Alan and Anna Marie

The purple azaleas were in bloom on May 4th for the wedding of Anna Marie Barrett and Alan McWilliams! The couple married in their hometown of Richland, GA!

Anna Marie was a beautiful bride in her strapless gown with sparkling detail on the bodice. She carried purple roses to match her bridesmaids purple dresses! Purple was the theme throughout the ceremony and reception... even the azaleas were in on it!

The couple was very happy to see each other on their big day! The families were all happy to come together for the wedding!

It was a beautiful day for a spring wedding! Congratulations, Alan and Anna Marie!

Steven and Lanie, 03/28/2009

A little bit (... well, a LOT) of rain wasn't going to dampen the day for Steven Presley and Lanie Montgomery! Originally, Steven and Lanie planned an outdoor wedding at her Grandmother's house, but, it just happened to monsoon for two days leading up to their big day. There was literally FIVE INCHES of water in the spot where the ceremony was to take place. Lanie and Steven scrambled to find an open church that day, and they did: North Highland Assembly of God... the church that they grew up in.

Lanie's dress was a gorgeous strapless empire waisted gown. She carried yellow roses, and her bridesmaids carried sunflowers. Their dresses were dark blue, which made for a great summery color scheme!

This had to be one of the most fun wedding parties we've worked with! They cut-up and joked around with Julie and the crew so much, they went home with sore face muscles from all the smiles! They built pyramids, posed around the piano and danced in the coffee shop for pictures! They were awesome!

Lanie and Steven wrote their own vows to each other and read them during the ceremony. (Of course... Julie cried!)

As they were announced into the reception, Lanie and Steven danced all the way from the door to the dance floor, then cut a rug there, too! The families, the entire wedding party and the bride and groom had the best time dancing the night away!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Presley! May your marriage be as full of laughs and love as your big day was!

Michael and Emily

Wedding bells rang at the Trade Center on March 14th for Michael Hamilton and Emily Heath! The weather was a little drizzly, but it was still a perfect day! Emily looked absolutely beautiful in her strapless dress with sparkling details on the waist! She chose a pretty spring color scheme of pale blue and white! She carried white roses with pale blue accent flowers. The bridesmaids all wore coordinating pale blue dresses and carried blue hydrangeas.

Emily and Michael were so excited to see each other! When Michael saw his bride for the first time, it nearly took his breath away! They were such a fun couple! They have special matching tattoos on their feet!

The reception was also held at the Trade Center! It was beautifully decorated to match the color scheme of the wedding. The families and all the guests had a great time dancing with the bride and groom!

All the best to you Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton! We hope your marriage is full of fun and love!

Melvin and Amy

March 7th was a beautiful spring day for Amy Cotten and Melvin Steed! They got married at the Virtuous Living Chapel in Columbus. Amy looked beautiful in her strapless dress with sparkling detail on the bodice. She chose a pale, springtime blue for her flowers and bridesmaids. Both her and her bridesmaids carried blue hydrangeas.

The wedding party and both families were very excited for the big day. To make it even more special, Melvin's father, a pastor, officiated part of the ceremony, welcoming Amy into the family.

The reception was held at the Rankin Quarter. All of the guests and wedding party had a great time dancing with the bride and groom. At one point, Melvin's groomsmen talked him in to doing the 'kickworm' dance from the 80's!

We wish you all the best, Amy and Melvin!

Brooke and Matthew

February 21st was a beautiful day as far as weather goes! It was also a beautiful day because Brooke Ackley and Matthew Walker tied the knot at the Garrett Bullock House in Downtown Columbus. Matthew grew up here, but being military, wound up in Connecticut. He met his dream girl, but really wanted to come back to Columbus for his wedding. The couple chose the Garrett Bullock House because of its connection to the history of the city.

Brooke looked fabulous in her strapless dress that had pretty scroll detail on the bodice and waist. She carried a bouquet of blue hydrangeas and white roses designed by Mayumi Hashiyama. She chose the hydrangeas to match her color scheme..."Tiffany" blue and white. Everything from the bridesmaids dresses to the wedding favors and the cake matched! It was truly unique and beautiful!

The wedding party was super fun and excited for the couple. They all had a great time getting ready and taking pictures! Matthew and his groomsmen were all die hard Auburn fans...except for one. To celebrate the day, they all wore buttons inside of their jackets that said "Beat Georgia". Needless to say, the Georgia fan in the bunch was not happy about that at all!

The bride and bridesmaids had some laughs while taking the "fun" pictures before the wedding! They made a "train-train" where all of them lined up and carried each other's dress trains! They also did the "Charlie's Angels" picture and the "Diva" pictures with the pink feather boas. Not to be outdone, the groomsmen took "Diva" pictures with the boas, too!

The reception was also at the Garrett Bullock House. As usual, Kimble's did a wonderful job with the catering and food set up. Friends of the studio, Benji and Drew of MBS Entertainment kept the mood fun and romantic with their DJ-ing! The wedding party, families and the guests all had a great time dancing at the reception!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Walker! We wish you all the best as you start your new life together!

A Learning Experience

Last Tuesday, Julie and I attended the Tots 2 Teens seminar with Sandy Puc'. Sandy is a successful photographer and studio owner from Colorado. The seminar covered everything from marketing to posing. Julie regularly attends seminars like this so she can stay on top of all the newest photography trends. This was only the second seminar I've been to and by far, it was the most informative. Sandy gave us tips on how to pose kids from toddlers to tweens. She also talked about lighting and working out marketing calendars.

