Over at my Smoky Mountain Marriage Proposals website, I wrote a post for ther newly engaged about advice for choosing a wedding photographer. Wedding planning can be both headache and heartache. I have some advice on how to choose a wedding photographer.

This is it! Tabby and Moragn’s marriage proposal was the 100th I have photographed and despite the threat of rain, Nature held back and produced a beautiful setting atop a mountain for these two. You cannot ask for a more gorgeous morning!

Setting Spotlight: let me show you some of wonderful places I ahve used for sessions. In this inaugural post for this series, let me introduce you to Tsali Notch Vineyard, a beautiful place for all types of sessions. Enjoy the photos of Kristina and Luke who enjoyed a combination engagement/family session there!

You want a lovely wedding but you just cannot see having a huge affair. Let me suggest three things to consider that might help you make the decision to keep your wedding smaller, more intimate, and save you money! Illustrated by a delightful smaller wedding of Jessica and Tylor in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains.

A wonderful way to start off a new year is with a marriage proposal - and no better place than in the golden light of dawn atop Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains NP. A cold early January morning saw Connor ask Maddy the all important question. Check out these two Aggies’ love story!

Always have a qweather app handy to see what Nature could be sending you - and be ready to change plans and act fast! Jenn and Alan had a race against a fast approaching storm at their wedding at Norris Dam State Park but they beat it with seconds to spare!

Cody brought out the big guns to propose to Victoria at Tsali Notch Winery - crackers, cheese, wine, flowers, a picture album . . . but Victoria also brough the magic with her proposal to Cody! Check out this gorgeous couple now!

Gracie and Jen had a fun and varied engagement session in Chattanooga, ranging from clowning around on the soccer field to romantic moments as the sun set over the Tennessee River.

Lauren and David, a great couple from Florida, had their engagement session in the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Cades Cove is a marvelous place for a variety of settings - and bears!

The Great Smoky Mountains National park is a place of beauty year round - and lends itself to making a marriage proposal all the more romantic year round! Austin proposed to his love, Belle, in Cades Cove . . . and she said yes! Look at their pictures and tell me they are not wonderfully in love!

When two adventuresome backpackers get married, it is hard to think of a more appropriate spot fort heir wedding in the woods than Spence Cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). It was an intimate and elegant affair along the Little River in the Elkmont district of the park. Beautifully boho, green and woodsy!

East Tennessee has seen two snow storms this winter and so far, it seems there is a marriage proposal on the calendar to keep it warm! Here, Jonathan proposed to the lovely Maddie as the flakes fell down around them in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - see their story!

Neil had plans to propose to Jackie in Cades Cove, a popular spot in the Great Smoky Mountains NP. On January 1st, it was 75 degrees . . . but just two days later, most of the park was closed with wet and heavy snow! Facing downed trees and slippery roads, it still happened - witness a wintery, wonderful marriage proposal in the white woods of the Smokies!

At the wedding of Myriam and Katrina, Katrina surprised her wife with a special dance at the reception. Accompanied by her instructor and a friend, Katrina danced the flamenco, the dance of poetry, to honor Myriam. Flamenco grita lo que el alma calla!

After several rescheduled dates due to that damn COVID, Melina and Colby finally had their dream wedding at Hiwassee River Weddings. The couple is from as Vegas - she is an acrobatic dancer, he is a firefighter - and wanted something different than their desert home. Rain before their day made all the lush green of the Cherokee forests POP so they got their wish! Definitely worth the wait to have their wedding in this dream-like setting!

A would-be groom and a group of friends of the couple all happily troop up to Max Patch with everyone eagerly waiting for the big moment . . . all except the would-be bride, of course, who didn’t know what was going to happen. Check out Lindsey and Justin marriage proposal at Max Patch on the blog now!

There is nothing like a marriage proposal by a waterfall . . . even if it takes some walking to get there! Jared’s proposal to Hallie at Spruce Flats Falls in the Smokies was a wet one but these West Virginia natives made the Smokies come alive with their love! See more in their blog post!

Alex and Ryder had a delightful engagement session in the river town of Reliance, Tennessee. It is a spot that provides variety, all in a beautiful setting on the banks of the Hiwassee River. And heading up into the Cherokee National Forest, there are even more cool spots - check it out!

Misty and Bailey set about to have a smaller wedding, planning to match class and style while being budget friendly. Think it can’t be done? They proved it can by having their nuptials at the gorgeous and historical Venue at Gordon Lee. Learn from them and check out this gem in Chickamauga, Georgia - just over the border from Chattanooga!

It might have been years since you last saw her in high school but when the time is right, it’s right. Julie and Greg knew each other “back when” and reconnected over a picture of a lighthouse. One thing led to another and here Greg was, at Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains, playing Matt Stell’s “I Prayed For You” before his proposal to Julie!