Beautiful, absolutely beautiful… full of poise and grace are just a few words I can use to describe Mimi!  I am so thankful she saw something in my photography that made her reach out to me and choose David and I as her photographers! These first few images are from Mimi’s bridal session at a beautiful, historic home in Eufaula, Al.  I am in love with these images… they reflect the image of a true, beautiful Southern bride.I thought Mimi’s wedding dress was just beautiful, it was so classy and timeless! It was a strapless gown, with a lace “jacket” (which she removed for the reception) and beautiful belt that complimented her style and personality perfectly!  And the veil…. I loved it!  It was worn by her mom in 1974 –  certainly a true Southern heirloom. (hint: Brides, save your wedding accessories for your little girl!!) Mimi and Taylor chose to do a first glance…..was she happy with that decision? Here is what she had to say – “Absolutely – I’d recommend it to anyone who is having the slightest bit of difficulty deciding on what to do. There is no way I would have made it through the wedding without a TEAR had I not seen Taylor before the ceremony. The pictures also captured the raw emotions… nothing hidden and everything happily exposed.”

What three words would you use to describe the style of your wedding?   “Classic, Holy, and Grand”

There were such sweet memories made on Mimi and Taylor’s wedding day, and it is so sweet to hear Mimi tell of her “fondest” memory from the day, “That feeling– Being escorted by my Daddy, with hundreds of friends/family to my left and right that have smiles on their faces, and soaking up all the joy of seeing my teary-eyed groom at the end of the aisle waiting on me, knowing I’ve waited 26 years for this very special moment and feeling the presence of Jesus in that sanctuary!”

Their ceremony was truly special and personal…not only did the pastor officiate the marriage ceremony of Mimi’s parents in 1974, he also baptized Mimi when she was a little girl!  Another favorite detail of Mimi and Taylors’ was the music. The prelude music consisted of old hymns and a soloist sang “My Tribute” beautifully.Bride, how would you describe the groom?  “Taylor is a man’s man…he strives to stay motivated, makes the most of any opportunity for self-improvement, and is always looking to better his friendships personally & professionally. Taylor secretly knows compassion and has loved me through any situation that brought doubt. His sweet moments are few and far between but when they are, they are sweeter than sugar and most certainly, would make his Mama proud!”Groom, how would you describe your bride? “Beautiful- inside and out. She has a servants heart and aims to please in all situations. She is a blessing & the compass in our relationship.” After experiencing a pretty harsh winter, we didn’t really know what kind of weather to expect on Saturday, February 8th in Eufaula, Al. The week before we had snow and were bundled in jackets, but on February 8th Mimi & Taylor received a picture perfect forecast! The skies were blue and the temperature was just right! Describe your favorite thing(s) about your reception:  “February 8 was an absolute blur to me and I am VERY grateful for pictures that have shown me every detail I missed! The pictures of the food looked 5-star… I loved the way she set up the food and I got many compliments on how awesome the food tasted. Also, from what I remember, our family and friends looked like they were having a great time!!What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life?  Mimi – “Creating our marriage! We are most looking forward to finding a home church and finding new friends to share life with.”  Taylor – “Traveling the world and having someone to go to Auburn University sporting events for the rest of my life.”

Ha! I like the contrast in those two answers! I believe there is such a special, fun life ahead for these two!  It was such a joy getting to know Mimi and Taylor and I am thankful that David and I were the ones to capture these special life-long memories shared between Mimi, Taylor, their family and friends!

Mimi and Taylor, may God bless your marriage and may your love for Him and each other grow each and every day! 1 John 4:19

To see more sweet memories from Mimi and Taylor’s wedding day, click HERE!!

