Bridal Show September 9

It’s here! Bridal show season is upon us! If you are planning a wedding, you won’t want to miss the September 9 Jacksonville Bridal Connection show at UNF. It runs from 1pm to 4pm.

I participate in this show every year and it is one of my favorite shows! The Florida Times-Union was there last year so here is a link to a picture of me visiting with potential clients at last year’s show:

http://photos.jacksonville.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?userphoto=0&image=14144257&thispage=1

For more information and to pre-register please visit www.jacksonvillebridalconnection.com

See you there!

Castle Ottis Wedding

Saturday’s wedding was fit for a princess- truly! The wedding of Gwendolyn (Gwen) and Kyle was held at Castle Ottis in St. Augustine. The castle is a landscape sculpture and place of worship for persons of all faiths. It also is a unique venue for intimate weddings. Gwen and Kyle invited about 50 guests to share their wedding and join them for a reception on the beach at The Reef. Best wishes to Gwen and Kyle!

Trash the Dress- Toddler Style

We didn’t plan on this happening, but it’s a good thing we had a 2nd dress on hand…
Last week I photographed Ava Rose for her 2-year old portraits at the beach. We started out letting her walk through the sand dunes, play with a bucket and just run on the beach. Got some great shots, but before we knew it she was wading in the water with her dress on! Her mom, aunt and I just started laughing and the first thought that came to mind was “Trash the Dress!” I guess Ava Rose couldn’t wait until her wedding day to join in the fun!

Brides Against Breast Cancer

Ok. So, the wedding is over and your wedding dress is sitting in a box in the attic or collecting dust in your closet. If you are interested in making a difference by donating your wedding dress to a worthy cause please visit the website of Brides Against Breast Cancer. Even brides that have a “Trash the Dress” photo shoot can have the gown cleaned and donated after the session. Please consider donating your gown to this worthy cause. You’ll be glad you did.

Congrats to Melissa and Josh!

Congratulations to Melissa and Josh who are engaged to be married this December in St. Augustine! Memorial Park downtown Jacksonville was a beautiful spot to photograph them for their engagement portrait. I especially liked a few of the images in black and white to show off some of the architectural details and Melissa’s cute personality.

“Better Together”

I always like to try to showcase the highlight or special moment of a couple’s wedding day and for Jennifer and TJ’s wedding on Saturday that moment was the first dance. They danced to Jack Johnson’s “Better Together” and the dance lessons paid off! After a beautiful ceremony at Immaculate Conception the guests were treated to a gorgeous reception at the Omni. A few of their special wedding vendors were Christina Kopecki, wedding planner and McGee Entertainment. Everything came together for a perfect first dance!

Gretchen and Matt engagement

I love the opportunity to try new locations that can make couples feel comfortable and reflect a little bit of their personalities. Gretchen and Matt’s engagement photo shoot is a great example of this. They have a good friend that has a beautiful home on the beach in Ponte Vedra and she was nice enough to allow us to use her home as a backdrop. The rain held off just enough for us to get some great images outside and then we moved inside to the grand piano. Gretchen and Matt share a love for music so photographing them at the piano made perfect sense! I tried to use a unique angle by framing them in the open top and getting their reflection on the underside. I look forward to their wedding!

Bride’s Reaction to Trash the Dress Images

“Hey Jen,
Oh my gosh I LOVE THEM!!! They are SOOO beautiful!!!! I love the one of Marvin and I kissing in the water and the one of me holding the flowers..aww…

I love them all!!! You are so talented these pictures look like they should be in a magazine. what a great night!!! I can’t wait to show Marvin!!! You are such a joy to work with we couldn’t of asked for a better photographer!!!!! Thanks for letting us be a part of this!” -Jennifer Tucker

7-7-07 Wedding of Amy & David

Congratulations Amy and David on a wonderful wedding! The ceremony was held at Sacred Heard Catholic Church and the reception was at the Marriott on Salisbury Road. Wishing you lots of luck for a happy marriage…

American Idol Concert

For all of the American Idol fans (those that admit it and those that don’t) here are some photos from tonight’s concert in Jacksonville. Bill and I were technically in the 11th row, but we were actually seated only 6 rows from the front of the stage because they had the first 5 rows on the side of the stage. We had a great view!

In case you’re curious, Sanjaya’s hair was pretty tame. He just wore it down and wavy. No “faux hawk” Everyone sounded fantastic. Almost everyone plays a musical instrument (which I didn’t know) so they did a few acoustic songs which were not seen on the last season. But, they also did some of the favorite pop and country songs that they sang in the finals.

The arena was completely packed. It didn’t look like a sold out show, but pretty close. Here are a few pics I took with a point and shoot. Enjoy!