I decided to enter a contest this week on I heart faces . This week’s theme is “Wedding Bells” and I just could not help but enter. I went through all of my wedding photos, but there was one image I kept coming back to. Not because it is a perfect image (by no means is it perfect), not because I think that Melissa (Bride) and Nicholas (her son) are absolutely adorable, or not even because the wedding took place at the beautiful Biltmore Estates.  I entered this image because it “just happened” and I happen to capture it. The groom was off to the side talking to some family. Melissa goes to kiss little Nicholas and he was like, “Mommmm…noooo” (just as any 6 year old boy may do). But, when I look at the image I hear Nicholas and his little voice. It wasn’t a “mom I am so embarrassed” voice. It was a “Mom, I love you and am so excited for you and us” voice.  Just look at their faces. There is a mother/son bond that any stranger can see in this image. This is why I chose to enter this photo into the contest. Wish me luck!

I had the pleasure of photographing little Kail while I was in Illinois this past weekend. He is so adorable and was wide awake for the whole session!  I tried some new post-processing on this session and I absolutely LOVE it! More to come…happy Tuesday!

**If you only knew what we had to go through to get this image! Little Kail did not want to close his legs at all, so mamma had to help!

It was so great to have a long weekend get away in Illinois. I took some photos, saw family and friends, and did a whole lot of walking! There is never enough time to do it all. Every time I head back to IL, I feel like I am in High School again and want to share every memory I have of the area with Chris. We walked the trails I used to run in Cross Country and Track. We visited the parks where I used to hang out. We even went to my favorite Ice Cream shop!

Today has been mostly spent on the computer catching up (or at least tempting to..haha). I needed a break from it all and I went for a short walk around our land this evening. I had seen last night when we got in that we had blackberries on our bushes! (Is it really summer already?)!!  Every summer I pick all the blackberries I can and stuff my face with them.  It is like a “Where’s Waldo” when looking for the blackberries on the bushes. I get so easily distracted when I see a bigger berry that I miss most of the other ripe berries. This year I plan to make jelly, so I had better not stuff my face but save the berries! As I am typing, my hands sting from picking the berries and I worry that my purple stained hands will wear on the perfectly white keyboard I am typing on. But it is okay..I am refreshed and there is nothing more fulfilling that picking the food you put on your table. 

And of course my favorite little guy went blackberry picking with me as well!

Here are some more photos from Justin’s senior session in the Mountains of North Carolina! :) 

Well, we finally made it to IL  24 hours later (well, we did sleep during that time).  We hit a traffic jam with a mudslide on the interstate and 5 big storms! But we are here now! The highlight of the trip? I saw a BLACK BEAR for the first time in the mountains! It has been a goal of mine for sometime and Chris spotted the bear. I have no  pictures as my camera was packed away in the back, but I was like a little kid when I saw it!! Oh yes, and here are some more photos from the Bridal Session. Enjoy!

Justin and his family were on vacation and while on vacation, Justin had the great idea to get his Senior Photos done in the Mountains!  Justin and his family are from Pittsburgh, PA!  I hope you all have a great vacation and enjoy the sneak peak! It was so nice to meet you all!

Below you may find an abundance of images from last weekend’s wedding at the Biltmore Estates! There are just too many good images and too many fun moments that I have to share!

I also got a really sweet email from Melissa, the bride,  after seeing the images on the blog….

“If it wasn’t 5 in the morning, I would call you!!!!  I can’t tell you how nice it was to finally meet you and Chris!!!!!  As I sit here with tears streaming down my face, the two of you were the best and truly made our wedding day not only special for that day but the rest of our lives!!!!!!!  For the years to come we will forever enjoy looking at our pics as we remember each and every little detail!!! …I have to tell you, everyone and I do mean everyone (family, staff, Shawn and I) loved the two of you!!!!…All I have to say is that whoever the lucky couples are that share there wedding day with you is truly blessed!!!!!”

It was too cute! This was designed to be an image of the bride and grooms hand! Their son, little Nicholas, quickly added in his hand and I could not image a better image to be taken!

Nicholas was too funny! Melissa said that he was so excited all week that he hadn’t slept much the week prior to the wedding.  You could hardly tell he was tired..haha!

Shawn (groom) and son waiting to see Melissa in her dress!

The dove release was done right after the ceremony! If you look carefully, you can see a feather coming off the dove as it is flying off!  Nicholas later found the feather and proudly carried it around with him!

The doves flying off as a pair….I love the light coming in as the doves flew off!

Melissa’s sister…check out those guns! I seriously am jealous….

Fingers Crossed!

The Champagne Cellar Entrance was amazing…along with the cake! Yes Melissa and Shawn, we did get a piece as you requested!

The far photo is of Nicholas getting his sparkling grape juice for the toast! Look at that grip!:)

Melissa, Shawn, Nicholas…we love you guys and hope you are having a beautiful life together! Talk to you soon!

Melissa, Shawn, Nicholas…it was so nice to finally meet you all!  Melissa and Shawn live about 4 hours away from Asheville, so we had not officially met until the wedding day. I was so excited to finally meet Melissa.  Melissa had contacted me a while ago about photographing her wedding at the Biltmore Estates. You may say that we became “email buddies” months prior to the wedding.  ;)  I honestly felt that I was meeting an old friend when I saw her for the first time (and I wanted to cry when I saw how beautiful she was)! 

The ceremony and reception took place in the Champagne Cellar at the Winery on the Biltmore grounds. It was a beautiful, intimate ceremony with their close friends and family. The details we spectacular along with the staff at the Biltmore.  Here is a sneak peak from last night…more to come…:)

The new family!!

Mom and son time…..Nicholas is a true momma’s boy (and I don’t think mom would have it any other way)!I captured this image as we were leaving the winery to get some photos around the grounds of the Estate.  Shawn is holding her dress after just seeing her for the first time! We were walking underneath the grapevines, which provided amazing lighting and it was such a “real” moment! I love it…

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And because a post is so much better with a picture, below is a photo I took last weekend while I was on the road. Does anyone know what this plant/flower is?  I see them each spring and really want to plant some at the house!!  Any ideas would be appreciated!

Chris and I have two new little farm girls that we added to our family yesterday. Although they did not make the best first impression (they ran out of our fenced in area within 5 minutes of bringing them home and we had to search for a couple hours for them), we are still excited to have them.  These goats will be great for clearing out our fields!  We spent the whole day today “goat proofing” our cattle fence…haha…