in early 2008 when we launched our business we made a few goals. we were quite ambitious so though the list was short, it was daunting. we’ve shared our goals with you as we’ve achieved them but there was still one secret goal that was left unmet. until yesterday (!!!) when the lovely team of incredibly smart and talented women behind southern weddings magazine sent us a glorious email informing us that an image of ours had been published in the premiere issue of their beautiful magazine! PUBLISHED! like, all over the whole country! and just in time to check off our last 2008 goal! what!? we’re so excited!

we really encourage you all to go GRAB the issue off the closest shelf! the inspiration you will find, the images you’ll digest and the advice you’ll read will completely change the way you view your wedding and the wedding industry as a whole. totally worth braving the chilly winds (what is UP today atlanta!?) to dash out and purchase. in fact, i will make this even easier for you, THIS is the cover you’re looking for:

well that and THIS page, with our red velvet cake image in the corner! :)

in other news matt and i will be attending our first wedding of 2008 (well, vow renewal) as guests tonight! woohoo! we’re really excited to share in ami’s special event, no doubt it will be perfect in every way. it’s going to be exciting (and probably strange at first :) ) experiencing everything as a guest but i’m sure we’ll quickly get the hang of it- what a treat! happy new year everyone!

today i was just thinking back over the last four years i’ve known matt and was surprised to find i remember the different holiday seasons with an accuracy i usually reserve for, well, nothing else- i’m actually rarely accurate. but the holiday season so deeply touches me that i cannot help but remember every little detail. the love and warmth and happiness i feel during this time of year always leaves it’s mark.

it was over the holidays four years ago that matt first met my family- he and a friend drove from augusta to greenville to visit and we all had a great time getting to know each other better and hanging out with my family and friends. even though at the time i was trying to set matt up with our friend who made the drive with him i’d say it was an important step in our friendship. three years ago was our first christmas as a couple- i was out of the country and clearly remember paying by the minute to write matt emails and keep in touch. i loved hearing what he was doing back home and couldn’t wait to share what i was up to- it was pretty obvious that he was my favorite person to share my excitements and happiness with. i smiled as i typed stories i knew would make him laugh- even long distance i knew that the connection we had was deep. two years ago on christmas day matt played me a song he wrote for us and proposed! what a joyous time of celebration and love and life change- i’ve never felt more blessed. last year at this time we enjoyed our first christmas as a little family. we decorated our apartment and baked cookies and wrapped our own gifts- no more just signing mom’s card! :)

this year we welcomed the close of an incredible season of weddings, bought our first little (kinda pathetic but cute) christmas tree and i’m spending my first christmas ever away from my family. we’re at the in-laws this year and although everything is so different from the way my family does things i am excited to see what new traditions i’ll learn to love.

anyway, we just wanted to wish you all a very happy christmas full of blessings, love, family, friends and treats! :)

ps: i’m sure we’ll do a ’state of the biz’ ‘end of the year’ type post soon enough but for now i’d just like to say how AMAZING this year has been for us. we’ve shared many incredible days with just as many unique couples and we’ve been so blessed by their love. as we look to next year we cannot help but be excited about what is to come! so many new couples, new experiences and new friends are in our future- it’s going to be FANTASTIC! i just wanted to let you all know that we’ve decided to limit ourselves to 3 weddings a month in 2009- we feel it is important for our creativity (and sanity!) that we take time to recharge. that being said, we are only available 11 more weekends (max) in 2009 so if you’re interested we’d love to get you on the calendar soon! we would love to hear from you!

last sunday we were really excited to finally meet up with rachelle and damon for their engagement pictures. michelle’s suggestion that images in atlantic station would look great on their save the dates sounded excellent to us! since we’d never shot there before we layered up to stay warm and headed over early to check out some spots. when rachelle and damon arrived we were all ready to get started! they were great about cuddling close (it was freezing, so i’m sure that helped!) and were so relaxed in front of the camera. seriously, i told them they needed to write a book on how to be perfectly comfortable during a shoot! they were just that awesome.

