So apparently I forgot to blog again this year. Does anyone still read blogs? I have no idea. But I was editing this wedding from last mont at St. Catherine’s at Bell Gable Chapel in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and thought these sweet pictures needed to be shared here. I have been photographing weddings of all sizes in all seasons at Bell Gable since I started my wedding photography career way back in the late 1900’s (as the kids say). I started my photo business about the same year the Chapel was being built. My first photography studio of my own was right up the street from Bell Gable. So I’m not sure if anyone is seeing this blog post, but if you are, I hope you enjoy the photos! And, if you’re looking for an intimate wedding venue in Northwest Arkansas, I highly recommend Bell Gable!
Elopement Wedding Photography in Northwest Arkansas at St. Catherine's at Bell Gable Chapel
Arkansas wedding photography at Moss Mountain Farm wedding near Little Rock, Arkansas
It is always breathtaking to be on the property of Moss Mountain Farm near Little Rock, Arkansas. This is the home site of famous garden designer P. Allen Smith, and it makes a wonderful backdrop for a wedding. And not just a spring wedding, but even in the fall, like for Mallory and Josh’s wedding in October 2022.
Venue: Moss Mountain Farm
Coordination: Anna Dickinson
Florals: Tanarah Luxe Floral
Catering: Heritage Catering
Dress: Low’s Bridal
DJ: Xavier Riley
Bar: Toasts in Tow
Arkansas Wedding Photographer - Black and White Couples Portraits
Who says wedding day portraits have to be in color??
Black and white wedding photos are timeless and classy! This photo could have been taken 50 years ago or today. Timeless.
How To Have Fun On Your Wedding Day!
Tips for having fun on your wedding day:
1) Hire a coordinator. You don’t need to be bothered with a hundred questions while you’re trying to get dressed. Let a coordinator handle the logistics of your day.
2) Don’t sweat the small stuff. If it won’t matter 10 years from now, don’t stress over it. Not everything will be perfect. Your bouquet might not be perfect. It might rain. Something will break. Someone will be late. But 10 years from now, you’ll be just as married, and none of those things will matter.
3) Trust your vendors. Hire actual wedding professionals. Find the most experienced vendors you can in every category. A newbie can be fine when everything is going right, but an experienced vendor will know how to handle business when things go wrong. Trust your vendors to do their job. Don’t feel like you need to micromanage them. If you do, you hired the wrong ones.
4) Hire a hairstylist and a makeup artist. You probably aren’t a professional hair stylist or makeup artist. Even if you are, you need to let someone do your hair and makeup where they can stand back and make sure everything looks just right. Makeup for photography is MUCH different than makeup for the office. Once the flash hits you, “natural light makeup” doesn’t work. Neither does shiny based makeup. Wrong makeup, or a hairstyle that’s in your face, can ruin your entire look. Besides, it’s your wedding day. Get pampered.
Keep watching this blog for more wedding day success tips!
I lowered my wedding photography prices
What? Yep. I lowered the pricing on my wedding packages a bit. I can’t charge beginner’s wages in my 25th year, however I realize that my many years of experience doesn’t automatically make your budget increase. I have always tried to be the Chick-Fil-A of wedding photography. A great product at a good value. Not cheap, but not too expensive either. Just nicely attainable. Contact me for my pricing!
St. Catherine's at Bell Gable Wedding Photos
One of the most asked questions I get is “where is your favorite place to take wedding pictures?”
Although I’ve enjoyed photographing weddings in many tropical destinations around the world as well as in the largest cities in the US, honestly, one of my absolute favorite places to photograph a wedding is right here in Northwest Arkansas at St. Catherine’s at Bell Gable! There is one word i always use to describe weddings at (“Bell Gable” as the locals call it), and that word is magical!
This venue is close to the interstate in Fayetteville but once you cross their wooden bridge over a beautiful creek, you feel like you’re in another country! You’ll want to check out this gallery because it shows off all areas of the property that you can utilize for truly magical wedding!
Here’s a photo gallery of wedding pictures I’ve taken there over the past year. I hope you enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I enjoyed making them!
Best of the Best Wedding Photographer in Northwest Arkansas!
THANK YOU Citiscapes Magazine for naming Hudson Photography to their “Best of the Best” list for wedding photographers in Northwest Arkansas for 2020!
Osage House Wedding in Northwest Arkansas
A big thanks to Charity and Chris Moore for selecting me as their wedding photographer! Their October 30, 2020 wedding at Osage House went off without a hitch. I was very honored to capture their engagement photos, bridal portraits, as well as their entire wedding day. The florals from Vase and Vine was absolutely perfect, and Charity’s dress from Tesori Bridal was absolutely stunning. This was the first outdoor wedding at the new area just constructed at Osage House wedding venue in Cave Springs, Arkansas.
Still here!!
What a year 2020 has been so far! I haven’t been posting a whole lot on social media just due to being busy shooting! I’ve actually never stopped photographing weddings this year, but the ones I’ve been photographing have been smaller in size, for obvious reasons. I recently moved into my own place in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area, which is an area I love to be in! I’m starting to get inquiries for bigger weddings for this coming fall as well as all of 2021. In fact, my 2021 calendar is booking up nicely with wedding photography! Are you planning a wedding in Arkansas? Or anywhere? (Who doesn’t love to travel)?! I would love to talk with you about your wedding plans and find out if my style of wedding photography would fit in well with your wedding day! Just click on the contact link to fill out the form to reach me. I’d be honored to be your wedding photographer!
