Thanks to all the brides and their loved ones who took the time to visit with us in our little alcove out of the atrium traffic. We’re following up with all of you today and eager to see how we can help you with your wedding plans. And we were absolutely honored when bride-to-be Kimberly Cunningham of Pelham booked us on the spot at the bridal show to photograph her wedding next summer to Matt McCune. We had so much fun meeting her mom, mom-in-law-to-be and sister and we’re so excited about the Old Hollywood photo ideas we talked about!

Here are some photos of our booth, with gorgeous flowers from Hothouse Design Studio. Norton’s decorated our event room and the adorable arrangement in the lower left is from there. We loved seeing J Ross Railey and owner Gus Pappas, who were our sideways booth neighbors.

Daniel and me, on a rare occasion when we get our photo taken. Photo by Jessica Cannon of The Alabama Theatre.

I accented our booth with fuschia chair sashes, which in retrospect had quite an Aerosmith feel to them!

Thanks so much to Jessica Cannon of The Alabama Theatre for taking our photo and for displaying one of our bridal portraits in her booth. We enjoyed chatting with her and her cool mom, since they were right cross from us at the show.

Jessica Cannon of The Alabama Theatre and her wonderful mom were our booth buddies across the aisle at the Soho Bridal Show.

So many of our wedding friends were at the show. Mandy Majerik of Hothouse Design Studio unveiled her new service, event design, to complement her floral artistry. We were so proud Mandy asked us to photograph her for the marketing of this great new endeavor and we were blown away by what she and her graphic artist have come up with for the images.

Hothouse Design Studio's new event design service marketing includes Daniel Taylor Photography!

The gorgeous Hothouse Design Studio room at the Soho Bridal Show.

More Hothouse Design Studio art.

Meghan Cease of  M Elizabeth Events created a beautiful room and booth at the show and gave us some great advice as we prepared our own booth. Brides, I’m telling you, hiring a planner for several hours of consultation, day-of coordinating or overall planning is one of the best things you can do to get a handle on your event, pull together creative details, and reduce your stress! We see it week after week. Brides with planners are more relaxed on the day, so are the women in their family. That translates into more beautiful pictures! If you think you can’t afford it, send a planner an e-mail and ASK! You will be surprised by the options.

We have some gorgeous new things we showed off at SOHO Bridal Show. We’ll have silk photo portfolio from Cypress Albums, makers of luxury handmade photo albums, folios and photo . This is one of the few names in wedding products that makes the pros say “Oooh.” We also have gorgeous photo boxes to hold our newest package option, 4×6 print sets, perfect for you, parents, or grandparents. We had so many requests for boxed print sets, we wanted to add something special to our Fall 2010 package options. In addition to print credits, packages now offer a choice of a set of print highlights in one of these exquisite boxes.

New for Fall 2010: The boxed print set with silk and damask.

Our exquisite new photo folios from Cypress Album, the perfect weddding keepsake gift for the loved ones in your life. And they come in tons of colors!

Primavera Coffee Roasters owner and proprietor Brett Burton. Photo by Kelli Hewett Taylor

]]> http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/my-latest-for-b-metro-magazine/feed/ 0 http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/tori-mitchells-wedding-preview/ http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/tori-mitchells-wedding-preview/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:47:14 +0000 Kelli Hewett Taylor http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/?p=731 We were absolutely thrilled to be part of Mitchell and Tori Hilderbrand Waters’ fun, beautiful wedding at the beautiful Rosewood mansion in Pinson, where owner Renee Mikell took wonderful care of everyone. The setting was perfect for Tori’s wedding theme of romantic Southern elegance.

Rarely have a seen entire families and wedding party members so excited  about a wedding. That kind of emotion adds tremendously to the photography and makes it incredibly fun for everyone, including the photographers! Everyone was smiling, hugging, crying, dancing. Simply wonderful.

Tori’s gorgeous dress was from Bella Couture in Mt Laurel. Our friends John and Angela Deaver of Main Street Productions captured everything on video and James Coats of Coats Classic Cars brought a gorgeous getaway car for the newlyweds.

Mitchell and Tori, thank you so much for giving us the honor of photographing your wedding day!

We had such a blast photographing Shawna and Darrell’s wedding at Huckleberry Farm in Jasper! The weather was perfect and the details were just fantastic. Shawna and Darrell are such a fun couple. Their family and friends cheered them on as they danced their way down the aisle after the ceremony. And everyone loved the special touches of plenty of family photos on the tables at the reception.  Thanks, guys, for letting us photograph your amazing wedding!

