I LOVE WEDDINGS!

Jillian and MAtt's River House Wedding

2011-10-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Beautiful, Beautiful day for a wedding! Nice and breezy on the river. What more could a bride ask for!

Jillian's colors were sangria, hot pink and purple at the beautiful River House in St Augustine. Too save money in the flower budget, we used the ceremony pieces at the reception and added a few more flowers to them. Because the cocktail hour was outside, we had time to transform the ceremony area into the reception area. Thanks so much to the staff at River House for being so accomodating with their help!

The finished result was absolutely beautiful!

I would recommend using The River House for your ceremony and or reception. It is so gorgeous and the views are breathtaking. The staff are an absolute delight to work with!

The catering was provided by D'Vine Cuisine. They are one "hustling" bunch of hospitality workers! Because the ceremony was in the reception room, full speed ahead was the theme during the transformation process. Cocktail hour was ready on time and may I say that the mini grilled cheese in the mini tomato soup bowls not only looked scrumptious but tasted that way as well! I hope the photographer got a picture of them because they looked too cute to eat!

Roses, orchids, green hydrangeas and dahlias were used for the flowers. Along with curly willow, crystals and suspended candles in the curly willow.

Oops, I almost forgot my favorite part...the cake! Kakes by Katie provided the delicious and beautiful cake. It's been a month since I had her cake and I was seriously beginning to have buttercreme withdrawals!

Loving life and all of God's blessings

2011-09-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since Ive posted. In the marketing world that's a "no-no". In Tammy's world thats "life". I truly love my work and it takes alot of time and effort to pull off a wedding. And then there's those precious grandchildren. Talk about time consuming! But oh what sweet times they are. So...sorry for the delay in posting new pictures. But life is important, time with your family, friends and church family are important. And quiet time with our most awesome God is even more important. Have I mentioned that I love working with brides who are wholly devoted to God. I have had the pleasure of working with several over the last year or so. This year I feel like I have been doubly blessed! I hope to be sharing pictures of Ashley Seitz's wedding soon. What a blessing she was in my life! And now Ms. Meagan Knight, my June 2nd bride. I think I might just cry when I see her walking down the aisle, because I will truly miss our emails, conversations and meetings.

The pictures in this blog are a compliation from The Hilltop, Fruit Cove Baptist Church and The River House.

So here's some pictures from a few recent weddings that I took my trusty canon rebel camera. Hubby doesnt like me taking the Canon 5d to wedding set ups. Hmmm...could it be because I am always leaving things behind???

Christina and Carter

2011-07-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Cristina and Carter had their reception at The River Club. Beautiful views, amazing food and a great couple! One the best parts of the evening was her father's toast. He said they had to approve his "script" but he added to it without their permission! And the added part was the best part...No doubt he was a proud dad. And when it was all said, Christina approved with tears in her eyes and a great big hug.

Carter's grandfather was there. I cant remember how old he was, but it seems like I heard he was in his 90's. Call me "Clint" he said. And yes, he does like Clint Eastwood. He was a character and I enjoyed talking with him.

The cake was by Kakes by Katie, and as always, it was scrumptious! The colors were black, white and cream with hydrangeas, ranuculous and roses.

April and Ricky St Augustine

2011-06-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

April and Ricky were such a fun couple to work with! Very laid back and just happy to be married! Their ceremony took place at the beautiful Fountain of Youth. It was an amazing day for the weather, nice cool breeze and clear skies. You dont get that very often in Florida! The reception was held in the white room and I must say that the white feather centerpieces looked fabulous with those black ceilings.

Her colors were black and red with accents of white feathers. She purchased these amazing rings for herself and her bridesmaids. I absolutely loved them! April's dance with her father was very emotional. I do not think there was a dry eye in the place. I love it when girls are "daddy's girls"! And I am guessing, so do their daddy's.

