Our bags were packed, and we were ready to go!  We have been so excited about the wedding of Bailey and Traverse, it was hard to believe the time had come.  These two are some of the sweetest people on earth and we are so happy that they found each other.  We are also beyond thrilled that they chose us to document their most special day.

We came to Brentwood Tennessee a day early to scope out the venue and get a feel for the wedding day.  When we pulled up to the gated entrance our jaws dropped.  The Governors Club is beyond pristine and immaculate, and the homes on the property were so big, we were convinced we would see Puff Daddy driving his golf cart around.  The grounds of the Pleasant Hill Manor only made us more excited.  We looked at each other and said, ‘This is perfect.’  The rehearsal went off without a hitch and everything seemed calm.  After some yummy italian food (Amerigo’s is a must eat when in Nashville/Brentwood) we headed to the hotel to rest up for the big day.  

Early the next day we went to meet Bailey at the hotel where she was getting all ‘brided’ up.  All the bridesmaids were getting ready in one suite and Bailey was in another suite all to herself.  She said she just wants to be as calm as possible, which proves she is a smart girl…she knew the rest of the day would be crazy.  

Once she got all done up she met us at Pleasant Hill and it was time to get in her dress and to see her soon to be husband for their first look.  Traverse was so cute and acted a little nervous, somewhat fidgety when she was walking up behind him.  Once they saw each other it’s almost like he was speechless, frozen in his tracks, and utterly amazed by how beautiful she looked.  It was truly adorable.

Every wedding is different, but all in all this was the most calm and organized wedding we had ever been a part of.  The weather that day was amazing, they couldn’t have asked for anything better.  The ceremony was so sweet and the reception was a full on party.  

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs Read and thank you again for having us share in your special day.   

Hey guys, it’s Dani.  I thought I would take a moment and share with you this beautiful wedding since it is really close to my heart.  I have know the bride Andraya since I was about 12 years old.  I met her when the boy I was dating at the time, Anthony introduced me to his older sister.  This is kind of how it played out:

(I can say this only because Andraya is quite aware that this is in fact how her brother spoke of her at 12 years old.)

He warned me, “She’s a freak, but don’t be afraid.  She just tries to look scary…you know, like Marilyn Manson”.  

I remember thinking, “Oh my God.”

But, when I met her it was clear that on the outside Anthony and Andraya could not be any more different from each other.  At the time Anthony was a tough talking preppy jock who didn’t seem to be afraid of anything.  Andraya was a goth/metal princess who wanted to give the impression of being unafraid of the world.  But once you get to know them… underneath their ‘tough’ exteriors… they are so much alike.  They are both loving, caring, and emotional people who would give you their last dime or the shirt right off their back.  Together, these two could give an alternate meaning to the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’.  Labels and stereotypes don’t really mean anything, it’s just a cover.

Ok, fast forward if you will 10ish years (hey, I’m not giving my age away…) to the most beautiful day in May when I married my 7th grade sweetheart Anthony.  This day is important to this story because that is the very same day that Andraya became my sister.

In the years when I was between 12 and 20ish, we watched Andraya go through a whole lot.  After her high school loves, she was married and had a beautiful little girl named Lydia.  Later on, she went through things that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.   Torment and torture from a husband that didn’t deserve her love.  These years changed both her spirit and the spirit of their darling little girl.  The girls almost seemed broken.  

But then the most amazing thing happened.  Andraya met James.

Let’s be honest though…this isn’t a ‘he met her and they lived happily ever after’ kind of story.  We were skeptical at first.  After seeing her go through so much we wanted to make DARN SURE that this guys is not going anything bad to her.  Anthony, his Father, and I were going to really have to be convinced that this guy is legit.  Well… very quickly we learned that he is made of pure gold.  Lydia became a big sister when Andraya and James had a baby girl named Evelyn.  For the first time in a long time it appeared as though Andraya was really happy, her spirit seemed to be healing.  

Then it’s like a bomb went off in our lives.  Anthony and Andraya’s father Tony was diagnosed with advanced terminal lung cancer about a year and a half ago.  Now, usually something this devastating for a family would be sure to ruin a new relationship.  And since we didn’t really know him all that well we wondered if James would run.

