Sharon Wheaton – Sharon Theresa Wheaton

Singing Praises: A Call for Reviews

Greetings from Team Wheaton! (Sharon) – I’ve been having some inner debates on exactly what I want this blog to be. Blogs are so diverse in today’s world I’ve been struggling with this new opportunity to do something a little different. I’m still struggling with how to talk to the faceless friends and potential clients that decided to glance over any over my blog post. At this point, I feel like sharing events in my world, plus all the neat things I’ve been learning as a new(ish) cultural wedding photographer.

We currently spend about half of the year in Nashville and half of the year in Atlanta traveling and servicing all my wonderful clients! Here in Nashville, I have few exciting opportunities on the horizon that I hope to share with you guys soon. Until that time, I think I’ll continue to write my stream of ramblings for the masses and of course, share some of the beautiful weddings we’ve been lucky enough to capture.

Hooked on a Feeling

You guys know that very famous song, “Hooked on a Feeling”? Bowie and I fell-in-love-all-over-again with this amazing song right after the first Guardians of the Galaxy came out a few summers ago. If you are as old (or older) than I am, you may remember this song being very popular in the late 90s. A little show called Ally McBeal resurrected this song from all who may have forgotten it existed from its original release in the late 1960s. With the updated version from Blue Swede, and Ally’s biological clock ticking, the dancing baby was born. It was a memorial moment of 90s tv!

Lyrics: The story of a song

Lyrics have always been a huge inspiration of mine. I am very passionate about music that I love and the story of the song is just as important to me as the rhythm and the melodies! When I find a song that speaks to me in rhythm, I immediately start to learn the words so I can know the little nuggets of wisdom the artist has left for us to find. “Hooked on a Feeling” is a simple enough song to be inspired by with lyrics like:

Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga

I can’t stop this feeling
Deep inside of me
Girl, you just don’t realize
What you do to me

When you hold me
In your arms so tight
You let me know
Everything’s all right

I’m hooked on a feeling
I’m high on believing
That you’re in love with me

The singer can’t believe his amazing luck that this lovely lady is in love with him. What luck to find such love in life. How lucky our bride felt to be serenaded with such a love song. I was grinning from ear to ear and may have even shed a tear at the adorable display! So here’s my question for you tonight, dear readers: Are you hooked on Sharon Theresa Wheaton? 😉

Reviews

Asking for a review is probably my most dreaded request as a business owner. Bowie and I strive to serve our clients to the best of our ability every time we book a wedding. From start to finish I want the process to be easy and I want the execution to be flawless. These expectations are, in some ways, to hard to accomplish. Being realistic and being perfect doesn’t work together and I struggle with wanting to be perfect all the time. I’ve been very lucky to learn something new about myself with each review I’ve received. Therefore, we push through and ask the tough questions. If you are reading this, and you feel you’d like to give us a review, we would love to hear from you! Any review is appreciated, but if you would like to leave a more in-depth review to be featured on the website, please contact the studio directly. You may also review us on Facebook.

Until next time friends,

Schermerhorn Symphony Maternity Session

Hello Nashville! Bowie and I have had such an exciting year photographing such a beautiful city. Nashville is full of life, music, beauty and thankfully for us, a few of our past clients. Ola and D were married a few years back at Agnes Scott College and we were so thrilled to be apart of their Atlanta celebration. We were so excited when D contacted us to shoot their growing family here in Nashville, our new home city. We started their maternity session at Shelby Bottoms and then moved to downtown Nashville’s most beautiful courtyard at Schermerhorn Symphony. The symphony attendant was so kind to give us a little extra time in the courtyard, and we are very thankful for his kindness. Check out Ola + D’s lovely Schermerhorn Symphony Maternity Session images below.

We Have Some BIG News!

That’s right friends, family and clients – Bowie and I are moving to Nashville! We are excited to expand our wedding photography business out to Nashville, Tennessee. We will still be serving the Atlanta area but our new home base will now be in Nashville. As excited as we are, you should be too as there will be ZERO extra fees for weddings, engagements, portraits or corporate work anywhere in Georgia. That includes Savannah, Atlanta and everything in between. We are proud to serve our wonderful southern family and still plan to be in Atlanta all the time. Cheers to a great end of the year and look out Nashville, here comes the Wheaton Crew!

