Weddings

We had the best time photographing Sara Beth and Austin’s wedding last weekend!  We just love them and their families and so it’s no surprise that they have the best friends as well!  Everyone was a joy and the entire event was spectacular!  Thank you guys so much for making us a part of it!  Sara Beth emailed from her honeymoon today to tell me that she’s dying to see something from the wedding so here’s a quick sneak peek! :0)  Merry Christmas you guys!

Recently, the cute little cupcake shop on West Main Street in historic Franklin changed hands.  We see this happen occasionally and I really didn’t think anything of it.  Another cupcake place – no big deal right?  Well actually, I was happy to have it brought to my attention lately that Naticakes is something quite special and it is now my new favorite cupcake shop!  As entrepreneurs, Sean and I love supporting local  businesses, especially here in our own hometown, but even more than that we love to support business with big hearts who are doing something great with what they’ve been given.

I would love for you to go read all about them on their website, but to summarize, Natalie – the niece of Naticakes’ owner, passed away in her sleep at 23 months of age.  Her family started a foundation in her honor to raise money toward improving the lives of children throughout the world and Nicole, the owner of Naticakes, started this store in order to contribute in her own way.  In memory of her niece’s love of sweets, she went into the cupcake business and 10% of all proceeds are donated to Natalie’s foundation.  They also have monthly sponsorship programs you can contribute to which go toward delivering cupcakes to sick children in local hospitals.  It’s truly a wonderful cause and something we would love see become a staple on West Main for years and years to come!

If you’re thinking about cupcakes for your wedding, party, or just for you, you should definitely check them out!  They also offer beautiful wedding cakes and gift certificates if you’re looking for something fun to pick up last minute for Christmas!  Either way, if you’re down in Franklin, you should stop in and say hello to the wonderful ladies at Naticakes!

DWF.  WTF?

For those of you not in the know, DWF is the Digital Wedding Forum.  DWF is an absolutely fantastic resource for wedding and portrait photographers.  Without having come across it about 4 1/2 years ago, our business most certainly wouldn’t be where it is today, and we wouldn’t have met so many people that we now are privileged to call our close friends.

In addition to being a fantastic forum, they host an annual conference that is going to be in Nashville next year!  One of the highlights of the convention are always the mentor sessions, where you can make a donation to charity, and spend an hour with people at the top of the industry and learn more than you ever thought you could in such a short time.  We won a mentoring session with Jerry Ghionis around three years ago and were absolutely blown away, and it was transformational for us.

Last year, we were asked to contribute to the mentor sessions for the first time, and we really enjoyed being a part of it.  Melissa Tirado asked us to be a part of them again this year, and we donated three sessions.  Shortly thereafter, DWF announced that they would be auctioning off a few longer sessions, and around the same time Melissa emailed us to tell us that our three sessions had sold out nearly instantaneously.  So we volunteered our time for one of the auctions, and those are taking place this week.  We are honored to be among the other photographers on the list. Jerry Ghionis, Mike Fulton, Jim Garner, Kevin Kubota, David Beckstead, Cliff Mautner, Huy, Alt-F, Ray Prevost, Chuck Arlund, The Bebbs, and… Sean and Melanie McLellan.

If you are a DWF member, our auction is happening tomorrow (Dec 8th) at 12:00 noon EST.  If you aren’t a DWF member, WHY NOT?

Here is a link to the thread where the auction will be taking place, along with details about some goodies we’re throwing in with our session:

http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334172

Daniel Lane, a photographer who we mentored at the convention last year just wrote something amazing on that thread, and I feel compelled to post it, here.

“Sean and Mel were my first mentor session ever. (DWFC 2009) After a few moments of chatting with them, it was clear, these two were a true pro team. I can say that not a single moment of our 30 minutes was wasted. They went directly into backing a dump truck of knowledge up to my feeble little brain and unloaded.

Marketing idea after marketing idea flowed across the table. If I had a question, they had an answer. I scribbled down a number of the ideas they handed out and I still have that list today. (I have had success with those ideas I’ve implemented. I’ve got more time this year to devote to the rest of the list.)

If you’re lucky enough to win this one, bring a digital recorder or a stenographer, because Sean and Mel will have more ideas and plans than you can write.

—Daniel Lane”

Thank you SO much for your kind words, Daniel.  We’re so happy to have made such an impact, and that’s what it’s all about.

All proceeds go to charity–so what are you waiting for?  Get over there and bid!  We’ll see you at the convention, next month!