Saturday was a beautiful day! It was super HOT, but that’s Memphis in August…no big surprise! The big surprise for me was that I was photographing a wedding! All of us have those things that we say we will never do. The older I’m getting the more I am realizing that I should never say never! 🙂 How does a children’s photographer end up photographing a wedding? Well, namely because it was a small, intimate occasion that happened to be taking place right next door at the home of my dear friends. Their daughter, Shelby, married her handsome prince on Saturday at her parent’s home, and I was privileged enough to be asked to document the day with my camera. I’ve always loved weddings and the hope and the promise of things to come that go along with it! God was present all day in this occasion, and it was beautiful to see the coming together of these two young people and witness the start to their new life together. I loved the intimacy of the occasion with just family and a few close friends. I loved that she got ready in her own home, and walked down to meet her groom down the staircase in the foyer of her home! I loved that her little brother and sister were the only two “attendants”. I loved that there was laughter, tears,but most of all an extreme amount of love that day! I am happy to share with you my capture of Chris and Shelby’s special day. (And, no….just to clarify, no more weddings in the future. This was a one-time special event!)

A few details of the day…

The ceremony started with sweet Josh and Brooke leading the way. Then Shelby descended the staircase into her new life with Chris. I love the sweet smile of excitement on her face as she sees Chris for the first time below her.

The vows were so precious! There was laughter:

There were tears. Love this “real” moment here. If you look closely you can see the tears on her face and the look of sweet love on the groom’s face. Awww!!

And, “You may kiss the bride!”

After the ceremony, we walked next door to take some portraits of the bride and groom! I loved getting to use my backyard for these. Such a beautiful couple and so very much in love! Chris and Shel, you are just GORGEOUS!!

A few with Shelby’s sweet Momma and baby sister. Love these!

I took almost 600 images this day. I wish I could showcase them all here, but for the sake of time and space, I sadly cannot. Can’t wait for the families to see and enjoy them all soon! Chris and Shelby is was an honor to be there Saturday and witness your love. I pray that God never lets you forget this special day and that He directs your paths daily throughout your life together. Congratulations, sweet friends!!!

Sometimes God gives you unexpected little gifts in life and my friend, Emily, is one of those beautiful blessings! Emily is the owner/photographer of EPC Photography out in Covington, TN and has become such a wonderful friend to me in so many ways. She is one of those people who you just feel good being around. She has a wonderfully positive spirit and is such an encourager and, most importantly, has a love for the Lord that just shines through her! And…she just became a new mommy to little Miss Georgia! I was so humbled to be asked by Emily several months ago if I would photograph her little newborn session for her! I was so excited to meet the new daughter of  Zach and Emily and new baby sister to my buddy, Jonah. Here’s a little peak into our day yesterday. Emily, thank you for having me into your gorgeous home and allowing me the honor of spending time with all of you. I hope you like what you see…no pressure, right?! 🙂 Love you all! Congratulations!!

I just love this one. It cracks me up because it looks like Jonah is giving her some very serious advice…and she is listening! 🙂 I will say that Georgia knew her big brother’s voice already and would open her little eyes every time that Jonah’s little voice was anywhere near her. So sweet!

Before I post anymore images, I need to tell you how very much I love Emily’s home…seriously L.O.V.E. So perfectly southern and charming and retro…white picket fence and front porch swing included….swooon! Perfect, perfect, perfect for the session with beautiful Georgia!

Emily…your sign here says it all, you are SO blessed! And, by Georgia’s sweet smile here…I think she already knows she is, too! 🙂

You know it’s going to be a fun session when the first thing out of your little subject’s mouth is “I’m 3 now! Do you want to smell my hair?” 🙂 LOVE! So cute and random and that’s what being 3 is all about! Little Max is growing up so quick and we had the best time hanging out the other night. Max is so cute. He loves basketball and will do anything for a little bag of Skittles. Gotta love that! I adore his different little faces and looks that we captured for his sweet Mom and Dad. He was SO good and I just had a blast hanging out with him. Happy Birthday to you, Max! 

Another Little Newborn Club Baby has turned One! Remember Miss Coco at her newborn session? So sweet…

Well, look at her now!

