Jennifer and Cade aren’t the type of people you just meet and then quickly forget. They make a point to become friends with everyone they meet. We have certainly enjoyed getting to know them over the past year. Of course, the steak Cade cooked for us certainly didn’t make it hard to love them! We loved having the opportunity to see them interact with each other, the excitement over the engagement session ideas and getting to plan a bridal session for Jennifer. We know these two are perfect together and can’t wait to see what the future holds for them! Your day was perfect and we are so thankful you chose us to be a part of it! Congratulations guys! Don’t be strangers!!

Our first wedding of the year is going to be a tough one to top.  Daniel and Bliss are such an awesome couple; they are both sincere and genuine people.  Their wedding was at the always beautiful and quaint McClain Lodge, formerly known as Luckett Lodge in Brandon, MS.   I know Bliss was stressed about the weather since it was storming all week, but luckily on their wedding day the weather man was wrong and there would be no rain.  I love when weddings bring everyone together from all over to celebrate marriage and this one was no exception.  There were guest all the way from California!  You guys were awesome and thank you so much for letting us be a part of your special wedding.

Last weekend we finished up a two part engagement session that we have been waiting to blog for a while.  The first part took place at the always beautiful Providence Hill Farm and we concluded the engagement session in downtown Jackson.   Jennifer is an awesome graphic designer and Cade is the telecommunications expert; both are fun, hip and full of style.  And, if you ever have the opportunity to have dinner at their place be sure to take them up on it because Cade can grill a killer steak!  We have enjoyed getting to know you two and we are excited about your Mississippi Craft Center wedding coming up soon!

Well, another year has come and gone and it is time for the annual year end review of all the great Mississippi weddings we have photographed.  This year was an awesome year for JoCo Foto.  It was our second year after changing the name (formerly Tami Johnson Photography) and finally after multiple designers we have a new logo that has yet to be revealed.  We are working on finishing some final touches, but you should see it roll out fairly soon in the new year.  We are Jackson wedding photographers, but funny enough we did over half of our weddings outside of Jackson and next year is looking the same.  We had multiple weddings featured in local magazines as well as popular Internet wedding blogs.  Mississippi Museum of Art even used one of our pictures for their advertisement.  We always have the most awesome brides and this year was no exception.  We had the pleasure of photographing two brides at the same time!  Two sisters got married at the same time which was by far one of the most awesome weddings we have ever photographed.  The day we posted their blog our website had over 1000 visitors which shattered last years record of 648.  I have had the opportunity to photograph our brides in about every mode of transportation possible from stretch Hummers, standard limos, trolleys and even a Grey hound bus!  That was the largest wedding party ever and I really commend the bride on renting a bus to get the wedding party to and from the church and reception site.   For a second year in a row, we ended our wedding season in the beautiful town of Natchez at an old antebellum home.  I want to thank all of our wonderful brides for choosing us to photograph their special day and just know that before every single wedding we photograph, we pray that you would have a Godly marriage that would exceed every expectation that you had prior to saying “I do.”

Not only were we busy with weddings, but we also photographed the most seniors ever for us this year.  I can’t tell you how much fun it was working with all the great seniors we had the opportunity to photograph.  One senior, was the younger brother of a bride that we photographed several years ago.  That session felt more like a seeing your good friend that you haven’t seen in years.  Most of our seniors came from Northwest Rankin, but we also photographed a few from Brandon and Clinton.  We wish all of our seniors the best of luck in their future!

Since no post can go without pictures, I have included some of our favorite wedding pictures of the year.  I hope everyone has a happy New Year!

It is that time for the yearly Christmas post.  As I contemplated what to would write, I was led to a more personal discussion from the heart for this years Christmas post.  What does Christmas mean to you?  I usually give the typical church answer and say that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Savior.  There is obviously nothing wrong with that answer, but while meditating on why the month of December is our absolute favorite time of year, the answer (or feeling) became apparent as I listened to my absolute favorite Christmas song.  Casting Crown’s “I heard the bells on Christmas day” describes the purpose of Christ’s birth.  “Peace on earth” the chorus beautifully sings!  No  matter what had happened throughout the year, starting Christmas Eve and through Christmas day there was always peace in my heart.  All the parental arguments gone, the sorrow for the loss of my grandfather gone, and the neighbor who picked on me was now friendly.  On Christmas day everyone was kind and gentle hearted to each other no matter what had happened the week before.  For one glorious day, there was peace on earth as I think God intended us to live.

