Two brides standing on top of Wayah Bald outside Nantahala, North Carolina. The photo is taken from behind with a cloudy sky as a background. The wind is blowing their wedding dresses and veil up into the air.

Moody and cinematic wedding photography for the modern romantics

Creating a personalized and documentarian approach to wedding photography to ditch the rules and allow you to enjoy your wedding for what it is; a celebration of love and marriage. With a focus on capturing candid moments and the genuine emotions of the day, we prioritize your experience over curated aesthetics.

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A couple kisses atop a rocky island in the river running along downtown Columbus, Georgia.

Emily + KC

“We had a great experience with Emily throughout our wedding process. We had a destination wedding in Columbus, GA. Emily shot our engagement photos a year before our big day as well as our entire wedding weekend which included a private photo shoot, rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself. We could not have been happier with the results. Our wedding photos were unique, beautiful and met every expectation we had. Emily and her assistant Jacob were extremely professional and a joy to work with. We could not have asked for better!”

Moody wedding photo of a couple kissing under a veil at Lichterman Nature Center in Memphis, Tennessee.

Britney + aaron

“Emily isn’t just an amazing person to work with, she always, always, always produces such beautiful photos. We’ve worked with her a couple of times and, honestly, I couldn’t imagine going with another photographer for one of the most important days of our lives. I can’t wait to work with her again and again!”

A couple stands under a bright orange maple tree in the Memphis Botanic Garden in Memphis, Tennessee.

Abbie + Michael

“When my now-husband and I were searching for a wedding photographer, Emily was our first choice. We had known her personally for several years and loved her eclectic, moody, but still colorful style. Emily was great from the get-go: communicative, enthusiastic, and very organized. When we had issues with other vendors, Emily stepped up to make sure that everything stayed on schedule. She was familiar with our venue and had a list of areas to photograph in, while being open to our wants and suggestions. She and Jacob were extremely easy and fun to work with, professional, and truly some of the best people we worked with on our wedding day.
Emily truly captured the joy, love, color, and feel of our wedding. One of my favorite things about her photography is that she has a very strong aesthetic, but still captures a wide variety of wedding styles beautifully. Our pictures are gorgeous and bring smiles to our faces - narrowing down the photos we want to print will be a difficult task for sure! We highly recommend hiring Emily as your wedding photographer!”

wedding packages
A bride and groom lounge on a red couch inside Cedar Hall in Memphis, Tennessee. The bride has short hair, a long white veil, and a lacey white wedding dress with off the shoulder sleeves. The groom wears a dark grey suit with a yellow boutonniere.
A bride and groom walk under an orange maple tree at the Memphis Botanic Garden in Memphis, Tennessee. The bride wears a long sleeve white wedding dress with a tulle skirt, and the groom wears a blue suit.
A bride posing outside of the marriage chapel at Bonnaroo outside Nashville, Tennessee. She wears a white sleeveless dress and a long white cape that shimmers green and blue. The Bonnaroo marriage chapel is white with a big red blow up heart.
A couple sits in the audience of Theater Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee for their engagement photos. The seats are red, they are wearing all black, and looking at each other and smiling.

about the photographer

I’m Emily Swan, the one behind the camera at For the Love Birds Photography, and an eighth year wedding photographer based out of Memphis, Tennessee. Since 2018, I have been photographing celebrations all over the South and Midwest, from the beautiful woods of Northern Arkansas to the mountains of North Carolina and the beaches of the Florida panhandle to the lakeshore of Wisconsin. (But there’s nowhere I love quite like Memphis.) My biggest source of inspiration is the movies, I received a degree in Film and Video Production from the University of Memphis and have blended a cinematic, editorial style with a documentarian approach to try to recreate that sense of magic and romance we see on the big screen. As of 2020, wedding photography is my full time job, and it has been the biggest gift to spend the majority of my time wrapped up in such an abundance of joy and love. Every single couple I have captured has filled me with an immeasurable amount of gratitude for the trust they have placed in me, and for continuing my ability to support myself solely through photography.

On the non-business side of things, I spend the majority of my free time watching movies, both with my friends at the theater and studying cinematography solo at home, playing Dungeons & Dragons and a variety of board games, and playing softball with the local rec league. I live in Memphis, where I was born and raised, but you can find me hanging around Nashville with my industry pals, and way up north in Cleveland, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois where many of my good friends have relocated.

About
A bride and groom dance in front of a large mirror in The Parisian in Huntsville, Alabama. The groom is spinning the bride. The photos is black and white.
Black and white photo of a bride and groom posing in the Woodruff Fontaine House in Memphis, Tennessee. The bride wears a white wedding dress with a large layered tulle skirt, and the groom stands behind her in a black suit.
Two brides pose in front of the riverfront in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. One bride wears a white mini dress and embraces the second bride who wears a floral top and a vest.
Black and white photo of a couple smiling and embracing in front of a mural in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee.
Black and white editorial maternity session on a rooftop in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. The mom wears denim and an open button down to show off her baby bump, and the dad sits on a wall above her.