises for Chelsen & Dackery Larkey’s Wedding at Cumberland Falls.  Their ceremony overlooked the falls and this monogrammed aisle was among MANY sentimental parts of the ceremony.

Or… if you are not that crafty you can always just fill the entire aisle with petals like Ruth at Carol Lynn Originals did for Kimberlee and Denver Haddix’s ceremony at Talon Winery.  It was also elegant and added just the right pop of color to the aisle!  A lot of people forget that the AISLE will be in ALL of your wedding ceremony so it really is important to decorate it if you can.

Here are some other great ideas from the web:

Images courtesy: the knot . wedding by color . explosions 500 . beautiful beginnings events . jose villa . wedding on the brain

via: utahbrideblog.com

Image Courtesy: IDOweddingdetails.com

Image Courtesy: lovelyweddings.com

Image Courtesy: Kio Kreations (on Etsy – follow link to purchase one of these fabulous pieces!)

Image courtesy: N&L Notes.com

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.

Kimberlee & Denver’s Talon Winery Wedding

Kimberlee and Denver were married and the gorgeous Talon Winery out Tates Creek road in Lexington. A stormy day gave way to a blue sky littered with leftover gray puffy clouds and the coolest Friday evening wedding that I have ever had the privilege of enjoying in the vineyard. It was an emotional day from the first moment when Kimberlee’s step-dad saw her for the first time to her walk through the vineyard down the aisle to the the first dance, I could barely hold back the tears. Maybe its knowing all I do about this beautiful couple and having had a year getting to know them but I was honored to get to be a part of their wedding day. If I had to give this wedding a superlative award they would get the “BEST Groom Bride, Groom and Dad crying Down the Aisle” Award!

The day could not have been more perfect, from the beautiful weather (eventually) to the gorgeous flower (from Carol Lynn Originals), to the Gorgeous Dress (I mean does she look FIERCE or what?), to the amazing cake which mirrored the design of her dress to a rockin’ party hosted by the DJ of Complete Music, the night was PERFECTLY complete!

I also have to take a minute and say, I don’t think that before or since I have EVER taken as many “couple” photos as I did of these two. They are just SO good together. I mean like ridiculously amazingly good! Some couples I have to coach or ask them to kiss or push to get what I need but these two… they have a have this connection that transcends me and I was MORE than happy to sit back and just allow that to surpass me.

Kimberlee and DJ… Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your wedding. It truly was a gorgeous affair. We wish you many years of happiness, wealth and love! (PS… don’t loose any TOES out there in MONTANA!)

Without further Ado… Kimberlee and Denver: