Kathleen + Tommy's E-session!

I had the pleasure of going out to Navarre Beach a couple weeks ago with Kathleen and Tommy to shoot their engagement session! What a fun couple! I am looking forward to their wedding coming up in June 09.

Here are a few of my fav's and there is a slideshow at the end! Enjoy!

~Courtney~

Where have we been?

Wow... we have ALOT to post! Keep an eye out in the next few days for a ton of weddings and e-sessions that will be posting.

For the last month, David has been in Belize, Central America running a missions trip. It is really hard on us being apart for that long, but I am so proud of what he does each summer, and what he accomplishes. He brings teams in from all around the USA, and takes them around Belize ministering to people in severe poverty. I go each year as much as possible, but we still have a business to run here at home!

Austin is 4 this year, and David took him with him for 3 weeks! I was about to go crazy! I knew David would take amazing care of him, but 3 weeks in another country is a long time for a mom! Austin had a blast, but I was ready to fly in and bring him home.





Returning to Belize reminded me of why were are there every summer. Our first couple days, we were in some local orphanages. It is amazing to me to see children living in the filth they have to live in, only a plane ride away from our nice homes and subdivisions. Most of them do not have shoes and are covered with ringworms. These kids get dropped off, and are left to spend the rest of their childhood years crammed into rooms with other young forgotten children. The thing that hit me the hardest was that they feel worthless, they have no identity. When we would ask some of them their names, they would tell us they had no names. They were "nobodys". I can see how they would feel like being abandoned by their parents- having no one telling them they are worth something- that they do matter. I wanted to take them all home with me to love. I know that this time it was different for me because I now have 2 boys of my own. I know how much I love them, and how much that means to each of them. I cannot imagine a child growing up never knowing about that love. Our purpose at those orphanages was to tell these kids that they do have someone that loves them, and they are worth something. I know there is so much more to do there.



We also went back to Pickstock street. Pickstock is our low income housing areas in the states times 10. The streets and gutters are filled with trash. The children play in filth, and walk around in sewage. We threw a block party there again, and it still surprised me to see this little boy who could of been no older than 1 years old wandering around by himself. Our little boy is turning 1 this weekend, and I can't imagine him being out of my sight. But that is how it is done there. Children caring for children. They watch out for each other.






When you go down there, you are immediately attacked from all sides... kids jumping on you, wanting you to hold them. Just wanting you to touch them, hold their hand. I love going back each year and the kids remembering our names... asking where David is. I know we are making some sort of impact.


At Pickstock, I noticed this little girl walking around with a toy she had made... It was what looked like to be an old gas can with a string tied to it. She was dragging it around everywhere...


3 years ago, we had a team come in from Nebraska, and they built this building in Pickstock to be used as an outreach enter for a local church. We go back every year and run VBS out of it for the kids.


Anyways- I was only able to be there for 5 days- weddings to shoot! But I enjoyed every second. I loved taking Austin to the orphanages and seeing his mind work as we told him why those children were there, and that he should be very thankful for the life he has. I know growing up going on missions trips is going to give him a good outlook on life and helping people who need it. David comes back on Friday- I know he is ready for some air conditioning and a hot bath!





If you want any info on these trips, just go to www.commissionedint.com

Thanks for reading and enjoy the slideshow! Keep an eye out for upcoming posts!

~Courtney~

Welcome to the world Miss Mary!

Today I had the honor of taking pictures of a brand new baby! My friend Tina "finally" had her little baby girl on August 8 and she is beautiful! Her darling little girl is now 8 days old and I had so much fun taking pictures of her!

Thanks Tina for letting me come over! Enjoy the slideshow!

Sneak Peak...

Tonight I had the honor of capturing Macey + Rob's wedding on the Navy Base in Pensacola, FL. Macey looked amazing, and Rob was in his dress whites. I am downloading all the images now, but here is a little sneak peak... ENJOY! I will post a blog about them soon.

Have fun in London!

Courtney

WE GOT FEATURED IN BLISS MAGAZINE!!

David and I are super excited to announce that we have been featured in a Bridal Magazine located in Atlanta! Bliss Wedding Magazine is a great wedding resource for brides to get info on vendors from cakes to honeymoon destinations. They write informative articles not only for the bride to be, but also for the people helping her plan her day.






Check out the cover- you might recognize Trish & Jason! They got married on May 23, and we are so excited that Bliss decided to use them for their cover!

And- if you look on the inside, they did a feature on Lacy & Jody's Pensacola Beach Wedding!

CLICK HERE to download a PDF of the magazine and check out Jody & Lacy's feature!

We are so happy for our brides!


Keep checking back on our blog... Bliss is featuring another one of our bride's in the next issue!

Thanks Bliss for the features, we look forward to working with you in the future!!

www.BlissWeddingMag.com

Landon and Kate Lynn are Getting Married!

I had a blast with Kate Lynn and Landon today. We fought through the humidity and bugs and captured some great photos. Remember to click play on the last picture. Enjoy! - DAVID

Joey and Stacy are Married!

What a wedding! We are relatively new to the Panhandle area (2 years of business). Our families and business were based out of central Florida. I have felt so blessed to capture such wonderful couples up here in the Panhandle. I know Courtney feels the same way about her clients.

Stacy and Joey came with their families from Ocala, FL. This beach house captivated me more than any other. The day was beautiful and bright. Things ran late and I had to shoot well past sunset (thank God the for the Canon 5D), but I think everything turned out great. We will have more pictures of these two to come! Courtney and I will be traveling down to Tampa in August to capture Joey and Stacy's newlywed shoot. I hope everyone enjoys! Remember that the last image is a slideshow...just hit the play button. - DAVID

Ricky & Julie got married!

I had a blast at this wedding! There was so much going on- I have so many little stories to tell! Ricky and Julie got married in Panama City on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. They had so many guests that the church had to open up the overflow! So much attention and detail was put into everything- and Julie was smiling through it all. Little did I know that a few days before hand, they were not even sure that the wedding was going to happen! Julie had last minute- emergency surgery on her stomach on the Tuesday before she got married.. and you never would of known if you would of seen her dancing at the reception!

The first dance itself is something to remember. I wish I had a video of it to post. Let's just say she mixed a bunch of songs together, and choreographed a dance to them all. Ricky was a great sport- it was so fun to watch!

I think one of my favorite laughs of the day was to find out the ring bearers thoughts on being the official ring bearer. You see, he told his mom... "I don't want to be a ring "bear"... I want to be a ring penguin"! I thought that was hilarious!

Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

They had a rockstar bridal party!











The flower girl also did something rather cute... I was standing at the end of aisle just like I always do.. capturing everyone's entrance. The flower girl walked down the aisle and did a great job. When she gets to the end, she looks up at me and whispers... " I still have some more left, I need to start over!" She runs back up the aisle and begins her walk again, getting rid of the last of her flowers.



At the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom walked out under swords. At each set of swords they had to kiss for the swords to be lifted. At the last set, the bride and groom kiss and the bride is welcomed into the navy. I have always thought this was cute- but I got a laugh out of this one because I do not think she realized he was going to hit her that hard! I heard her squeal all the way across the street! Welcome to the Navy Julie!

I had such a wonderful time! Thanks for letting me be a part of your day! You both have such wonderful strong families. Enjoy your slideshow!!

-Courtney_