Just a quick little post before I go take care of my 250 mosquito bites!  That’s just a fun price you pay when you take pictures in the TN humidity out by the lake!  There were so many mosquitos that I actually squashed one on my camera button while taking a picture!  Just lovely!  HA!  Hopefully all the mosquitoes will have better things to do in July when they get married here on the lake! What a perfect place to get married!  Well let me introduce you to Justin & Marti!

When it comes to planning for the big day, everything has to be perfect, the ring, the dress, the location, and of course the guy you’re marrying! I realized that finding the right guy and knowing he’s “the one” happens when you “just know,” same with the dress, and the church… but the wedding photographer? Of course! There’s a click that happens between the bride and every vendor involved in her special day.

So it might surprise you that Myrick and I had never met in person prior to my Bridal Portraits (which I drove 7 hours for from south Alabama to Nashville, TN for). Myrick and I found each other on Twitter because we shared the same last name – Cowart. At the time, I had just become engaged and was beginning the search for the perfect wedding photographer, but it took me a few weeks of casual twitter-conversation with Myrick before I even knew he was a photographer.

After seeing his website and then speaking with him on the phone I knew he was the one! It was the constant contact on Twitter though that gave me the “click”. When a business trip took me to Nashville we decided to also schedule my bridal portraits to save on extra travel. That bridal portrait session sealed the deal for me; I was stoked to have Myrick (my long lost cousin – or so we think) part of my very special day! And you can see why!

My dress was a very important part of the day. I am an aspiring fashion designer, and my wedding dress was the first full apparel that I designed, so capturing it in high fashion form was critical. It’s obvious that Myrick did just that!

Two Rivers Mansion Bridal Shoot

This photo from the bridal portraits is so special. It’s the photo I chose as my portrait to display at the reception. Myrick says I was a trooper during this shoot…we had chosen to photograph outside a gorgeous mansion in Nashville and believe it or not it decided to snow that day! In the middle of March! It made the day, and the photos, magical!

Special Photo Credit of Beautiful Cake in bottom left – Dr. Jayne Sells

I also designed my shoes and the cake, all of which included the same brooches that were also placed on the bridesmaids’ dresses and my dress.

The picture of the rings is also special to my heart; those are my engagement ring and my grandmother’s wedding band. My grandmother was one of my best friends, she passed away when I was 9 years old and she had always dreamed of making my wedding gown. You see my grandmother was a seamstress, she spent countless hours making dresses for my cousin and me, she was the chosen seamstress for Mardi Gras costumes every year, and she always talked about the day when she would make my wedding dress. Well, she wasn’t here to do that, but I still had her wedding band and a handkerchief that belonged to her with her first initial monogrammed on the front, she was just as much a part of my wedding day as anyone else.

Myrick did a superb job of capturing my personality and the personality of my groom and our wedding party precisely! It’s amazing how quick he was able to catch my silly, sassy, girly personality and truly pull that out through the lens.

Ah, the ‘first look’ photos. It was very important to my fiancé and I that we not see each other the day of the wedding. He had heard me talk about my dress  and my hair for months but would not let me show him pictures, or drawings, or even describe it. Not only was he seeing me for the first time in this moment, he was seeing me in my dream dress. The moment was breathtaking and priceless; and these pictures tell the story perfectly.

My wedding day was the most FUN day of my life! I laughed the whole way down the aisle in the recessional, our driver honked the horn the whole drive to the reception, my husband and I along with our 400 guests danced the night away at the reception! Every second, every moment of our day was exceptional! From our first dance to mom and I showing off our ‘blingin’ shoes, to the cotton candy! It was perfect!

Words cannot express what happens to my heart when I see this picture. I can’t tell you how huge our support network is. Friends, family, church family, they have all been there for us, encouraging us, giving us words of wisdom and prayers of success from the moment we began dating 5 years ago.

When Kevin got down on one knee on January 24th, 2009 and asked for my hand in marriage, washed my feet and promised to serve me the way Christ served the church for the rest of our lives together, I said “Yes!” and we rejoiced. Immediately after, he walked me into a room of 100 of our closest friends and family who were waiting to rejoice with us. From that moment on, the words of encouragement, the thoughts of approval have flooded our home and congratulation cards began pouring in. I ran into mothers telling me they hope their daughters marry a guy like Kevin, things you can only wish others would say about your spouse, those are the things that were said to me and to my husband Kevin.