It is utterly amazing to me how very much these sweet babies change within their first year. Coco is such a beautiful little girl with sweet smiles. She loves to clap, loves laughing at her brother, and has definitely stolen her Mom and Dad’s hearts. It’s been such a joy to watch her grow and capture these milestones in her first year of life. Happy, happy Birthday to you, Coco!! 🙂

And since I was there, we captured a few of big brother, Sam, as well as a family picture, too. Love ’em! A true picture of this family as they are at this moment in time…

Oh, what a gorgeous session this turned out to be! Sometimes, I when I leave a session I can hardly wait to get home and download the photos to see the results because I just know that they turned out good. This was one of those sessions. Two adorable children, two gorgeous parents, beautiful light, perfect wardrobe choices, temps just warm enough to give everyone a “glow”, and one sweet family! Awesome! Jack is 6 and Sarah is almost 3 and both are beautiful and fun children. I haven’t seen them in almost 2 years and I couldn’t believe how much they’d all grown up…that happens! 🙂 I adore everything about this session and am so happy for you all that they turned out so great. Shea and Laurie, just so you know, the pics after “the event” of the evening did turn out really cute, I just had so many cute ones from before the clothes change that I chose to highlight them here! I struggled with choosing which ones to blog because there were just so many great ones. Yay! So many more beautiful ones to come soon. Thanks for sharing your sweet family with me! Enjoy!

I am always amazed at how blessed I am in having beautiful families to photograph. This family was no exception! Not only were they gorgeous, but also fun and laid back. A perfect combination for a photo shoot on a hot summer day. Hudson, the 4 year old charmer, kept me laughing the entire photo session with his cute poses and silly faces. Then, sweet Emery…oh little cutie-pie! This was one sweet little miss who was SO focused on learning to crawl that we had a hard time keeping her interested in much else. She was ready to be on the GO! Thank you, Amy and Mitch, for sharing your family with me. Hope you love your sneak peek! 🙂

Grandchildren, that is! Wow! I’ll have to admit, knowing I had a group of 7 little ones on my schedule was definitely a bit intimidating to say the least. But, I shouldn’t have worried because this group of cousins was just perfect! I’ve grown up in church with the parents of these children and it was such fun to be able to capture them all for Ms.Vicki and Mr.Ronnie. They all did such a wonderful job and were gorgeous in their blues and browns. Beautiful family, beautiful children and sweet memories! Enjoy!

I love this one! Pure love and laughter!

And, finally, a few of each group of siblings!

When you are the youngest of 4 children, I would guess that it’s not very often you get to have moments all to yourself! 🙂 I have photographed Reed before with his big brother and sisters, but this week it was all about him. Just him. The baby of the family. His cute little hands with fat dimples. His cute laugh. His adorable little crinkle-nose smile when he looks at his Momma. And, his BIG BLUE EYES! oh my! Swoon. Loved it! Reed, I so enjoyed getting to hang out with you and your mom. You are a blessed little boy to have such a great family! Enjoy your sneak peek!

What a sweet family of little boys! Meet 2-year-old, Wes and his new little 3-month-old little brother, Jake! Photographing children these ages definitely has its challenges, but these sweet boys did such a great job the other night. I so enjoyed meeting little Wes with his charming little smile, eagerness to please his parents, and constant on-the-go movement as he explored the world around him. And, precious little Jake…oh my! This little blue-eyed boy is so adorable and had the sweetest smile, especially for his Mommy! Gotta love a Mommy smile. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your boys with me, Tori and Daniel. You have a beautiful family!

BOY! I just did JenaBeth and Eric’s maternity pictures and boom! Their little baby boy decided to make his appearance only a few days later and 3 weeks before his due date. Meet Fisher David…all 6 pounds 1 oz at birth! This is one beautiful and sweet baby boy! He was so very good for our session on Saturday when he was only 3 days old. Oh, the sweetness of heaven right there. I just loved watching this Momma and Daddy with their new little gift from God and seeing how much he is already so very loved. I could go on and on, but there’s really no need for more words when this little guy is so adorable. Congratulations, JB and Eric! So happy for your new little family of 3! 🙂