Ceremony Venue: First Baptist Church, Eufaula, Al | Reception Venue:  Shorter Mansion, Eufaula, Al | Florist: Schaubs Flowers & Gifts, Eufaula, Al | Wedding Cakes: Sherry Sellers, Eufaula, Al; | Reception Musicians: Heart to Heart, Atlanta, Ga | Bride’s Gown: Watters  | Brides gown & Mother of the Bride’s dress: J. Andrews Bridal, Peachtree City, Ga | Bride’s Shoes: Steve Madden | Bride’s Accessories: Bride’s veil was her mothers, worn in 1974 | Makeup & Hair Stylist:  Debra Doss, Eufaula, Al | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alfred Sung, The Dessy Group | Groom’s & Groomsmen’s Attire: Jos. A. Bank | Paper Products: Wedding Invitations by Weezers, Dothan, Al | Videographer: Gil Davison, Monroeville, AL | Caterer: Kelsey Barnard Catering, Dothan, Al

I truly love my job because of the people God brings into mine and my families lives! I am so thankful to get to share in such sweet moments with couples and families, such as Sarah Elizabeth and Chase.  I was a photographer under cover when Chase proposed to Sarah Elizabeth this past fall, and it was one of the sweetest proposals ever (more on that below)!  Fast forward a few weeks later, it was time to book a photographer and they chose me! I love that they found David and I as the perfect fit to be their wedding photographers!  They are an amazing couple and their families are just as awesome too – again, thanking God for bringing such sweet, Jesus-loving people into my life!  This engagement session was just as awesome as it looks – beautiful sunny weather in January, lovely sunlight, and the sweetest couple to photograph.  I should probably mention it was a little chilly, but thankfully the sun warmed us up a bit and the chills didn’t bother Sarah Elizabeth & Chase as you can see in their images! I was so thankful to get to photograph their session in Santa Rosa Beach at Eden Gardens and Watercolor! They love 30a as much as I do and spend a lot of time there….it was the perfect backdrop for their session!I absolutely love hearing how my couples meet and it makes me smile when the memory is so vivid as this one… from Sarah Elizabeth’s point of view, I bet she thinks of this every time she has ice cream : “Chase and I first met during Sunday lunch with our families at the country club. I was at the dessert table scooping ice cream for my anxiously-excited nephews, as Chase’s mother walked up alongside her handsome son and introduced us. Of course, not only was I a complete giddy mess, but my hands were also a mess from the ice cream. In courtesy of meeting someone, Chase immediately put out his hand for me to shake, and with the biggest, cheesiest grin you could imagine, you better believe I was eager to shake his hand!…only to quickly realize I had gotten ice cream on him! My nephews at this point had run off without my knowledge, therefore, I was a bit frazzled, eagerly dashed mid-sentence from the dessert table to find them in embarrassment, and left Chase standing there. It was definitely memorable, to say the least!”I could have written about their proposal without even asking Sarah Elizabeth since I was in the “planning” stages a bit with Chase, his mom and Sarah Elizabeth’s mom, but it’s much sweeter hearing Sarah Elizabeth’s version of the proposal:  “Chase and I were at the beach for the weekend with his family. On that Saturday afternoon, Chase suggested that we should head to the beach to watch the sunset before meeting everyone for dinner. He wads adamant about when I should be dressed and ready. I had not even considered the possibility that his plan was the perfect setup for a proposal, and honestly I spent the majority of our stroll there quizzing him on what we were going to eat at dinner. As we arrived at the beach and began to find the perfect spot in the sand, I soon noticed three precious kids getting their photos taken. I thought nothing of it and simply thought they were knocking out Christmas card pictures early. We were just about to start reading Gary Chapman’s book, “Things I Wish I’d Known Before We Got Married” and in the middle of briefly flipping through it and discussing, Chase handed me his father’s old Bible to find a verse. I opened to where the Bible marker was placed (1 John 4:19) to quickly find Chase was on one knee and a ring tied to the end of the Bible marker ribbon! Though I thought the moment couldn’t have been any more perfect, the icing on the cake was realizing that it was all captured by a hidden photographer and our now precious friend, Candace Nelson, as well as the exciting news that both of our families were waiting to celebrate with us at a nearby location!” Chase describes Sarah Elizabeth as loving, considerate and beautiful.  Sarah Elizabeth describes Chase as charming, kindhearted and thoughtful. Yep, I totally agree! They enjoy life and enjoy each other and they are a joy to be around!  It was an awesome engagement session topped off with dinner afterwards at Pizza By the Sea, another favorite that we both share!

