It's the BIG day, the 2nd part of our Real Wedding Workshop... AND Jenni and Stevn's wedding! They've planned for this day for over a year. I'm sure when Jenni was growing up she never imagined she would have 18 photographers photographing her on this very special day in her life. Talk about crazy! And crazy fun it was! Her and her bridesmaids were amazing together. You could feel the love they all have for each other. They were up for anything and they always had great fun in front of the cameras. And Stevn and his guys were always whooping it up for the cameras as well. Jenni's Amsale gown was stunning! I love the capped sleeves and it fit her tiny shape perfectly! She wore her mother's veil which was very sentimental to her. Everything from the flowers, to the hair and makeup, to the amazing pair of Christian Louboutin shoes that Stevn gave his bride... yes please!!!

The love between Jenni and her daddy is priceless. The moment before he walked her down the aisle, shedding a few tears, and then breaking out in dance with all the bridesmaids after a private prayer. It was just perfect. The love of these two families joining together was such a blessing. Hugs from the grandmothers were something I will never forget. All in all, I would say it was a perfect wedding!

Here's part 1 of 2 of their wedding day! Bob and I hope that you enjoy looking through all their wedding photos!!! Be ready for part 2 and Day 3 of the workshop...

xoxox!

~ Dawn and Bob

Here's part 2 of 2 of of our Real Wedding Workshop AND Jenni and Stevn's wedding day. After the ceremony, we headed off to celebrate at the beautiful William Aiken House. Sara Hosch, Sr. Event Planner, from Southern Protocol made every ounce of Jenni's wedding a dream come true! There wasn't anything missing from their puppy, Jackson, greeting them with his bow tie, to every single perfectly placed candle and hanging chandelier. She and her team did an amazing job! The William Aiken House is the perfect location for a Southern wedding and I love that the movie "The Notebook" filmed the wedding dress fitting scene in the room that Jenni and Stevn cut their cake.

The love in the house was overwhelming... and it's no wonder. Jenni and Stevn are nicer than they are beautiful and that says a lot because they are both gorgeous. After everyone danced the night away, Mr. and Mrs. ended the evening with a sparkler exit and off they went in a rickshaw... so much fun!

Day 3 of our Real Wedding Workshop was quickly upon us. We spent the morning at the Charleston Center For Photography looking through images from the wedding and recapping what Bob had shared on Day 1 and wedding day as well as going through our approach to sales, marketing and branding. I love this part of the day because it's where I get to share how we run our business. Bob and I have made our fair share of not so great decisions in our business that have brought us to where we are today. I'm grateful for those mistakes as we've learned a lot from them. It's nice to be able to share what has worked for us and what hasn't.

After lunch we hit the streets of Charleston again for another session with Jenni + Stevn. I'm amazed they were up for it as they had a long evening dancing the night away at their beautiful wedding. We began at the United States Custom House and ended at the famous Pineapple Fountain. I love these images because the kids were so amazed that Jenni and Stevn were in the fountain all dressed up! It was so cute to see their reaction.

This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Jenni and Stevn, we are so happy for you and wish you both and your beautiful families a lifetime of happiness. Thank you so much for trusting us with your very special day. We love you both!!!

xoxox,

~ Dawn and Bob

It's hard to believe it's August 1st... where did July go? Where did June go? It's been a crazy busy summer and we're so excited for Skip Cohen University August 11-14, 2013. This is a conference you will not want to miss. It's at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Oakbrook, Illinois which is not far from where we live! It's a close ride from O'Hare and Midway airport, so no excuses! Come and join the fun. The group of speakers is incredible. There will be so much to learn and the networking possibilities are amazing! Last year Bob and I spoke on the husband & wife panel for married photographers. What a blast! The energy this conference brings will be sure to set you up for success for the rest of the year!

The list of speakers is crazy cool from, Clay Blackmore, Michele Celentano, Bob Coates, Joe McNally, Adam Sherwin, Zach & Jody Gray, Dixie Dixon, Justin & Mary Marantz, Jen Rozenbaum, Ryan Schembri, Suzette Allen and of course, US, there is sure to be some amazing sharing of knowledge going on.

A HUGE thank you to Skip Cohen for organizing this event all these years! I know this is going to be one of the BEST conferences yet! Thank you for providing an incredible atmosphere of learning. We have never been more proud to be part of such an amazing industry!

There are MANY big incentives going on right now to sign up, so please check it out. You will be glad you came! To register, click HERE.

We can't wait to meet everyone and share the love and passion with everyone who will be attending!!!

xoxo,

~ Dawn & Bob

Since the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, it's been such a cool theme during our last couple of engagement sessions. Meet Lauren and Stephen... so cute and so fun... I just love their energy and I love that they make each other laugh. Lauren has the most beautiful eyes and a smile that just lights up in every photo.

And I, of course, love that they wanted to wear their jerseys and begin at the Field Museum right near to the dinosaur. Lauren and Stephen, we are looking forward to your wedding in January!

A big thank you to Reva Nathan for sharing us with this beautiful couple! We are so grateful to have your trust.

xoxoxo,

~ Dawn & Bob

Whoop, whoop, so excited to be photographing our dear friend, Erin, and her fiancé's wedding in September! We met Erin at one of our Davis Love Story Workshops as she is a photographer as well. What a compliment when another photographer wants you to photograph their wedding!