Samantha and Paul's library wedding

2011-02-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Sam is an elementary school teacher. When she told her class she was getting married, all the little boys wanted to be her ring bearer. After meeting Sam, I'm sure what they really wanted was to walk down the aisle with her! She is so cute and funny, and on her wedding day she was absolutely stunning!
The wedding was held at the downtown library. Due to the cold weather we quickly changed the reception from the courtyard to the auditorium. It transformed beautifully! Tall curly willow branch centerpiece with orange orchids, chocolate crushed taffeta lines and favors hand made by her grandmother.
The guys literally goofed off the entire time, which made for some really cute pictures. Due to time restraints, we actually did a bridal shoot the following month to capture all of Sam's beautiful expressions and that amazing vava voom dress!

Good luck to you and Paul, Sam! And thanks for giving your time and patience to teach our children!

Walker

2011-01-20T18:25:00.001-08:00

I first met Holly and Jeremy 3 1/2 years ago when I did their engagement shoot. What a sweet and fun couple! Then I photographed their wedding. The most un-stressful and totally fun wedding I have ever photographed. They are both just so easy going. Now 3 years later, along comes Walker. Well, at first he was Wyatt, then he was Noah, then he was....(all before his birth, of course!) But after taking pictures of him at 4 months of age, he is definitely a Walker! What a sweet, sweet little boy. He is going to have the same wonderful disposition as his mommy and daddy! This is one baby I hope I am able to photograph for many more years.

Autumn and Charlie's sneak peak

2010-11-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

Autumn and Charlie's story was posted in an earlier blog when I did their engagement session, so I wont bore anyone with repetitiveness. However, as I stated before, I was looking forward to seeing old friends again, and it was really good to see them. Especially with such a wonderful occasion!
Autumn and Charlie have a son, Landon. And what a cutie-patootie he is! He was the ringbearer, but no way was he walking down the aisle without his daddy! They did a sand ceremony with the children included. At the rehearsal Charlie and Autumn had decided that they would pour Landon's sand. However, Landon had other intentions! During the sand ceremony at the wedding, Landon kept looking at his daddy like "ok, when is it my turn?" Finally he said with exasperation in his voice" I want to do it!"

The entire wedding was beautiful! Black and white damask with red accents and an absolutely beautiful bride!

I'll post the flowers and decor pictures later.
Until then, Charlie and Autumn, I hope you LOVE your wedding pictures! All of then will be done very soon!

Clay turns 10!

2010-10-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

My nephew Clay is 10! I cant believe it. I remember babysitting him when he was just an infant! He's too "grown up " for a studio so we decided to do the beach for pictures. After about three pictures, his response was "are we done yet"? Well, what can you say, he is a boy! Or should I say, "young man". I may not get those responses from the grooms, but I can see it in their eyes!! So I guess it's just a guy thing.

He refused to smile until we started talking about all his girlfriends! He denied it, of course! But it sure was funny when I mentioned them and he had the biggest sheepish grin and turned several shades of red!

I love you, Clay. You are the cutest 10 year old! I pray that you will grow up to be a wonderful Godly man after God's own heart!

Charlie and Autumn Engagement shoot Fleming Island

2010-09-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Charlie and Autumn are getting married October 23rd at Fleming Island Golf Club. She is doing the black and white damask prints with accents of red. It is going to be beautiful! We are taking down the framed golf prints in the club and putting up black and white and red tinted pictures of them. They are such a beautiful couple! I worked with Charlies' mom for years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield as a system analyst so I feel like I've known Charlie since he was a teenager!

The wedding is just 4 weeks away and I don't think they could be more excited! Cant wait to see his mom, Rhonda, and reminisce about the "old days". I'll be posting photos of the their wedding very soon after!

Matt and Nicole Engagement shoot Alpine Groves

2010-09-25T17:35:00.001-07:00

We love to take pictures at Alpine Grove! The old plantation house, the dock, the trees. It's always so pretty there. We recently photographed Matt and Nicole for their engagement pictures. There wedding is in the gorgeous month of March (my personal favorite month because it's MY birthday month!) She is doing yellows and oranges with fresh lemons and oranges in her centerpieces. Their ceremony and reception will be at The King and the Bear (another great place for photos!)

