Posts Tagged ‘missouri wedding photography’

What to Wear Wednesdays // Arkansas Portrait Photographer

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Today I decided to showcase a real EDP bride and groom in our What to Wear Wednesday series…..

Meet London and Darron who will be getting married May 14th.  (I can’t wait!) They have a super cute style!

Arkansas Wedding Photography London and Darron 2

So let me break down why this works…..

First of all she wore the most adorable cowgirl boots ever with cute little rosettes on the side along with a cut flowy navy blue dress that screams country chic.  And secondly she matched him up with dark wash jeans and a blue plaid button up (which you can’t see here) that was cowboy style – complete with pearl snaps!

This outfit works so well with the location they chose!  I love how they thought about how everything would coordinate together!  Great job guys!

Enjoy!

-erika

Sarah and Ryan // Springfield Wedding Photography

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Sarah and Ryan are such a lighthearted fun loving couple!  They were such a treat to work with!  I’m pretty sure they were more concerned about everyone else on their wedding day than themselves!  Let’s get to know them!

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There’s a big ol rivalry in their new marriage…..you’ll see more later, I just want you to note what kind of garter Mrs. Sarah is wearing!  :)

I love when I get to arrive early and shoot the girls and guys hanging out doing their thing, special thanks to Tanja who was able to shoot the boys! (literally glad they didn’t shoot her!)

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Since we didn’t do “official” bridals I decided to capture a few while we were getting organized.  We got to take the bridal party photos in the back yard, bonus!!!  She’s so fun and just makes me want to smile!

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We hurried on to the wedding at the gorgeous Immaculate Conception Church in Springfield Missouri.

I just think it’s adorable when my couples rent or borrow old classic cars for their getaway!!!

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Then we all stopped off at a local park and took some super fun bridal party shots!  Let me tell you I’ve never had such a fun and outgoing bunch before!  It was a pleasure to work with this crew, they were up for any of my crazy ideas!

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Oh of course we got some beautiful wind and amazing couple shots!!!!!!  I just LOVE LOVE LOVE when my brides wear long veils!  These shots are stunning!

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I’ll be honest when Sarah told me about this place that has a cool cave I wasn’t too enthralled, but you better believe when we got up there and started shooting I was!  I just love how they turned out!

Yes I posted an out of focus image……oh no……the world is going to end……..ok not really but there was just something about this image I couldn’t just toss it out!  I love it.

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Ok so show us the details!  First off I must say I was totally impressed…..Sarah’s mom still has the penny she put in her shoe when she got married and now Sarah was able to use the same one!!!  Adorable!

I loved the wedding day  emergency kit they put together too cute!

The cake was provided by Julies Chewies and while I’m mentioning it, of course I had some and it was delicious! :)

So I explained a little bit earlier there was some rivalry but this should explain things a bit more!!!  The football helmets were perfect for their ring shots! LOVED IT!

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Then off to the reception where we got LOTS of dancing done with many thanks to Rick of  Hits and Grins Entertainment.  Ok does the little old lady not just make you all warm and buttery inside?!?!?!  She’s adorable!  I also want to point out that these two have some super proud mommas and daddys!!!!

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I love this image too!  I just adore the sparklers and the color!

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Ramada I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Enjoy!

-erika

Claire and Aaron // Northwest Arkansas Wedding Photography

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Claire and Aaron were wed in Jamaica but also chose to have a service here in Arkansas as well for those who couldn’t attend their Jamaican wedding but also decided to do so out of tradition!  Apparently there has been a long standing tradition in Aaron’s family about getting married in the bay window at their parents historical home and having your marriage last, I think I’d get hitched in the bay window too if I were them!  They had such a beautiful ceremony and reception here in Fayetteville, I was so glad that I was able to attend this one after working so closely with this couple!

NW Wedding Photography Claire and Aaron

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Caterer: Whole Hog

Party Rentals: Eventures

Cake: Shelby Lynn’s

Florals: J Renee Floral Design

Hair: Sarah Faye Burnett at Black Sheep Salon

Photography: Erika Dotson Photography

Enjoy!

-erika

Erika Dotson Photography // Arkansas Photographer

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Today is going to be my day!  Well technically I’ll have to share with Baby Dotson and my husband too but we’re having maternity pictures taken today!  I’m pretty excited!  Do you remember Ruthie?  She won a free mini session well low and behold she’s a rising star in the photography world around here and she has asked if we wanted to do some maternity photos with her!  Thanks so much Ruthie!  So that’s what we’re up to today.

I did want to post a few teasers of things I’ve been working on recently though!   Everything from Conway weddings to Huntsville Seniors.

Europe Wedding Photographer

Meet Tanja and David (you should already be familiar with Tanja she’s a retired associate photographer here at Erika Dotson Photography).  I’m so excited about their upcoming wedding……you know why?  Well she’s retired because she moved to England to be with David so that means I’ll be going to England next summer!  You’d be excited too!  We’re working on their engagement session…..lot’s of yummy pictures to come!

