Well, the day finally arrived when Emily and Jonas would become husband and wife, and the occasion it was indeed.  From listening to speakers at the rehearsal as well as to stories from the Rays, it’s amazing - with today’s amount of relocation of families - how Emily & Jonas have kept such a great set of friends for so much of their lives.  So many stories are from people who have known them both since they were 5… and some since 1, and even those who they met later in life have such inspiring stories to share about Emily & Jonas.  This is the second wedding we’ve done with the Ray family and have become friends with them since meeting them several years ago, so needless to day, we were more than happy to participate in Emily’s wedding.  Along the way in wedding planning, we met Jonas’ family and they too are people you definitely want on your friend-list.  No wonder Emily and Jonas were a match… their families are too! 

Wedding day arrived and everything had been planned to perfection.  Their wedding location was Woodmont Christian Church (the white tall steeple on Hillsboro) which is such a great location in all regards… visually, logistically, and plenty of room for the bride to get ready.  It’s just a total winner.  Guests nearly filled Woodmont for the 7:00 ceremony and were presented with an incredible array of flowers from Terry at The English Garden.  The Ray’s home minister - Steve Berger - from Grace Chapel performed the ceremony for the families.  Once pronounced husband & wife, Emily & Jonas had a romantic ride in their Vintage Jaguar to their reception location at Hillwood Country Club.  The bridal party was also treated to transportation to Hillwood via the Franklin Trolley.

At Hillwood, guests were presented with a wonderful entertaining evening.  The decor of Hillwood - in combination with the accents of flowers and linens - provided a warmth that made everyone feel luxuriously comfortable.  It looked awesome!  The night got rolling with the introductions, cake-cuttings, and then a LOT of greetings, congratulations, and dancing!  Special dances included the bride/groom, father/daughter, mother/son, and those were followed with Emily presenting her bouquet to her grandmother.  Once the partying got rolling, everyone there cannot forget “Unchained Melody”.  Yes, it’s a song, but it’s also a procedure.  As part of their college fellowship candor, Jonas’ friends padlocked a chain with cow-bell around his neck…. and disposed of the key.  So, the first stop for them after leaving was the local fire station to borrow some lock cutters.  (See bell on his neck in the departure photo below)

What an awesome couple days!  Congratulations to all the families and Emily & Jonas!

 -shaun

Wow, tonight was nothing short of incredible.  We’ve known the Rays for several years and tonight I was able to spend even more time with their friends and family and I cannot even begin to explain what a great group of people they are and what a pleasure it was to be in their presence this evening.  Because we’re off to prepare for tomorrow’s wedding, we just wanted to pop a few images online tonight from the rehearsal.

 -shaun

Below:  There were many laughs and even some tears as many friends shared with guests their life-memories created with Emily and Jonas.  At the end of the evening, Jonas thanked everyone and verbalized why he knew Emily was the wife for him, and those wonderful words brought tears of joy.

This morning, Kate and her mom Aimee came by for a session to document what a princess Kate is at 3 years old.  What awesome blonde curls Kate has which made her even more like a fairy tale little girl.  Our objective for the session was to get a couple different looks - one that was more formal which Aimee plans to use as part of their art decor for their home and then we also wanted to get some more playful images of Kate that could serve for a wide variety of uses in frames, albums, and even for additional wall prints.  Kate was awesome and sailed right through the shoot and many thanks to Aimee for playing with us to get Kate rolling with her expressions.  Here are just a couple previews of our session.

 -shaun