We had fun with them at the park and they are such a great couple! I think Matt got a little taste of what it is going to feel like on his wedding day having to smile for extended amounts of time!haha!

Jossyln and Snickers (AKA: Nicholas!)

2010-09-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love
photographing children on location. Not only is it fun, but I burn a lot of calories chasing them around! We had so much fun at Alpine Groves yesterday. Jossyln is so beautiful and Nick, oh what a character he is!
Here are a few of my favorite. Out of over 150 pictures it was very hard to choose just a few for my post.

sunflower baby!

2010-05-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

One of my previous brides (and daughter of one of my best friends) is pregnant. She is 5 1/2 months and I never thought she was ever going to get a big enough tummy to photograph!
Brigid found this beautiful sunflower field near her home. Now, you have to know Brigid to appreciate this field. She is an ALL country girl, and the most beautiful one at that!

We get to the field and there is about 4 foot of underbrush we would have to walk through to get to the field! Here comes Brigid with this adorable sundress on and her hubby's big workboots! In hindsight,that is what I should have photographed. She says to me, "the snakes are really moving right now". What?! Are you kidding me?! OK, so I am not walking through there and I am NOT letting her walk through it either!

We end up on the side of the road with "monster" trucks zooming by us at 60 mph! hmmm..speeding monster trucks or snakes..??? Which do I prefer??

The sunflowers turned out to be a great backdrop. Unfortunately I can't post all the pictures because Brigid didn't want her face showing up in my blog. But trust me, she was beautiful in them and I know she is going to be one amazing mommy! Next month we are doing her and her hubby. Hopefully on the back of his truck in the middle of the sunflower field.
(Keeping my feet off of the ground!LOL!)

hula hoops, congo and Elvis!

2010-05-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

We photographed Amanda and Albert this past weekend in Palm Coast and it was pretty exciting!

The wedding was
officiated by the grooms father which made it very personal and intimate for the couple. The bright colors of watermelon pink and bright green were beautiful! We photographed the brides sister's wedding two years ago and unfortunately all day I kept calling Amanda by her sister's name! Shame on me!

The reception kicked off with an emotional first dance and even more emotional dance between the groom and his mother. Everyone was crying! But not for long, DJ Dan Thundercat donned his Elvis "hair" and glasses and broke out the hula hoops, the limbo and the congo line! Everyone was having so much fun the reception time was extended and not too many left before the bride and grooms bubble departure.
It was a beautiful day, thank you AMANDA and Albert, for allowing us to capture your memories, both emotional and fun.

Quality time with the grandchildren??

2010-04-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

So my grandson, Harrison, will be turning 3 next week. He loves Buzz Light year. "To infinity and beyond"! This is what I hear all day! For his invitations I thought I would spend some quality time with he and his brother and make the invitations by hand. You know...glitter, markers, glue, stickers...the usual messy stuff. After spending 30 minutes trying to get the blank cards to print correctly, I realized that I had spelled Lightyear wrong on 8 of the invitations! AN hour later, we had printed invitations ready to color, glitter, etc.

Wedding planner that I am, I had already figured out in my head what color markers we would use, where we would place the glue and glitter and which sizes spaceship stickers we would use. What was I thinking!?? My 2 and 3 year old had other ideas. Oh yeah, out the door was my color coordinated, looks like it was professionally made Buzz Lightyear birthday invitation!
Somewhere on that invitation I really wanted to put a disclaimer that I had nothing to do with it!

When the glue was dry and we stuffed the invitations into the envelopes, I took a deep breath and was so proud of my calm composure during the whole process. Then I looked around.... Both boys had glue up their nostrils, in their ears, on their eyebrows and just about anywhere else you could imagine. My back porch looked like Tinkerbell had flown over and dumped all her fairy dust! Off to the tub they went. In hindsight I realized I should have put them in their tub instead of mine. You know those glitter wands that are filled with water and glitter? Well, that's what my tub looked like. I had a vision of me taking a bath that night, getting out of the tub and walking into the bedroom with sparkly stuff all over me. My husband would probably interpret that as me having the energy to do something other than sleep.

