Lauren + Joey Knoxville, TN ::: PART ONE

I've been privileged to photograph some absolutely ahhhmazing weddings, but when it comes to my favorite wedding - Lauren and Joey's Knoxville wedding takes the cake. So, in honor of Halloween, and their one year anniversary last Monday, I wanted to share their wedding in a four part series leading up to Halloween. (You'll see why later.)

If you know anything about how I work you'll know that I always show up to photograph the rehearsal and sometimes the rehearsal dinner. This is for two reasons. 1) I get to know the couple (if we've never met due to travel), the venue, the immediate family, the bridal party, and take some fun candids. 2) The couple gets extra photos for free. Win win. Lauren and Joey's rehearsal was magical. I loved watching the boys delicately string cotton onto fishing wire, creating a soft backdrop for the ceremony. The setting sun touched every golden, autumn leaf hanging from the branches that surrounded us. Watching Lauren juggle three cell phones, make to-do lists on her leg, and do it all with a lightness in her heart was amazing. And besides the delicious beer and (vegan) pizza later at Barley's, practicing their vows in the waning minutes of twilight might have been the best part. Stay tuned tomorrow for part TWO featuring the getting ready photos, the couple's first look, and the ceremony! Happy Anniversary LJ. I love you both! xoxo

Destination: Knoxville, TN.
Rehearsal: IJams Nature Center
Dinner + Drinks: Barley's

the conditions were perfect.

Tonight, as I slowly roasted an entire butternut squash in the oven, filling my house with the smell of autumn, I looked through a few photos I took while in the sunshine state this last week. These pictures make me feel at peace. I went to Florida for work to shoot portraits and a wedding, but spent an equal amount of time losing myself in the water, the conversations between me and two of my best friends, pure food indulgences, a lot of laughter, and sunsets that seemed to assure me that it was okay to let go. So I did. For seven days I forgot about to-do lists, money, my second job, the people who have hurt me, or the physical pain and stress my body and mind have been under lately. I ate the biggest avocados I'd ever seen (picked from a friend's yard), saw wild dolphins almost every day (and one sting ray), found an unbroken sand dollar, bought myself a 90-minute massage, ate lots of fresh seafood, and got carried from shore in an undercurrent while on a child's floaty in the clearest ocean water I'd ever seen. As Jemaine would say in this song, the conditions were perfect. Perfect for letting go.

letting go.

More to come from this autumn inspired engagement session soon!

     xo,

     Hailey