view from my desk :)

i mean, i'm pretty much OBSESSED with this couch.

hoping to use these awesome chairs in some fun shoots to come! 

the lamp.  oh how i love this lamp.

if you are interested in setting up a consultation at my new meeting space email me at ashleyhoskinsphotography@gmail.com.  

now, on to some photos of their day!

p.s.  changing the posting format a little bit....what do you think??

that seems to be the real question these days.  do we see each other before the ceremony or not?  what are the benefits?  what am i sacrificing either way?

and here is the answer.....drum roll please....

it is totally up to you!!

i know, that doesn't really help now does it.  but it's the truth.  ok, so i chose NOT to see justin before we got married.  which most people would think is like a big fat no no as a wedding photographer myself, but that was just something that was really important to me, so i understand the importance of it to others.

but here is the deal.  first of all, you can make the moment when you first see each other special, even if it isn't as you are walking down the aisle.  this is what people now call a, "first look".  some people love them, some hate them.  personally, i think that they are really sweet.  i have always said that if i could do my wedding over, i wouldn't :), but if i did, i might consider doing a first look.  not just for the photos, but because i think that it is a really sweet moment between a bride and groom.  from there, we get to take as much time as we can to take photos of the bride in groom and sometimes go to locations that we wouldn't otherwise have time to do.

so here is my personal suggestion.  if you choose not to see each other before, arrange a time in your day to get photos of the two of you, after all, this is YOUR wedding day and in 50 years, THOSE are the photos that you are going to want.  i know that after the ceremony, you are so anxious to get to the reception but if build in a cocktail hour for your guests with some appetizers and drinks, they will be just fine!  seeing each other before isn't a necessity, but when you are coming up with a wedding day schedule, be mindful of building in some time into your day get photos of the two of you.  also, think about what time of day you are going to be getting married.  do you want photos taken outside of the two of you?  then if you are getting married at 7 it might be dark after the ceremony, depending on what time of year you are getting married.

now, as always, these suggestions are just my own personal opinion.  like i've said before, i have been involved in the wedding industry in some way or another for a long time now and just thought that as a photographer, i would offer what little bit of advice i have to give to allow you to get the absolute best wedding photos ever!!!

and of course no blog would be complete without a photo.  here is a sneak peek of julie and todd's wedding from this past saturday.  this is a sweet moment from THEIR first look!

whitney and tristan, i had such a great time capturing the love and joy of your wedding day.  i wish you both all the best in the world!  here are a couple of my favs.

like i said, whitney is a hair stylist and her son had to get a little trim for the big day.  how cute is he!

these two might be a couple of my favorites from the whole day.  it was so sweet to see how excited whitney's son was to see tristan.

whitney has always been just so beautiful.

so this might be one of my favorite first dance shots ever!  i love the back lighting and of course the sweet expressions on their faces

 

the reception was really dark, so sometimes, you just have to embrace the grain!

THIS was awesome.  they surprised tristan by pulling out an old video of him dancing to footloose when he was little and played it during the mother/son dance.  he was clearly shocked!

and not only can tristan dance, but he can sing.  he sang frank sinatra's "fly me to the moon" to whitney on their first date......so she made him do it again at the reception.  she thanked him for it :)

and the send off :)

kinda of crazy and i still can't believe that it is actually happening but it is indeed.  it all started a few months ago when my dad bought an old building in downtown maryville to renovate.  a few months after that my dad approached me about the possibility of having an open office space there if i would be interested in using it....well, at first, i was hesitant.  one reason being, the office is in maryville.  i live in west knoxville and most of my clients tend to live around this area as well.  i wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it to make the drive.  second reason, i hadn't seen the space and had always had something specific in mind and wasn't sure if it would meet what i was looking for.  well, after going out there i realized i could totally see this space as my new home for my business.  i felt that this was an opportunity i simply could not pass up.  i am hoping to use this space for lots of fun things.  one will be a place for me to meet my clients.  i know that it might be a drive for some of you, but i promise, i am going to make it worth your trip.  this space is going to be awesome!  i feel it is going to give me the opportunity to serve my clients in a way that i just haven't been able to do thus far.  second, this space has some awesome natural light, so i am hoping to use it for some photo sessions.  it is going to be decked out in some beautiful furniture that i think is just screaming to have its' picture taken.  then, this kind of sealed the deal for me, it is going to look out to our own private garden/courtyard.  right now it is a pile of dirt and rocks, but my good friend, mitch stewart, is a landscape designer who is going to make this place awesome come spring!  PLUS, we are located right behind tomato head, so good food is just a few steps away.  and if you haven't been to downtown maryville before, this will be a great excuse to make the trip.  it is so cute and full of antique shops and some really cute boutiques!

i don't have any photos of the space to share with you yet, it is still being finished, but no blog post is complete with at least one photo so i snapped a few of some totally awesome things that are going to be going in my new place.  i just got a lensbaby a couple weeks ago so i thought i would play around with it a little bit and shot these photos with it!!  more updates to come soon!!!

