9/30/2008

Our deepest fear...



This quote was given to us recently from our wonderful intern, Courtney. Its such a beautiful quote and so true!

9/27/2008

Grand Opening and Photobooth Slideshow!

What a FUN night! Thank you all again for coming and for those who participated in the photobooth, you guys rocked it! There were many who missed it and we'll get you next time;) Photographers' Open House is on October 13 @ 7pm. See you soon :) Watch below for the slideshow:

9/26/2008

A very grand opening!

A HUGE thanks to everyone who came out and celebrated with us last evening. Joy and I were overwhelmed by all the love and support. We had made a preliminary guess of about 75 and secretly hoped for 100. But by the time it was all said and done, it looks like we had around 150 guests.




No doubt the biggest surprise of the evening was an appearance by our dear friends and fellow Orlando wedding vendors, Lisa Konecny and Jeffrey Stoner. You've seen them both on the blog many times before, but we never imagined you'd see them in Chattanooga. What a treat!




Perhaps the biggest hit of the evening was the photo-booth. Our former intern, Rika and her friend Bess were the queens of the photobooth. Loaded with props from all around the world, the ladies and their subjects were having more fun in there than we ever thought possible.


Our dear friends, Jonathan and Nikki, rockin' it out in the p-booth. Jonathan and Nikki were one of the first weddings that we photographed as "professionals."


Two of the front-row students from the digital photo class at Southern Adventist University, where I've been guest lecturing the past week. They are so full of enthusiasm and in an hour, they, along with their classmates, will be back at the studio for a 2-hour shooting demo. It's going to be a blast!


Cara and her new fiance....I love this shot! So editorial.


Annette and Jared with a friend who we somehow didn't get to meet last evening. They're sooooo stylin'.


Lisa and Jeffrey came all the way from Venice (actually Orlando, but I'm using my imagination).


Lisa and Jeffrey with our wedding clients, Erin and Mike. Erin and Mike are getting married at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando in November. Lisa is their wedding coordinator and so it was a fun reunion and mini-preview of what's to come in just a couple months.


We love the Finnegan's. Marty and Janelle have the cutest little girls with another on the way in just a few weeks! Congratulations!


You've seen Amber and James on the blog before, but never dressed quite like this! These guys are getting married in three weeks and we can't wait!


JoBeth works across the street at Madia's Studio. She is an esthetician and does the best facials, or so I hear. :-) I love this shot, right out of a catalog.


Gregg and Dee Dee live upstairs. Joy and Dee Dee had tea the other afternoon with several of the ladies from the neighborhood. Gregg is a golf pro and he's trying to talk me into playing with him in a couple weeks. Oh, how I wish I hadn't lost my game. ;-(


Emily from Boutique Couture on Market Street brought one of her flower girl dresses for Graycen to wear. She had a blast!


Aunt Diane and one of her friends from church, hamming it up.


Miss Bess, prop director extraordinaire!!!!


Court, me, Joy, Rika and little Gray. It looks like we should be in Ocean's 14. What a team!


Rika's legs.


Rika and Bess, the p-booth directors.


Us.


Our aunt and uncle, Eileen and Randy


Pastor Jim and Ellen. Don't they look French?


I don't know these guys, but I sure wish I did! LOL!


How fun is this!


Neighborhood artists, Miki and Thomas. So stinkin' cute!


And last but certainly not least, our dear friends, Cory and Amanda and Noah. What a beautiful family.


Back to the party.... Can you say crowd control?!?!?!?!?


Closing time.


Once again, thanks to everyone for your support. Especially our partners:
Bill Shores Frames and Gallery
Boutique Couture
Dandelion
Lola's
Lyndhurst Foundation
Madia's
Wiggle Worm



Please check back soon for the Photobooth slideshow!

9/25/2008

We opened grand

We just made it home from our grand opening and we're overwhelmed and flattered by all the love and support. It was hard keeping track, but we figured about twice as many guests as we had planned. Even some special surprises all the way from Orlando! More on that later...including pics.



But for now, here's the link to the article that ran this morning in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

More to come...

9/22/2008

Just Create...

Last winter, Joy and I made one of our rare visits to the movie theater to see the romantic comedy, PS, I Love You. I'm not sure if "comedy" is the right classification for the move, as those who have seen it will attest. But between the incessant sobs and sniffles, I suppose there was a good bit of laughter as well.

At any rate, as a side-bar to the primary story line, Holly Kennedy (played by Hillary Swank...who doesn't like her!) is a desperately creative soul, driven by wanderlust and passion. In one of the pivotal scenes of the film, Holly and Gerry, perfect strangers at this point, are walking along a beautiful road through the countryside of Ireland. Nervous conversation leads to philosophical discussion and Holly, in an effort to further explain herself, attempts to quote poet William Blake. She does a ridiculously insufficient job, but the result is something beautiful:

My business is to create...

