Dotson Studios

Sarah & Matt’s Wedding

Friday, May 28, 2010

What an incredible day we had shooting Sarah & Matt’s wedding. Sarah was so excited all day and luckily the weather cooperated enough for us to get some pictures outside. Her dress was a masterpiece and every detail of this wedding was stunning. I remember when we did their engagement pictures Sarah said pretty much all of the planning was done since they were having a 18 month engagement…needless to say this couple was ready to be husband and wife and it was sweet to witness that.

How did the two of you meet?
We met through a mutual friend, Samantha Brown, who was the Maid of Honor at our wedding. She invited me out to dinner with a group of her friends and Matt was one of the people there. We hit it off immediately and had our first date a week later.

Describe the proposal.
Matt had mentioned that a meteor shower would be visible over Chattanooga on December 14th 2007 and that we should go out to Signal Point to see it. I agreed and forgot about it. On the 14th, we went out for our usual date night and then Matt started driving out towards Signal Point. I asked him what he was doing and he reminded me about the meteors. When we got there, it was way too cloudy to see anything and the wind was freezing. I asked Matt if we could leave and he seemed disappointed. He started fumbling for something in his pocket and I thought he was looking for his camera but no, it was a ring box! He got down on one knee, told me he loved me, and asked me to marry him. :)

What was your favorite detail of the wedding?
It’s a tie between the train of my dress and the bridal cake. Both were exactly what I had always wanted.

How did you find and decide on your dress?
I knew that I wanted a lace dress with a long train. I tried on dozens and dozens of dresses before realized I should probably just give up for the day. Right before I left Boutique Couture, Emily, the owner, pulled a dress and told me I should make it the last one I tried on for the day. It was perfect! And I was able to add 4ft to the train!

Describe your flowers, cake and other decorations.
The bridesmaids’ bouquets were black and white anemones. They looked so classy and fit perfectly with my colors of black, white, and pink. My bouquet was all ivory flowers– sweet pea, lilacs, tulips, and peonies. The flowers in the chapel and on the tables at the reception were pink roses and pink ranunculus. The bridal cake was truly a work of art. It was pink and ivory with lots of details– lace and ribbon made out of fondant and rhinestone brooches on the bottom tiers. Matt’s cake was so fun! It was decorated like a tree stump with our names “carved” in a heart on the side. Every decoration was exactly what I wanted– classy and unique with little details that made everyone say “wow!”

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?
The most memorable moment was when my dad and I were outside of the chapel right before we were to walk down the aisle. My music had started playing and the doors were about to open when my dad said, “This is the easy part.” Haha!

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?
The next step for us is to finish our house. It feels like we have been remodeling it for forever! We’ll both be relieved when it finally feels like “home.”

Posted in Weddings

by Sara Dotson

2 comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Sarah Burzynski Bridal Photos

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Wow what a beautiful dress!!

Sarah’s dress came from Boutique Couture and once Sarah found the perfect dress…she added 4 feet to the train!

Simply gorgeous. We shot these pictures at the Tivoli Theatre and couldn’t have asked for a better location for this beautiful bride to be and her beautiful dress!

Posted in Bridal

by Sara Dotson

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Elizabeth & Carter’s Engagement

Monday, May 24, 2010

Elizabeth and Carter are a very special couple to us. Elizabeth and I have been good friends for about 7 years now, and I’ll never forget the night that we got together and knew that our lives had changed forever. We were having dinner and I told her that I had news and that I was pregnant. She told me she also had news, she had met someone, and was in love. I had never heard her speak those words about any other guy that she had dated so I knew this was someone very special. Well now our little girl is almost 10 months old, and Elizabeth is getting married next month! So exciting!

We had a great night shooting Elizabeth and Carter’s engagement pictures in Coolidge and Renaissance Park, including the very spot that Carter proposed to her. The laughed and smiled the whole time and it felt good to see my friend so happy.

How did you meet?
Carter and I first met at an in school inservice meeting. I noticed him, he noticed me…but neither of us talked to the other. It wasn’t until September when a mutual friend was invited to a Volunteer Football game by Carter and he had another ticket left, so she asked if she could invite me to! I said yes, of course, and I guess that was our first unofficial date.

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
I asked him out! We had been texting for over a month, and I couldn’t wait anymore. So, one night while out to dinner with my best friend, I sent him a text that said, “When are we going to hang out again?” He replied, “just let me know what works for you.”