Huntsville Senior Portraits

Meet Ally.  She’s going to be a Senior this year at Huntsville High School.  Sorry boys she’s taken!  Ally is my brother in law’s girlfriend and she’s such a sweetheart!

Arkansas Senior Portrait Photographer

So now we’ve gotta meet Andy (my brother in law) yes girls he’s taken by the sweet gal above, so sorry!  :)  He’s also a Huntsville High Senior this year!  I’m so excited for him!  I’ll save all my sappiness for when I make his post later! But for now Congrats and we’re cheering you on this year!

Missouri Wedding Photographer

Next up is Sarah and Ryan O’Callaghan!  They were married in Springfield, Missouri a few weeks back.  Sarah and I attended U of A together in the Dietetics program a few years ago.  Ryan is an LSU Tiger so they’ve got some work cut out for them, in fact if I remember right the Tigers and the Razorbacks were playing each other while we were in the middle of our engagement session and we stopped off Dickson St to change and Ryan peered through the window of a bar to keep updated on the score!  They are such an adorable couple and I was so excited when Sarah called an announced her engagement!  Stay tuned we’ve got some exciting images coming!

Conway Wedding Photography

And finally Ashley and Jim!  They had the best wedding party I’ve been too in a long time!  I’m not even kidding you their band came from Memphis and ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!  If anyone is looking for an AMAZING live band you have got to check out The Fabulous Steeler Band!  I’m excited about posting all the beautiful details of their wedding!!!

Now I’m off to go enjoy my day and get ready for my time to shine!  ha ha

Enjoy!

-erika

Sally and Cole // NWA Wedding Photography

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Sally and Cole were married recently in Mountain Home and I had the honor of capturing their special day!  Sally was absolutely gorgeous and of course Cole was looking pretty handsome himself!

First we’ll start with all the pretty details!

NWA Wedding Photography

Sally had a cute little cabin for her and all her girls to get ready in just beside the ceremony location.

NWA Wedding Photography

By the looks of it they loved the guestbook!  :)

NWA Wedding Photography

They were married at Gaston’s White River Resort and had a BEAUTIFUL location for their ceremony just off the river bank!

NWA Wedding Photography

Tanja captured this great shot of Sally and her Father waiting to walk her down the aisle.

NWA Wedding Photography

And shortly after I was able to capture this one.

NWA Wedding Photography

This little guy was so worried about walking down the aisle, good thing he had his big sister to hang on to!!!  He did a great job!!!

NWA Wedding Photography

Cole called me earlier that day and let me in on his secret!  I was so excited to know he had something so special up his sleeve!  It was a big surprise to everyone (well except us photographers!) and there was so much emotion in the air!  It was major bonus points in Cole’s favor!!!

NWA Wedding Photography

NWA Wedding Photography

I think this is my favorite image from the whole day!  I told you there was a lot of emotions!  This picture captures all of them!  Way to go Tanja!

NWA Wedding Photography

Now for some pretty couple pictures!

NWA Wedding Photography

Images like this are a result of choosing to do a “First Look”!!!!  So personal and intimate!!!  Once again, I just love the emotion in this image!!!!  :)  If I’m not mistaken this is a Tanja shot too!

NWA Wedding Photography

NWA Wedding Photography

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Ezell!!!

NWA Wedding Photography

NWA Wedding Photography

A nice kissing shot after the cake cutting!  I love when my couples do this and I get to catch it on film (well digital film that is!)

NWA Wedding Photography

NWA Wedding Photography

I love how Sally is looking back to see who’s going to catch it!  And you can bet that little girl did everything she could to be the winner!

NWA Wedding Photography

What a great way to end the evening!

NWA Wedding Photography

Enjoy!

-erika

(PS for those of you wondering I will have Sally and Cole’s wedding galleries up on the website tomorrow well technically later today since it is 2am!)

Kelly and Adam // Devil’s Den Wedding Photography

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Hey everyone I was pretty stoked about shooting Kelly and Adam’s wedding at Devil’s Den last weekend.  It was such a gloomy day to start out and I was nervous but just in time the sky cleared out for them!  It’s funny that always seems to happen for us on wedding days!  :)  Kelly and Adam live out at Devil’s Den since Adam works there.  It’s such a beautiful place to visit.  Both of their families drove all the way from Jonesboro the day before and experienced the cabin life.  It was an intimate but gorgeous wedding.  Julie from Jules Design provided these really cool trees to put at the ceremony location, she also provided the awesome floral arrangements.  She’s amazing with the flowers!  They decided to take an hour before the ceremony to capture some couple portraits together, which if you’ve got the time I totally recommend!  We got lots of yummy pictures of them together!  Then it was time for the ceremony.  Her daddy walked her down the aisle that was sprinkled with dirt, pine needles, and gumballs!  :)  Then they reached all the rocks that Kelly graciously crossed to her new groom.  It was a very sweet and simple ceremony surrounded by the most important people in Kelly and Adam’s lives.  We then caught some quick pictures of their cake from Rick’s Bakery and then they were off to go enjoy dinner with their family.  I was so grateful to have the opportunity to help them remember their special day.  Kelly and Adam truly are wonderful individuals and they compliment each other so well.  I know they’ll be together for many many years.  It was so cute to watch how concerned Adam was for his new bride as she made her way in a gorgeous wedding dress across all those rocks.  What a cutie.  And I can’t forget how many times Kelly told us she wasn’t photogenic……………what?!?!?!?!?!?  KELLY you are totally HOTT!!!  :)

Congratulations you two and we wish you the best!