The Ravington wedding venue Open House in Northwest Arkansas
I was honored to be the exclusive Northwest Arkansas wedding photographer recently at an open house for The Ravington wedding venue in Centerton, Arkansas. I live really close to this venue and love getting to photograph weddings and reception there!
Thank you to the following Northwest Arkansas wedding vendors who made this event such a beautiful success!
Coordinating: Britt Jones Co.
Venue: The Ravington
Photography: Jason Hudson Photography
Cakes: Cakes by Robbin
Flowers: Northwest Arkansas Florist
Bridal Gowns: She Said Yes Bridal
Makeup: Avery Shaw
Gifts: Dixie & Dot
Videographer: Jonny Roark
Stationary: Brittany Braithwaite
DJ: Brock Entertainment
Photo Booth: Say Cheez
Bar Service: Tie 1 On NWA
Classic Car: NWA High Society
Catering: Catering Concepts
Have your wedding photographer take your engagement pictures!
Are you doing an engagement session as part of your wedding photography? And more importantly, are you having your actual wedding photographer do your engagement photos? You should! I know it's tempting to use one of your "friends with a camera" because you probably had 5-10 of them offer to gift you some engagement photos. The problem is, well the obvious, the pictures aren't going to be very good. Also, they aren't the ones photographing your wedding. Let you wedding photographer take your engagement pictures, because that way, they get to know you better and photograph you once before your wedding day. Your being more confutable around your wedding photographer means you'll be more yourself and they'll be able to capture more of those emotional moments on the wedding day that are so priceless! You don't want your actual wedding photographer to be a stranger to you on your wedding day. You'll feel (and look) more uncomfortable around them, making your wedding pictures not as good! So, be sure to do an engagement session and have your wedding photographer take them! I promise your experience and your photos will be better!
Here are some of my favorite images from Charity + Chris's engagement session this week. I'm already looking forward to photographing their wedding next October in 2020!
INSPIRE Wedding Show in Arkansas - Podcast featuring... me!
I’m very happy to announce that I was selected as the EXCLUSIVE (as in only) wedding photographer to be involved in the INSPIRE Wedding Show at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas in February 2020! This wedding show only happens on one date in Little Rock, and one date in Northwest Arkansas. This show is by far Arkansas’s most upscale and luxurious wedding event! Check their website for full details and to purchase your tickets! The INSPIRE Wedding show is created and presented by the always fabulous Tanarah at Luxe Floral in Little Rock!
I invite all of my current couples as well as any potential future couples to give this podcast a listen, so that you can learn a lot more about me and my approach to wedding photography in Arkansas!
About being timeless...
I was going through a computer hard drive from around 10 years ago, and pulled a few wedding, bridal and engagement photos. The purpose of this is to show that these pictures don't look dated, at all. They could have been taken 10 years ago, today, or 10 years from now. That's my photography style: classic and timeless. Yes, still artistic, but not dated. I don't shoot for what's trendy on Instagram today; rather I shoot for what will still be wonderful memories 10, 20, 30 years from now. That thinking is what has kept me in business for over 20 years now. I thought it was interesting to see these photos and how relevant they still are today!
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Sassafras Springs Vineyard Wedding and Springdale Country Club Reception
Congratulations to Rachael and Brandon on their wedding at Sassafras Springs Vineyard in Fayetteville, Arkansas! An absolutely PERFECT venue for a wedding ceremony. Their reception was held at the beautiful Springdale Country Club! Rachel’s wedding dress from Tesori Bridal was absolutely lovely! It was an hoor for me to photograph this stunning wedding day!
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Arkansas Bridal Portrait
This weekend I had the honor of photographing a beautiful Russian model in a gorgeous Hayley Paige wedding dress called “Elke" from Tesori Bridal in Fayetteville, Arkansas. This was photographed on-location at a really cool brand new event space and photography rental option in downtown Fayetteville called Likewise. I can’t wait to see what all becomes of this space!
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FLASH SALE on remaining 2019 wedding dates!
Still planning a wedding for 2019? I’m having a BIG SALE on all remaining wedding dates for 2019! Save around $1000 but hurry, because these dates will fill up fast! Email me for more details!
Mena, Arkansas wedding of Hope and Greg
One of the fun things about being a wedding photographer in Arkansas is getting to document weddings in small towns all over the state. Recently I was hired to travel to Mena, Arkansas for Hope and Greg’s wedding. I had photographed Greg’s sister’s wedding many years ago, so it was fun to see some familiar faces! They got ready and held their ceremony at their new home they literally just moved into like a week or two prior. It seems like weddings are always centered around other crazy times in people’s lives. The house worked perfect for photography because they haven’t yet hung any pictures or placed any decor items around the home. Everywhere in the house was a bright and neutral grey photographic backdrop for us to use. It gave the pictures a very modern yet classic vibe, which is totally my style of wedding photography.
Their ceremony was outdoor around their pool, which made for some really cool reflections in the photos. After the ceremony, we drove “up the mountain” to the lodge at Queen Wilhelmina State Park. On the way up to the lodge, I noticed how beautiful the light was at the various scenic overlooks, so I texted the bride and said “hey, let’s stop for some pictures.” I know she was eager to get to the reception, but I was glad she was trusting enough to follow my lead on that. We all got out and did a quick bride and groom session, then continued on up the mountain to the reception for delicious food, cake and some fun dancing by the DJs at 385 events.
Dress: Unveiled in Little Rock
Flowers and Coordinating: A. Gallagher out of Northwest Arkansas
DJ: 385 Events
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