But he didn’t run, he was right there through everything.  He was holding her hand through her fathers chemo treatments, last birthday parties, hospital visits… and in the end he was holding her had at the funeral.  James even held my hand when I took on the tradition of Thanksgiving.  I had a moment of nerves and wondered if I could get it all together, it was a very small gesture that I will never forget.  We made it through, all of us together.  Then shortly after, James’ father fell very ill, so they traveled hand in hand to California and since his father was not able to travel they got officially married while they were there.  Sadly, James’ father lost his battle as well. 

But guess what?  Together, they made it through.

When Tony was alive he gave everyone his stamp of approval for James.  It meant the world to him to see his little girl finally happy.  Although we never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gardner, we would like to think that he gave the same stamp of approval to their union.

So when they decided to get married here in Tennessee and celebrate their love, I was honored to be able to document their celebration.  It was a laid back enchanted evening at Pot Point park.  The wedding was ‘classic Andraya’, and guests were in costumes, belly dancers performing at the reception, the girls wore victorian style dresses, and the groom was in a top hat.  It was perfect.

Congratulations Andraya and James!  Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your special day.  

the first look

he approves!

she is stunning.

yes, these cakes.  yes.

my husband and his best friend.  :)

Lil!

Anthony giving his sister away.

Lydia telling secrets.  

the kiss.

they set up a little tribute to Tony and James’ father who also passed this year.  I caught brother and sister holding hands.  

yes, brides can bellydance!

happy love.

Every now and then in life, we run across something that directly mirrors what is going on in our lives.  As Oprah says, we have a little ‘Ah-ha’ moment.  Well, while perusing Pinterest.com (which we are shamelessly addicted to) at the studio yesterday we ran across this lovely quote from Anais Nin. 

Photo credit: bejoyful7.tumblr.com

The definition of risk as provided by wikipedia.com:

 Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called “risks”. Almost any human endeavour carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

We are sure that all new and small business owners feel doubt or fear about taking that big chance.  There is fear in taking a risk.  But we love that in the defintion of risk, it states “ Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome).”  Wow.  Risk is the choice to act or to not to act.  To change or not to change.  To move or to stay still.  To stay separate or come together.  To get a studio and go for it or continue the way it was.

Although we feel we are extrememly blessed and that our business is going wonderfully…there is always that little voice in the back of our heads that echos “Have we made the right choices, have we done the right things?  Is this going to end up the way we want it to?”.  We think worry is a natural thing, and it means we care about our little business.  We love our job so much it’s not really a job at all.  We have the most amazing clients, supportive friends, and caring families.  We have everything we need. 

So thank you Anais Nin for writing this a long time ago, your passion has effected our lives and our way of thinking. 

And we believe that the risk to bloom was the right risk to take.

 Skye has known Winston since he was an itty bitty baby, I’m talking since the time he was being carried around in the womb. Now he is as tall as a bean pole! She can’t believe he is a senior in high school! Makes her feel really old…

 Winston showed up with an entourage the day of his session. We would like to say the moral support helped bring out those real smiles he was trying to hold back. Winston can play about any musical instrument including the Ukulele, Which is pretty cute.  Literally, We believe if you were trying to learn how to play it and if you were having a hard time you couldn’t get mad at it, but only at yourself. It is to adorable to get upset with. AND its so much fun to say! Say it… Ukulele. You know that was fun!

 Winston has the biggest dimples. When you see them they will automatically put a smile on your face. It took him a few minutes to warm up to us but once he did… It was open season for photo taking! As you can see below! Congrats Winston, Hich School is almost over!

It’s coming up on the Most Wonderful Time of the year again (can you believe it?)!  We are now taking bookings for our 2011 Christmas Mini Sessions!  This year, our Christmas mini’s will be held at the studio, 1253 Market Street Suite 100.  Bloom studio will be all set up nice and warm and decked out in the style that old Santa Clause would be proud of!

For $100 plus tax you will get an hour of shooting time in and around the studio.  You will also get 25 high resolution, copyright released (no logo) images on a disc for you to be able to use to print your holiday cards.  Or just have them printed and give the photos themselves out as gifts!  Talk about a recession savvy and thoughtful gift all at the same time!

To book your session, please email us at bloomchattanooga@gmail.com.   Once we figure out the best date/time for you and your family, we will send you a secure paypal invoice so that you can pay the $50 non refundable deposit (the deposit will go toward your total investment).

These sessions book up fast!  Don’t be late and book today!  We can’t wait to see you all!

We were so excited to be able to photograph this next handsome family.  We have been friends with Kelsey and Shawn for a long time and we have seen little Parker grow up on Facebook.  Obviously, his adorableness is evident…and we aren’t ashamed to admit that we were just waiting for the day to be able to take their photograph.  When Kelsey and Shawn said they wanted to book a family session, we were so happy!