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Meet totally HOTT Kelly!  :)

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Meet the handsome groom Adam.

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This beautiful shot was captured by Tanja.

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Totally laid on the ground below them to get this shot!  Awesome.

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Aren’t they just adorable?

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I’m pretty sure this is my favorite image from the entire day!

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Told you Jules Design was amazing…..  :)

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This is another favorite!  So hard to decide.

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I’m not sure if there’s a more beautiful place in the world to get married……

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Doesn’t “THE” kiss make it all official?

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She seems pleased.  :)

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Enjoy!

-erika

What a gorgeous day outside!!!

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Today I had the opportunity to have the day off and boy was I sure happy about that!  What a gorgeous day to be outside!  First I started with my morning jog, which makes me feel so much healthier and better about gaining weight.  As I started my old man neighbor that’s ALWAYS outside playing with his little cows or planting in his garden said “hey be sure to run an extra lap for me”  I said “alright I’ll get right on that!”  By the way Ellie is getting so good at walking on a leash, she doesn’t pull on me at all, and let me tell you from experience when I had Roxy that makes it very difficult to go running!  Anyways back to my jogging story…….  As I was making my way back I was obviously tired…..obviously…..apparently it was so obvious that my old man neighbor says “you’re getting a little slower there hun”.  I responded with “yea my legs are so tired!”  All I can think of right now is how pathetic I probably looked while trying to “jog” when I could have probably just given up and walked fast than my “jog”!!!!!!!

Then part two of my day consisted of editing the wedding from the weekend, which I am already finished with!   :)  That makes me super happy!  I hate the feeling of being behind, especially with editing because you feel like you’ll never ever EVER…………..finish!  So whew that’s done!  And I’ve got an engagement shoot in Dallas this weekend so I’ll be ahead of schedule!  Hopefully I can knock those out in a few days too!

Part three involved the doctors office, the doctor, myself, and finally the most important part…..the baby’s heartbeat!!!  :)  I never thought I would be the mushy excited mom (wow I just called myself mom)….anyways it is pretty exciting to actually hear that heartbeat truckin away!  It makes it all seem so much more real, which is good because every time I have an appointment I always have this lingering thought in the back of my mind that they are about to search for that heartbeat and they can’t find it, then the doctor tells me that she’s sorry but there’s no more baby….. I know morbid and horrible to think about but just being honest.  But no worries whatever it is boy or girl it’s very much active in there and getting big and strong with a heart rate of 143.

And finally to my picture for today.  I decided that since it was so beautiful I would spend some more time with Ellie outside.  Soon she won’t be the princess around here anymore and I hope she doesn’t get jealous and still gets all the attention she needs.  (If you haven’t figured it out yet Ellie is basically my un-human child).  Anyways so I thought I would be a little kid for a while and lay on the grass with her, I think she liked it.

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Enjoy!

-erika

If you had a chance to do something outside today I’d like to hear what you did.  Leave a comment below where it says comments in really small print……thanks.

Round One Winners of the Free Wedding Package!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Alright gang!  Hopefully you have had your fingers crossed all yesterday after you left the fair, during the night in your dreams, and all of today waiting on Round One Winners!!!!

Here they are:

Kristin Kaiser-   has submitted her story

Whitney Adams

Sarah Stinnett

Jinny Pattison-   has submitted her story

Alyssa Kilgore-   has submitted her story

Kellie Kirby  -   has submitted her story

Allison Hauck

Britten Gray-   has submitted her story

Erica Bailey -   has submitted her story

Allison Bentley-   has submitted her story

Congratulations girls (and your guys)!!!  Now the next step is simple….. you all have 3 days from today so Thursday Oct 1st before midnight (11:59pm) to get in your best story.  Your story can be how you first met, how much you really need or deserve this FREE wedding photography package, how he proposed, your first date, etc.  Be creative!  We love creativity over here!  From there we will be posting your story and have votes for the best and we’ll make our votes as well for the next 5 winners. 

I can’t make this too easy it’s a FREE wedding photography package valued  at $1750!!!!

So if you are reading this and you know some of these girls if you wanna stay friends with them I would let them know they won (that is if they don’t already know!)

Best wishes to you all and I’m excited to see your stories!

Email submissions to erikadotson@gmail.com

Enjoy!