While it seems that 2016 is going down in the history books as pretty much the worst, it has been an amazing year for JDP and I've decided to look for the silver linings! I'm so fortunate to work in an industry filled with happy moments and a time when love and support comes in droves from family, friends - even strangers - as you promise forever to your best friend. Each year I take time to reflect on the people, stories, growth (and even a few adorable pups) that filled the 12 previous months and every year I seem to be more blown away than the last. I have celebrated love, captured love, and felt loved among so many amazing people. Fifty four people trusted me to tell their love story. All of them different. All of them beautiful. All of them probably not realizing that they now have a cheerleader for the rest of their lives for every (and any) exciting milestone.

Looking at this collage of my 27 couples brings back a flood of memories from this year... Weddings that were boiling hot, weddings that were freezing cold, rainy days, days when I had to fix dresses or hair, days when I was also an uber for my bride, choking back tears during the sweetest of vows and again during just about every father-daughter dance, days when I had 10 minutes for portraits and others I had an hour, millions of bobby pins tucking curls back in place, safety-pinning a dress moments before a first look, placing veils in just the right spot, lowcountry weddings and industrial Atlanta weddings, church weddings and garden weddings, past grooms sneaking me bourbon on the dance floor, hysterically laughing during toasts that were more like roasts and getting the very last hug from so many of these amazing people pictured above. All memories I will cherish (or at least give me a chuckle) and I wouldn't trade this overwhelming, wonderful, exciting job for the world because it brings so many new friends into my life.

While I consider myself a solo-preneur, this business takes a village and I am so very grateful for my tribe that uplifts, inspires, encourages and even spell checks. You know who you are and I love you all so dearly. To my 2016 couples - thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me into your lives, your intimate moments and most of all for trusting me with your love story. You have impacted my life in ways you couldn't imagine. To my 21 couples already on the books for 2017 - I cannot wait to see what memories I will get to celebrate and photograph with you. I'm so overwhelmed by your support already!

Happy New Year, y'all. I hope you 2017 is full of adventure and love but if it's not, let's promise to take it on together.

CHEERS!
xo- Jill

Investing back into my business is something that often gets put on the back burner because I almost always put my couples first. Between shooting, editing, blogging, delivering images, meetings, housekeeping and wondering where in the world my lens cap went, it gets really hard to make time to strategize intentionally for the future of the biz. This year I made it a priority to create a promotional video that would not only share testimony from a real couple but also highlight my personality and the way I approach wedding photography.

I had the honor of photographing Kristina and Ryan's beautiful wedding day last weekend and it was even more special because it was the very FIRST wedding ever held at Broadfield Plantation! I actually didn't get to meet Kristina and Ryan before their big day which I don't normally do, but it was a destination wedding for them as they traveled all the way from Texas! It can be hard going into a wedding day without any context of personalities beforehand, but the second I met Kristina I knew we were a perfect match!

I had the pleasure of photographing Ashley and Kirk's engagement session while I was in Savannah last week! We started our session early in the morning before Kirk left for work and I don't think I've ever been on River Street when it is completely empty! I will say, it was really interesting to see a more sleepy Savannah! It was a SUPER chilly morning but Ashley and Kirk were troopers as we explored River Street and Bay Street before heading to Ogelthorpe Square. We pretty much covered the quintessential downtown Savannah area as we strolled through the cobblestone streets and beautiful homes shaded by old oak trees with the sunlight filtered through the Spanish moss. It is such a beautiful place and I'm so glad we were able to capture Ashley and Kirk's engagement pictures there! Kirk lives in Savannah but Ashley came all the way from Atlanta after a busy week of travel for their session. Long distance relationships can be tough but it makes that time together even sweeter and I am so grateful they took time from their weekend together to capture these images on an early and very chilly Friday morning! Ashley and Kirk - I hope you love these as much as I do! Best wishes as you continue planning your big day!

I came back from a long weekend of traveling all over south Georgia for shoots and a beautiful wedding to find THIS guy in the mail!!! I am so thrilled to see Alyse and Alex's GORGEOUS wedding featured in the Spring/Summer issue of The Knot magazine! I was blown away to see the beautiful details highlighted over two spreads but I am pretty sure the entire magazine could have been filled with just Alyse and Alex's wedding alone. I'm so thankful for the vendor team that made this day possible and for Alyse and her mom, Susan, that took the time to fill out all the information necessary to see this baby in print! EEK! This will be on newsstands in a few weeks!