I met Emma when she was around 7 years old, so when Ingrid (Emma's mom) contacted me about senior pictures I had a hard time believing that Emma was a senior in high school!! As I was going through these pictures I just kept saying, "She is so beautiful!" Emma has this serious stare/look at the camera that is killer. When I make that face my mouth starts to quiver and then I break into a not so attractive laugh but Emma looked like the most natural model I've ever seen. I keep magazines to use as inspiration for photo shoots, and she is straight out of the Anthropologie catalog. Or better yet (because she loves it...) Urban Outfitters. I promise I'll stop after this but I just love her awesome long curly hair and her wide eyes. Emma is such a total package- pretty and smart and she loves God. YOU ARE LOVELY EMMA!!
After our Jittery Joes session- we traveled around Watkinsville to find some pretty spots for pictures. It was so good catching up with Emma and hearing about her life. I'm excited too that she plans on going to UGA next year!
Check out this girl's hair- I LOVE IT! Emma you are beauty-full! I have permed my hair so many times to get this look but all I got was really stinky hair:) love it emma.
thanks so much Emma for letting me drive you everywhere and being up for anything. And for being an awesome model!!
I was so excited that Jamie and Adam wanted to take pictures in downtown Athens because it's such a fun town with so much personality. We wandered around and went to Allgood bar to get some pictures on the top part of the building that overlooks downtown, and traveled over to Georgia Theatre to check out the scenery there, too. Jamie and Adam are Bulldog fans through and through, and Adam actually works for the University Athletic Department with recruitment. I know if my husband had been taking these pictures he would have been pretty excited to talk with Adam about it. As much as I'm a Georgia fan I know little about football and everything involved with it... but I'm thinking Jamie and I are a lot alike in that! Jamie had the idea of taking some pictures of her holding Southern Weddings while he looked at his football magazine- pretty cute and accurate!!!
After our tour de Athens we went over to where Jamie's family lives in Bishop, GA to get some pictures with an old truck and their cute dogs. Dogs are like kids in so many ways... you just never know what they will be up for or if they will smile for pictures:) But I thought they did pretty good! My kids don't look at the camera at the same time so I figure I can't ask more from a dog than a human. But big licks and puppy faces are always a hit and I love it when people include anything personal to pictures- I think Jamie and Adam will be good parents, too!
and a final shout out to Athens. These shirts are my favorite- they actually are made and sold through Athens Church but you would think they would be sold everywhere in town because of how fun and unique they are. I've bought a bunch for friends who used to live here and for my kids:) Check out Athens Church if you like them! Jamie and Adam- can't wait for your Madison wedding... it is going to be great!
This is what love looks like. It's also what adoration and cuteness and completely into the other person looks like. Normally when it's time to get pictures of the bride and groom there is a lot of directing going on from the photographer (stand here, hug now, smile, maybe even fake laugh?) but there was no direction given to Jamie and AJ for their pictures because they were just so incredibly excited to be married and couldn't stop smiling and laughing and hugging and kissing. No joke. Kathryn (my awesome second shooter) and I were tearing up just seeing how happy they were together and we didn't even want to break up the lovefest for some posed pictures! This couple and wedding was beyond adorable in every way.
This blog post might be overkill with detail pictures from the day because there were just so many beautiful things to photograph. I apologize in advance (and should add that there are a million plus one more pictures so no fear if you were looking for a specific one and didn't see it!) I think I may need to just start listing reasons that this wedding was adorable:
#5: The groom, AJ, has a collection of old National Geographic magazines that he used for the table decor. He STAMPED phrases and reasons he loves Jamie and then found a picture in the magazine that went along with it. He just raised the groom bar to an unreachable height in doing that, ps. My personal favorite was the picture below of this really rich grin on the man's face. AJ and Jamie also have this inside joke about AJ being Jamie's blobster (which was how she said lobster as a kiddo- and "you are my lobster" saying from the show, Friends) so he made a supercute card for their little table at the reception. There's a picture of that, too.
#4: Jamie and AJ wrote each other sweet notes to read before the ceremony. All of Jamie's bridesmaids and special family members watched as Jamie read the card aloud. Then she cried, they cried, and even random photographer cried. AJ wrote a pretty special card- including the part where he has wondered his whole life what his wife would look and then describing how beautiful Jamie is and how he wants to love her so well.
#3: The wedding programs were A-MAZING. Each program was handmade with different pattern papers and SEWN together by Jamie's mom. The cute burlap on the front was the perfect touch. And on the last page of the program was the sweetest quote from E.E. Cummings:
"I love you much (most beautiful darling) more than anyone on the earth and I like you better than everything in the sky."
I should also mention the great CD they made as a wedding favor with fun typography on the cover. Swoonie Tunes for sure.
#2: the quote read during the ceremony. I've never seen a quote or book excerpt read during the ceremony but usually just Bible passages. A friend came up during the ceremony and read an excerpt from Tim Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage. What stood out the most to me was this part of the reading: "The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once..." Keller went on to talk about how in the life and death of Jesus we see truth and love, honesty about our flaws and failings and love and acceptance in the midst of those because of the perfection of Christ for us. Marriage is meant to be marked by that same radical truthfulness, commitment, and love for the other person as is seen in the person of Jesus Christ. I can't express how powerfully true those words are as husband and I enter into our 9th year of marriage. 1 house, 2 kids, and endless days later I know that our relationship is deep and rich and beautiful but a lot of that beauty has come from long and hard conversations and nights where we just couldn't put a hopeful tone in our voice or even talk a problem out. It is truly the life through death paradox of the gospel that has been the backdrop of our marriage as we learn that serving the other really is the design for an enduring marriage.
#1: LOVEfest 2012. I have to say that there was so much love in the air of this wedding, between Jamie and AJ, between the parents of the bride and groom, among friends who love this couple, even down to the little nieces and nephews who couldn't stop having fun on the dance floor and hugging those around them! Every part of this day was made with love, even in the details of it. I think I need a t-shirt from their wedding day with LOVEfest written on it.
Last thoughts, really. Some people ask if I get a bunch of pictures of the reception of guests having fun so I thought I'd put together a little stop motion video of guests having fun. I love dancing so the reception is often my favorite part (although I awkwardly dance behind my camera- it's still really fun... and I keep up with all the latest rap music!). So here is a glimpse into the LOVEfest. Thanks AJ and Jamie for asking me to photograph your day- I'm so glad you guys met on a random bus in Atlanta! lots of love.
I met Emma when she was around 7 years old, so when Ingrid (Emma's mom) contacted me about senior pictures I had a hard time believing that Emma was a senior in high school!! As I was going through these pictures I just kept saying, "She is so beautiful!" Emma has this serious stare/look at the camera that is killer. When I make that face my mouth starts to quiver and then I break into a not so attractive laugh but Emma looked like the most natural model I've ever seen. I keep magazines to use as inspiration for photo shoots, and she is straight out of the Anthropologie catalog. Or better yet (because she loves it...) Urban Outfitters. I promise I'll stop after this but I just love her awesome long curly hair and her wide eyes. Emma is such a total package- pretty and smart and she loves God. YOU ARE LOVELY EMMA!!
