Many times during a wedding family members will request a portrait. Because so much of my energy is solely dedicated to the bride and groom, I always offer other family members to schedule an alternate day with us for their own portraits. The Great Smoky Mountains is a fabulous vacation spot, so usually our families are here for a few days, anyway.

Brianne was part of Jill and Taylor's wedding family. I'm so glad they scheduled a portrait session with us! Spring is the perfect time of year for a family picture, and coming with a wedding party usually means the clothing issue is well taken care of!

Jill and Taylor were married on May 2nd when the buttercups in our fields were in all their glory! They spent three hours with us for photography and socializing with their family, then retired to their lodging at the Von Bryan Inn for the reception.

I have photographed Faschyn for a long time. I've photographed her as both a Sweet 16 and a high school senior. She even modeled for me in a bridal gown when we first opened Honeysuckle Hills. Now, it's time for her own dream wedding with Derrick! To tell her love story completely required beginning with an engagement session in the City of Pigeon Forge. Faschyn and Derrick spent most of their courtship in the locations we photographed.

These images were done on location in Pigeon Forge at the Old Mill and at the Pigeon Forge Greenway.

Heather and Tim raise sheep together on their farm back home. They enjoyed getting married on our little farm at Honeysuckle Hills on May 1st!

These images are from a few pages in the wedding album we designed for them.

Krystle brought the red chair with her specifically for her bridal photography session. I was more than happy to include it! If we are known for anything at all at Honeysuckle Hills, it's for our unique, "out of the box" photography!


We also incorporated her other number one man, John Colby. It was a gorgeous April day at Honeysuckle Hills with the smell of spring in the air and billowing clouds in the sky.

Anna and Billy! Wow...one of my favorite bridal portraits of the spring! They also expressed such love toward each other! Again, the dogwoods at Honeysuckle Hills provided a beautiful backdrop during for their wedding photography on April 22nd.

Christi and Mark won't be married until October 3rd at Honeysuckle Hills. They have big plans for the entire day with us, including a pig roast!

These images are from Christi and Mark's engagement session on April 15th. They will be blending their two families together, so it was important to them to start off right with a beautiful family portrait beneath the dogwoods. It's going to be so difficult for me to wait until October to see them again!

There are two very important things I learned about Angie and Tommy. The first is that God is the most important thing in their life. Each of them is an answered prayer to the other.

The second thing I learned about Angie and Tommy is that, "It's all about Angie." I got a phone call from Tommy a few days before the wedding after I had talked to Angie at length about what we would do during her wedding photography session. It was important for Tommy to make it clear to me that Angie was his entire life.

The redbuds and azaleas are absolutely gorgeous this time of year! Believe it or not, this image was photographed on the edge of the parking lot where Mallory and Kyle were married.




Mallory and Kyle were married at Highland Condominiums in Gatlinburg, TN. Many guests to the Smoky Mountains love to catch a glimpse of one of our black bears. When you can't see a Smoky Mountain black bear, a warning sign will do! Mallory has a theatrical background, and she encouraged Kyle to match her facial expression for a fun wedding photograph.

Jackie and Eric were married at Honeysuckle Hills on April 14th. I thought it was incredibly romantic that Eric planned the entire wedding from start to finish! Jackie didn't even know where they were getting married until they showed up. Even though it was just the two of them, Eric scheduled three hours with us so that we could photograph to our heart's content at Honeysuckle Hills, and then travel to their cabin for the final hour of photography. Because Jackie and Eric were so passionate for each other, I created a more dramatic image for them by layering in one of my fireworks images. This seemed to go along with his patriotic background as well!

Sarah and Mark met at school. Not at college, but at the elementary school where they both teach Kindergarten. He was her mentor, and inevitably they fell in love!

They were married on April 11th, and returned a few days later for engagement style portraits beneath our blooming dogwoods.

The daffodils are in bloom and the willow tree is sprouting fresh, green leaves at Honeysuckle Hills! Spring was definitely in the air for Theresa and Steve's wedding on March 16th.

Steve is a huge baseball fan, so I hopped over to the Smokies Stadium in Sevierville to photograph the diamond for a little art collage. Steve changed into a baseball shirt during our wedding photography session, and he and Theresa played ball for a few images. I also had them write a few cute love notes, and incuded one of them on the baseball in the upper right hand corner.

During their ceremony, Rev. Doyal added the lines from the movie, "Bull Durham," beginning with "I believe..." Naturally Steve knew every line and quoted them word for word to Theresa. This was truly a wedding to remember for all of us!