We had a blast during their engagement session! They are huge Blackhawks fans and wanted to begin their session at the United Center. Of course!!! Love it! We then stopped into G-Cue Billiards and they welcomed us with open arms to take a few photos there. Such a cool billiards joint! Then onto the North Avenue Beach for some awesome Chicago Skyline shots. It was a windy day in the windy city but the weather was wonderful...!!! We adore you Erin and Kevin and can't wait for your big day!

xoxox,

~ Dawn and Bob

What an incredible honor to have Ashley Hebert and J.P.'s wedding featured not only in People magazine... and now Inside Weddings Summer 2013 issue.

Ashley and JP are so sweet and just a beautiful couple. We're so honored to have their wedding featured in this gorgeous bridal magazine. Mindy Weiss is one our most favorite Event Planners in the world!!! She did an amazing job bringing this wedding to fruition in such a short period of time. Thank you Walt and Art at Inside Weddings for featuring another one of our beautiful weddings! For brides looking for inspiration, this is the magazine to buy!

It's hard to believe it's been over 8 months since their wedding. Where does the time go? Summer has been crazy fun and we are well into the busy wedding season. Ohhhh, so much I need to blog. I'm a horrible blogger! We have SO MANY incredible photographs to share with you all. I'm so sorry. I keep saying I'm going to get better and then my kids say "Mom, can you take me...." and family wins! What can I say... I'm a mom first.

Ohhhh, remember to stop by to see Ashley & JP's website... it's adorable!

Angela and Bryant met through friends. Their shared faith and heart for God is what drew them together. One month after they officially started dating, Bryant professed his love for Angela. And Angela, four months after that, told Bryant she loved him too, which was the first time she ever said that to a guy. When Bryant proposed to Angela, she confessed that she knew She was going to marry him from the weekend of their first official date. Bryant said he knew then too and that there wasn’t anyone else he could see spending the rest of his life with. Some may call it serendipity but they thank and praise God for His provision and sovereignty in bringing them together!

Angela had been looking at our work for several years and knew she wanted us to photograph her wedding. When we met them, we knew that they were meant for each other. And they value photography, so we knew they were meant for us! They are the sweetest, most fun couple and we can't thank them enough for honoring us with the opportunity to photograph their beautiful wedding day!

They were up for anything during their engagement session and even brought the cutest props! On their wedding day, it was chilly and drizzling and you would never have known because they made the best of their day, with umbrellas and smiles! We are so thrilled to share their images with you! A big thank you to Jenn Gaudreau, Edward Weiland and our son, Bobby, for 2nd shooting this wedding with Bob. They both did an amazing job!

Angela and Bryant, we wish you a lifetime of happiness together. You are so meant to be together. We love you both so much!!!

xoxox,

~ Dawn and Bob

Well friends, this is way too good not to share! If you're struggling with finding the time to blog, like I do, then you need to know about BlogStomp. It's an amazing tool created by photographers for photographers... and bloggers! It's so simple and so fun... you will just freak out! I'm totally serious! And for the whopping price tag of $49 for the app, you will agree that it's so worth the money. After one blog post, you will get your money's worth. If my testimony doesn't convince you, then go to BlogStomp's website and download the free trial.

You just drop your images into BlogStomp, and once you have your image(s) selected the way you like it, just click "stomp" and it automatically gets renamed and saved into a "Stomped!" folder on your desktop! You can select how many images you want to have stomped into a collage, select with template you want to use, and click "Mix it Up!" until you get the desired effect you're looking for. Easy peasy! You're going to LOVE this!!!

There are so many reasons to love this program, you are just going to have to try it to see for yourself! Not to sound like a Men's Warehouse commercial, BUT, you're gonna like the way you look... I guarantee it!

Another year has passed and we celebrated our kid's "Gotcha Home Day". It's hard to believe it's been 11 years since we touched down at O'Hare airport and went through customs with our kiddos. Bobby was 4.5 and Alli was 3.5 at the time. They are now 15.5 and 14.5 years old. CRAZY....... absolutely pure craziness. I always wanted to adopt and when Bob and I were going through the process, it was really difficult. At the time, it seemed that everything and anything could go wrong, did go wrong. But then I began praying in DETAIL to God, and when I mean detail, I mean, names, dates, addresses of where the adoption committee was meeting next. I could not get more specific with God begging Him to be there at those meetings so we could finally bring our children home. And it wasn't long, weeks I think, that after I started praying specifically did He answer our prayers. We waited an entire year to hear the words "It's time!"

And now, our son Bobby is talking about where he wants to attend college. And, our daughter, Alli is going to be graduating 8th Grade in May. Seriously??? It just seems that life is flying by faster than I can say.... "breathe".

Every year, on February 13th, Bob takes an annual photo of our kiddos. The very first photo was taken in 2002 at Casa de Copii in Chisinau, Moldova the first time Bob met our kids. We haven't missed a year since. We bought Alli a Papusheka (doll) on our way to Moldova and it's made an appearance in every photo since then.

I don't even know how to describe how much we love our kids. They were born in our hearts. People always comment on how lucky they are because we adopted them, but the truth is, we are the lucky ones. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. I may not have given birth to our kids, but we are their parents and we love them with every ounce of our heart and soul. They have forever changed us, and we will always be thankful that God heard our prayers. We give Him the glory every single day of our lives.

It's been wonderful to see many photographers we've met in the industry go through the adoption process and be blessed the same way we have, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

And if you would like to view our adoption video on our website, here's the link...
https://bobanddawndavis.com/about-us/#adoption-video

No laughing at my clothes or my dancing and bring tissues! Don't say I didn't warn you!