The first time Emily's mother met Jeremy, she left knowing in her heart that she had just met her future son-in-law. Finding one's soul-mate is rare enough, but when your parents recognize that love as well, it's akin to finding a fine diamond in a haystack.

Emily and Jeremy are both students at MSU working on a white-tail deer project that consumes most of their time. However, like my own profession of photography, because they love what they do it's more like play!

Emily and Jeremy chose Honeysuckle Hills because of our closeness to the Smoky Mountains, and they wanted a beautiful outdoor wedding. They scheduled enough time for an engagement session the day before wedding, and we took advantage of the mountain streams near by Honeysuckle Hills. On wedding day we also traveled up the road to a field of white flowers in full bloom.

Notice the fawn in this image? This is their signature art print, in which I added the fawn from one of our wildlife images taken a few years earlier.

I'd like to share some of my favorite pages from Jenna and Gary's wedding album. They were married in early August of this year, traveling all the way from the breezy open plains of Oklahoma!

Jenna's wedding bouquet dangled with her grandparent's wedding rings on delicate silk. Because the rings were so sentimental to her, I used that image as the cover to her album.

If you're a regular follower of our blog, you may notice something new at Honeysuckle Hills...the balcony! The railings are made of twisted mountain grapevine, a native staple of the Smokies. The balcony actually opens up from our private living quarters, but I can't resist the opportunity for a good wedding photograph! This image of Jenna and Gary has an added Victorian style overlay.

If the old saying "it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day" has any truth to it, then Lauren and Daniel will be swimming in luck for the rest of their lives together! They were married upstairs in our wedding chapel while it literally poured rain from morning until late afternoon on September 26th.

We were lucky indeed for the rain to subside long enough for some outdoor wedding photography. Their signature art print includes the most important things in their life: their son, Rylan, horses, and their devotion for one another.

The winner of the longest distance to travel to Honeysuckle Hills and the Gatlinburg Smoky Mountains area to get married is Randy and Wendy! They drove down from Ontario, Canada for a private wedding attended only by their two best friends.

The wedding ceremony took place at Starkey's Cabin in the afternoon among the beautiful green forest.

After the ceremony I discovered their golf clubs had also made the long distance haul from Ontario, so we had to include them in a shot! Both Randy and Wendy enjoy a good game of golf. I asked who usually wins the game, but they were both just too modest to admit victory!

Rachel and Nicholas stole away to the Gatlinburg area for a private wedding just for the two of them. We made it all the way through the ceremony and most of the wedding photography before it started to rain. As most of you know, the Great Smoky Mountains have been inundated with raindrops this year! However, we didn't let that stop the fun for the photography.

Rachel has has a face that wedding photographers simply die for. I think she also looks like the character Anne Boleyn from the show, "The Tudors."

Erica and Bradley are on their honeymoon in Rome as I write this blog post. They were married at my mother's cabin (Starkey's Cabin) on September 19th accompanied by a close circle of their family and friends. From the very beginning Erica made their devotion to God and their goal of traveling the world as missionaries very clear.

Immediately following the wedding ceremony, Erica and Bradley paused beneath the tall trees for a moment alone with God. Their family kept their distance, respecting this wish and saying their own prayers for the couple as well. It was a quiet, reflective moment that I am thankful for being allowed to photograph.

The signature art theme for Erica and Bradley includes a map of the world, a book on Rome I found while photographing the girls getting ready in the cabin, and an image of prayer. Of course, the photograph of them walking along the road adjacent to the cabin had to be included as well, because "All roads lead to Rome," you know!

Melissa and Chris will be married at Honeysuckle Hills on November 7th this year. They are one of our local Smoky Mountain couples, and one of the most important things about their life and relationship is their tattoos. It's one of the ways they express themselves artistically.

My daughter drew some flames to match Melissa's tattoo and to gently frame their intimate pose. This is my favorite engagement photograph all year.

Chris is a very protective husband to be and father, and so I enjoyed creating this black and white image of them as well.

And since they're both so "out of the box," we experimented with some poses that show Chris' devotion to Melissa as well.

I'm looking forward to their wedding...it just can't get here soon enough!