With recent tragedies heavy on the heart, Tami’s favorite Christmas song brought an overflowing of tears to me as I contemplated how there could possibly be peace on earth for just ONE day with so much evil in this world.  While listening to “here with us” by Joy Williams.   Joy’s radiant voice proclaiming ”heaven’s love, reaching down to save the world…Servant King, you’re here with us” renewed my heart with hope as I remembered the meaning of Emmanuel.  Despite all the pain in life, loss of loved ones, financial difficulties and other struggles; our Savior is with us.  Though He was born in the darkness of night, no evil of this world could stop the dawning of light to follow and give hope to all the world.  The world has never changed, but my perspective on Christmas day is always a little brighter because of his Love.  He is Emmanuel, God with us.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and since no post can go without pictures; I have attached our family pictures by one of our best friends and outstanding photographers who we have always looked up to, Adam and Allison Hudson.  You can check out their stuff at http://www.adamplusalli.com/.  Tami and I are so blessed and thankful for our family.

We also continued our tradition of Elf on the Shelf with the boys.  We found it difficult to top what we had done last year, but I think we had fun and the boys enjoyed seeing what Mr. Jingles would do next.  Since Henry is big into superhero stuff this year, Mr. Jingles dressed as a Batman, Spiderman and even Hulked out!  My favorite were the sugar cookies he made!  The recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle is amazing.  This year we learned to keep Mr. Jingle high and out of the reach of Isaac since on the first day he knocked him over and chewed on him.  We had to get the Elf on the Shelf recovery kit from Santa to give him his magic back!

Our last wedding of the year ended up being an awesome one!  We went to the ever quaint and historic town of Natchez to capture Kimberly and Dalton wedding day.  Kimberly and Dalton both love animals and even included their dog in the ceremony as the ring bearer.  The wedding took place at the historic Devereaux that was built in the 1800′s.  The house is a family home that has been well maintained with striking elegance and true southern charm that made a beautiful site for the ceremony.  With a live band, fire pits, beautiful lighting, photobooth, great food and a fun crowd; the reception was not lacking anything! We had a blast hanging out with you two and wish you a Merry Christmas with the best of luck in your future.

Mid November has to be one of the best times to get married.  The weather could not have been any better for Sydney and Russell’s wedding day.   These two have to be one of my favorite couples of the year.  They are both so friendly and easy to get along with.  The ceremony was at the chapel of the beautiful First Baptist Church of Jackson, which has to be one of the largest churches in Mississippi; and the reception was at the always fun Duling Hall.  When the lights went down, the DJ broke out the laser lights and everyone had a blast on the dance floor!  We had so much fun hanging out with you two and wish you the best of luck in your future.  Thank you for choosing us to photograph your beautiful Jackson wedding.
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We had a blast photographing Mallory and Tommy’s wedding day! We had the privilege of meeting Tommy’s dad a couple of years ago when we photographed another wedding he officiated. We were excited to hang out with him again and to finally meet Mallory and Tommy. Their wedding day couldn’t have been more perfect. While the girls were busy getting ready, the guys were hanging out at Mr. Rodgers watching the game. Hail State!!! Before I get several hate comments, just kidding, Hotty Toddy! I believe the Rebels won that day. That has to be a good sign for Mallory and Tommy’s marriage, right?  I love this moment between Mallory and her dad just before entering the church.Tommy’s dad officiated the ceremony. I have to say it was a very beautiful ceremony!What a perfect and fun day! Thanks for letting us be a part of it! Congratulations you guys!

I must admit, when Alison told me her wedding was going to be in Satartia, I was a little concerned that I might not find it since it is so small.  We have done weddings all over Mississippi from the Gulf Coast up to Clarksdale in the delta, but have never been there.  Let me tell you about Satartia, Emmaus Retreat Center is one of the most beautiful chapels I have ever seen.  The grounds at the retreat center, alone with such a beautiful couple, made our job very easy.  After we rocked out the chapel and grounds, then we drove down a dirt road (I just washed my van that day) for several miles, and then rode on 4 wheeler down a trail to an awesome field with a pond to catch some pictures of them with their dogs.  It has been several years since I  drove an ATV, so I had to get Scotty to drive it up one of the really steep hills.  We had so much fun hanging out with you guys and I can’t wait for your April wedding.

Warren is a senior this year at Brandon High School and is involved with the ROTC Color Guard.  We had the pleasure of serving with him a couple of years ago during a middle school mission trip.  Not only is Warren a great christian servant and leader, he is an all around great guy with a good sense of humor.  I have to admit, we were a little nervous photographing Warren since his dad is a commercial photographer that rocks, but we got some great images of him and had some serious fun in the process.  We had a blast hanging out with you and wish you the best of luck your senior year.