Riverwood Mansion Styled Wedding Shoot :: Nashville Wedding Photographer

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of coordinating a styled wedding shoot in Nashville with Liz from CHIC Nashville Weddings and Events. You see, I had this idea for a styled shoot in my head for several months... it involved lots of blue and white stripes, a dash of coral, 1920's and 30's inspired vintage accents, and a bottle of IZZE Sparkling Grapefruit... and Liz really helped me bring it all together.

I was so honored to have the cooperation of so many AMAZING vendors on this shoot. For any of you Nashville peeps getting married, these are definitely the ones to check out:

Event Design: CHIC Nashville Weddings and Events
Venue: Riverwood Mansion
Wardrobe: Olia Zavozina Bridal and Menswear Boutique
Stationer: {anna.michelle Cards}
Cake: Sweetface Cakes
Florist: Zia Art, Antiques, and Flowers
Hair and Makeup: Ashley Rose Love
Jewelry: Brentwood Jewelry
Models: Cody Kern and Amber Lee
Photography: Glessner Photography 

DIY Coral Chargers - $1.99 each for gold chargers + coral spray paint at Hobby Lobby

This was definitely just as good as it looked... I'm loving the non-frosted shortcakes right now!

   

The ring was actually the model's real engagement ring, a family heirloom from her fiance, and it matched our color scheme perfectly with it's sapphire accents.

Blackberry and grapefruit IZZE drinks and a homemade blueberry lemonade sangria adorned the drink table.

   

Another DIY project: a spraypainted corkboard with cutout numbers serves as the seating chart. The nametags double as handy drink tags to keep up with your beverage.

Amber - you are just simply stunning. For real. You rocked this vintage look and that coral lipstick.

For more images from this Nashville Styled Wedding Shoot, visit Glessner Photography on Facebook.

for photographers :: greensboro wedding photographer

This afternoon, I was watching an interview with Barry Manilow on a daytime talk show and he was asked by one of the hosts about his music living on once he is gone. His response was this...

People won't remember what you did. They'll remember how it made them feel.

The way I see it, the same holds true for us as wedding photographers. I've heard successful photographers over and over again say that the reason a client chooses you shouldn't be because you have awesome images... great photographs should just be a given. To me, that makes perfect sense.

The fact is, most brides and grooms could care less whether your white balance is perfect or that your background is overexposed. They don't care that you're a member of PPA or WPPI or any other acronym (no offense intended - these are great organizations). Their affinity for our images isn't because we took a great photo or won a bunch of awards. It is because of the emotion we are able to elicit with that photograph. It is because that photo possessed so much power, that it was able to make them cry like a baby, laugh out loud, or feel the same butterflies that they felt as they were walking down the aisle. It is because it made them feel more beautiful than they have ever felt. I know that a photo has that power because I wonder why my face is hurting while i'm at the computer editing images from my recent weddings and realize that i'm smiling from ear to ear because I too am feeling the joy that they were experiencing in those photos.

It is because their photographer made them feel like a million bucks. Because we made them feel like they were our only client. Because we made them feel like they were more than just another bride.

So many professionals in our industry make it all about the photographs and not at all about the people. Photographers especially tend to have a reputation for being grouchy, impersonable, and difficult to work with. I realize that this statement may upset some of my fellow photographers, but it is true. If you think it's not, survey some former brides, event planners, or wedding vendors and ask them their opinion on some photographers. It's a harsh reality, and it's the stigma we're up against.

I know there are plenty of people out there who may not think I have any right to be giving advice, but i'm going to give it anyway: If you want great feedback from your brides and if you want them to send other brides your way, give them amazing photographs AND an outstanding experience. Make them feel good about themselves, their day, and their photographer. Give them a reason, a positive reason, to talk about you. And as Barry says, they'll remember how you made them feel.

inspiration :: nashville wedding photographer

There's something so inspiring about going to a place like The Bluebird Cafe. In that small, strip mall restaurant that only holds about 40 people, you can just feel that you're in the presence of greatness. For those who aren't familiar with this Nashville landmark, it is hallowed ground - the place where struggling songwriters who've moved to the music city with barely enough cash to get by and a dream of just having someone hear their song have their prayers answered. 

I can't pick a guitar or carry a tune in a bucket, but music has always had a near and dear place in my heart. The right song can move me to tears, and a melody can arouse emotions I didn't know I had. And just being in the Bluebird brings back memories of my childhood... traveling back and forth from small town Mississippi to Tennessee with my mom for songwriters seminars and conferences and just to breathe in the dream-filled Nashville air.

This past Thursday, I had the pleasure of going with my dear friend Kaley to hear some of Nashville's great writers, including Lari White ("I Will Not Say Goodbye" - Danny Gokey), Marc Beeson ("When She Cries" - Restless Heart), Bernie Nelson, and Allen Shamblin ("The House that Built Me" - Miranda Lambert, "Where the Blacktop Ends" - Keith Urban). These people are just simply amazing, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't incredibly jealous of Shamblin's ability to write such beautiful music as Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me."

If you are a musician, an artist, the creative type, or a dreamer, and can step foot into this place without leaving feeling like life has just been breathed into you, you're  a stronger person than me. It is pure inspiration. It is courage in the form of hearing someone sing from the heart the song they gave life to. It is the will to keep on chasing your dream, despite the fact that it may be a little harder to make ends meet. It is feeling the butterflies for that 20-something writer singing their first song at the place they know could make it all happen. It is the strength to keep pushing yourself every day to create the life you want. It is the proof that dreams do come true.