Kara and Jordan attend Bible college together in Cleveland, TN. They met here, fell in love, and decided to get married on June 6, 2009 in Cleveland, TN. When Kara went home to Michigan for the holidays and was showing her engagement photos to her father, who has Multiple Sclerosis, she decided that she couldn't get married without her Dad at her wedding. The only problem being - her dad can no longer leave his home except via ambulance. So, Kara decided to move the wedding date up and move it to Michigan. I agreed to take the 1700 mile road trip to photograph her wedding there. I'm so glad that I did.

The drive was long but thankfully my dear friend, Andrea Waters, agreed to accompany me. I couldn't have made it without her! When we arrived in Schoolcraft, Michigan we went straight to Kara's parents house where we were warmly welcomed by her family and friends. We scoped out the house, worked on some wedding plans, then headed to the hotel for the night.

The wedding was on Sunday. It was chilly, but beautiful as Jordan and Kara were married in the living room of her parents house. The ceremony was small, intimate, and beautiful. I can't begin to list all of the touching moments where I almost broke down in tears. A moment following the ceremony, when Jordan leaned over to Kara's father and said, "Don't worry Sir, I'll take good care of her" - still brings tears to my eyes.

It was an amazing reminder to me, and hopefully will be to others - that amazing weddings aren't all about the perfect venue, the perfect caterer, the perfect band... they're about the people, the emotion, two lives coming together while surrounded by family and friends who love them.

Kara & Jordan's wedding was beautiful, emotional, and unforgettable.I could literally post a hundred images here... but I've narrowed it down to a very small sneak peek in to their wedding day.

Big thanks to the wedding party for happily freezing for photos in the cold Michigan twilight. I also want to give a huge thanks to Zach King for helping hold my gigantic reflector on a very windy day.

Jordan & Kara: Thank you for allowing me to experience your wedding day with you, to capture the love you both share, and to get to know many of your family and friends. I wish you both all of the love and happiness in the world. I'll see you at your reception in June, if not sooner!

Annie & Jeff are one of my favorite couples. They're beautiful, they're fun to be around, they're easygoing and I had a fantastic time photographing their engagement session. We started at the Gordon Lee Mansion in Chickamauga, GA and ended up roaming the Chickamagua Battlefield with their beautiful Golden Retriever.

I am looking forward to their wedding in Gatlinburg, TN this Spring. It's going to be just as amazing and beautiful as they are!

In the past few months I've photographed a number of weddings and portrait sessions all over the Southeast. I photographed a clothing catalog, a gift catalog, and have done many commercial shoots. I promise to blog what I can when I can!

Lately I've been working hard finishing up wedding albums from 2008. The cover image for this post is one of the 8 albums I'll be sending out tomorrow. I LOVE these albums - they're so beautiful and every time the UPS man delivers one I just want to keep it for myself!

I plan to blog a lot this week as I'm gearing up for Wedding Season 2009! It's going to be an amazing year! I have a ton of beautiful, wonderful couples... everything from intimate backyard weddings to an enormous wedding at a Charleston Plantation where one of my favorite movies, Nicholas Spark's The Notebook, was filmed. I'll be traveling to Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and, of course, I have some amazing weddings booked right here in Tennessee.

I'm looking forward to sharing some amazing love stories with you guys!

Not to mention... she has the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen.

These were all taken at my portrait studio in Hixson. I love the versatility, all the different looks I can achieve. The place definitely has character!

Mini-Sessions are 1 hour studio sessions held at my studio on Hixson Pike. Sessions are incredibly discounted from normal session pricing. The session fee for these mini-sessions is $100 (prepaid to hold your session time).

Mini-sessions are fantastic for children, babies, adults, siblings, families, boudoir, corporate head shots, couples, and more.

These mini-sessions have VERY special packages that are not normally offered:

$200 DVD of 10 Session Images with Print Release

$300 DVD of 10 Session Images with Print Release and 5x5 Fine Art 10 page Leather Session Album.

(package prices are in addition to session fee)

Or you may choose to pay the session fee and purchase prints a-la-carte as normal.

Mini portrait sessions are fabulous for scrapbooking moms, birthdays, family portraits, valentines gifts, put the images away for Mothers day or a special occasion - or just for fun.

The mini-boudoir session + album and DVD make a fabulous Valentines Day gift for your special someone.

I already only have a few sessions remaining. If you're interested in booking a mini-session please email me at melodyhood@gmail.com or you may use the contact form on the blog or website. Let me know if you'd prefer a session on Saturday, January 31st or Sunday, February 1st and if morning, afternoon, or evening work best for you.

Please feel free to call or email with any questions.

Tonight I want to give you a peek in to the love story that is Audrey & Chris. They're a beautiful, incredible couple and I absolutely adore them both. One minute they're supermodels (they certaily have the look for it), the next minute they're posing for a 1970's movie poster. They look so young that it's impossible to believe they've been together for 8 years. But when you see them together it's evident that they should never be apart.

I had an amazing time going to some of their favorite, and my favorite spots in downtown Chattanooga.

Never have I had a session where I wanted, so badly, to truly capture the emotion between a couple – knowing that 10 days from that session they will be apart again for many, many months.

I absolutely adore this couple. I loved hearing their stories – how they met, how they make it, who they are, how they feel. They're an amazing couple, one I will definitely never forget and hope to see again soon. I hope they'll become lifelong friends – they definitely made an impression on me.

Thank you both, for spending some of your precious few hours together with me and allowing me to document a little portion of your love story. Thank you for the sacrifices you both make, every day, so that the world can be a safer place. Thank you for the friendship, the conversation, the amazing bottle of wine, and the memories you've given me of two wonderful people, wonderfully in love.

Be safe, come back to visit soon.

Here are the details:

Wednesday, December 10, 2008   
6:00pm - 8:30pm

Location:   
Studio 5434   
5434 Hixson Pike   
Hixson, TN
    

If you have questions or need directions please call me at:
423-315-2092
or email:   
melodyhood@gmail.com

You're welcome to bring or invite friends and family! Everyone - friends, clients, and strangers are welcome to come by! It's completely okay to be late - I know many people are just getting off work around that time.

If you cannot make it on Wednesday but would still like to place an order then you're welcome to call or email me and I will be happy to have you drop by the Studio on Thursday to check out the clothing and place an order.

Check out the clothing here: http://www.matildajanegirls.com

If you don't have a little girl - still feel free to pop in and see the new studio. I'd love for you to come by!

Big Thanks to Betsy King for providing the photo used in the blog post!

Please note that gift certificates apply to future sessions!

Meghan & Daniel are beautiful wonderful people. Meghan is a beautiful nurse who was just accepted to a masters program to become a Nurse Practitioner (Congrats! I am so happy for you!) and Daniel is an amazing architect who taught me a ton of new things about some of the places in Chattanooga as we roamed the city streets during their session. I had an absolutely wonderful time getting to know them and really, truly enjoyed the session.

After Sessions are incredibly fun, a gorgeous bride, a handsome groom - I love that we get to take the time to capture all the images they didn't have time to do on their wedding day or might not have gotten from their wedding photographer. While I didn't photograph Meghan and Daniel's wedding I know it must have been amazing because they're an incredible couple and are just a blast to have in front of the camera.

As you can see from some of the images - Daniel really kept us laughing a lot!

I hope you guys enjoy the photos from your session as much as I enjoyed creating them and I hope to see much more of you in the future!

Ahh, the last image at one of my very favorite spots in town! It will be one lucky mans house very soon!