After the seminar, Julie and I played with her new 5D Mark IIs and she gave me an impromptu photography lesson. (She always says she's a bad teacher, but I learn so much from her. Not just about photography, but about running a business and professionalism. Don't tell her, but she's a role model for me. That sort of thing would make her all embarrassed:) She taught me about shutter speed, ISO and aperture. I learned about how cameras work and how to take scary ghost pictures by slowing down your shutter.

We wrapped up the night with cold french fries from McDonald's and watching Jimmy Fallon. Julie and I have a slight problem with chit chatting, and we stayed up too late talking about random stuff. I shared a silly story about jumping on the bed at a hotel and taking pictures of it while I was on a trip. It was like a light clicked on in Julie's brain. What's the best way to break in her brand new cameras? Pictures of us jumping on a bed at 1 a.m.! We're grown ups, you know?! You can check those pictures out on our page on Facebook! Here they are!

Holy Snow!!

What a crazy weekend in Columbus! On Saturday, severe weather and 70 degrees; on Sunday...SNOW! And not just snow, but SIX inches of snow! The staff of JE Hedges Photography all took a well deserved day off to play in the snow!

Our resident model and snow bunny, Miss London, dragged Mommy out in the snow to play and take pictures! Cute, don't you think? :)

We're on Facebook!

Please be sure to stop by our brand new page on Facebook, and while you're there, become a fan! We'll be updating it frequently with images, videos and what's going on in the studio! It's a great way to keep in touch and stay connected.

Click on the Facebook button below to visit the page and become a fan!

Bret And Rebecca

On a cool sunny day in early February, Bret and Rebecca wed on the sixth at the Memorial Chapel at Callaway Gardens. The weather was perfect for a Callaway Gardens Wedding!

Rebecca looked like a natural beauty in her elegantly designed dress with pretty beaded detailing on the bodice. Her bouquet was multi-colored sunflowers, which matched the sunny yellow dresses of her bridesmaids. Rebecca chose the color, but left it up to her girls to pick the style of dress they wore. This is a great way to let your bridesmaids showcase their individuality! Each of them carried a small bouquet of seasonal wildflowers.

Brett and his guys looked very handsome in their tuxes with black shirts! They were a fun bunch to work with, getting out their golf clubs at one point to take some fun getting ready shots!

We wish you all the best Mr. and Mrs. Goldsmith! Best wishes for your new life together!

February Photographers Lunch

We met again with the our friends in the Columbus Georgia Photographers Group on Wednesday at El Vaquero. We always meet and talk about our businesses and share thoughts and ideas, but this time we had a great discussion. We had a question and answer period after we ate that covered topics from software to pricing. It is great to get to know everyone and get some great ideas to take back to our own businesses!

Brushes With Greatness

While Julie was in Phoenix for the PPA convention, she got to attend a seminar given by Anne Geddes. For those of you who are not up on the photography world, Anne Geddes is a very famous photographer known for her images of babies. If you've never heard of her, chances are you've seen her work.

After the seminar, Julie, Cary and London got to spend a few minutes with Anne and get their picture made with her. Also, she signed a copy of her book for London! It was an experience Julie, Cary and London are sure to remember always!

MY New Toy!

As Marketing Manager, I am on call 24-7. :) There is only one way to be 100% productive 100% of the time...a laptop. Sometimes these blogs come to me in the middle of the night, and poof! They're gone by morning because I'm to comfy in bed to get up and go to my office and blog. This is a problem no more!

With a lot of help from Julie and Technical Director Cary, I now have a laptop! When ever or where ever I get the notion to write a blog, look something up or check my email, I can! Maximum productivity! It is AWESOME, too!

For those of you who are interested, its an HP dv6t. It is super fast and really pretty!

Valentine's Day Heart Ball

Please join us on Saturday, February 14th for the American Heart Association's Heart Ball at the Rivermill Event Center. We'll be taking Valentine's Day Portraits and donating a portion of our package sales to the American Heart Association.

Tickets to the event are $200 each and proceeds benefit the American Heart Association. Please contact Gale Webster with the American Heart Association at (706) 596-2365 for more information and to purchase tickets!

New Toys!

Christmas came in early February for Julie this year! In order to stay on the cutting edge of the business, Julie invested in some new equipment! Warning: Technical camera jargon ahead!!

She got two new Canon 5D Mark II cameras with battery grips and a 50mm 1.2 lens. Keith and I (mostly Keith) have been complaining that the cameras are too heavy on the tripods, so she got two new Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Magnesium tripods that I swear weigh less than half of what her old ones weighed.

In order to accommodate her new 21 mega pixel bad-boy cameras, Julie had to upgrade her computer and some of the software she uses! It was a big deal to do all this upgrading, but she does it so she can offer the best to her clients! Look forward to new exciting things!

Michelle and Scott

The first weekend of the New Year brought wedding bells for Michelle Bayura and Scott Poley. The couple was married at St. Anne's Catholic Church on January 3rd. The couple is from California, so they chose St. Anne's as a substitute for their home church.

Michelle was beautiful in a simple strapless dress with a sweep train. Instead of a veil, she wore small red and white flowers in her hair, to match her bouquet. The maid of honor also wore red and carried a red and white bouquet.

The reception was held downtown at the Garrett Bullock House. The house was decorated beautifully with flowers by Mayumi Hashiyama. Also on display was a handmade gift, created with a poem and coins, dedicated to the couple by the bride's sister. Both families had a great time at the reception, which was DJ'd by our friend, Benji Shepherd.

It was a cloudy day, but the sun shined on the happy newlyweds! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Poley!