Senior Portrait Session |Atlanta

Leah + Grant | Wedding | Grand Hyatt Hotel Buckhead

Greetings fans! We are excited to share such a lovely wedding and couple with you guys today. Leah and Grant were married at the lovely, and recently renovated, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Buckhead! This was the first time Bowie and I had the pleasure of working at this lovely hotel. If there is one thing I can say about this location, other than its beauty, it’s that the staff is fantastic. Anything we needed, any questions we had, all situations were handled with care and excitement. From the top executive right down to the hotel staff, everyone greeted us with smiles and consideration.

We were also very excited to work with a few new vendors this wedding. Terry from Special-T-Events was the head of the show and Flowers by Yona created all the beautiful flowers and reception design. It was a great team and a beautiful day! Take some time and check out Leah and Grant’s amazing wedding. Check out this wedding published on The Knot!

To the bride and groom: Bowie and I were so, so happy to be a part of your amazing day of joy and love. Your family treated us as we were one of their own and we were so happy to be there for everyone. Here’s to an amazing marriage full of adventure, love, excitement and great surprises!

Intercontinental Buckhead | Foundry Puritan Mill Wedding

Greetings from out new website! Sharon Theresa Wheaton is so excited for all the amazing changes to the new site and new business name. As excited we are for the new name change, we are still the same team! Bowie and I are still shooting as a husband and wife team. We are excited and we hope you are too! To kick off the new name we have an adorable smitten couple, Ashley + Jordan, and their lovely Foundry at Puritan Mill wedding. Let’s get to know this couple a little better.

STW: How did you and Jordan meet?

Ashley: Jordan and I met through friends in Athens, GA at the beginning of our last year at UGA. It was love at first sight and we have been together since. The night that we met, we did not leave each other’s side and ended up at a concert at the Georgia Theatre. We shared our first kiss in that same theatre as well.

STW: How did Jordan pop the question?

Ashley: One day after work, Jordan took me back to the very same spot we shared our first kiss. He set up the proposal at the Georgian Theatre. Needless to say, I was completely surprised. We had a vacation planned shortly after the day he proposed and I was sure it would happen over that weekend. Now we can reminisce on the night we met and the night that we got engaged in the very same spot at the Georgia Theatre.

STW: I LOVE it when brides get caught off guard. I know] being a “Type A” girl myself that is almost impossible to be surprised! He did a great job. So, your wedding, what is the most important thing you want to remember?

Ashley: Wow that is a good question! I would have to say happiness. Happy that Jordan and I are taking that next step in our lives, that our families are now joining into one and that we will be able to celebrate this occasion with our family and closest friends. Also, the joy and love that I feel today and continue to feel when I am with Jordan.

STW: Ok readers. I’m 100% positive that you will see nothing but pure joy and happiness BEAMING from everyone at Ashley and Jordan’s amazing Intercontinental Buckhead and The Foundry at Puritan Mill wedding! Cheers to Ashley and Jordan and their amazing love for each other!

Getting Ready: Intercontinental Buckhead

Ceremony: Sardis Methodist Church

Reception: The Foundry at Puritan Mill

Coordinator: Stella-Harper Events

Floral: Darryl Wiseman Flowers

Caterer: Bold American

Hilton Marietta Atlanta Conference Center Wedding Preview

We had a lovely weekend at Hilton Marietta Atlanta Conference Center. We wanted to share a quick preview of Cassie and Alex’s classic Atlanta wedding. Cheers to love!!

Venue: Hilton Marietta Atlanta Conference Center

Planner:The Season Events

Video: Alyson Alpine Tree

Photography: Sharon Theresa Wheaton

Ashlyn + Peter | Engagement| Freedom Parkway Bridge | Olmsted Linear Park

Ashlyn + Peter | Atlanta Engagement Photography| Freedom Parkway Bridge | Olmsted Linear Park

Greetings! We would like to introduce you to Ashlyn + Peter. This lovely couple comes to us from past clients Lindsey + Patrick! We’ve had the pleasure of photographing Lindsey + Patrick’s wedding a few years ago and a recent portrait session at Serenbe.