To see more from their session, click here…I love the song I put with their slideshow, it’s so sweet and fits their love for each other perfectly!!

Sarah Elizabeth and Chase, I know your wedding day is going to be great because it includes the two of you!  I am truly looking forward to your day with you, your families and friends, July will be here before we know it!!!

 As I write this post today, it is the beginning of the 1st Global Impact Celebration (GIC) at our church, First Baptist Church of Troy, Alabama. It’s a big deal, a really big deal and I am so thankful it is happening!  Over the past few years, Acts 1:8 has been the focus of our church  – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” – and our pastor, Luke Lane, has been amazing as he has lead us with God’s direction to this point.  Brother Luke’s heart is full of compassion for the lost and he has a huge desire to see his church family be a part of God’s army.  My heart has certainly been impacted as a result of Acts 1:8 and as a result I have gone on 3 international mission trips in the past 3 years – Nicaragua, Mexico and most recently, my family and I went to Costa Rica.

It was such a blessing to serve alongside the people in the above picture – their hearts are amazing and I am encouraged by each and every one of them!  It’s hard to put a mission trip into words… it’s one of those things, you just have to experience for yourself… to see the reality of poverty and the brokenness of this world, you just have to put yourself in the midst of it; and also to see missionaries serving sacrificially, is a humbling experience & I am so thankful to come alongside the amazing missionaries I have met thus far and serve with them!

There is always a way to serve, even if you don’t get on the plane and go!! You can begin by serving in your city, in your community, in your state, in your country and also to the ends of the earth! See those bracelets below?  As a result of the Rainbow Loom and the overflow of bracelets at my house, I thought it would be great to take them to Costa Rica! Many kids (and parents) gave bracelets for us to hand out to the kids in Costa Rica! That opportunity, to just make Rainbow Loom bracelets,  gave many families the chance to talk about missions, to pray for the poor, to pray for the hearts that would receive the bracelets and it allowed them to serve and to be a part of this mission trip!  Thank you to everyone who sent bracelets – they were a big hit!!

The focus of this mission trip began with a vision God had given to Mrs. Leda (one of our Costa Rica Missionaries).  Her desire was for us to blitz the community of Esparza in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, invite them to a “Christmas party,” and lay the groundwork for her local church to evangelize this community in the days, weeks, months & years to come.  We sent boxes and boxes of gifts and supplies ahead of us, as well as packed in our luggage, to help make this Christmas party a hit!  It is a blessing to see the joy and surprise of so many kids as they receive some of the simplest of gifts.  However, our desire wasn’t for them to receive temporary contentment and joy over clothes, food, or toys…..our desire was to give them the greatest gift they could ever receive, the everlasting joy and contentment that only Christ Himself can give!  Sure they had physical needs in the community of Esparza, and we used these physical needs to open the door to share with them about their overwhelming spiritual need.  Esparza is a community where darkness reins, where drugs, alcohol, and prostitution are prevalent, where poverty beats you down from birth.  Praise God He has defeated death, and this hope was what we went to share, to shine a light in a community that so desperately needed it.  May God radically change the hearts and souls of the children and families of Esparza, may His light shine bright through the efforts of Jose and Leda and thier local church as they evangelize in this community!

In LOVE with the eyelashes on this little girl!!!

Below are 3 of 4 sisters who lived with the family where our party was hosted! They have had a difficult journey, but God has graciously placed them with a loving family who insisted on keeping them all together!  This also brought Jose & Leda into their lives to love and care and pray for these girls!  Our kids played with them for hours… forget the language barrier, just let a kid play!!! It was really cute hearing them try to say Drew’s name… we do not exactly roll the “R” the way they do, so it was a good laugh!