we started off at this awesome wall because we knew the metal would gleam and create a really industrial yet abstract look:

of course a session in atlantic station during the holiday season would not be complete without a few shots by the big tree! here’s one of our favorites:

after these shots we found a nice (well not NICE, that’s why it’s not in the images!) bench for some more cuddling/keeping warm. watching them cuddle and laugh and be together surrounded by flowers and holiday decorations was like something out of a movie, i loved it!

i always think it’s interesting to see the images matt and i take at the same time- seeing the same moment from two very different angles and perspectives is such a joy to me! first up, matt’s. followed by mine:

and i wanted to end with our favorite shot of the day. we LOVE the vanishing lines of the building and rachelle and damon just look smokin!

***rachelle & damon are engaged! the slideshow***

matt and i love this image- a man and his dog. so classic!

john is not looking in a mirror- he has an identical twin! these two are hysterical together, always picking on each other yet very much friends. it was really great and often confusing to watch them interact throughout the day!

the beautiful bride, so excited just before walking down the aisle:

the ceremony was really beautiful and personal. the priest read letters that hollee and john had written each another and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house- including mine! here, hollee’s sister takes a moment to wipe her tears as hollee looks back towards her mother.

the fellas. LOVE this crop!

hollee and john took some time for themselves before heading over to the reception. it was such a sweet time for them and perfect for pictures!

john’s brother joe gives his toast- quite a roller coaster of emotions with this one! LOTS of laughter but with some poingnant parts as well. quite impressive!

hollee’s best friend amy gave a really sweet and special toast to the newlyweds:

i’m guessing thriller? i think i’m remembering that correctly:

an intimate last dance ended the night on a perfect note:

and they’re gone!

***please click here to see hollee & john’s wedding slideshow***

hollee & john you guys are such a fun couple, full of energy, love and respect. we had a wonderful saturday watching the start of your new family. thank you so much for having us!

***allison & adam are married! the slideshow***

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dear united states postal service,

we need to chat. i have hit a small breaking point with you for one reason only. stamps. your default- hey i need to mail this postcard i’ll grab a stamp- stamps. in case you’re still not sure what i’m talking about let me remind you- right now the postcard stamps are the ones with the gradient teal to pink background with a pale and, quite honestly, innuendo laden cartoon fruit in the foreground. with a drop shadow. WHAT? seriously, THAT is on our christmas card!!? oh yes it is.

i know one can special order stamps but really, we’re already paying $1 or more to mail two letters and that plus the time it takes = no time this year. next year it will probably become a new years resolution- it is just that big of an issue. i think i speak for the world of stationary lovers, businesses and brides when i demand change. can’t ignore that demand anymore now, can ya? please explain to the masses why you spend time and energy and serious dough creating colorful stamps that ruin wedding invitations, resumes, christmas cards and thank you notes?

my humble suggestion would be to create a classic, unimaginative, uncolorful, non subject matter solid white stamp with a little black number in the corner. all stamps could be the same but with the numbers changing according to amount. why? because it won’t steal the show from the little mistletoe on the back of a christmas postcard, ruin a perfectly classy white envelope or clash with a red one, or even EMBARRASS THE SENDER. in case this isn’t already clear please let me just say, i don’t buy stamps to decorate things and even though you label the fruit in your postcard stamps i’ll still never use them to educate my children. i buy them because it is a simple way to pay you for sending my letters. so please drop the presumption that everyone in america must LOVE 80s colored cartoon fruit or cheetahs (admittedly, they run really fast and that is neat) and transition smoothly into reality starting with a huge bonfire- can i request that lots of those hideous stained glass one cent stamps be first the first to go? you know, the ones i bought from you when you raised postage prices the day before i sent out my wedding invitations? those.

bottom line time usps- we need change.

