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▣ How to Plan a Wedding : 1 : setting a date
So I've decided with my own wedding planning adventure in full swing, that it would be cool to write a feature article every week about the wedding planning process. Many people that go into planning their wedding have never done it before and have only been to a handful of weddings in their lifetime. Seeing as many weddings as I have is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because I've seen sooo many outstanding weddings with unique details in every theme and color scheme. And it's a curse because I've seen sooo many outstanding weddings with unique details in every theme and color scheme. I seriously spent February thru June wandering around saying " purple! no, gray! Noo no - maybe yellow! purple! green! or maybe brown..!" I've waffled in every possible direction and begged Sean for input to be the swing vote on decisions. (Incidentally, Sean's input was that he wanted to have a breakfast themed wedding with breakfast food in the morning, and he wanted everyone to wear bowling shirts, and only invite like ten people and that way everyone could be done and back home by lunch time on the wedding day.) *dramatic eye roll* That's a whole other blog post.
In any event, I will be posting each week under the title "How to Plan a Wedding" and I'm going to post in order sort of like a To Do list according to my own experience in the wedding industry. By no means am I any sort of authority on right or wrong, I'm just speaking from my own past experience of witnessing over 100 weddings and seeing what has worked and what didn't. So sit back, relax, stay tuned, and because everything is better with a picture: here's a shot of my ring :-)
Ok, you’re engaged. Now what? Inevitably, the first question after the congratulations is: When’s the wedding? Have you set a date yet? That is the first thing you do when you want to plan a wedding is set a date and stick to it. It’s the first anchor you throw out there and hook everything else to it. You won’t be able to book any vendors or check availability without a date. Step #1 - set a date. Things to consider when picking a date
All that being said, Sean and I got engaged at the end of January and after being together for 6 years, we wanted to get this show on the road. Both of us have been out of college for years and are pretty set in our jobs. We wanted to get married asap, but with the nature of working in the wedding industry – my schedule is booked a little over a year out. So we had to make the wedding far enough away that I could sort of map out my schedule and not take on weddings in the same weekend. Ideally for his work schedule, we would have set the wedding in the dead of winter when he’s off. We were set on an outdoor wedding though, and for that you need warm weather. Taking work off is not easy for him so after much thought – labor day weekend became the obvious choice for us. It’s still summer without the dead heat of July and August. It’s a guaranteed weekend off, and even with a honeymoon he’d only have to take 4 days off of work for the whole thing. Plus it's also some of the nicest sunlight in PA out of the whole year :-) So that settled it. September 4th 2011 – we chose a Sunday because it’s a holiday weekend, and our venue gives discounts for Fridays and Sundays! That way we can make the whole weekend a big awesome ordeal with cookouts and bonfires and maybe even a float trip down the river before the wedding day.
4 Comments added to this post ▣ Why we do weddings
After our 13th wedding of 2010 - we were reflecting on WHY we do this and why we are so blessed to be in this line of work. Every weekend we meet amazing couples that host the most spectacular events full of love, laughter, tears, and memories. Just in the past 6 months we've been thrilled to photograph a snowbound ski lodge ceremony, a wedding party under a spring snow shower, a bride and groom among the ocean waves, a first look on top of a mountain, groomsmen in a cow pasture, bridesmaids on a beach, and a newly married couple in a fountain - at night - in the rain. Cool, huh?
Here's a little video from Elysium Productions (a fantastic wedding cinematography company that I discovered online) packed full of wedding moments from their travels - when I watch it, it illustrates perfectly WHY I/we do weddings. Because we love the details of the bride's dress, the look on the groom's face when no one else is around and he's alone for a quiet moment with her, the way the bride's father holds her during their dance. This is a ten minute video, but it's worth it. Make sure you have the sound ON and it might take a minute to load - so go get yourself a cup of coffee while you wait and enjoy your sunday or monday morning :-)
Your life's memories are MY life's work.
There are 18 more weddings on the books so far for the rest of 2010 and we're booking for 2011 and 2012! Hope to see you at a wedding in the future! 5 Comments added to this post ▣ Lena & Cole ~ part 2
Lena and Cole held their ceremony at St. Margaret Mary church in Lower Burrell. The weather was warm and everyone was in good spirits - the girls said a quick prayer after they stepped off the elevator, Jeff (Lena's Dad) gave the ring bearers a pep talk, and then they all lined up for the procession.
Beautiful 'backstage' images by Anna.
Lena was all smiles - even if the rest of us were emotional.
