I just realized I missed a blog post!!! Well as they say “better late than never”!
McKinzie and Alex were married at the beautiful outdoor reception location also known as the Botanical Gardens. They had such a gorgeous elegant wedding!!! I just loved all their colors!!!
These guys planned their wedding to end during the sunset so they opted to do a first look. I can’t stress enough how excited I get when my clients go this route!!! Honestly it just makes for a much smoother day! You get everything done and over with (except family portraits usually those are after), you can get to your guests more quickly, you don’t feel pressed for time, as well as you get yummy lighting.
Did I mention how beautiful Botanical Gardens is yet?!?!?!
What about how gorgeous McKinzie and Alex are? Did I mention that yet!?!?!?!?
I think this is my favorite image from their wedding!!! It’s so sunny and fun!
Mostly showing this image for the result……
I LOVE it!!!! :) He’s super stoked to get that garter!!!
I love how unscripted this image is!!! They were really into that “get low” song. I’m pretty sure McKinzie’s reaction is that of surprise that Alex could “get low”!!!!
What a precious moment. I love his grin!!!! I love the motion! I love the black and white! LOVE IT!
And finally how could you have an Arkansas wedding without callin those hogs?!?!!? Woooo Pig Suey!!!! Thanks to MS SoundWorks for keeping the party alive! Another must have at a wedding if you plan on having dancing is a DJ or even a live band, but they sure to make your reception run much more smoothly!!!
We had a Halloween party this morning for my seminary kids. We had a couple guests too so I was super happy!!! I took a group photo and I was so excited to show you all of their lovely costumes, but somehow (which I still haven’t figured this out) they aren’t on my memory card? Not so sure. I even took images of my outfit once I got home and those are the only ones I can see. So unfortunately I can’t post that image since apparently it doesn’t exist, but I do still want to show you what my Halloween costume was!
I’m not much of a Halloween fan. I love the part of creating a costume and all that creative side but I don’t much care for the extreme scariness of it. I don’t like being scared anymore, I used to love it! In fact my best friend Jessica and I used to watch horror movies at my house all the time. We really never got that scared though, we mostly watched them for laughs, ok so maybe we’re a bit morbid but that’s why I love her!
Enjoy!
-erika
(Keep an eye out later today for a post with pretty pictures from my wedding last weekend!!! Congrats Natalie and Brad!!!)
Jamie and Miller will be getting married on December 31st! I had the pleasure of shooting their engagement session last week! They are so cute together and we had a blast noticing anything that had to do with a heart! They really were up for anything and it was so fun to watch them interact and embark on a new step in their relationship. Jamie definitely finds comfort in Miller’s arms….which makes for some great photos!!! We met up at a little gas station in Goshen and then sorta wandered around town and hopped in the car to stop off at an old tree farm to finish up the session with some awesome fall foliage!
I can’t take credit for this shot, but Jamie’s idea was awesome! Check her ring out….isn’t it gorgeous!
I love how Miller always makes her laugh! They seriously are so cute! Oh and the jackets! I had to post this one for you Miller! You look so awesome in your coat! ;)
Jamie said she’s always wanted a field picture! Well here ya go! This was behind a gas station believe it or not. I think she’s such a beautiful gal!
I am in love with this spot! It’s so mystical! I loved the lighting and the colors! It’s perfect.
These two were married on Oct. 8th in the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. Here’s a few for them! Maybe tomorrow I will get around to posting some from Jamie and Millers Esession.
Amanda and Josh Ivie:
One of her bridesmaids flew in from Utah for her wedding…..BONUS…..she’s a hairdresser!
They opted for a “first look” so we could get these great couple shots before their marriage ceremony.
It was super exciting to go back up there for Josh and Amanda’s sealing since that is also where TW and I were sealed! What a gorgeous building right?
Although it was rainy the entire day (which so they say is good luck) these two were troopers. I just loved this sign and couldn’t leave Nauvoo without that shot!!!
Hey everyone thank you so much for taking the time to vote and support your friends here on our blog! I know there has been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes for this contest so thank you! I want to give you some results, but remember the final say so will be announced on Friday so stay tuned…..
Total votes cast 854
226 of them came in for Alyssa
while 627 of them for Meredith
Once again the final winner will be announced on Friday. I want to meet with each contestant and get a personal feel for them before I start handing out offers to come shoot weddings for free! :) I hope you understand….