All I know is if you don’t figure out something, you’ll just stay ordinary.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a work of art or a taco or a pair of socks, just create something new.

And there it is. It’s you.
Out in the world, outside of you.

You can look at it or hear it or read it or feel it. And all of a sudden you know a little bit more about you…a little bit more than anyone else does.


-Holly Kennedy, PS, I Love You

This afternoon we were excited when our dear friend and former wedding client, Annette, came up from Atlanta to put the finishing touches on our new studio gallery. Now every day we will be reminded to Just Create. I guess you could call it the "bow" on top of the package.


Equally exciting, on Thursday, from 6-9 pm, we are hosting a grand opening open house to celebrate with our special clients and community members for Cobblestone Rue. It's a come and go event, and we'd love to see you there. Please RSVP to info@cobblestonerue.com. We will have food, fun, and fabulous prizes provided by some of our favorite partners and downtown merchants.

The studio is in a storefront space located in the Southside District of downtown Chattanooga. The address is:

55 E Main St, #103
Chattanooga, TN 37408

Note to photographers: a special photographers-only open house is scheduled for October 13 @ 7pm. Visit, meet, network, and create new relationships with photographers from all over the country!





9/19/2008

Happy National Park(ing) Day






Today is/was National Park(ing) Day. Wa....Wa....WHAT?!?!??!?!

After a couple shoots in Orlando last week and then heading straight to the ONE Conference just outside of Chicago, we had been away for a total of 8 days. This morning we turned from Market St. to Main St. and we saw sofas and chairs and astro-turf set up along the side of the street. And perhaps the strangest thing of all was the gentleman setting up his pottery wheel!

I had to inquire. And when I did, I learned that September 19 is National Park(ing) Day. National Park(ing) Day is an opportunity to celebrate parks in cities and promote the need for more parks by creating temporary public parks in public parking spaces. Basically, you find an open parking space, put two-hours on the parking meter, and once it expires you move to another space and simply work your way around the city!

We're fortunate to not have meters on our street yet, which resulted in a more elaborate "park" than the others I saw. I'm pretty sure the "park rangers" had no intention of moving this one every two hours. Complete with a mini-golf course and everything, I was quite satisfied and I'm hopeful that somehow the park will still be in tact long after National Park(ing) day has passed.

To find out more about National Park(ing) day, click here.

9/15/2008

Superfluous Q&A with...

You don't have to be a regular on our blog to know our affinity for the amazingly talented Jeffrey Stoner. We've had the privilege of knowing Jeffrey and working with him many times over the past few years. His talents are only superseded by his charming personality and boyish good looks.

Not long ago, on Jeffrey's new blog, he started an uber-fun series called "Superfluous Q&A with...", where he features various wedding vendors with quick, candid, and often-times all too revealing interviews. In a word, they're SUPERFUN.

While I was on assignment Friday morning at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Lake Buena Vista, Jeffrey and I hooked up for a few minutes of Q&A.

Included below are several of the more serious screen captures from the clip. To watch the full two-minute piece, visit Jeffrey's blog at www.stonervideo/blogspot.com. And while you're at it, do yourself a favor and add his feed to your blog reader. You'll love him!







and the grand finale: doing the self portrait


Thanks Jeffrey! It wasn't nearly as horrifying as I expected.

9/12/2008

BIG congratulations to our clients accomplishments!

Last Tuesday, we attended our wedding clients and now great friends, Jared and Annette and Jared's sister Brittney's Grand Opening of their new Salon and MedSpa, Medalyn, in Kennesaw, GA. We are so proud and excited for them as they are doing some unique and creative projects in their area. Being entrepreneurs, there is no stopping these guys!



Reception area:


Check out the beautiful decor! I think every piece of furniture is available for purchase and has a tag that says, "Take Me Home". Awesome!!


This is the "bar" where they mix color and such in a martini glass and clients get to sit right there and experience the uniqueness of it!




Gray getting treated to Annette's creative painting ability!




The beautiful couple, Jared and Annette:


For the month of September hair services are 25% off! Please call for more info: 770.795.1515.

Their address is:
1600 Kennesaw Due West Road, Suite 103 & 104
Kennesaw, GA 30152

And another big congratulations to our wedding client and now great friend, Lauren Weisberger. Her latest best selling novel, "Chasing Harry Winston" has just been picked up by Universal Pictures to be made into a movie! Read on her blog for more info: www.laurenweisberger.com/blog.html. We are so excited for Lauren and Mike and can't wait for the movie!