Holli and Lucas Brown 
Heidi, Haley, Doyle and Aubrey
Doyle and Holli
Rita, "Whistle" and Doyle
What an exciting weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee! I was asked to photograph the weddings of guitar legend Doyle Dyke's daughters Holli and Haley and this past Saturday was Holli's wedding. I have selected only a handful of images to show here to keep the most initmate images private for the family.
The weekend started out with a very scary plane ride into Tennessee on Friday. Because of storms in the area, my plane was tossed around in the sky as we approached our destination. At one point, the plane dropped so fast that I could literally see the people in front of me jump up out of their seats! It was like we were at one level and then the plane had dropped to another level below us, leaving us hang in the air for a moment before we dropped as well. It was kind of like one of those amusement rides where the floor drops out from under you. I told the story to Doyle who was so apologetic about it that I had to keep telling him that it wasn't his fault! It was just part of the experience of the weekend. I even overheard the flight attendant say to the pilot, "Well, at least nobody cried and nobody threw up!"
Doyle had personally picked out a suite for me at the Hilton hotel and wow... I was really impressed! The suite was huge! It even had two TV sets in there! With free WiFi internet connection, I was able to send off a few emails to friends and to post about Ruby Falls (see Saturday's post...)
As usual, I didn't sleep too long before waking up at 3:30 AM on Saturday. So after watching some TV and doing some work on my computer, I decided to go sightseeing since the wedding wasn't until later in the day on Saturday. I went to Ruby Falls which was only about 30 minutes from my hotel.
After returning from Ruby Falls, I got really sleepy and took a nap before heading off to the wedding. The wedding was very intimate with only 20 people including me. Family only at this wedding! I was so honored when Doyle's family kept reminding me that I was part of their family now. That was so touching! I have to admit that the Dykes family has got to be one of my favorite families because they were all so nice! And Holli's new in-law's, the Brown's, were equally as nice too!
Although the wedding was perhaps the smallest wedding I have ever participated in, it has to be one of the nicest weddings I've been to in a long time. Being small and intimate, there was definitely a "southern charm" to everything. The ceremony was performed by Doyle's brother Aubrey who is a minister. Aubrey also played keyboards at the wedding and was accompanied by Doyle. Holli's two sisters, Haley and Heidi both sang a song called, "Forever and Always" which Holli had written and Haley had recorded on her CD, "The Mystery of Her." Yes, sister Heidi is the daughter of Doyle who was the inspiration behind the famous "White Rose" that adorns each of Doyle's signature guitars. To see a picture of the white rose on my Doyle Dykes Signature Model guitar, see my post on November 16, 2006. I joked with Heidi that I was going to put a picture of her in my guitar case so that whenever anyone asked what the rose on my guitar was for, I could just pull out her picture and show them!
The ceremony was very special. Lots of tears of joy from the entire family.
The reception was held in the next room where everyone sat at one huge table. I was invited to join in at the table as well for dinner as the family once again reminded me that I was part of their family now too. We were served with a terrific tasting chicken breast that was so large many of us couldn't even finish it! The wedding cake was also huge... much more cake than 20 people could possibly eat. I've seen cakes this size for 150 people or more!
We finished off with dancing and the garter and bouquet toss which were caught by sister Haley and her fiance Joshua. Their wedding is scheduled for November 2007 in North Carolina. I'm looking forward to photographing their wedding later this year!
After the wedding, Doyle packed up his truck and headed out to his next gig. Wow, he had just gotten into town late on Friday and immediately after the wedding, he had to go to the next gig! Talk about a tight schedule!
I spent Sunday at Silverdale Baptist Church with Haley and Joshua. Haley was scheduled to perform at the church at 9:20 AM, 11:05 AM and 6:30 PM. We had lunch after the two morning church services and then I hung around with them until 3:30 PM before heading off to the airport to catch my plane ride home (which was very smooth...) Haley had two other musicans who came to play with them at the 6:30 PM concert at the church, so they held a practice session during the afternoon. I stayed and played piano with them on one of the songs... just for fun. I also got to play guitar while Haley played her mandolin and sang during a warm-up before the 9:20 service. Haley commented that this was the first time she has ever heard me play in the three years we have known each other.