We are thankful that our clients chat about us to their friends. We like to get to know people. Let’s get to know Ashlyn + Peter.

(S) Ashlyn and Peter, tell us a little about you and Peter:

(A+P) Ashlyn grew up in Snellville with her younger brother Ryan, and her folks and both sets of grandparents still live close by. After graduating from UGA, she got her Master’s in Public Health at Mercer and now kicks butt with her work as an in-house consultant at Northside. She is an avid tennis player, runner, loves to cook and travel, but above all loves spending time with her family and friends.

Peter’s family moved to Georgia when he was 7, but thanks to his parents being from Iowa his southern accent pretty much stops and starts with “y’all”. He’s the third of four kids, and growing up in an entrepreneurial household caused him to gravitate to working in sales at a tech startup. He is getting too old to play soccer as well as he used to and enjoys Ashlyn’s cooking very much, but above all he loves spending time with his family and friends.

(S) How did you guys meet?

(A+P) This is a very controversial subject, as recollections differ tremendously. The first time we truly spent some time together, though, was on a big group getaway set up by a mutual friend (thanks, Paul) over a weekend in the mountains.

(S) Tell us a little about your first date.

(A+P) After mountain weekend, Peter got Ashlyn’s number and asked her out for a first official date. We went to an awesome restaurant called P’cheen, and spent the next three and half hours(!) laughing and realizing how much we had in common. Needless to say, it was the perfect last first date anyone could ask for.

(S) Was there a defining moment your knew relationship was taking the step towards marriage?

(A+P) This one’s a little tricky, because having instant chemistry with someone can make it seem like it was headed there all along. Pete remembers raving to my friends extremely early on about how great Ashlyn was, and brought her to meet his family about a month after the first date. Luckily she wasn’t scared off, and the overwhelming consensus from everyone was that she was an absolute keeper. When you meet someone who’s beautiful, smart, funny, and kind enough to laugh at your dumb jokes, well- you hold onto her.

(S) Peter, how did you pop “The Question?”

(A+P) Since our birthdays, anniversary, and Valentine’s Day are all within a couple weeks of each other, we try to do a fun trip every year to celebrate. Peter’s family has a lake house in Northern Michigan that they’ve gone to for years, and it was the location of one of the first real “couple’s trip” we went on when we started dating. Although sub zero temperatures are not typically what comes to mind when most people think of a fun excursion, we decided to live a little and head up there for a few days at the end of January. We were out snowshoeing along the lake one afternoon, decided to stop and take a picture to document the fact that people still, in fact, snowshoed, and Peter set up the camera to try out the self timer feature. After proclaiming “it didn’t work” after the first attempt, he secretly turned it to video mode and hustled back over to try again…except when he got back to Ashlyn, he dropped to to a knee and popped the question. Months of throwing her off the trail (Peter’s note: be careful trying that at home) made the proposal a true surprise, and the fact that we got engaged in such a special place meant a lot to both of us.

(S) Sneaky job Peter. I love how it came together so naturally and he still captured the actual moment.

We are so excited to share Ashlyn + Peter’s engagement session with all of you. We showered the Freedom Parkway Bridge with cheap champagne. It was awesome.

Bowie and I are thrilled to be apart of Ashlyn + Peter’s wedding and can’t wait for Atlanta in the fall. Enjoy!

Locations:
Olmsted Linear Park
Westside Provisions
Freedom ParkWay

Neema + Farnaz | Wedding | Intercontinental Hotel | Buckhead | Atlanta Georgia

Persian Wedding | Intercontinental Hotel | Buckhead | Atlanta Georgia – Oh yes, we’ve got an amazing one for you today ladies and gents! As you know (if you follow the blog) Neema and Farnaz were engaged over the summer and we were excited to run all over the city to shoot their engagement session.

Neema and Farnaz’s wedding was a day full of amazing beauty and love. Let’s hear all about it right from the bride:

Neema and I believe that if you can get through planning a wedding together you can get through a lot of things Neema and I were the type of couple that knew exactly what we wanted; it was just a matter of finding it. It was a little challenging because I was not from Atlanta, GA and wasn’t familiar with what the city had to offer in terms of venues/vendors so we literally started from scratch. One of the most important things for both of us was to work with vendors who matched our personality and whom we felt really enjoyed what they did! Our hard work finally paid off because we exceeded even our own expectations. Every single vendor that we worked with was amazing and I can say that I have made some truly good friends in Atlanta from the wedding planning process!