Needless to say, I took a shower that night.

Smile for the camera..

2010-04-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Not to long ago I was going through my old photo albums and realized I did not have very many pictures of my children and we only had two family pictures taken. Were we so busy that we could not find just one hour out of every year to have a family picture taken? Now granted, these were the days of film and developing pictures were not cheap, but c'mon, two family photos!

So now, to make up for my mistakes, I take my camera everywhere I go and take lots of pictures of everyone with their children, grandchildren, etc. I can hear them saying "great, here comes Tammy with the camera again, better hide!" That's OK, one day your children will thank you for all of the pictures you have of them growing up. Well, maybe they wont thank you while you are living, but I can assure you when you are dead and buried they will be thankful!LOL!

I love taking pictures of families. It is so sweet to capture candid moments of "you are the love of my life, sweet child of mine!" These are the moments you want to remember when life seems so tough and we wonder how we are going to get through some days. These precious little ones that God has put in our lives to remind us how much He loves us! That's what keep us going! Or a picture with your 90 year old great grandmother. After all, when they are gone, it's the pictures that makes the memories come flooding back and bring a sweet smile to our face.

So when you see me or Frank coming with a camera, don't hide. Just smile and and know that this will be one of those sweet memories you will cherish one day....

Liz and Chris' Wedding

2010-03-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

What a day! The ceremony was on the river and we had huge gusts of winds, I was ill and our camera bags were taken from the park! But I have to say, everything was beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time!

Liz had a beautiful ballgown style dress with lots of layers. Her bridesmaids had a time "fluffing" all those layers! Her hair and makeup looked amazing and she never stopped smiling. Especially during the ceremony when they had wrote their own vows and Chris promised to her that if she ever got pregnant he would get her whatever craving she wanted at whatever time of the night it was! Wow, Chris, I cant believe you made that vow in front of over 100 of your closest friends and family! Chris is such a great guy. My son and Chris have been best friends for a very long time, it was such a privilege to be a part of Chris' and Liz's wedding day.

Friday Musicale looked more beautiful than I think I have ever seen it. Her branch centerpieces with crystals, candles and all those beautiful paper cranes looked amazing! Liz, her family and friends folded 1000 of those cranes, some of them even came from Japan! From little itty bitty ones on the place cards, to large ones placed on each napkin, it truly was a beautiful personal touch.

Brandon, my son, almost broke out in a song for the toast. So glad it was just a "sike", I think everyone would have left the room if he had started singing! No offense, son, but your singing talents are about as good as your moms!

It was a beautiful evening and I am so glad I was able to be a part of it.

By the way, the camera bags (with all of our batteries and memory cards) showed up the next morning in the car of one of the guests. Thank you Lord, I am so blessed!

Miss you Tina

2010-02-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

The bridal show is coming up this Sunday the 21st. and I have alot of flower arranging to do this week. Flowers are so beautiful and as a favorite friend of mine used to say "Arranging flowers is therapeutic, it just makes you feel good" Oh how I miss you, Tina. For those of you who never had the chance to meet this amazing person, she was my friend, my coworker and my confidant. I could tell her anything. She worked on flowers with me for years. And we shared alot in the wee hours of the night designing bridal bouquets and making massive centerpieces! When Napoleon Dynamite came out, her girls would walk around the house saying "Tina, you fat lard, come get some dinner, " and Tina would laugh, because Tina was the most fit person I knew. She ran in the Gate River Run every year. January 21, 2009 was the last time I was able to hold her hand. Colon cancer took my precious friend from me. Miss you, Tina Bambina.

Jackie and Peter's ongoing story....