So, this picture says it all – The looks of approval and the arms stretched upward in a shout of celebration for us completely sums up our life together then, now, and forever. Our fairytale is just beginning.

Getting ready..

It seems like there is so much planning that goes into the ceremony, the reception, the cake, the colors, the music, and many other things. I think that most couples don’t really worry about what type of room they will be using to get dressed in. I’ve photographed in all different types of situations to sunday school classrooms, hotel rooms, homes, tour buses, and even outside using a broken piece of glass as a mirror! And as a photographer, my job is to look for light… whether that’s using available light or creating light with different types of light sources. Well, I’d like to share some different scenarios with you all as you begin your planning this year and give you some different things to think about as you plan your wedding and where you will be getting dressed.

The images below were shot at The Pick Inn, in Gallatin, TN. Orginally, Amanda & her mom were sitting inside the room away from the windows and I just asked them if they wouldn’t mind moving closer to the window to allow some window light to spill in… and here’s what we got..

Hotels can be a great place to get dressed!  This shot was taken at The Hermitage Hotel. I can’t say enough about this hotel… absolutely amazing to take pictures in.  Below, Aisha and her sister were hanging out in the bathroom making the final adjustments before the ceremony when I simply asked to come out by the huge windows and let me photograph them while they finished getting ready. As you can see, window light is just totally beautiful…

Another beautiful location to get married AND that has amazing rooms to get dressed in is at Kennesaw Farms in Hendersonville, TN.  Notice the big mirror in these two different images below. It’s the same mirror in both pictures and how awesome would it be if mirrors could talk because I am sure that they would have some amazing stories to tell!

Again, in these shots below, I simply just used available window light.  The shot on the left is the bride’s son putting her ring on her hand and giving her his blessing to be married…

I think that the toughest places to photograph the “Getting Ready” shots are chuch classrooms.  Many times these rooms are downstairs where this is no natural light coming in and your only option is to use the florescent lights in the ceiling or to use on-camera flash. A note to photographers, I highly recommend trying to avoid using on camera flash for these types of pictures. If you do have to use on-camera flash, try either bouncing the light off of a wall or ceiling or using something to diffuse or soften the flash.  The “Getting Ready” shots should be as natural as possible capturing the light of the moment.

Besides hard lighting, another reason that classrooms are difficult to shoot it is because of the blemishes that are sometimes on the walls or ceilings. Notice the ceiling tiles below on the right.  Yes, I would normally either crop this image so that you couldn’t see the ceiling or I would photoshop the blemishes out. But I wanted to use this as an example of things to look for when you are taking tours of possible locations.

The room below was an actual bridal room at a church.. again, there weren’t any windows and the lights on the ceiling were actually behind the bride’s head so it wasn’t putting my light on her face.  To fix this problem, I put a lamp on the dresser, took the lamp shade off and shot. The bride was thankful for the lamp as well because now she could actually see what she was doing! There’s a cropped version below where I got rid of the lamp.

Here’s an  example of taking a dark classroom and turning it into my studio! In the image below, you will notice a carpeted choir riser behind the bride. It was pretty much used to just throw junk on.  There wasn’t any natural light and florescent lights are not the most attractive lighting to shoot in, so I set up my big light and cleared off the carpeted riser and asked the bride if she would stand up on it do a mini-fashionista-photoshoot with me!  Fashionista Photoshoot below!

One of my favorite places to shoot “Getting Ready” pictures are in homes.  There are many many advantages to shooting in homes!  Not only do you have so many rooms to choose from when it comes to a home but everyone is relaxed when they are in a home setting.  The shots below were taking in the brides home in Quito, Ecuador.

Here are some more shots in a family members home. And look at ALL the windows surrounding everybody! Can you tell that I love natural light?

Now one of the most unique places that I have shot the “Getting Ready” pictures was on a tour bus!  Not alot of space but it certainly provides alot of fun! I see a foot there in one of the bunks.. I think the bride was taking a little siesta before showtime!

Now when it comes to guys and “Getting Ready” photos, there is the exception of course but most guys take about 10-15 minutes to get ready so if they have a way to entertain themselves in the “Getting Ready” room, then life is good! In the guys room, I have seen everything from ping-pong tables to pool sticks to poker!

Well, I hope that this has sparked some different planning ideas or give you things to look for when you are scouting out locations for your wedding.  Just remember that there are lots of places to get dressed in and if you pick a place that has lots of lighting, not only will you get beautiful photographs, but your photographer will love you!  And if you’re a photographer, I hope it has maybe given you some ways to look for lighting!