Describe your proposal.
Carter and I were supposed to meet for a movie and Carter was late. I got to the movie with 10 minutes to spare and could not get a hold of Carter to talk to him. I kept texting and calling: no response. When he arrived, two minutes before the movie started, he apologized and said he was next door at the Sears and had left his phone in his car. I was like, whatever. He left to go get popcorn and sent me a text that said, “I’m so sorry baby! I wanted tonight to be special and I’ve messed it up.” I knew right then that this was the night. I quickly forgave him. On the drive to the restaurant after dinner, he wouldn’t hold my hand like he always did, or when he did touch my hand, he was rubbing it raw. We went to dinner at 212 Market and he was acting quite odd. I thought maybe he would ask me at dinner, but he didn’t. Then, he decided after dinner that we should go for a walk across the walking bridge and get ice cream at Clumpies, I agreed, all the while my feet were killing me in my heels. I expected him to ask me on the bridge, and he didn’t…So when we got to Clumpies, I thought, maybe here….but no. I told him my feet were hurting and I wanted to leave, but he asked if we could go on a walk. We walked to a bench at the Riverpark, and my phone went off as if I just received a text. I ignored it, he said, “Do you have your purse?” “Yes,” I replied…”Is your phone on?” “Yes.” Then he said, aren’t you going to check your phone? I reached into my purse, got my phone, opened it up to read my text, and he got down on his knee. Trying to shuffle between the text and Carter on his knee, I couldn’t read the text! I was all aflutter. He said, Will you marry me? And I said, “Really?” He said, yes. And I said, “Is this a joke?” He said no…I told him it would not be a very nice joke. And he said, I’m not going to ask again! So I said yes, he put the ring on my finger, we stood up and hugged and kissed :)

Were you surprised?
Not after clues I had received during the evening. I had expected it during an earlier vacation, but knew that night that it would happen.

What is your ring like?
It is a three stone engagement ring. The stones are from Carter’s Grandmother’s necklace.

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
It’s an intimate affair for the ones we love the most.

We feel honored that they asked us to do their photography…congratulations Elizabeth and Carter!

Posted in Engagements

by Sara Dotson

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Samantha & Brad’s Wedding

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Samantha and Brad had a beautiful wedding! We had lots of rain and even a threat of tornados but that didn’t change the spirit of these two people that are so in love. I loved all of the neat details that Samantha did for her wedding, it seemed like every time I turned around there was some little detail that had their style and personality in it and I just love that! Samantha and Brad were so excited all day long and it was a privilege to get to be there and to capture that love and excitement.

How did the two of you meet?
Brad and I met in high school where he had a little crush on me, but our lives went separate ways. About two years after that we met again through a mutual friend that was in college at Middle Tennessee State University with me. About a month later we went on our first date to a Christmas party. We officially started dating in December of 2005 and quickly grew to love each other more than we had ever imagined we would. I moved home to Chattanooga to complete Grad School and to be closer to Brad. Two years after that we got engaged. Now, four and a half years later, we are husband and wife.

Describe the proposal.
Every Memorial Day weekend we go to my Mom’s house on the lake. It was May 23rd, 2009 and we were eating dinner with friends at a restaurant across the lake. My Mom was at home with our Beagle, Lucky, who is an extraordinary escape artist. She text Brad saying the he got out some how and they just couldn’t find him. She instructed us to come home to help search for our missing pup. We apologized to our friends and told them that we would be back as soon as we found him. When we arrived to our dock the lights were out and I thought I could hear Lucky whining. I ran in front of Brad to the dock and stumbled upon hundreds of candles, our Lucky tied to a pole with a fake diamond hanging from his neck, and our favorite love song playing (Hummingbird by Chris Hennessee). I turned around to Brad without the slightest clue of what was about to happen and he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him!

What was your favorite detail of the wedding?
My favorite detail of our wedding was all the wonderful music that we had. The two soloists in the ceremony were just beautiful, the small orchestra was made up of my cousins, the band at the reception was my sister’s boyfriend, and our first dance was sung by Brad’s cousin. We just love music and are surrounded by a lot of talented people.

How did you find and decide on your dress?
I knew from the start that I did not want a strapless dress because I wanted to feel covered and yet elegant at my wedding. Knowing that I wanted straps I decided that a low back would be the perfect touch. I had tried on many different dresses, but when I put on my first lace dress I just knew that’s what I wanted. I went to my favorite boutique and told them my requests. They pulled out this dress and it was love at first sight. Well, sort of. I had some minor things changed to make it more perfect, but in the end it was all I had ever dreamed of!

Describe your flowers, cake and other decorations.
Brad and his family are Kentucky fans and I cheered at Middle Tennessee State, which are both blue teams. This made it an easy decision to have a Blue wedding. When deciding on blue flowers I knew that hydrangeas were really beautiful and popular. I added in blue daisys, white mums, and a few other fillers to make the most beautiful flowers ever. The best part is that my Grandmother used to be a florist so she made all my girls bouquets and a few other things. For the cake I wanted it to be simple, white, and have a touch of blue. That is exactly what I got. For the groom’s cake Brad asked if it was possible to design Rupp Arena. To our surprise it was the most awesome cake I’ve ever seen! It looked just like the Kentucky Basketball stadium. It was also a big hit with our guest for being the most delicious of the two.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?
The most memorable moment about our big day was walking into our beautiful sanctuary and seeing my husband just filled with joyful tears. Everyone said they could truly see the love we have for each other.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?
What’s next? Well, we have a new house that we are planning to do some yard work in and then who knows. We would like to go on a ski trip sometime in the next year and maybe even the beach sometime after that. We want to go on many fun trips together while we are young, and before we start our own family. I think our future holds lots of wonderful things filled with God’s love and happiness. We look forward to growing closer to God through each other and hope to learn how to have a happy life living with our best friend.