2010-02-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

When I first met Jackie to help her plan her wedding, I had no idea I would continue to be in her life AFTER the wedding! The beach is where Peter asked Jackie to marry him. He hid the ring under a shell. Lucky for him the tide didn't come in! So it was only appropriate for us to do the engagement shoot at the beach. A beautiful day for a beautiful couple! Then we had so much fun planning her red, orange and coral wedding at Casa Marina. The day started out rainy but cleared up just in time for the ceremony. Everything looked amazing and everyone had a blast! So I thought that would be the last I would see of Jackie and Peter (kind of the way I feel at every wedding and it truly is very sad for me. I get attached to my brides!) But one day I get a call from her asking me to take maternity pictures...Congratulations, it's a boy! So, of course, we did them on the beach. Jackie looked stunning and again, it was a beautiful day. After Corbin was born, we took pictures of him with his daddy's skateboard. Hmmm....does daddy have skate pro dreams for his little man??
So...now the question is, what's next?

Lauren and Todd World Golf Village

2010-02-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

We did Lauren and Todd's engagement pictures at Epping Forest. We had so much fun we couldn't wait to do the wedding pictures!
Lauren had a black, white and red wedding and it was stunning! She strung thousands of red silk petals to hang on my curly willow branches. The effect was beautiful! The candy bar not only tasted great but the colors were so perfectly coordinated she could have used it for the only decorations! Todd was the nicest guy and so patient with the picture taking! You can tell in the pictures how much they are in love! They did a slide show of them growing up and there wasn't a dry eye in the ballroom.
Her bridesmaids flowers were dark red roses (bacarra's for any one interested) and her bouquet consisted of fuscia peonies, bacarra roses and red mini calla lily's. I held my breath hoping she would love them and she did! Oh, and the coolest thing (is the word cool even "in" right now, I hope I'm not showing my age!) OK back to what I was saying, her dress had a lace attachment that made her gown have capped sleeves and a lace back. She wore this during the ceremony and then removed it for the reception. It looked awesome!
EVERYONE danced, we got such great pictures of everyone dancing and no one wanted the DJ to stop playing.

Valentine Dinner at Church

2010-02-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

Had a wonderful time this evening with my church family, Petra Baptist. Great food, funny comedian and of course, wonderful people! My son, Brandon, came and we were actually able to enjoy dinner together!The kids were being watched my pastor's parents.

I even got to take pictures of my pastor's new baby girl and his niece, who are very close in age. Gotta love that bonnet!

Beautiful photos for Laney's hubby!

2010-02-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

Now I know why brides have lingerie showers! Laney had so much fun being beautiful for her hubby's pics! She is going to give them to him for Valentines day (Sshhh! Any of my followers that know Laney's hubby, don't tell!)
I just love girls that love their husbands so much they are

willing to have a little fun to give him one awesome gift! And even though I am not a Gator fan, how cute are those Gator undies!
Thanks Laney for being the perfect model!

Harlie's "tween" shoot

2010-02-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

First time I have photographed a 13 year old and it was fun! We chose to do pictures at the gorgeous Palm Valley Gardens. It was pretty cold but she was a trooper. Harlie's latest pictures were done at Olan Mills so this was an experience for her as well. She is so beautiful, I was able to photograph many sides of her...she was a natural!

Sam and Paul Downtown Jacksonville Library Wedding

2010-01-29T19:40:00.000-08:00

Met with a new bride this week, Sam. She hired me as her wedding planner and I am so excited! She has the most sweetest story of how her and Paul met and how he proposed...at the top of the tree house on Tom Sawyer Island in Disney! So romantic! My husband proposed to me in the kitchen, while I was cooking HIM dinner and said"Hey, you wanna get married" Oh well, maybe he will do it right for our 20th anniversary.

Anyways, Sam and Paul are getting married at the downtown library. It is breathtaking on the rooftop and she is doing her colors in rust, copper and chocolate. I can just see those gorgeous bengaline linens under the stars!

She and her mom must eat food that is gluten free. So most of the food will be gluten free and the top tier of the wedding cake will be, too. This is something new for me and I cant wait! So many people have told me that when you eliminate gluten from your diet you feel so much better. Hmm, should I try it???