Thanks! And leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

Myrick Studios Press Release {Nashville, TN} – {Jan 19, 2010} – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Myrick Studios has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Photography!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Myrick Studios is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Myrick Studios is among the very best photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at WeddingWire.com

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

I am so excited about what 2010 is going to bring…and if there’s any photography needs that you might have, don’t hesitate to contact me! I hope your new year is filled with many blessings and lots of laughs!

May God richly bless you all!

I wish I could say that I had arranged for this white leather couch to be sitting outside for the guy’s photoshoot…but I just walked out of my hotel trying to find a cool place to shoot the guys and there it was.  I couldn’t believe it! The groomsmen were thinking wow, this photographer had this awesome white couch shipped in just for this photoshoot!  Shhhh… don’t tell! 

I’ve been shooting weddings now for 7 years and they had one of the sweetest moments that I have ever experienced during a ceremony.  Ryan & Amy finally had their chance to make it all official and Ryan got to “kiss his bride”.  Well, they asked Ryan’s grandfather to come forward and close the ceremony in prayer.  Ryan’s grandfather then had everybody stand up and join hands all across the sanctuary and he prayed the sweetest blessing over this couple.  It was one of those moments where you just wanted time to sit still… and there aren’t any words to describe the peace that was in sanctuary that day…

Another one of the things that I love about my job is the great locations that the couples pick for their weddings.  Ryan & Amy rented out a 3-story yacht for their reception!  They called on Carolina Girl to take their wedding party on a 3-hour tour into the sunset and it was incredible! Thank you Ryan & Amy for inviting me and my fiance down to capture such a beautiful wedding..

About us: Mike and I first met in college. We began dating shortly after we met. I once asked Mike when he knew he was in love with me, he told me that when he decided to take me to meet his Granny he knew that he had fallen in love. At the time of our wedding we were 1 month shy of being together for 5 years! As my sister would say…”The Best is yet to Come”

Vanessa Lashlee (Gholson) – Hermitage, TN Friendship Christian HighSchool
Mike Lashlee – Clarksville, TN Clarksville HighSchool
Wedding date & time? September 26, 2009 1:00pm
Ceremony – Nashville City Club
# guests 150
Reception location – Nashville City Club
My wedding style:   I would say that my wedding style is slightly eclectic. Our wedding was a traditional wedding with modern touches and ideas. My advice is to make it your own.

The week of our wedding I made myself a single promise, I will not stress out. This is my advice for every bride out there. In my experience once you stress out about one thing it becomes easier to get stressed about the next thing. I woke up the morning of my wedding to a grey sky filled with thunder and lightning. Now we were lucky because my husband had put his foot down almost from the moment of the proposal and said that we would be having an indoor wedding because he knows that I stress most about things that I do not have control over, such as the weather, but we had planned to have all of our pictures done outside. I knew that I had to stick to the promise I had made myself so instead of freaking out I just called my mom and asked her to please go get us some umbrellas. Being the amazing woman that my mom is she was able to not only get us umbrellas but they were cherry red and lime green…from the Dollar Store!! Between our fabulous umbrellas and Mike Cowart’s imagination and ability to work with any lighting situation our wedding day rain turned into a blessing. Many photographers I had met with talked so much about how they only use natural lighting but I am glad that we hired a photographer that not only used natural lighting but also knew how to use artificial light to light up a very rainy day!  We were able to use our gorgeous hotel for indoor pictures then headed out into the rain with our umbrellas for pictures and memories that I would not trade for all the sunshine in the world. Thank you to Mike Cowart and our wedding party for their part in making this experience fun and memorable!

Mike from Myrick Studios included a sample below of how artificial lighting helped versus using only natural lighting!

