Toqua Campground || Knoxville, TN Photographer || Hannah & Matt

Toqua Campground Wedding

In the history of great sunsets for this year’s wedding season…this one is ranking number one. When I first met with Hannah and Matt, one of the things that was most important to them for their Toqua Campground wedding was the pictures. If a couple starts out our meeting with telling me that, I know I’m going to love them…for obvious reasons. The days leading up to their wedding day the weather was everywhere. There was a storm coming in that kept picking up speed and slowing down and speeding up, and no one could tell when it was actually going to hit. They decided just for peace of mind, they would rent an extra ceremony tent just in case it ended up raining. But when the day finally got here, it was the best weather we have had in weeks. East Tennessee skipped fall pretty much and went straight from summer to winter, but their day was so fall. The clouds were erratic so it would be cloudy for a few shots then bright sun, then cloudy again. It seemed like it kept getting cloudy at the perfect moments. Then right at sunset, before the sun went behind the mountain, all the clouds disappeared and holy moly, Batman…it. was. killer.

This Toqua Campground wedding reception was very chill and laid back. Hannah and Matt did a first look so all we had to do after the ceremony were family photos. The wind was whipping everywhere so it took a bit longer than expected, but once we arrived to the reception, everyone was really excited to welcome the Pattons. They weren’t planning on having this huge dance party, so the evening moved pretty quickly through the dinner, special dances, and cake cutting. After all that was done, there were still so many people sticking around to celebrate with Hannah and Matt. The sun’s availability was so sporadic I was a little worried that we weren’t going to get it unless we took it while it was out. I very lightly mentioned this to Hannah, and she immediately responded, “Oh, we can do the exit now…yeah, lets do it now…I want my sunset pictures!” Did I mention that I love this girl? We did their exit, and it was epic. She got the idea for a sprinkle exit from Pinterest, and let me tell you, I think we set the new Pinterest sprinkle exit bar high. The sun peaked out for this golden haze on the back of everyone’s heads, the water and tree line surrounding this Toqua Campground wedding were in the background, and the adorable, colorful sprinkles were everywhere (including Matt’s beard and in between the layers on Hannah’s dress – totally worth it though). Then, we went into their sunset photos. This couple let me shoot them for almost 30 minutes at sunset. Do you know how often that happens????? Like, never. I usually get 10 minutes…if that. These sunset pictures ended up being my favorite images from the whole day.

Also, one side note that is totally unrelated to sunset photos. The Wednesday before Hannah and Matt’s Toqua Campground wedding, I woke up with a WICKED sickness. In fact, I’m STILL dealing with it as I write this to you. I have terrible allergies and asthma, and this illness attacked my nasal sinuses. I was achy and feverish and coughing a TON. My nose was pouring snot like it was water from a faucet. All of this came out of nowhere. This is the season of the insane schedule, and I have been shooting every single evening then editing all night long trying to stay caught up (which is also probably why my immune system is down because sleep = healthy Amanda; sleep deprived = unhealthy Amanda). Regardless, I’ve never shot a wedding sick, and I went to bed Saturday night before this wedding with a temperature up in the 100s somewhere, trembling with 6 blankets piled on top of me. I said to the Lord You know what I have to do tomorrow God…c’mon now…you know. Please heal me so I can serve this couple how they deserved to be served. With total faith that He would make it happen, I fell asleep. In complete and total honesty, I woke up that morning feeling better than I had in days. I didn’t feel feverish or even achy, really. I took a long, hot shower and had zero sneezing, snotting episodes all day (I literally didn’t have to grab a single tissue out of my bag). My cough was barely even there (despite the fact that my pocket was full of cough drops just in case). I got home, and I actually had an appetite for the first time in days. I didn’t even feel like I was going to crash as I walked through the door. Now, the next day I regressed a little. Since then, I’ve continued to get better, but praise Jesus. I had to share this because in the moment of my prayer, although I didn’t say this directly, in the back of my mind I was like… I can’t wait to add this into my blog post to tell the world about another show off moment from the Lord because I just knew in my soul that He was going to make me healthy enough to shoot the wedding like I wasn’t even sick. And He did. I just needed to tell you that. Don’t be afraid to ask Him for things. Even small things like drying up your snot and taking away your fever ;-).

I’m a Knoxville Wedding Photographer that loves to travel… I shoot anywhere! If you have any questions about pricing or booking with me, click here to contact me now! If you liked what you saw above, go ahead and follow me on Facebook or Instagram to see my daily updates of the latest sessions!

 

Vendors used by Hannah & Matt:

Venue: Toqua Campground

Florist: Hall’s Flower Shop

Cake: Henry’s Deli

DJ: Music in Motion

Hair: Kelsea Witt

Dress Shop: David’s Bridal

Bridesmaids’ Dress Shop: Altar’d State

Men’s Tuxedos: Dillard’s

Caterer: Anderson Farms Catering

Rentals: Anderson Party Rental

Second Photographer: Erin Fox Photo (formerly known as Erin Turner Photography)

 

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