Sadly, old mother nature had other plans on their original session date…and torrential rains made us delay their session a few days.  Shawn plays baseball for Mariners, and travels a lot,  so we were a little worried that the weather wouldn’t hold off before he had to go out of town.  It finally cleared up and it’s a good thing we waited, cause the weather on their actual day was BEAUTIFUL.  The leaves had started to turn and fall, and pair that with an usually warm fall day…it was perfect.   Parker was in great spirits, smiling the whole time and we got some amazing shots.  Even the pups behaved!  YIPPEE!

Thank you guys for letting us come to your home and photograph your sweet little family.  And we think you have got yourselves a future little heartbreaker there.  Hope you enjoy this little peek at the Kelley family session.

Ocotober 6, 2011 at 12:13 pm, a very sweet little boy came into this world.  His name is Lucas Christopher Nicely, and he weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces, and was 20 inches long.  Lucas is a lucky lil guy, because was born into a pretty amazing family.

Jason, Kate, and big sister Bella kindly asked us to come over when Lucas was just a week old to take some family photos.  He behaved like an angel (well…until we tried to get him naked, lets just say he prefers clothes!).  The first thing we noticed was that he has perfect skin and a great ‘chilled out’ disposition.  Bella was so excited for the family pictures and we think you will be able to tell…she was grinning from ear to ear.

Congratulations Nicely family, you have a beautiful new addition.  Thank you for having us take your family photos.  We hope you all enjoy this little peek of their session.

Brooklyn has arrived world!  She came into this world about 4 weeks early on September 16th, 2011 at 1:15pm weighing in at  6lbs 2oz.  Welcome Brooklyn, Welcome. Isn’t she beautiful? Yes, we thought so too!

The day that Jennifer and Brian brought her down to the studio to have her newborn photos taken she was fit to be tied and not the happiest camper. After a bottle or 2, a diaper change, a little burping and daddy being the ” baby whisperer” she finally fell right to sleep and we started snapping away. Jennifer brought some of the sweetest little head bands and diaper covers to put her in.  Arn’t they adorable? Again, we thought so too!

She is such a gorgeous baby girl, and we just love the Ramsey family. We can’t wait to do more photos for them. That is one thing we REALLY love to do for families, Catch their little ones growing up because it really does happen to fast! Congratulations Jennifer & Brian!

Bloom Photography is currently in search of Senior Rep Models for the 2012 graduating class.  We are looking for one girl and one guy from each high school in Hamilton, Catoosa, or Bradley County.

A Senior Rep is a spokesperson from high school that will help promote Bloom Photography through their FREE SENIOR PHOTOS.

The senior rep should have a wide variety of friends, be heavily involved in school activates and should most importantly be super comfortable in front of a camera.

THE CRITERIA

*Be a high school junior graduating in 2012.

*Go to high school in Chattanooga and surrounding areas.

*Agree to share their experience with friends and classmates about Bloom Photography and share your pictures with them. 

*Have parents/guardians sign a model release form.

*Agree to only represent Bloom Photography in regards to senior photos.

*Provide your favorite ‘self’ portrait for use on our facebook page.

WHAT YOU WILL GET IF CHOSEN

*The senior reps will get a FREE session, which will include multiple locations and outfit changes within about a 2 hour time period ($300 value).

*A magazine type album of their best photos.

*They will also get senior rep cards.  This is where your hard promotion work will pay off.  If you refer 5 seniors to us (and they book a senior session with us) you will get an additional session, FREE.

 *Lots of love on the Bloom Blog and Facebook site. Your pretty face will be pretty much everywhere.           

Sounds awesome, right? 

Do you fit the criteria?

If so, please email us at bloomchattanoga@gmail.com to get an application. 

Once we collect an adequate number of applications, we will hold a contest on our facebook page with the applicants.  Your friends and family will be able to ‘vote’ for their favorite applicants.  If we don’t get enough applicants, we won’t have a contest…so…that means you should encourage your friends to apply too.  Then try to beat them!

Here are some examples of what your session could look like:

Looks like fun, right?  Don’t you want some pictures like this?  Don’t you like free stuff?  

OK…GO!!

Just wanted to show you all this birth announcement we just put together for sweet baby Malyn.  If she doesn’t give you baby fever, we don’t know what will.