On our way out to Asheville Pizza and Brewing for some movie theater photos, we were super excited to find this great car!  We totally lucked out that Belly – a 1955 Bel Air belonging to Franzi of Hip Replacements and Asheville Grown was parked in front of a gorgeous tree by the overpass.

We ended up in the River Arts District and in the iron garden next to The Wedge.  I love all the metal work and sculptures!

Ok, back to the fabulousness of Stephanie and Travis’ wedding.  I photographed Stephanie’s sister’s friends, Carolyn and Kyle’s wedding in 2007.  They were all from Waynesville and Stephanie even attended my high school.  It was great seeing so many familiar Waynesville faces 8 hours away.  They were married at the Wesley United Methodist Church at Frederica, which is a gorgeous church surrounded by Spanish moss hanging from the trees.  The reception followed at Sea Palms Resort.

Stephanie was breathtaking in her Judd Waddell dress and the girls were fabulous in azalea pink Coren Moore dresses.  The wedding was actually featured on Coren Moore’s blog recently.  Travis and the boys were quite dapper in their tan suits and custom bow ties made by Stephanie’s friend and owner of Southern Proper.  The lighthouse was also featured on their wedding stationary and their favors were lighthouse cookies.  Very Southern wedding soiree! Stylist Melissa Lamkin, another friend of the bride’s, helped put all the fantastic details together.

I love trolleys with the wedding party.  It’s so much fun to ride to the reception together in a big party trolley.  Soul Function kept the party rocking until late.  A huge thanks to my friend, driver and 3rd shooter, Christine, who almost passed out from heat exhaustion getting all the great outside detail shots.  Jarrad Lister rocked out the guy shots and 2nd shooting.  I had an awesome team for this wedding!

one of my favorite shots from last year!

these guys could jump!  it’s totally the couple’s choice if they want to do these wedding party shots.

l-o-v-e the next 2!

work it, melissa!

Funny enough, they both chose shots at the same location on the top of a parking deck downtown. The big “10″ has been popular this year, especially with Sara who is my 10/10/10 bride.

Nikki and Ryan were married on December 12, 2009 at the Basilica of St. Lawrence. I always LOVE weddings at the Basilica!!! It is a magnificent, gorgeous cathedral. I met Nikki and the girls at Ananda‘s for their hair and makeup appointments. Ryan and the boys went to the barber shop a little earlier in the morning. My 2nd photographer, Danny, captured some fun images there. I ended up being with Nikki for 13 hours!!! Holy cow, that is a lot of photos! They were truly a joy to work with. Nikki and Ryan met at preseason training for the Catawba College soccer team in Hawaii. Let me tell you, those Catawba men’s and women’s soccer teams know how to have fun! Nikki’s mom, Jeannie, and I were still hanging in there, taking it all in when the couple exited the reception at The Expo Center at midnight.

Danny’s images at barber shop

Danny’s image

Click here to watch their slideshow.  Warning – music will play!

My sessions are always a progression of my style evolving as well.  I do prefer the lifestyle sessions that show more of the family and the home environment.  But, I do also really like fun portraits where you see the kid’s personality.  None could be more true than these photos of Elise.  I photographed Stephanie and Brett’s wedding in April, 2006 at Homewood.  It was one of the last shot on film weddings that I did.  They recently moved back to Asheville and Stephanie and I are working on some projects together (coming soon!).  She was very much NOT into the mountains and big scenic backgrounds for Elise’s 2 year old portraits.  These are so different than what I normally do, but I LOVE them!!!  Elise is also going to be a big sister very soon!

My New Year’s Resolution for 2010, the new decade, was to “move forward in 2010″. I actually based this on the Ray Lamontagne song “Empty”. Here’s the video on YouTube.

I never learned to count my blessings,
I choose instead to dwell in my disasters.

In the last 5 years, I have had a lot of personal loss and it has been overwhelming. At the same time, my business has exploded and I have been blessed with so many awesome weddings and couples that I truly credit with being the reason that I have made it through. But with lots of weddings, comes lots of editing, which honestly when I switched to digital in June 2006, I had no idea how to do or manage. Finally, after 3 years of constantly being behind, I actually had 2 weeks of no weddings to edit! It was an amazing and awesome feeling. I hugely credit Jared Platt and the one day workshop I did in Atlanta in November. It has been one of the best things I have done for my business!  I kept convincing myself that if I have images to edit, I can’t take time to blog.  Now, I am happy to have time and make the effort!  Hold me accountable, friends!

I would love to be your friend (www.facebook.com/reginaholder) and have you like my business fan page on Facebook.  You can follow me on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/reginaholder

Photographer blog posts must have images!  Here’s the story behind the image at the top of my blog:  Marina and Justin were married at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Valle Crucis.  Justin’s dad officiated and is actually an Episcopal priest.  I was kind of heartbroken when no photography was allowed during the ceremony, but was happy to honor their wishes.  I ended up sitting by the door, so that I could get the first photos of the couple as they exited the sanctuary.  They were so full of joy and Marina was both laughing and crying.  Click here to see more images from this wedding.

This is my personal card, featuring my new baby girl Macy.

I put an “in memory” of sweet Lennox who passed away in August, since not everyone would know and wonder where Macy came from.

Some of my favorite client cards:

Several other clients did the cards with actual prints or used Tiny Prints.  I always love hearing feedback from the moms about how excited their family and friends were over their cards.

Next month, a new wedding and finally a new children’s website will be launching.  Plus, I may actually blog more than once every 3 months.

Happy New Year!

I can’t wait to carry this bag throughout the next wedding season!