Tiffany and Rodney were married at Honeysuckle Hills on February 28th. It was a little rainy at first, but that only made the outdoor wedding photographs more romantic. Or, should I say, "hot?" Sometimes I get a creative itch, and Tiffani and Rodney were more than happy to ease this for me! We used charcoal lighter fluid to make flames in a couple of buckets by the creek, and a few Photoshop strokes later....

Sepia images are always my favorite, especially when the bride and groom are in such a loving embrace.

This image was done in our chapel area indoors. I think it's so cute how Rodney is peeking around at Tiffani.

Amanda and Alan were married on March 7th at Elk Springs Lodge in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was one of those fabulous Smoky Mountain spring teasers with 75 degrees and sun the entire day. We began Amanda's wedding photography inside her cabin at Elk Springs. She reminds me of a hollywood actress!

Of course, all those sentimental objects in a wedding are a must to photograph. This is Amanda's grandmother's hankerchief. The embroidery is beautiful!

Elk Springs has a good mountain view this time of year, and that famous haze that the Smoky Mountains are known for was at a minimum. We put an emphasis on the blue mountains and Amanda's yellow bridal bouquet in this image.

The cabin near their wedding ceremony site was also important to Amanda and Alan, so we did a few romantic images there on the balcony before moving on to the reception. It was a wonderful day, and Amanda was a gorgeous bride!

Matt and Devon were married at Honeysuckle Hills two years ago on February 10th, 2007. If you look at "wedding stories" on our website, Matt is the fireman. The couple decided to take another trip to Pigeon Forge for some romantic photography, and I think we had even more fun this go around!

This is one of my favorite images that we did all day. Devon has a "model" look, and she presents herself very well to the camera! Even though there's nothing growing in our gardens this time of year, our bridge and grasses still photograph well. And, of course, the horses always add something special to the photographs!

Michelle and Troy were married at Honeysuckle Hills back in the summer for an outdoor wedding when the flowers were blooming and the trees were green. They came back this Valentine's Day even more in love, and are expecting their first child together!

This portrait was done in the newly expanded reception area. We can now accommodate up to 100 people downstairs in the barn, and the floor extends all the way to the horse stables. Our contractor, Ian Littlefield, (from Portsmouth, England!) also cut a cute little window in that side of the barn. It's yet another photographic prop, and will no doubt be used frequently for 2009 weddings!

Valentine's Day was spent at my favorite fund raiser of the year, Cure Finders, "A Special Evening, A Special Cause," at the Music Road Hotel in Pigeon Forge. My mother came with us this year and it was truly a great time!

Valentine's Day is for kissing! It's also for raising money for a good cause, finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Every year we attend the news just keeps getting better and better! It's close to being declared a "maintenance" disease instead of a "fatal" one. Cheers!

Lauren and Levi visited for their engagement photography this past Saturday, and we wandered all over the farm trying new things. Levi is the quieter of the two, so I thought a photograph with him as a secondary feature would be nice, especially since Lauren has such beautiful eyes.

We also experimented with some art work in their engagement portraits. It should be noted that the portrait in blue was done along our creek bank, but the water was enhanced, making it look more like a lake. This image is more modern, and will go well in their wedding album when they're photographed later with Levi's motorcycle.

Our horses are popular year round for engagement or wedding photography. Buck is a sweet, laid-back horse, and was very content to graze nearby during the session. This image has some artwork overlay as well, giving it an autumn look.

Heather and Tim are by far the most expressive couple to visit Honeysuckle Hills yet. They came for their engagement photography on a brisk winter day, but the air wasn't cold for long! We laughed so hard it was easy to keep warm.

Tim looks proud of the lipstick on his face, doesn't he? He should! Heather loves him dearly.

Every time I turned around, one of them was making a face or flirting with the other one. They'll be back for a beautiful outdoor wedding in May in the Great Smoky Mountains. I have no doubt we'll have even more fun then!

There's snow in Smoky Mountains! Well, at least there was snow at Honeysuckle Hills earlier this week. We don't have a lot of outdoor weddings going on this time of year, but I thought it would be nice to show what our scenery looks like with a little of the white stuff on the ground.

I have always thought a winter wedding in Gatlinburg would be beautiful. If the timing were just right, can you just imagine a flowing wedding gown along our bridge? No matter what time of year it is, I can always find interesting spots on our farm to create beautiful wedding photographs.

Cabins in the Smoky Mountains are still quite popular this time of year. Romantic getaways are perfect at Starkey's cabin, because it's one of the most secluded mountain cabins in the Gatlinburg area.

Couples who want to steal away for a private wedding just for two can find some great package deals now through February. I can't promise there will be snow, but there's a good chance!