It was an exciting weekend for me and for the Dykes and Browns... one that we will surely not forget. I'm very fortunate to have been asked to share in this special time with them. Best wishes to Holli and Lucas Brown!!
The weekend started out with a very scary plane ride into Tennessee on Friday. Because of storms in the area, my plane was tossed around in the sky as we approached our destination. At one point, the plane dropped so fast that I could literally see the people in front of me jump up out of their seats! It was like we were at one level and then the plane had dropped to another level below us, leaving us hang in the air for a moment before we dropped as well. It was kind of like one of those amusement rides where the floor drops out from under you. I told the story to Doyle who was so apologetic about it that I had to keep telling him that it wasn't his fault! It was just part of the experience of the weekend. I even overheard the flight attendant say to the pilot, "Well, at least nobody cried and nobody threw up!"
Doyle had personally picked out a suite for me at the Hilton hotel and wow... I was really impressed! The suite was huge! It even had two TV sets in there! With free WiFi internet connection, I was able to send off a few emails to friends and to post about Ruby Falls (see Saturday's post...)
As usual, I didn't sleep too long before waking up at 3:30 AM on Saturday. So after watching some TV and doing some work on my computer, I decided to go sightseeing since the wedding wasn't until later in the day on Saturday. I went to Ruby Falls which was only about 30 minutes from my hotel.
After returning from Ruby Falls, I got really sleepy and took a nap before heading off to the wedding. The wedding was very intimate with only 20 people including me. Family only at this wedding! I was so honored when Doyle's family kept reminding me that I was part of their family now. That was so touching! I have to admit that the Dykes family has got to be one of my favorite families because they were all so nice! And Holli's new in-law's, the Brown's, were equally as nice too!
Although the wedding was perhaps the smallest wedding I have ever participated in, it has to be one of the nicest weddings I've been to in a long time. Being small and intimate, there was definitely a "southern charm" to everything. The ceremony was performed by Doyle's brother Aubrey who is a minister. Aubrey also played keyboards at the wedding and was accompanied by Doyle. Holli's two sisters, Haley and Heidi both sang a song called, "Forever and Always" which Holli had written and Haley had recorded on her CD, "The Mystery of Her." Yes, sister Heidi is the daughter of Doyle who was the inspiration behind the famous "White Rose" that adorns each of Doyle's signature guitars. To see a picture of the white rose on my Doyle Dykes Signature Model guitar, see my post on November 16, 2006. I joked with Heidi that I was going to put a picture of her in my guitar case so that whenever anyone asked what the rose on my guitar was for, I could just pull out her picture and show them!
The ceremony was very special. Lots of tears of joy from the entire family.
The reception was held in the next room where everyone sat at one huge table. I was invited to join in at the table as well for dinner as the family once again reminded me that I was part of their family now too. We were served with a terrific tasting chicken breast that was so large many of us couldn't even finish it! The wedding cake was also huge... much more cake than 20 people could possibly eat. I've seen cakes this size for 150 people or more!
We finished off with dancing and the garter and bouquet toss which were caught by sister Haley and her fiance Joshua. Their wedding is scheduled for November 2007 in North Carolina. I'm looking forward to photographing their wedding later this year!
After the wedding, Doyle packed up his truck and headed out to his next gig. Wow, he had just gotten into town late on Friday and immediately after the wedding, he had to go to the next gig! Talk about a tight schedule!
I spent Sunday at Silverdale Baptist Church with Haley and Joshua. Haley was scheduled to perform at the church at 9:20 AM, 11:05 AM and 6:30 PM. We had lunch after the two morning church services and then I hung around with them until 3:30 PM before heading off to the airport to catch my plane ride home (which was very smooth...) Haley had two other musicans who came to play with them at the 6:30 PM concert at the church, so they held a practice session during the afternoon. I stayed and played piano with them on one of the songs... just for fun. I also got to play guitar while Haley played her mandolin and sang during a warm-up before the 9:20 service. Haley commented that this was the first time she has ever heard me play in the three years we have known each other.
It was an exciting weekend for me and for the Dykes and Browns... one that we will surely not forget. I'm very fortunate to have been asked to share in this special time with them. Best wishes to Holli and Lucas Brown!!
1 comment:
Congratulations! May God bless the newlyweds, Mr. & Mrs. Brown, and the entire Dykes family...
- Devin
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