Summer is in full swing over here in Northeast Tennessee and I am absolutely loving it! It has me reminiscing back on this beautiful styled shoot that I was able to organize with some of the best wedding vendors here in Johnson City, Tennessee!

Full transparency— last year, I felt myself feeling quite burnt out. It comes and goes in waves and usually when creatives are stressed out or doing things repetitively. To help fight the burnout and increase creativity, photographers will often try to get out of their normal rhythm and will shoot something for themselves or start personal projects. For me, I had never set up my own styled shoot— I had only attended ones organized and created by others. This was definitely a bit out of my comfort zone, but was such a fun experience!

Styled shoots are truly some of my favorite events to photograph! It’s a great time to get creative without the stress of a wedding day timeline. Melissa Baskette, of Melissa’s Vintage Details, invited a few photographers (including myself) out to the Millstone venue in Limestone, Tennessee to photograph a styled shoot solely dedicated to details! I love photographing couples, don’t get me wrong, but it was also super nice to have a whole shoot focused and dedicated to decor and details so that I could really hone in on those skills! Melissa had multiple setups with many amazing vendors that collaborated on each one.

I’m a little late on blogging my behind-the-scenes photos from 2019, but I’m hoping that this blog brings some smiles, laughs, and uplifts your day just a little. Huge thanks to call of my couples, second shooters, fellow wedding vendors, and my amazing friends and family who made 2019 one hell of a year.

Mini sessions have become such a popular part of the photography industry! They’re usually held around popular holidays like Thanksgiving/Christmas (Christmas cards) and Valentine’s Day/Easter, etc! In my years of being a professional photographer, I somehow never held a day of mini-sessions, but have seen how popular they’ve become. This past year, I thought it would be a great chance to dip my toes in the water and see what mini-sessions were all about! I asked my very good friends at The Camp at Buffalo Mountain if I could come on a Sunday in October and host mini-sessions at their beautiful venue

I met Lakyn through a local photography group and asked her to second shoot a wedding with me out of town. We spent the weekend chatting about all of our favorite things and have since become close friends! I was incredibly honored (and ecstatic) when she asked me to be her wedding photographer!

I met up with Lakyn and Neal for their engagement session at Lakyn's father's land in Kingsport that happens to be at the base of Bay's Mountain. Needless to say, it was right up my alley! We hiked through the fields and chased the sun, touched some questionable weeds and laughed the entire evening. We ended the session at her dad’s private pond and sat around a campfire as the stars came out.

Today on the blog, we’re moving away from recent sessions and weddings and chatting about a super important wedding topic- DAY OF TIMELINES!

One thing that I love to include in all of my wedding packages — no matter if it’s a shorter elopement or a full-day celebration— is offering to assist in creating a day-of timeline for each couple. I know that usually this is the first time a couple has planned a wedding and understand that it can be tricky to put together a schedule for everyone to know where to be and when, coordinate where the photographer should be, and just how the day is going to go in general! When I help my couples create a timeline, I try to make things easy for everyone and try to keep their ideas and wishes in mind.

It all can be overwhelming, but it’s a super important part of the day, and here’s why!

Ben and Hillary are getting married here in the mountains of Tennessee, so we decided to change up the scenery and have their engagement session at Mead’s Quarry and Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, Tennessee! We met up the day before the Fourth of July and found that it’s quite the popular place, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time! We explored the quarry with their dog, Sequoia and ended the session at the Forks of the River Wilderness Management Area where there is currently a huge field of sunflowers!

I kicked off the year with Ashley and Logan’s engagement session, and let me say- we started with a bang! I’ve wanted to shoot on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few years now, and when I first pitched a list of locations to Ashley, I was silently hoping they’d pick the parkway. Needless to say, they made my parkway dreams come true! We had a blast laughing and hiking up to the view! I just love how these two make each other smile and laugh constantly. They are absolutely perfect for each other and it’s so easy to see just how much they care one another.

Day-of timelines are pretty important for planning your wedding day, and that includes deciding on having a first look or a more traditional timeline. From a photographer’s perspective, and having been a bride myself, I am personally a huge fan of first looks! My husband and I decided to do a first look for our own wedding and it was the best decision. We have never regretted it! With wedding season around the corner, I thought I’d share my top 5 reasons to why you should consider having a first look on your wedding day!

I’m a part of a wonderful local networking group full of creative entrepreneurs called TuesdaysTogether! Thanks to our community, I was lucky to meet Tricia Mosier of Elizabeth Dean Styled Events, who invited me to take part in a one-of-a-kind styled shoot that she was putting together! We all gathered at the beautiful Homestead on the Holston, a historic cabin venue with lots of land next to the north fork of the Holston River, and photographed the set ups that Tricia had designed— a “Notebook” canoe, a picnic blanket dinner, a bridal chair, and a bohemian tee pee complete with hanging cake display! Definitely a shoot for the record books and one you won’t want to miss!