David Higginbotham Photography, The Blog » Weddings

Charles and Cara’s Wedding-Decatur, Alabama Wedding Photographer-

David Higginbotham — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:47:53 +0000

As I’ve said before it is always an honor to be selected by a bride and groom to photograph their wedding day. It felt even better when Charles and Cara scheduled their date around my availability. I know these two families and have a great deal of respect for them so knowing that they thought enough of my work to do that certainly did mean a lot.

I don’t normally post images from the rehearsal dinner but this one of Charles and Cara sharing a moment during the slideshow was a favorite so I thought I’d include it.

Cara chose to have a bridal session before the wedding day…

This next image is one of my favorite bridal portraits.

As you can see from the image above it was a bit of a cloudy day and there was a threat of rain. Not only did it not rain but we had sunshine exactly when we needed it. I bet I know why …I’ll come back to that.

There was so much prayer happening to keep the rain off of this ceremony. I know that was why the weather cooperated!

Like I said earlier I know these families. Because of this there were times I just knew I should be paying attention. I was really focusing on Blake (Father of the Bride) as he waited with Cara prior to walking her down the aisle. As the sunshine came out during one of those key moments he closed his eyes, lifted his head slightly, and took a deep breath. I almost fell of the hill I was standing on trying to make sure I captured it.

Later I asked what he was doing. He told me he was saying a prayer….thanking God that He had given them such beautiful weather. On it’s own the picture is good. But with the story it turns into much more.

“The bride is coming! The bride is coming!”

My buddy and fellow photographer Jonathan Palmer was my second photographer that day. He captured this amazing image from the widow’s walk.

Venue: Westview Farm
Catering: Curry’s
The Bride’s Cake: The Corner Bakery
The Groom’s Cake: Pastry Art Bake Shoppe
Flowers: Diana Appleton

Pooja and Kiran’s Tornado Weekend Wedding -Nashville, Tennessee Wedding Photography-

David Higginbotham — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:52:52 +0000

Until this past year there was one weather related milestone that my community always referenced. On April 3, 1974 – 315 people lost their lives. It was a Wednesday. Just mentioning that date would spawn long, tornado related conversations. My parents’ home ( as well as my grandparents house) was one of the many casualties of that day. Here is an aerial photo of the damage from that day with my parents’ house circled.

For 37 years that outbreak was the deadliest ever….then dawn broke on April 27th 2011. The outbreak as a whole (spanning 4 days) killed a total of 346 people with 249 of those losing their lives on the 27th. It happened to be another Wednesday.
My friend and fellow photographer Gary Cosby Jr. is my second shooter at most weddings. His day job is staff photographer at The Decatur Daily. As I did many times during my time at The Daily he chased the storms and documented the damage that day. However his experience was far more significant than any tornado warning I ever chased.

There is no way I can recount his story the way he did so please take a second and go to his blog to read the story about the monster tornado pictured above.

I told you all of that to tell you this. In the midst of the most tragic week in our state’s recent history life continued to roll on. Pooja and Kiran had plans for many days of celebration leading up to their Saturday wedding. The first of which was on Thursday, April 28th. As the rest of Alabama was trying to process what had happened the previous day these two were at the airport trying to squeeze 10 months of planning into one morning of re-planning. There was no power at their wedding venues and cell phone communication was spotty at best. The only place they knew to go that had power and internet was the airport. They called and e-mailed a lot of people and managed to move everything to Nashville, TN.

Cosby jumped directly from the frying pan that is tornado/recovery coverage into the fire of covering an out of town wedding. I greatly appreciate his work and ability to function mentally after the 3 days he had just experienced. You wouldn’t have known that I was appreciative by looking at the accommodations I managed to snag for us.

Turns out that there was quite a bit going on in Nashville that weekend. There weren’t too many choices on rooms although this was a double bed room when I ordered it. Although I tried to give him the bed Mr. Cosby chose to sleep on the floor. This room seriously reminded me of a cruise ship cabin.

Normally there isn’t so much back story on a wedding but I felt that this wedding needed that explanation. If you had walked into either the ceremony or the reception and did not know the full story you would not have known that everything had been moved last minute. Everyone involved did an amazing job and Pooja and Kiran rolled with the changes. It was a truly wonderful experience that I feel fortunate to have been a part of.

Venue: Ganesh Temple, Nashville, TN
Reception: Embassy Suites, Cool Springs, TN
Wedding Planner: Calandra Terry with An Event To Remember
Catering: Sitar Restaurant
DJ: DJ Sahil
Cultural Décor: Mandap World
Videography: Mitchell Videography
Cake: Elegant wedding cakes by Dathern Moon
Second Photographer: Gary Cosby Jr.

