Category Archives: Events

Leighanne & Brian Littrell Vow Renewal (NKOTBSB)

In the “stuff I never blogged about” category… here’s an event I covered in the fall that, honestly, I’ve been dying to tell you about here on the blog. I was contacted by Kate over at Soiree Catering & Events about shooting the 10 year vow renewal for Leighanne and Brian Littrell at their home outside of Atlanta — and, as you know, with Brian being one of the Backstreet Boys this was a pretty important event for them.

Leighanne and Brian’s vow renewal came just weeks before they announced the NKOTBSB Tour, so they were throwing a lot of hints at the Entertainment Tonight crew that was also covering the event for national television. In fact, I was excited to see the back of my head gracing big screens in living rooms across the nation!

They had placed their original wedding attire on display overlooking the back of the house. That’s a stunning Vera Wang dress from the earlier days of Vera’s success.

One thing I learned in our meeting in the days leading up to the event — Leighanne and Brian are the biggest hams. They love to make each other laugh and have a great time.

These are Leighanne’s flowers from her wedding day and a few more getting ready details…

You won’t often see this side of Brian!

This was just a fun snap of the E.T. crew at work (and yes, that is Steve Moore with the Moore Agency).

Their son, Baylee, was happy to entertain everyone. You don’t see pictures of it here, but he even grabbed a Sony HD camera and was documenting the crew documenting him. Already an entertainer…

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do…

Behind the scenes of the main interview that was aired on Entertainment Tonight.

Look at all the fabulousness!

As people gathered, synchronized swimmers entertained the guests.

From here on out, it’s all about Leighanne and Brian!

Robert Long Flora Design provided florals for the event and Tents Unlimited/Event Rentals Unlimited provided the tent, outdoor air conditioning & equipment. As an aside, even though the Littrell’s have a gorgeous property, having the fully air conditioned tent as an event space was truly a God-send when we had a torrential downpour right after the ceremony. The event went off without a hitch thanks to all the hard work of these folks.

Look at this amazing cake from Classic Cheesecakes and Cakes… and Baylee doing his best Michael Jackson!

The Littrell’s with Howie and his wife, who both had a blast at the reception!

Brian surprised Leighanne with a song he wrote for their first 10 years of married life.

And this, friends, is how you cap off a party!

Usher’s New Look: World Leadership Awards 2010

Now for something totally different on this wedding blog…

Last month I was asked to do double duty for the Cobb Energy Center for the Performing Arts and for Occasions Magazine. Some guy named Usher (a.k.a. @UsherRaymondIV) was in town with Usher’s New Look, a youth mentoring program he founded, for the 1st Annual 2010 World Leadership Awards and they both needed it covered.

I spent the afternoon shooting decor and all the details that went into the VIP reception and the evening covering the red carpet, the VIP-only Reception, and finally Usher’s performance to cap the evening. During some downtime in the middle of the day I was able to get some of my favorite images during Usher’s rehearsal with Ciara…

Later in the evening Usher spent the better part of 45 minutes on the red carpet talking to every single media outlet there.

But in the end you probably came here to see Usher, and Ciara and Justin Bieber performing… there was a fair amount of media there and we all had our designated spots to shoot from. I managed to get mine changed at the last minute for a better vantage point. You’ll notice that there aren’t any images of Bieber below. As he was getting ready to perform we were told that no pictures of him were allowed to be taken whatsoever. In fact, I had a PR guard behind me during his entire performance to ensure I didn’t take any pictures. Sorry all you Justin fans! :(

But here are a bunch of Usher… :)

Here’s Ciara looking MUCH more dashing…

Did I mention that former President Clinton was on hand to receive an award?

Atlanta Wedding Professionals: June Luncheon

Okay, all my brides-to-be will have to forgive me for another industry related post. I promise that tomorrow I’ll get back to showing images of stunning brides… because on the deck for tomorrow is Sarah’s bridal session. I’ve had to embargo that one for a while and I’ve been anxious to share it.

Back to the subject at hand… every month Linda Surles (twitter | facebook) from the Bride & Groom Planner and Heather Vreeland (twitter | facebook) with Occasions Magazine team up to produce the Atlanta Wedding Professionals Networking Luncheon. I was excited about this months luncheon because it was being held at the Fox Theatre, Grand Salon Ballroom.

I’ve been to The Fabulous Fox many times for shows, but I’ve never shot or even set foot in the ballrooms and I finally got to see what I’ve been missing!

Our speaker was professional productivity expert Peggy Duncan (twitter), who I personally REALLY enjoyed listening to. She is the kind of disciplined person that makes me quake in my boots… as in, I’m ashamed to be in her presence quake in my boots kind of way.

These amazing florals were provided by Bloom Floral Design

Look at this amazing cake from Sharon Alexander at Sweet Sensations.

A BUNCH of industry friends were there but here’s just a few that I managed to grab. My apologies to the photogs that I didn’t get.

First up is Nadia with nadia d. photography who creates some awesome dramatic portraiture!

Next up is Laura with Artstar by Laura Stone, whom I famously told how annoyed I was by how good her photography was. It really is.

Next is the über chic Hollie with Lytle foto, who shot The Not Wedding recently and has been featured all over the national blogs.

And last, but not least, is David from Optimum Productions who helped shoot the behind the scene’s video for our recent Occasions Magazine cover shoot at the beautiful new 200 Peachtree in Atlanta. By the way, he’s single…

Here’s a list of the industry professional involved:

Venue: Fox Theatre, Grand Salon Ballroom
Catering & Decor: A Divine Event
Cake: Sweet Sensations
Florals: Bloom Floral Design
DJ: Joel Rabe, Lethal Rhythms
Media Sponsor: Bride & Groom Planner
Media Sponsor: Occasions Magazine

You can view more images over at our Facebook gallery of this event.

Soiree Catering & Events: Planners Luncheon

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with Soiree Catering and Events photographing a luncheon they hosted for wedding and event planners at the beautiful Le Fais do-do. Here’s a sampling of the images…

The amazing Robert Long provided florals.

Jamie Fine with Sugarplum Visions brought these magnificent tasting cupcakes. I promise I only had one…

Here’s a list of the industry professional involved:

Rentals: Event Rentals Unlimited
Venue: Le Fais do-do
Catering & Decor: Soiree Catering and Events
Cupcakes: Sugarplum Visions
Tables: Party Tables
Drapery: Event Drapery
Stationary: Marguerite Peele Papers
Florals: Robert Long Flora Design
Media Sponsor: Occasions Magazine

You can view more images over at our Facebook gallery of this event.

Last month…

Last month Steve Bales and the Bold American staff hosted an intimate holiday evening for a few industry professionals at Steve’s home and he was kind enough to ask me to come shoot details for the event. The evening unfolded in stages as different rooms were prepared in secret… to be revealed when the time was right. It was fun to have the rooms to myself as the others arrived for the evening — I could hear them chattering as I snapped away, unbeknownst to them.

Here are a few of the details…

A little glimpse into the preparations before the guests arrived…