We served over 500 people ice cream (they got dessert first because it was melting!!), a warm meal and drink! They were so thankful and it is a humbling experience to see families and kids enjoy something as simple as a warm plate of chicken and rice!I had the best time photographing the beautiful faces of the kids that came to the party! Beautiful smiles and so much joy in each and every face!At the end of the party, each and every kid received a gift bag full of goodies along with some fruit and even some clothes and shoes!  Such a simple act of love, brought so much joy to the hearts of these kids!Please pray with us as Jose and Leda and their local church continue to evangelize and minister to the community of Esparza.

In closing, I’d like to say again, it was a blessing to serve alongside those that were a part of the mission trip!  Serving alongside church members and friends creates a bond like no other!  It was also such a sweet time with my family!  I pray that missions will continue to be in the heart of our kids and they will shine Jesus’ light wherever God may lead them!

As always, I love to end with a video…Click HERE to enjoy a recap of our mission trip!  If God tugs at your heart to “go”, I encourage you to do it… be a part of His plan!!  “Seize the opportunity and be a part of God’s dream….God’s plan is going to be carried out with or without us.” – Dr. Luke Lane

This amazing couple is so perfect and so precious together! Alex & Chance met in the 3rd grade, became high school sweethearts and survived a long-distance relationship for the past 4 years; they have a love for each other like no other!! This is certainly a result of their faith and God’s perfect plan for them to spend the rest of their lives together! Alex’s family has been in my life ever since I can remember! She has 4 amazing sisters, and I am blessed to call one of them a best friend of mine! Alex is the baby of the family, and she is the last Graham girl to tie the knot! I am confident it is going to be a very special day celebrating the marriage of Alex & Chance with their amazing families and friends!

HOW DID YOU AND CHANCE MEET?  Chance and I met in the third grade, when we were both in Mrs. Curtis’s class. I was the girl with big thick glasses and Chance was the cute little boy who had just moved schools. I don’t really remember much from then, but Chance tries to tell me that I had a huge crush on him, way back then. Chance and I remained friends throughout elementary school and middle school. We started dating in March of our freshmen year of high school. We graduated high school and then moved on to college. Chance stayed in Troy and I moved away to Tuscaloosa, AL. Long-distance has made our relationship so much stronger. We learned to rely more on the Lord and not each other. We also learned to appreciate our time together more often.

Alex describes her groom as patient, caring and genuine; Chance describes his bride as beautiful, intelligent and honest.  They are both as loving as they can be and a joy to be around!! TELL US ABOUT THE PROPOSAL:  I was headed home from Tuscaloosa on October 10th, not expecting what was to come. My sister, Holly, just had a baby on October 2nd. Chance had been to visit Holly and Ellen in the hospital and had been to see them several times since being home from the hospital. None of this was a surprise to me, since Chance and I are both family oriented people. Chance loves my nieces and nephews and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual. (They are all about Chance). I talked to both Chance and Holly on my drive home, not knowing they were sitting right beside each other. Once I got home, Chance picked me up from my house so we could go see the kids. This was the normal routine for us because we typically always go see Holly and the children as soon as I get into town. On the way to Holly and Dax’s, I tried getting Chance to take me to Owen’s soccer game, since it had already begun, but he insisted that we go see Ellen first. Chance was very talkative the whole way to their house; however, I did not think anything of it. Of course I walked straight to the nursery to see Ellen. I leaned over in her crib; I did not see anything, picked her up and still did not see anything. As I was holding her, Chance said, “She is beautiful, isn’t she?” Agreeing, I looked down again, and there was the ring tied to a pink ribbon around her wrist. Chance was shaking as he tried to get the ribbon untied. He got down on one knee and told me “These past six years had been the best years of his life and that he wanted to spend many more with me.” He then asked me to marry him!

Their favorite things to do together are  go on dinner dates and spend time with their families.  That has to be the dream of every parent, to hear their grown kids say that!! They enjoy playing with their nieces and nephews every chance they get, which means lots of little people in this wedding!!!

Alex & Chance, thank you so much for choosing us to be your photographers!  You guys are amazing, I love the love you share together and I can not wait to be a part of your wedding day in June! To see more sweet moments from their engagement session, click here!