It may sound cliché, but the wedding day was truly a fairytale. The day of the wedding, I woke up in a breathtaking suite made only for a princess on the highest floor at the Intercontinental Buckhead, overlooking the entire city. My mom came to my room with the gorgeous red roses in a beautiful crystal vase. I have then pampered the rest of the day while getting ready. The hardest and most special moment was when I had my first look with my dad. The moments before my dad entered the room, a deep silence fell on the room as we all waited for him to enter. In that moment, all I could think was how lucky I was to have such a wonderful dad and how much he has done for me. During the father-daughter look, my dad put the gorgeous diamond necklace and bracelet on me. The father-daughter look was the most touching moment during my wedding and a memory I will forever treasure.

My wedding day was full of surprises. First, when my dad walked me down the aisle, the pianist surprised me by playing such an upbeat song for my entrance! The song was a traditional Persian wedding song and the guests started clapping and were very lively. I couldn’t have imagined a more amazing way to enter! I remember receiving advice from other brides, to take your time walking down the aisle and to look at your guests and I made sure to take in the moment and remember it all! My brother also had a wonderful surprise for me! He arranged one of his friends to sing our first song, All of Me! I really wanted him to sing at our wedding because he has such an amazing voice and my brother was able to arrange it! The photographer did an amazing job capturing my reaction when they announced him! Our wedding day was from 4:00 pm until 2:30 in the morning! It was a night full of dancing, drinking and celebrating our love.

The theme of the wedding was pearls and diamonds because that is my favorite jewelry combination. I absolutely love pearls and diamonds mixed or separate and I always knew when I got married that would be the theme of my wedding. In fact, when Neema and I used to talk, he would tease me about my email that included the words pearls and diamonds. There were touches of pearls and diamonds throughout the ceremony on the sofreh aghd, in the reception décor and tables and around my bouqet. The wedding reception was very classic with white and blush peonies and hydrangeas. We wanted a very chic and classic look for our wedding. We had a very long estate table with our bridal party and their dates and an oversized dance floor because we knew how much dancing we would be doing!

At the end of the wedding, I couldn’t believe how wonderful everything went and that we were married! The day of the wedding I didn’t worry about anything. I knew that all my hard work was done the day of the wedding because I placed my wedding in the hands of people I genuinely trusted. We put in over one year of work in our wedding and it was well worth it! If I had to do it all over again, I would!

A huge thanks to Hester and her team at Park Avenue Events! We were so excited to meet and work with you guys. For a few more images and a different look at this wedding, please see Park Avenue Events Wedding Portfolio.

Angie + Gerald | Wedding | Vinewood Plantation

Angie + Gerald | Wedding | Vinewood Plantation – Greetings fans and thanks for coming by. Meet Angie and Gerald. Bowie and I had the honor of photographing this lovely couples wedding at Vinewood Plantation this fall. We were so lucky to meet these guys thanks for another amazing couple, Zach and Heather!

The story of their engagement story involves an adorable furry pet. Hear the story right from the bride:

I am a physical therapist and Gerald is a paralegal. We like outdoor activities or DIY projects. We met here in Atlanta out and about on the town one night. We have been together a little over two years. Most weekends we are tinkering in the yard or working on a home project, and having cookouts with friends. We recently got a new puppy and he was used in the proposal as a prop. Gerald had a new name tag made with the big question on it and sprung the question on a Thursday. He really wanted to surprise me which is hard to do because usually I can read him like a book, and he is always trying to give gifts early on gift giving occasions.

This couple’s wedding day was one of the most relaxed of the season. The weather was cold and wet but you could never tell. Angie and Gerald did not have a care in the world other than showing their love for each other and their family and friends. The weather held just long enough to have a lovely ceremony out doors! Thankfully we were able to get a great rainy night shot for them to remember just how great the weather was on their wedding day. 😀

We were so happy to be apart of their wedding day. A big thanks to Jamie at Vinewood for such an amazing experience. I hope we get to see you again this year. Cheers to love!