Bess and Derek - Decatur, Alabama Wedding Photography –

David Higginbotham — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:54:37 +0000

Ceremony – Westminster Presbyterian Church
Reception – Sykes Place
Catering – The Casual Gourmet
Cake – Charlotte Lowery
Reception DJ – Music by Mike

As June 1st ushers in day after day of 90˚+ temperatures it’s nice to look back at cooler, less sticky times. Less sticky times? A better writer might go back and try and find a different way to put that but I’m going to stick with it.

When Bess and Derek first told me their plans to get married the Saturday after Thanksgiving I initially wondered if that was a good idea. Then I realized (as they already knew) that it was an almost perfect day for it. The Iron Bowl, the annual football game between Alabama and Auburn, was being played the day before and friends and family from out of town would probably be back in town for the holiday anyway. It was a great idea.

I got word a day or two previous that Bess was extremely sick….like “I’m probably going to need medicine through an IV” sick. But there is something about one’s wedding day that will help motivate the immune system. That and a nice selection of prescription meds had Bess almost back to normal as she walked towards the spot where she and Derek would see each other for the first time at Rhodes Ferry Park. To my knowledge Derek wasn’t on anything. :)

Photo below by Gary Cosby Jr.

Bess takes a moment just before she and her dad walked towards the aisle.

Photo below by Gary Cosby Jr.

The celebratory high five has become very popular on the way back up the aisle. My prediction for 2012…the groom on guest chest bump.

Bess and Derek attempt to stop traffic on Bank Street.

Photo below by Gary Cosby Jr.

Congratulations to you both!

Hunter and Jessica’s Wedding – Moulton, Alabama Wedding Photography –

David Higginbotham — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:00:06 +0000

Jessica and Hunter got married last September on another one of those days that I attempted to take credit for….it was beautiful!

This was the sign that greeted everyone as they entered the farm where the wedding took place.

The bride and groom are in both in a band so they had a guitar at their sign in table for all the guest to sign instead of a guest book. That’s a really cool idea that I wish I would have thought of when Anna and I got married. I couldn’t tell you where our guest book is right now.

I like this next photo because of Hunter’s senior portrait looking at her on the right. It’s like one of those paintings on Scooby Doo that follow you when you walk around the room. I’m pretty sure this house wasn’t haunted though.

They chose to see each other before the ceremony…here is Hunter getting his first look at Jessica in her dress.

….here is Cosby’s view….

Image below by Gary Cosby Jr.

The next two images are by Gary Cosby Jr.

The ceremony and reception location was at the home of Hunter’s grandparents. It was a perfect place for both!

This next one was one of my favorite images from all of 2010.

Follow me on Twitter and become a fan of DHP on Facebook!

Beth and Adam are married – Huntsville, Alabama Wedding Photographer

David Higginbotham — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:03:43 +0000

Ceremony: St. Jude Catholic Church
Wedding Coordinator: Sarah Yarnell with Soirees
Florist and Decor: Talk of the Town
Videography: Innovative Video Production and Photography
Reception Band: Higher Ground

If possible I will attempt to take credit for wedding day weather before any of the other vendors. I’m pretty sure I claimed responsibility first thing in the morning on Adam and Beth’s wedding day back in September. I’ll be honest…I’m fairly certain that I’m competing against no one but a win is a win.

These guys, their wedding party, and their families were a ton of fun…I appreciate how hospitable and welcoming they were of me and fill in second shooter Josh Campbell.

First sights are always fun but they are especially so when there is this much excitement involved.

This was Beth’s reaction when her soon-to-be Father-in-law saw her in her wedding dress for the first time (AP Style peeps…are there too many hyphens there?)

Hay!

Higher Ground put on a great show at the reception!

John and the rest of the guys with Innovative Video Productions put together a short trailer from Adam and Beth’s day….if you look hard you may see a handsome man dressed in black carrying a camera. If you look even harder you may see me too. Click here to watch that video.

Josh and Amy – Huntsville, Alabama Wedding

David Higginbotham — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 04:06:06 +0000

Ceremony Venue: Southside Baptist Church
Reception Venue: The Huntsville Museum of Art
Caterer: Main Event Catering
Florist: In Bloom
Cake: Couture Cakes
DJ: Info to come :)

I guess if I want to stop leading off blog posts with lamentations over how old the images are I should starting blogging more frequently. Also a sign that I’m not blogging enough is the fact that I used the word “lamentations” just like it was nothing. Just for fun….I’m going to try and fit in another word or two that I NEVER actually use in real life.