Great job girls. Both of you had very creative submissions. Thank you for putting so much effort and talent into this contest to make it fun for everyone who participated! I enjoyed reading all the comments that were sent my way and learned so much about you girls through all your friends!
I know there have been way too many posts without photos so I’ve got some for you! These girls are the last of the contestants left and I had them incorporate their images with Erika Dotson Photography somehow and this is what they came up with. I love them and think they are both super cute! Please vote on the one you think is the most original. Voting will end on Tuesday at 8pm.
Thanks for your participation!
Erika
This submission is from Alyssa A. Kilgore:
This submission is from Meredith Ehrhard:
“I hope this is sufficient! Thanks for working with our circumstances and making this fun! Since we started dating a year ago, we have typically been apart about 3 months at time, (a total of about 8 months now) as Sean travels to college campuses across the US speaking to college students for his job. This is the reason we are getting married in December even though we only got engaged a month ago: we can’t stand to be apart any longer and we are ready to hit the road and travel together! We really didn’t want to back out of round 2 even though I am in Arkansas and he is in Georgia right now. So, because we are always up for a challenge, we decided to get real creative and take two separate photos and place them together as one! Hope you enjoy!!”
Hey everyone if you didn’t win we are still offering 15% off our original packages from now until Oct. 28th 2009! All you’ve gotta do is call us or email us and book a free consultation so we can meet up and discuss what you need photography wise! Your wedding date doesn’t have to be before that date but you’ve gotta book us before that date for the 15% off (that means retainer fee and contract signed so we will hold your date for you).
For the Round One Winners……………..
Hey guys you will be voted on by our staff (which would be Tanja, my momma, my stepdad, my husband, Ellie (my puppy that really can’t read so I’m just including her as part of the family) and myself.
But you will also be voted on by how many comments you can get on your story. So if I were you I would get all your friends to go and vote once they are published!!! Send out the word via twitter, facebook, emails, phone calls, snail mail, myspace, skype, whatever you’ve gotta do to get people to comment on your story!
Please remember just because you had the “most” comments doesn’t necessarily mean you win automatically! The judgement call is still up to us and we’re looking for creativity! The votes will just weigh in percentage wise and help boost your score a little bit!
Hey thank you to everyone that stopped by our booth! I hope that you enjoyed the bridal fair and got some awesome ideas rollin in your head! It was fun to meet all the different brides and grooms and talk about your wedding plans as well as the many new vendors we met! I want to personally say THANK YOU to Tanja Heffner (our intern) and Dawn Shoemaker (my momma), couldn’t have done it without you guys! Here’s a few shots for you to enjoy!
I was a little worried to begin, but soon enough things started to roll along just fine! I even sold these doors after the fair was over!!!
Here’s the pretty amazing flowers that Julie from Jules Design put together for us! She’s so awesome! Thanks Julie!!!
And here it is the final product for the day!
Actually I guess this is really the final product since it does include Tanja and myself! Good times. Be looking out for some awesome photo booth shots of us in later posts!
All the smiles I could muster up with some pretty sore tootsies!!!
I hope everyone got some really great ideas today! Don’t forget to keep checking your inboxes! We will announce the 10 names that we drew for a chance to win our free wedding package tomorrow!!! I will be posting them here as well as sending out emails! Stay tuned.
Also don’t forget we’re offering 15% all original packages when you book a free consultation meeting with us before Oct. 28th, 2009 so be sure to call us now 479-871-8932 to book or shoot me an email erikadotson@gmail.com
Hey everyone! I have a few things to blog about tonight….. so keep on readin! (I just realized this blog is probably better viewed in Firefox for the time being).
First is remember the bridal fair is THIS weekend! Yippeeee! It’s at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers from 12:30-5pm. Be sure to check us out, we’ll be giving away a free wedding photography package!!!!
Next is all about Misty and Scott…… They are the sweetest couple ever! They were married at St. Catherine’s at Bell Gable . Congrats! Here’s something to curb your photo appetite…..
Did you know that the engineer who build this chapel didn’t use any plans and stored all the details in his head while the church was under construction!!!
I just love that Misty wore these blue shoes as her “something blue” !!!! Wearing non traditional wedding shoes is the way to go ladies!
Hey there’s Nilo Videography! He’s on my favorite vendors list! Be sure to check out his work, it’s great!
