Rich Smith Photography » Chattanooga Tennessee Wedding Photographer

Welcome to our Blog!

We are Rich and Heather Smith, a husband and wife team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We specialize in local and destination wedding photography, and we have been blessed with amazing clients and incredible opportunities the past few years!

We are two extroverts who adore meeting new people. We love laughing, family dance parties in the living room, chai tea lattes, and most importantly, our adorable two year old daughter, Alana.

We are so thankful that our clients trust us to document their lives, and we consider our blog a place to share our lives with you. Whether you are a friend, family, client, or stranger, please relax and enjoy a glimpse into our world.

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Many thanks to the Nathan and Amber Holritz for the wonderful images you see of us on the left!
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Category Archives: lifestyle

Heather and Brent | Married

June 28, 2010 Posted in lifestyle, wedding

When I first met Heather, her sister and mom at Panera, I had such a wonderful connection with them all that I knew I really, really want to shoot her wedding! I’m so thankful that she choose me to document her special day!

And what an amazing wedding it was! Although there were record high temperatures, everyone was excited about watching these two join their lives together! It was such beautiful ceremony with lots of little surprises that made it so special and emotional.

On top of that, I knew it was going to be an awesome wedding because I had the fabulous Amber Holritz photograph with me! She did an incredible job as always. I included several of her photos below!

We started the day off at Elea Blake. It’s always fun to go there and see my wonderful friends!

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Heather’s sister looking on.

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Heather’s really fun friend Tiffany came to hang out. We became friends instantly.

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We then went to Black Fox Farms in Cleveland. Such an incredible place to photograph!

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Heather spent a few minutes writing in her journal to Brent before she put on her dress…

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These next two photos by Amber! Doesn’t Heather make a STUNNING bride!?

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Brent and Heather seeing each other for the first time!

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I love, love, love this photo. It just doesn’t get any more gorgeous than this. I’m so jealous that Amber took the best shot of the day!

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I took the exact same shot from a different location and perspective:

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I can’t tell which of the two photos below I like better so I’ll let everyone else decide… vote below your favorite one!

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What a beautiful couple they make!

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Another amazing photo by Amber!

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Thanks Amber for the photo below!

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Amber with the girls as they pray right before the ceremony…

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Heather completely surprised Brent by singing to him during the ceremony. It was the most emotional scene I’ve ever had the privilege to photograph.

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As she sang… tears of joy.

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Amber got this shot as Brent was rushing her off after the ceremony!

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And check out this absolutely breathtaking photo that Amber grabbed of the first dance!

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They surprised Brent and Heather (and us – as the photographers – as well) with fireworks as they were leaving on a John Deere! I was in the wrong place to capture it but Amber fortunately was! Thanks for getting capturing these moments, Am!

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Heather and Brent, thank you so much for having us photograph your wedding. We had an amazing time getting to know both of you leading up to your wedding and the photos you allowed us to take during this special time shows the world how much you love each other. You two are going to have an incredible marriage and I hope to continue to photograph you as your family eventually grows! Enjoy your wedding photos!

Rachel & Miles | Married!

June 24, 2010 Posted in lifestyle, wedding

I was so excited to go up to Kentucky to photograph Rachel and Miles wedding. I haven’t spent much time up there but fell in love with Kentucky almost immediately after crossing the state line. Beautiful sunlight was illuminating the most incredible wheat and corn fields you can imagine. With cool old barns interspersed along the way. Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. Everywhere I turned I wanted to photograph in that location.

When I arrived at Rachels grandparents farm, the sun had already gone down but there was still enough light to make out the lake, tents and beautiful land around. Which made me immediately wish I had dragged someone with me to second shoot. There were too many amazing details to get in the time period I had.

To top it off, EVERYONE I met was just amazing. Rachel has a super close family and it showed. There was excitement in the air and it energized everyone around. Amazing surrounding, beautiful people, close family… these are definitely conditions I can work with.

After a good nights sleep, the bride got her hair and make up done about 12 miles from the farm:

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The first look:

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I love that bowties are coming back. I saw several of the guys wearing them. So cool.

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I’ve been shooting weddings for a while but Rachel introduced me to “tradition” that I had not encountered yet. All the bridesmaids put their names on the bottom of the brides shoe. At the end of the day, the bridesmaids name that is the clearest is either going to be next getting married or having a baby. It was great seeing the reactions from all the girls!

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The shy but beautiful flower girl:

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The incredible reception site…

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The arrival at the reception!

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A new first for me! A mac-n-cheese bar!

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It was SOOO hot outside! I had to bribe the girls that if they ran down the hill for me, I’d cut the photos short and they could change into something more comfortable. It didn’t take much convincing.

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They left on a boat on the river (you can just make it out in the photo below). Side note: this lake did NOT exist when her grandfather bought this land. He and his three sons dug this lake. Yep, it’s a man-made lake. Incredible feat with incredible results!

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Thank you Rachel and Miles for treating me so well while I was with you guys! I had a blast. Some of the many firsts I had with this wedding were: 1) first gift basket I’ve ever received from a bride (with homemade Kentucky bourbon balls that were so good) and 2) the first time the brides mom photographed ME with the bride! That just made me feel ultra special. I want that photo Mom! :)

Lauren and Clay | Wedding

June 2, 2010 Posted in lifestyle, wedding

Gown Boutique: Boutique Couture
Cake Artist: Cakemakers, etc.
Caterer: SwissAm Fine Catering
DJ: Sound Force
Florist: Humphreys Flowers
Makeup Artist: Elea Blake
Hair Stylist: Hair a gogo
Reception Venue: Hunter Museum

I had a wonderful time photographing Lauren and Clays wedding! Lauren is just a trip to hang out with… bringing smiles to everyone around her!

It had been a while since I had photographed their engagement so I was pumped about seeing them again. Such a wonderful couple. Full of excitement, anticipation and nervousness!

Heather is still sick in her 1st trimester so I asked the amazingly talented Amber Holritz if she wanted to photograph with me. I was pumped when she said she was free to help me out! That just made me even more excited about the day!

It turned out to be a beautiful day although the weather forecast called for thunderstorms. Thankfully it only sprinkled for a couple minutes of right before the reception.

We started off at Hair-a-go-go…an awesome salon on the north shore:

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Then we headed to Elea Blake to get her makeup done. They did an amazing job as always!

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The first look:

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We had an unexpected visitor wanting to witness the wedding. Came almost to the front of the church and was in such a good mood until one of the groomsmen had to carry him out. Look at that sad face! Can honestly say that’s never happened to me at a wedding before!