Bridal Shows 2009

Bridal Extravaganza & Bridal Fest !

The local bridal shows are coming up in January and February. Both offer the opportunity to meet wedding vendors. Both have give-aways, and fashion shows. As you're cruising around these events try to shop with your local vendors, we appreciate your business and we have a local name we have to live up to, so you know you'll receive the best possible service.

Sometimes people will go to Dallas, Little Rock, or OKC to shop for their dresses, shoes, jewelry, or photographer. What they don't realize is that the very same dress can be found from a local shop like Always and Forever Bridal. If you shop locally you'll receive excellent service and you'll probably spend considerably less for the very same, or better, goods and services. Unless you want to be able to say you got your dress or photographer from Dallas, then be my guest and spend more. :)

Bridal Fest is Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009 at the
Fort Smith Convention Center.
There is a door fee. It runs from 1:00-4:00.

Bridal Extravaganza is Feb. 15, 2009 at the
Holiday Inn Convention Center.
There is no charge for brides.
It runs from 1:00-4:00 also.

I've booked 3 May dates just this week, so if you're interested in a specific wedding date you should make an appointment with your vendors of choice and get those deposits down before the bridal shows.

Wedding in Fort Smith

Leah and Matt were married at the
First United Methodist Church in Fort Smith.

Woo-woo!

Cute flower girls practice their smiles.

Sweet Sisters

Beautiful Bride

Leah's family has all boys.
They were so adorable coming down the aisle
with their wagon, but some just wanted their mommies.

Nice Newlyweds

Motorcycle Safety Course

I shot photos for Ed Upchurch's motorcycle safety course.

Ed and Paul teach a Basic Rider Course for former or new riders, and
an Experienced Rider Course for veteran riders
to improve riding skills.



He will be getting a brand new website soon
with some of those photos.

Ed

Shawnee is receiving her MSF completion card.
Those who pass the course can show their card at
driver's testing and receive a waiver of the road test.
They still must pass a written test to receive the
motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license.

Paul

If you were in this class, you can see all of the best photos

on my real website at CharleneDay.com on the proofs page.
I'll be emailing your best photo to you, just be patient with me.

Drive Along Shooting

Justin very kindly allowed me to take photos for him
that I could also use to show that
guy's portraits can be fun and cool!

David was the driver, and I was the shooter, of course.
Drive along shooting.

Justin and Kim's bulldog is adorable,
even with her "tough dog" hat.

Cassey

Cassey is getting married July 26th in Paris.
You can see her bridals after she's gone on her honeymoon.

Here she is.
I'll bet Alex almost passed out
when this beauty came down the aisle.

Cassey works at The Grapevine Restaurant in Paris.

Did you know that there's a Paris in Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, Arkansas, Virginia, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Maine, Illinois, Idaho, and France? And a Paris Crossing, Indiana? That's not even counting New Paris, Saint Paris, and South Paris.

Wow, that's a bunch of cool maps of Paris.

Lauren

Lauren had her bridal photos taken at the First Presbyterian Church.


The present First Presbyterian Church is in the Scottish Gothic style

and was completed in 1900.

What a beauty Lauren is, inside and out. Sorry, Taylor,

you can't see your bride in her dress until The Big Day.

Creenna and Jesse

Creenna and Jesse's engagement photos were
taken in downtown Fort Smith.
This is the photo they chose for photo cards and the
photo for their guests to sign.
I like this trend as an alternative to a guest book. Instead of people just signing their name in a book, they are more likely to get creative and write blessings or congratulation messages.
Another neat idea I've seen is providing little cards for the guests to write more private messages of advice and well wishes. Then the cards can be slipped in a box for the couple to enjoy reading later.

Lauren and Taylor

Lauren and Taylor are engaged to be married. We had fun taking photos in downtown Fort Smith.

What a nice couple.

We started at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum and happened to see Mayor Ray Baker who always quips "Life's Worth Living in Fort Smith!!" before he showers an honoree with rose petals. (No kidding.) When our church celebrated it's 150th anniversary, he was there. When my husband's workplace was honored for being #1 in quality production, he was there. He's our much-loved mayor and we hope he's around for many years to come.


Here's a video of the River Blenders singing the Fort Smith theme song.

The Trees Come Off

A crane removed the giant trees from the Hinkle's roof.


The crane was stuck in the hole that it made of the driveway. It took two semi wreckers pulling together and the extending of the crane's boom to distribute the weight to finally get unstuck.



Someone could've sold popcorn and hot dogs. Why didn't we think of that?




Cutting the tree while the crane lends help.



And.....falling into the hole.


The stump with its massive root ball plunking back where it was for about 100 years.



Just to give you some idea of how big that root ball was, check out the roots sticking up around the stump that fell back into the hole.



Going Up!


Big, big tree!
Can you believe they are saying this house isn't a total loss????

The Storm

Sometimes God saves you from the storms of life. Sometimes He takes you through them, out the other side, safely.
Our friends survived, praising God for the safety of their whole family after the storm that came through Wednesday evening.
Three enormous, Tulip Poplar trees were blown over, one flattening their home. The hallway were they were with their six children remained relatively undamaged.



It isn't known at this time whether the damage was due to straight line winds, or if a tornado touched down, but the Hinkle family felt their roof lift a little right before the largest of the trees fell and opened their ceiling to the down pouring of rain and some rather large hail.
(Now they are saying it was a microburst.)




There has been an outpouring of help from fellow homeschool families, church friends, neighbors and others. Jodie said she felt that an army had helped them clear what was salvageable from their home. She also mentioned the kindness of neighbors who lent their homes, and food to the family, and a police officer who stayed all night in their back yard the night looters tried to take what was left. Even Garrett Lewis, meteorologist for channel 5 KFSM gets some credit. When they heard him say he felt like the studio roof lifted a little, the family knew it was headed straight for them and hunkered down closer into their small space.

Rachel

After all the rain we had a clear, nice day for photos around the River Park in Fort Smith.
Rachel and her grandmother are sweet people. I'm glad to have done Rachel's senior photos for them. The River Park Amphitheater is the location of the annual Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Fest.

Located near the River Park are some great attractions. There's the Fort Smith National Historic Site
with Judge Parker's Court, the old commissary building, the old fort remains, and the gallows.

Brandie and Matt

The sky threatened rain Saturday, but soon cleared and there was a crisp, Spring day for the wedding. Brandie was stunning and would have brightened the day even if it had been gloomy.


Brandie and Matt were married at the Darby Chapel , also known as the Darby Community Center in Fort Smith. The reception was held a short walk away at the elegant Bonneville House.


Both of these lovely old buildings are located in the Belle Grove Historic District.
The 22 square blocks of the district are home to many restored old homes.