Josh and Amy are both pharmacists. So as usual I attempted to secure myself a lifetime supply of phenergan and zithromax. These guys weren’t budging. They kept muttering something about “legality” and “ethics.” I really had a good time getting to know them both but the next time I am puking or have a cold that probably doesn’t even warrant antibiotics…I’m calling you Josh – night or day.

To the photos!

I posted the image below on Facebook….feeling pretty good about the image. The first comment was “Elmo!” I hadn’t even noticed it until then. To this day I’m really not sure why he was there….Elmo I mean. I know why Josh was there.

The groom’s cake was quite the topic of conversation at the reception. For a while there we were all just standing around staring at it. The folks at Couture Cakes did an extraordinary job with both cakes!

It looks like amazing weather in the photo below. At this particular moment…it was not.

This was the view that they were looking at in the previous photo. What you can’t see are the rain drops falling on Cosby and I. Did I forget to mention Cosby was there?

I’ve often talked about the awkwardness that is the “I’m Going To Fist Bump You But You’re Going To High Five Me Moment.” I didn’t realize until just now that I actually captured that moment between Amy and a groomsmen in this next photo. Luckily Josh was looking the other way and didn’t have to see that. Awk-ward.

Well here’s a belated congratulations to you both! I wonder if you got all your thank you cards written and mailed before I got your wedding blogged? I’m just being farcical* with you guys.

*special thanks to Thesaurus.com

Justin and Micah’s Four Year Anniversary Portraits – Decatur, Alabama Wedding Photographer

David Higginbotham — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:35:17 +0000

Our friends Justin and Micah recently celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary. Justin surprised Micah with a bridal/groom-al session. Big thanks to Diann Anderson with D’nani Makeup Studio in Huntsville, Alabama for doing Micah’s makeup. Justin did his own. :)

The image below didn’t jump out at me during my initial edit but during my final one it quickly became one of my favorite images from the evening.

Tim and Melina’s Decatur, Alabama Art Museum Wedding

David Higginbotham — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:26:20 +0000

Tim and Melina were married this summer at The Carnegie Visual Arts Center in Decatur, Alabama. It was a beautiful ceremony and Anna and I were thrilled to be a part of it.

Now…I’ve shot quite a few weddings. But I’ve never had to stop the bride and groom’s first sight moment to remove a stray cat from the bride’s train…until this wedding. I’ll post photos and details later on that.

To my favorites…

I think my logo would look pretty good on this part of the building….I should probably start working up my donation proposal…it will have to be a big one.

Congratulations to you both!

Josh and Tylan’s Limestone County, Alabama Wedding

David Higginbotham — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:47:05 +0000

Josh and Tylan were married at Turner Farm in Toney, Alabama. It was an excellent venue for a wedding. The ceremony and reception were set up near a creek with a waterfall. Almost every guest fantasized about doing a cannonball into that creek at some point during the evening. It was that hot. I told Tylan that their wedding was one of the prettiest outdoor weddings we had shot this year….but it was the hottest one too.

Here’s the creek that everyone fought the urge to wade in.

Her choice of yellow and black looked great. It was especially perfect considering the surroundings out there.

Cosby scoped out this location while I was getting the bride and groom rounded up after the ceremony ended. When were pretty thrilled with it once we backed up and got this view.

Later on during the reception we turned around and saw this sky….we pulled them away from the crowd for about 5 minutes, shot a few of these, and sent them back to their guests.

Congratulations Josh and Tylan!

Holly and Clark’s Huntsville, Alabama Wedding at Whitesburg Baptist Church

David Higginbotham — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:18:06 +0000

Holly and Clark were my last wedding of May. Cosby and I had a great time photographing 5 weddings in the month of May but when these two walked through those sparklers to their car and drove away we both could have taken a nap on the Valley Hill Country Club asphalt. It was a great month…but it was exhausting!

The first thing we did at The Whitesburg Baptist Church chapel was get a few quick bridal portraits of Holly.

We chose this location in the garden area outside of the chapel for their first sight.

This was Cosby’s view…

I’ve had some pretty entertaining wedding parties this year….I can’t be 100% sure…but these guys might have been the most hilarious.

Holly gives her Dad a hug after the Father/Daughter dance.

I honestly can’t get enough of photographing couples walking through sparklers. For some reason these particular sparklers put off a lot of smoke. So short of the mild case of black lung I took home it really added to the exit images.

Congratulations to you both!