i mean seriously, how cute is she!!

lane, reading a note from bill

LOVE these next three.  lane's mom had made a garter out of her maid of honor's bridesmaid dress, and a charm from the first piece of jewelry lane's father had ever given her.  i'll admit it, i cried too.  it's ok, i'm pretty sure my sister did too!

and here is the garter.

this was pretty awesome too.  kimball's jewelers had given this to lane's mom to wear on her wedding day.  so lane wore this in her shoe.  lane's mom still had the box!

lane.  you are just so beautiful.  

loved this, of lane's mom putting on her veil.

you know how sometimes, there is just a random image that gets you.  this is one of those for me.  I LOVE IT.  just do. 

ooooooo...i LOVE this too!!!

so cute, so wintery!

some fun reception details

lane and bill, thank you thank you thank you for letting me capture the sweet moments of your day!  it was a blessing!

and HERE IS THE SLIDESHOW I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO MAKE EVER SINCE I HEARD THE SONG!!! :)  thanks avett brothers 

one thing i have been thinking a lot about for the past few months is sharing some of the things that i have learned in the wedding world with you.  i have been surrounded by all things wedding for a really long time.  i worked at a bridal gown store in high school (david's bridal with like 4 of my best friends! so fun!) and my mom worked at a bridal store while i was in college (a joyous occasion).  not to mention, i think i started buying wedding magazines at the age of, ohhhhh 12.  now, after being in the industry for a couple of years and after planning my own wedding a little over a year ago, i feel like i have picked up on a few things that might be of a little help.  especially from a photography perspective.

this year is going to be crazy busy between following my rock star husband around and shooting tons of awesome weddings, but i am going to try to offer some tips every other week or so.  now, don't get me wrong.  i am by no means saying that i know everything that there is to know about planning a wedding, but these are just some things that i think will allow you to have the most amazing wedding photos around.  as well as a stress free, beautiful day.

so, wedding tip number 1.

it's all in the details!!

shoes. you do not have to have a huge budget to have an awesomely beautiful and unique wedding.  for instance, you have to wear shoes on your wedding day.  so why not wear something fun.  don't be afraid to wear some pink pumps, or some sweet flats, or even cowboy boots or converse tennis shoes.  make it fun!  make it you!  not only will it make you feel great on your wedding day, but it makes for some great photos!  

accessories.  and i don't just mean jewelry.  i mean all the little things.  lighting, centerpieces,flowers, etc....  this is one thing that i wish i would have paid more attention to in my own wedding.  not that i didn't pay attention to detail, i did, but i could have done even more.  weddings are all the rage right now and the internet is full of awesome wedding blogs such as, style me pretty,once wed,snippet and inkthese are all such great resources for planning a wedding.  and they always feature amazing photography by amazing photographers from real weddings so you can invision what these things look like and how they translate into photos.  one great place to purchase awesome, unique things is etsy

i'm sure most of you already know about this site, but if you don't, oh just get ready.  this highly addictive, crafty, totally awesome site is going to rock your world.  another great place is antique shops or thrift stores.  you can get awesome things for dirt cheap and you can almost always get them to give you an even better deal if you are buying something in bulk. 

one of my favorite people, dane sanders, is an awesome photographer out of california who has started a series of videos on his blog called, Make Your Day You.  from the moment i saw this line, it has just been on repeat in my head.  i just could not agree more.  this is YOUR day.  make it YOU!  have your wedding day reflect your personality.  if you love things that are vintage, earthy, and different, you don't HAVE to get married in a church and have your reception ballroom.  get married at someone's house, or a field, or a barn.  if you are more of a traditionalist, get married in a church and an awesome ballroom, but embrace those things!  make those things exude your personality.

last little thing for today is, utilize your vendors.  if you have something strong in mind for your flowers, bring those ideas to the table and see what they can do.  ask your venue if you can see past weddings to get an idea of what things will look like at your own wedding in that space.  if you have a wedding planner, let her go to town!  it will only make your day that much more amazing and your photos will absolutely reflect that.  whatever money you do spend on little details, will pay off ten fold.  i can promise you!

most of you have probably already seen these photos from my blog post about this back in september, but when talking about details, i couldn't help but think about this amazing set up.  at jessica claire's workshop she had an amazing event design company, grey likes weddings, come out and design our mock wedding and reception.  almost everything they had here was from an antique store or thift shop.  it doesn't have to cost an arm and and leg to look amazing, just go for it!  don't be afraid to really make your day YOU!

laahhhuuuvvveee this.  if you want to have a little lounge area, jazz it up with some cute pillows.  target makes awesome, cute pillows for really inexpensive.  great way to tie in any color scheme that you have.

make some thing cute.  this could not have cost very much but looked sooo cute hanging above the cake cutting table.

one of my favorite details for this was the awesome use of old books.  and even just some old pages tied with a little twine.  you use these to add hight changes to your center pieces.  if you can't afford tons of flowers, get some cool candles and candle holders!

