The Yancey's Ponte Vedra Inn & Club Family Pictures

The Yancey Family gave us a call while they were on vacation at Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. They are all so much fun and have a great sense of humor,,,, and they're all gorgeous to photograph! Thanks for the awesome time you guys, we had a blast!!

Krissy and Chad

The water was cold! LOL

Ashley & Dave's Sunkissed Wedding

Ashley and Dave had a beautiful beach wedding behind The Reef Restaurant. Their closest families and friends were all there to watch them become husband and wife and to help celebrate their big day! Congratulations you two!! Thanks so much!!! Krissy and Chad The Reef Restaurant in St. Augustine is the perfect setting for anyone looking for a wedding on the beach and a reception overlooking the ocean!

How to Fry a Turkey

You might think that frying turkey is kind of a new thing, but the Ivey's have been fryin 'em since the dawn of time! It is definitely new to me. I am still in training and hope to someday earn my black belt in The Art of Frying Turkey from my father in-law, Master Rodney.  This is what I've learned so far! Smaller turkeys are best! Somewhere between 10-11 1/2 lbs. If they're too large they might not cook all the way through or be able to fit easily into your pot. You want to make sure the PEANUT OIL can totally surround the turkey. Your turkey MUST be totally thawed out and dry!!! This will take about 4 days in the refrigerator. Pull out all of the innards and inject with your choice of seasoning. The Ivey's use a highly guarded ancient secret recipe that takes 80 years to achieve access to. All I know about it is that it's a Butter Creole injection. So here's a link to one I found on Google.

This is Papa Charles Ivey. He was the Master of Masters at frying turkeys! I'm not sure when he fried his first, but judging by the age of this Oldsmoble, he was already a seasoned pro back in the 80's! {Also, the Ivey's backyard sets the perfect scene for frying turkey. It's like a waterfront campground complete with a fire pit, oyster table, citrus trees, pepper plants,  flora, fauna, antiques, and little characters everywhere!} The older the pot the better!Heat the peanut oil up to 350 degrees. Make sure you don't put too much oil in the pot, it will start to boil and overflow when you put the turkey in.Here's the Master at work! Very slowly placing the turkey in the oil while the flame is turned way down or even off. Notice he also has shoes on!While the turkey cooks at 350 degrees for 3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes, we hang out at Susan's hide-a-way on the creek.We like to shoot stuff while waiting!This is Krissy's little sister Cassie. She shoots the turkeys for us! lolYou don't want to get shot by this gun!Don't mess with the Church of Christ!!!! Backyard guardian.The oil temperture will go down when cooking but you want to try to keep as close to 350 as possible. Your meat thermometer should be about 165 degrees.This is me taking the finished turkey out. You can pretty much read Rodney's lips as he tells me "you don't ever want to wear flip flops when frying a turkey". Yes, dripping hot oil on your feet is painful! Note taken!!The Master in his element! Now just wait to cool and drain and the turkey is ready to be served. The peanut oil can be saved and reused about 4-5 times.And of course Wynn is next in line to learn the Art of Frying Turkey! Hopefully one day I will learn Susan's Peanut Boiling Recipe!!!

(PS - FRY TURKEY AT YOUR OWN RISK)

 

Nikki + Steve's Downtown Fernandina Engagement

We had so much fun getting to know Nikki and Steve during their engagement session in downtown Fernandina! We started the afternoon off at Brett's Waterway Cafe with a snack and ended the evening the best way possible, with ice cream! Thanks so much you guys and we can't wait for your wedding!! Krissy and Chad I see 3 faces in the photo below!!

 

 

 

Missy's Wedding Dress Drawing

This is our good friend Missy! She is super creative and she is the person that gave us the idea to start drawing wedding gowns. But when I saw her wedding dress for the first time I was a bit stumped! How in the world am I going to draw something so intricate and with so many textures? The best answer I could come up with was to just take my time. Six weeks later her wedding gown drawing was finished and  preserved forever! Thanks so much Missy!!!

Click here to see Krissy's dress drawing!

Amber & Casey's Winterbourne Inn Wedding

We've known Amber and Casey forever, and we've never seen the two of them apart. So when we heard they were engaged we were beyond happy! Their wedding at The Winterbourne Inn was gorgeous and all of their families and old friends had a great time getting to know each other. It was truly great to see two of our nicest, funnest, and most loyal friends ever marry each other!! Cheers you guys!!  Krissy & Chad

Venue: The Winterbourne Inn Cake: Kakes by Katie Entertainment: DJ Thundercat

Sweet as Sugar: Laura + Mike's Engagement

Laura and Mike are two of the sweetest and funniest people! We had a great time shooting their engagement photos with them and their dog Bailey in downtown St. Augustine. We met at A1A Ale Works (one of our favorite places) and chased the setting sun and met the rising moon at The Bridge of Lions. Thank You so much you guys and we can't wait for your sailboat wedding on The Schooner Freedom! See ya soon!! Krissy and Chad

Yadong + Bjorn's Serenata Beach Wedding

Yadong is from China, Bjorn is a Florida boy. Their families, friends, and lives all came together at Serenata Beach Club. It was a beautiful day in Ponte Vedra, perfect for their wedding. Thank You and Congratulations you guys!!! Krissy and Chad They had each others names engraved in their wedding bands. We love this idea!

Krissy's Wedding Gown Drawing

I wish I could say this was my idea but it wasn't. One of our friends asked me to draw her wedding gown as a way of preserving it rather than storing it in a box.  I knew that drawing silk would present certain challenges so I had to change a few things from my usual style. I wanted to draw Krissys gown first to make sure I could even pull it off  (and I just wanted to draw hers first of course:). I wound up with different paper, pencils, and even using powdered graphite for the first time.  The result was something unique and will forever be a reminder of our big day! Click here to see another drawing! Krissy coming down the isle. I'll never forget it!! Photo by Mark Pennington It now hangs in our dining room!