love and christmas cheer (mixed with a little pink&teal),

kate

if you’re such an incredibly loyal friend that you’re visiting our blog through an rss feed such as google reader we invite you to please CLICK OUT to the actual blog to check out our new header! the images change every 10 seconds or so and there are 5 different ones total- we were pumped to get that many out of the bajillion that we took! :) that being said we’d LOVE to hear your thoughts! do you like it? is it too fast? too slow? too cheesy ;) ? we wanted to have fun with it so that’s what we were going for, thanks friends!

i think i’ll stick the rest of my comments between the images so i can go ahead and get started! first of all, the beautiful allison and her stunning hair piece!

wondering where allison gets her good looks? well, THIS is her MOM:

allison and adam see each other for the first time on the terrace outside the room- the day was beautiful, if a little cold, and being in the midst of the skyline added great atmosphere!

we couldn’t really decide which of these next two we liked better, so both was the solution!

the ceremony was at the cathedral of christ the king- the space was stunning and the light streaming through the stained glass gave a cool purple glow to the old stonework inside:

allison and her dad sharing a sweet moment after the ceremony:

the reception was at park tavern so we were lucky to have lots of open air for portraits! a waiter kept the glasses full as we ticked quickly through the formals- everyone was so excited for the couple there was a lot of celebrating between shots!

i love how excited allison looks in this next one- and how 007 adam looks, what a fun couple!

there was a lot of emotion during the toasts- laughter and tears. it was amazing to see how loved this new family is going to be:

allison and her dad look on as adam dances with his mother:

allison & adam, we couldn’t be more excited for you! after spending the weekend meeting your families, hearing stories and witnessing your wedding we are more than certain you’re completely perfect for one another. being part of your weekend was such a blessing for us, thank you a million times! we look forward to running into you again soon!

***molly & andrew are engaged! the slideshow***

—

there are few things in life more satisfying to me than a well made list. in fact, on the ‘things that make me instantly happy’ list making a good list sits close to the top- competing with the likes of harmony and puppies. i make lists as religiously as other people work out and i (dare i say it!?) enjoy the same increased endorphins because of it.

at this point you may be thinking, ‘woah, never knew she was so organized! so on top of things!’ if so, then i have completely misled you. i make lists for my own enjoyment. i prefer them perfectly symmetrical in design and consistent in ink and handwriting. what? i didn’t mention content? let’s just say i have been known to add things to a list just for balance and satisfaction- what if ’sourdough bread’ has 9 more letters than any other item on the list causing it to rudely stick out? i better add ‘india pale ale’ and ‘mustard greens’ to even things out. but before you send me that therapy book and a prescription just let me say this- list content is not always totally irrelevant; i do usually follow them long enough to scratch a few things off (or highlight, or check, or dot or ‘x’- depending on my mood- actually- feel free to send that book…) which results in a cozy feeling of accomplishment. my favorite! bottom line:

- lists are good for the soul

- they help one feel more organized

- often they help get things done

- they are easy to read

- santa loves a good list

that last one is because i really can’t handle short lists with even numbered points- that’s my life- sue me. or please don’t. love!

we continued to email and when we scheduled their engagement session we knew they would be sweet and comfortable together and we were looking forward to the shoot. they did not disappoint and we had a great- albeit cold and windy- engagement session! i’ve been looking forward to posting these images for a while because they are such an adorable couple- check them out!

love this next image- the sky was so brilliant!

matt used to work in marietta so the square is an old haunt for us- we were looking forward to returning to shoot and see what we could do with the environment:
in the square there is a little section for kids to play on- not quite a playground- more like a kid size train car with this little red house. couldn’t really pass it up, good thing they remembered it for pictures!

this next one is my fave- you can just see how sweet and comfortable and in love they are:

molly & andrew, you guys did a fabulous job and thank you so much for being so awesome and braving the chilly winds! i hope you agree with us that it was worth it. we look forward to getting you the rest of the images and seeing you guys soon!