o       My colors and why I choose them? Our colors were cherry red and lime green. We chose these colors over our other options after seeing a spread in Bride Magazine that was beautiful. It also represents Mike and I because one of Mike’s favorite colors is green and I love red!
o       My theme? My advice here is to not feel like you have to have a theme. We did not have an overall theme and our wedding came together beautifully. My theme as a bride was classic old school hollywood…think Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.
o       Wedding wow factor?  I do not think there was one wow factor. I think our guests enjoyed how we did everything just a little bit different. For food we served a brunch with traditional items like bacon, sausage, and fruit but we also served scrambled eggs in martini glasses with a plethora of toppings to add and we had a waffle bar with fresh fruit toppings and different syrups. One thing that I loved is that not a single one of our flower arrrangements was the same…and there were flowers everywhere…I loved it!
o       Favors? Our favors were Granny’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. Mike’s grandmother spent the day before the wedding baking 600 of her delicious cookies…she is the best and so are her cookies!
o       Personalized touches? Along with the help of my college roommates mother, Denise Gibson who owns Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Tazewell, TN, my mother, sister, and friends designed and made all of the floral arrangements for the wedding. Denise also created and constructed the most gorgeous ceremony arch out of curly willow and hanging crystals. I also wanted a specific area for Mike and all of his friends to hang out so we used the library at the City Club as a “man’s room”. We left all of the big leather furniture in there and brought in pictures of Mike and his friends and family. We kept wedding decore light with mostly green and black and only one big green floral piece. My advice is to make it a priority to do something just for your groom…after all it is his wedding too
o       Gift for bridesmaids? Kamrose and Cross earrings from their Jacquline Kennedy line Groomsmen? monogrammed silk ties >

o       Most special moment for me? This is a tie. The first special moment is when my Dad walked me down the isle. He was in a bad motorcycle accident this past June and was not released to walk until the week before the wedding. It was a blessing and it came just in time! The other special moment was my first dance with my husband. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and words can not describe how special and joyful this short amount of time is.

My dress may have been a little bit of a wow factor. I had a zipper installed in the hem between the beaded bodice and the taffeta bottom so when it came time for dancing the bottom of the dress came off…it made for a great suprise for Mike and a fabulous leaving dress!    

o       My faves – highly recommend: I highly recommend all of my vendors but there are a few that stand out for a bride on a budget. For great linens at exceptionable prices go with Elegant Presentation. They are a company I found online who ship their products nationwide. They sent me unlimited fabric samples and even shipped me a chair cover so I could make sure it was the right size. For chairs I used Party Providers. Their prices were the best I found and their service and delivery was impeccable. By far our photographer has delivered the best product for the price. Mike’s work is amazing and he is easy and fun to work with. The photography was one of our top priorities in our wedding and Mike Cowart exceeded all of Mike and I’s expectations! >
o       How I found my vendors – bridal shows, wedding planning resources, friends? I found most of our vendors through hours and hours of online research! >
My wedding rewind:
o       What I would do differently if planning again? Mike and I actually talked about this on our wedding night and to be honest we couldnt think of a single thing! Little things are going to go wrong but in the end the entire day was a year and a half of planning turned into perfection!
o       Biggest waste of time or money? The biggest waste of time was the time spent stressing. Do not stress because in the end it all comes together. For us we were on a strict budget so there was no room for wasted money. My advice is to sit down with your fiance in the beginning and pick out what is most important to each of you, 2 or 3 things, and put the bulk of your budget towards those things. Be creative with everything else!
o       Best value for the service/product? Our linens from Elegant Presentation and I will say it again, our photographer! You will NOT be disappointed!

o       Neatest find? My something old and something blue. While going through my mom’s jewelry I found a blue rhinestone brooch that was stunning, come to find out it belonged to my mom’s grandmother. It had been passed down through 3 generations and on my wedding day it was pinned to my veil. 

My wedding vendors:
Wedding Planner: Me
Cake: Family friend
Caterer: Nashville City Club
Photography: Myrick Studios
Hotel Accomodations: Doubletree Suites Nashville/Hotel Indigo
Invitations: Carlson Craft
Bridal Gown: A Joyous Occasion Sottero & Midgley
Bridesmaids Dresses: A Joyous Occasion Bari Jay
Tuxes: Jos A Bank
Rings: Cumberland Gold Cookeville, TN
Music: Audio Pro Cookeville, TN
Linens: Elegant Presentation
Chairs: Party Providers Lebanon, TN

Below are some shots of the “Mad Men” waiting in style…

This was one of the funniest moments that I have ever seen during the “Toast” moment. You know the picture where the bride & groom are supposed to take their glasses and wrap-around-each-others-arms-and-take-a-drink photo? Well, these guys were attempting to do that but kept bumping into each others hands and drinks and getting their arms all locked up in weird positions.. well, finally they just raised their glasses and said “CHEERS!”

Not only were these guys stylin’ & profylin’ but wow, could they dance!  They had their first dance totally choreographed and I don’t even remember them sitting down to eat because they were dancing the entire time!

Thanks again, Megan & Andrew for trusting me enough to photograph your Nashville Wedding even though we had never met face to face until the day of! You guys were awesome!