Fia's Beach wedding

2010-01-27T05:51:00.001-08:00

I have known Fia for over 10 years and she has always been such a fun girl! She finally met the most amazing guy, Brendan. Her wedding was on the beach in St Augustine. We had the most fantastic backdrop for her wedding... the skies were a perfect blend of oranges, blues, and purples. We couldn't take enough pictures! Brendan was a natural, Mr GQ himself..got to love him! After the beach wedding we headed to Amici's for the reception. The room had truffle bengaline linens with champagne satin chaircovers. One of the centerpieces used was a grapevine wreath adorned with red roses, hydrangeas and lily's with a large glass bowl placed in the center containing an uplight, aqua beads and lily's. It so pretty!

Her flowers were a perfect blend of fall colors, burnt orange, dark reds and pale yellows. We used lily's, roses and seeded eucalyptus.

Their first dance was something I will never forget. They took a pieces of several upbeat fun songs and composed them to make one great song! Their steps were choreographed to the most perfect dance you have ever seen. You rock, Fia and Brendan!

We had a blast! Thank you Fia, for allowing me to be a such a big part of your wedding!

Planning Elizabeth and Chris' wedding

2010-01-26T04:36:00.000-08:00

So planning my son's best friends wedding has been a blast! Liz is so great! My favorite words to hear from her... "I trust you, Tammy"! It's always a pleasure when brides understand that I have done this hundreds of times, so they can sit back and relax. I got it covered.

Liz is doing horizon blue, fuscia and shades of purple. With the St Johns River as a beautiful backdrop at Memorial Park for a ceremony and the Friday Musicale for the reception, it should be something for everyone to talk about for a long while! We are doing blue hydrangeas, fuscia dendrodiums and purple hyacinths. And, oh yes...lets not forget the 1000 origami cranes in assorted colors and patterns! They will be hanging from the branches in the centerpiece, at every one's place setting and where ever else we can hang them.

I had so much fun photographing Chris and Liz for their engagement session at The Mission in St Augustine. Liz is so beautiful and Chris...well, Chris is too cute, if you can say that about someone in their 20's!I know their wedding is going to be twice as much fun. And besides, my gorgeous son will also be in the pictures! Sorry, just a little bias!

Tune in...we will be posting some of Liz's pictures after their March 13th wedding.

Laney's wedding!

2010-01-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

Ocean Blue, Chocolate and Cream! The colors were amazing together and of course, the bride looked amazing as well! We had so much fun with Laney and Cody on their wedding day. She was so relaxed and everyone had a great time. The church staff said they had never seen the sanctuary decorated so elegantly before. Cream hydrangeas and cream roses adorned each pew with a swag of chocolate satin suspended to the floor. Fresh cream petals were placed on the satin gathered on the aisle. The candelabras were also swagged with chocolate and cream satin with an arrangement of Cream hydrangeas and roses. The reception...oh wow, was it breath taking!? 6 foot curly willow branches in trumpet vases with ocean blue water, ceam hydrangeas, hanging crystals and votive candles. It was stunning! The "Candy Bar" looked to good to eat, thanks to my friend and brides sister, Leah! But, trust me, everyone did eat and ENJOY the great candy selections.
Next up, boudoir pictures of Laney to give to her hubby for Valentines Day!

Spring weddings

2009-03-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

I love weddings, but spring is one of my favorite months for weddings! The colors brides choose are always bright and fresh. And the choices for flowers during this time are amazing!
Ponte Vedra Lodge was the wedding we did last week. The brides name was Melissa and she chose bright yellow and orange gerberas. Her dress had a harvest gold band with a diamond broach. We incorporated that look with the centerpieces and her bouquet. Even though it was very cool and windy, the pictures have turned out great. Ponte Vedra Lodge is so very picturesque! Melissa had a daughter that was three and she was the flower girl. Too cute to even describe!! She cried when her mommy got cake smashed in her face! And she insisted on walking down the aisle with her mommy and her grandpa. It was a fun day!
Many more weddings in May that I will elaborate on in my next blog. From tulips to roses to hydrangeas.