The thing every bride can glean from a royal wedding is the sense of timelessness. There’s very little that’s trendy in a royal wedding, though it may set trends afterward, such as the Par Engsheden bridal gown. Sticking with unusual styles that aren’t faddish, and clean, sleek, classic hairdos will ensure that your children aren’t loaded with ammunition to make fun of your photos 10-15 years from now.

Check out Victoria’s smile, just beautiful. You’d be surprised how many brides are so preoccupied and stressed on their wedding days that their smiles are hard to come by. Take a cue from the heir-to-the-throne, ladies!

Getty Images

Getty Images

Getty Images

Reuters

Getty Images

Jessica and Shane had a gorgeous wedding affair, with the ceremony at Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Vestavia Hills and the chic reception at The White Loft downtown. Jessica’s fab gown came from Bella Couture in Mt Laurel and the bouquets were by the amazing Vince at Flower Stems. The couple were surrounded by the love of tons of family and friends, including sorority and fraternity members who serenaded the bride and groom. We had so much fun getting to know everyone. Thanks, guys, for letting us document your special day!

Here are a few of the Wileys’ beautiful wedding previews:

If it’s one thing I’m a sucker for, it’s Indian weddings. The colors, the ceremonies and the emotions are highlights for any photographer. Barkha and Sumit are having their long-awaited  two-day Indian wedding on July 23 and 24 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. Barkha has flown home for her bridal session is this weekend and we’re getting everything ready for the big shoot tomorrow at her family home. Barkha’s mom, Vandana,  and sisters Kanika and Rhadika, make us feel like family and we’re so thrilled to share this experience with the whole Manne gang. I can’t convey to you what an honor it is, for us as non-Indians, to be selected to capture an Indian wedding.

This weekend’s photo session will include multiple outfits from India that are to die for. I’m getting together our ideas for traditional Indian bridal poses, which are so elegant!  I can already promise gorgeous photos, and here’s why I’m so confident. Take a look at highlights of their e-session at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (a great spot for weddings, btw) and Sibyl Temple in Vestavia Hills. I love how Barkha is as chic in traditional Indian attire as she is in American clothes. And what fun for photographers to have such a variety! Stay tuned for pictures of MY Indian outfits in the works for the wedding!

Congratulations to John and Monica Guanche Brogdon, who celebrated their first anniversary on Sunday, June 13. We loved getting to know Monica and John and their families through their fabulous engagement session, bridal session, shower and wedding. Monica and her mom, Maria, left no details forgotten for this gorgeous event.

Take a look back at some of their beautiful photos!

We wish you many, many years of happiness!

]]> http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/brogdons-1st-anniversary/feed/ 0 http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/mr-and-mrs-armstrong/ http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/mr-and-mrs-armstrong/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:15:54 +0000 Kelli Hewett Taylor http://www.danieltaylorphotoblog.com/?p=569

Jennifer's Grecian-style gown.

Jennifer and James were married Saturday Saturday at the incredible Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral downtown. It was a beautiful Greek ceremony with plenty of Greek touches, from Jen’s Grecian-style dress to the ceremony to plenty of Greek dancing at the reception. Love from family and friends just filled the sanctuary and spilled over to the reception. And what a fun group! I should have known it was going to be fun when, during the formal portraits, little Catherine, Jen’s niece, decided to, uh, dig for gold. James never missed a beat and did a fake “dig for gold” himself. It cracked up the entire group and will probably haunt Catherine to her own wedding day!

Ken Kiester of Norton’s florist did one of his final weddings in Birmingham before moving out of state. We’re so sorry to see him go. James and Jen’s floral design was stunning in dramatic blues and cool greens. We also met Norton’s new event coordinator, Ross Railey, who has moved to the ‘Ham from Decatur. Can’t wait to work with him!

The beautiful and yummy cakes were from our friend Jan Moon of Dreamcakes Bakery in Homewood. Catering was by the Gourmet Pantry in Vestavia. Two of my favorites were the Asian chicken and the meatballs!

James and Jennifer are such an adorable couple! We wish them many, many years of happiness together. Can’t wait for our next photo shoot together!

First moments together.

James and Catherine lighten things up during the formal family portraits.

Jen and her dad, Andrew Collins.

Cakes by Dreamcakes.

Florals by Norton's.

Her sister's first dance brings Leah, in blue, to tears.