amazing vases and use of glass bottles

 

great thrift store find.  would make a great center piece on it's own!

so, i realize if you are having a large wedding this isn't really feazable, but maybe do this for just the wedding party table, or just the bride and groom's table.  what they did was, they used all different chairs for the entire table.  again, all came from either antique stores or thrift shops

look at that cute suitcase!  who would have thought to do that???  don't be afraid to think outside of the box!

different flowers than your traditional flowers but look AMAZING.

loved their use of dishes and silver ware.

one of my favorite things is, if you can't afford an open bar, or don't want to have one, think about maybe doing a signature drink.  if you have a yellow color scheme and a really summery wedding, have a lemon drop signature drink!  so cute!

again, love the use of books.

oh, and i just thought of one more thing!  bring a copy of your invitation and save the dates to the wedding!!!  i know so many of you value your invitations as a huge priority in your wedding budget, so why not get some awesome photos taken of them!  just another way to add great details to your wedding photography!!

ok, so i know that this is a very distinct style that is not for everyone, (personally, i'm obsessed :)  but just wanted to give you some ideas of how you can really give your own little personally touch and it doesn't have to empty your bank account!  

hope you have a great weekend and i'll be posting a beautiful and sweet winter wedding next week!!

happy new year from both of us!  so excited for 2010

yesterday we hung out in woodstock for most of the day and i pretty much became obsessed.  this place is amazing.  but what was even more amazing was the ramble last night.  the dirty guv'nahs opened up for levon and his band at the ramble and it was truly incredible.  levon was just so happy.  i am sitting here trying to come up with the right words and there really aren't any that do it justice.  it was just awesome.

 tomorrow is justin's and what a better way to celebrate it than recording at levon's.  they will be here through the end of the week and i ask that you pray for them as they try to finish their album.  they had a pretty rough week last week battling sicknesses, people losing their voices, and tons of snow.  they are feeling really encouraged going into their second week but they still have a long way to go.  i can't wait to hear the final product.  i know this, it is going to be amazing.  so get ready :)

here are some photos from the awesome city of woodstock

boys working hard in the studio

taking a little time to watch some youtube.  never too busy for youtube.

i never have any pictures of justin and i together!  i wish i could have taken the whole day to shoot around this little town.

what we woke up to this morning.......more snow

there is just something about this next photo that i LOVE.  i just think that lawrie looks so beautiful here.

i loved these intimate shots of lawrie and her father before she walked down the aisle.  

lawrie and ross chose not to see each other before the wedding, which is totally fine with me. i really don't need a really long time to get some great shots as long as you are willing to be quick.  it actually worked it really well i think because we got to play with the dramatic lighting outside of the church which made for some really different shots than i normally take.  i love this next one.

 

but i think this one might be my favorite

i mean serious, how cute are they??!!!

wahooooooo!!! we made it through!!  ross and lawrie, you are so awesome.  thank you so much for letting me be a part of your awesome, special wedding.

here are some of my favorites from their "love" session :)

LOVE this one!

i mean, how cute is she!?  the colors were pretty fabulous too....

one of my favorites..

and can i just go ahead and say that i LOVE the fact that liz wore a white v-neck for our session.  it just really fit the mood of the session.  fun, laid back, comfortable, real love.

ok, maybe this one is my favorite.  i mean, i really really really love this

and then my best favorite thing happened.  the sun came out.

ok, and then i'm going to end on yet, another favorite

love you two!  thanks for letting me hang out and take pictures of you looking so cute

this girl is famous for her eyelashes....can you see why??

LOVE this casual pic of the groomsmen.  they just look so cool

their ceremony was so sweet.  and we had AMAZING light during it.  

ok, can we say favorite after ceremony shot EVER!!  this was taken by my 2nd shooter allie. SOOO glad she was there for that moment.  she said as soon as they got to the hallway he just grabed her and kissed her.  i LOVE IT!!

mmmmmmm.....yummy light, beautiful couple.  what else could you want??!!

allie got this shot as well, LOVE IT!

please watch their slideshow!!  trust me, you want to see more!

there is just something about this one that i LOVE

i mean, are you serious!  how stinkin cute!

caroline and lawrence are getting married next april and i was really excited to shoot their engagement session.  we got really lucky again and had a beautiful day for our session.  we started out on cherokee boulevard and then headed downtown.  i had such a great time hanging out with caroline and lawrence and can't wait til their wedding next spring!

LOVE this one, probably my favorite

but like i said before, one of my favorite things about our time together is just getting to know my clients.  i love hearing how they met, how long they've been together, and just seeing how they love each other. 

i had such a great time hanging out with jessica and jeff and getting to hear their story.  they were really natural in front of the camera and just looked at ease being themselves.  not only that, but they let me drag them all over to do what i love, get in great light.....here are some of my favs.

i LOVE these

hello gorgeous!  i freaking LOVE jessica's eyes.  there is just something about them that photograph soooo well.  

la-huv this!

i made them walk kinda far to get to this spot....... i knew it would be worth it!