The church was bright and beautiful - I loved that they asked the wedding party to stand facing the congregation. Normally we only see the sides or backs of everyone's heads - this was great!
They exchanged their vows and left the church through a cloud of bubbles. FYI - if you are doing bubbles for your ceremony exit get the big bottles like these. The little tubes just don't do the trick. These bubbles were AWESOME!
Please indulge me in my attempt at being informative and humorous at the same time.
And now - I wanted to say THANK YOU to all the guests at Lena & Cole's wedding because they were great! And also talk about photo etiquette at other people's weddings. You'll see this is in the form of a football diagram. The green zone is a good place to be while taking pictures as a guest of a wedding ceremony. You can see all the guests here are AWESOME and made my job easier! You will also notice the yellow zone - it is not cool to jump out in the aisle to take pictures during someone else's wedding. I'm all about guests taking photos! But - this is my job - I'm at work here. Church guidelines dictate that the photographer needs to be stationed at the back of the aisle behind the guests. We do this out of respect for the service AND so we can respectfully not block the guests' view. So this is my shot - try to imagine if Uncle Bob or your mailman picked a moment to jump out and get that perfect shot - such as exchanging the rings or worse - the kiss! When this happens, we can't even see the bride and groom up there! I can't tell you how many times I've seen a really beautiful moment pass by and we missed it because instead of seeing the bride's father lean in to give her away - we had a great shot of Uncle Bob's good side while he crouched down to take his picture. During a ceremony, moments happen one time in a fleeting second and they're gone. We're working hard to capture as many as possible because I know how precious a memory can be. Next time you are at a wedding, remember - friends don't let friends whammy other people's photos.
Stay out of the yellow zone ;-)
1 Comment added to this post ▣ At first sight . . .
First of all, I cannot even begin to tell you how outrageous the snowfall was that we received last night. I had great plans of blogging the play-by-play all Jim Cantore style right here - but alas the heavy snows took out the phone line, TV, and even the internet!! After staying up most of the night listening to the police scanner about downed wires, debri and fallen trees blocking the road, disabled vehicles and accidents - we woke to complete silence before the sun came up. I won't try to hide it, I kind of love bad weather. And the only person who loves it more than me is Sean. He wakes up to check the snowfall total like it's christmas morning and there's a mountain of presents to be unwrapped. Both eager to turn on the news and see photos of the carnage - that was when we discovered the cable was out. Instead we sat and munched on raisin bran and listened to the radio. It's been a full day of plowing and shovelling all of this heavy snow - but I can say with certainty that we received 25 inches or more because first we were measuring it with a ruler last night. Then the snow got so deep we almost lost the ruler. This morning we found a yard stick and came out around 25 iches of snow depending on where you are standing. I have lots of photos which I will share in a day or so. Until then - the next chapter in Megan and Jon's fairytale: their first look.
Those of you who are not recently married or getting married or have not pored over the pages of The Knot are asking yourselves what on earth a 'first look' is. Here's the shortened answer. Standard traditions dictate that on their wedding day the bride and groom are not to see eachother before the ceremony. The reason for this is that back in the day (back back in the day) arranged marriages were all the rage and couples never even met before the day of their wedding. Marriages were generally arranged by the eldest members of the families like a business deal to gain property or social status. (Imagine your great Aunt Ethel picking out your spouse because she liked his lawn.) Why such secrecy? If neither bride nor groom saw each other until they had already said their vows, there was no opportunity for them to get cold feet and back out.
In this day and age, we pick and choose the superstitions and traditions we want to uphold when it comes to weddings. Keeping the bride and groom apart until the ceremony no longer has anything to do with avoiding cold feet - (we know what we're getting into ladies, right?) - and everything to do with the "wow moment". That moment when the man you want to marry sees you for the very first time in your wedding dress on the best hair/make up day of your life. It's the day we as brides pull out all the stops and do whatever it takes to achieve our own movie start level of beauty. Giving up bread and cookies for six months? Easy. Early morning trips to the gym and tanning salon? No sweat. The longest hair appointment known to man? That's kids play. Because it all comes down to our wow moment.
We want to step into the sunlight for our moment to shine and have the love of our lives look at us with those eyes that say, "I am such a lucky man." Maybe it's a girlish fantasy - but we all dream of being this perfect vision in our wedding gown so that on those early mornings years down the road when we rise and shine to make the coffee wearing sweatpants with bedhead and dark circles under our eyes that our husband will look at us and remember our wedding day and smile and know deep down no matter what that we are the most beautiful woman they have ever known.
Cynics - you can roll your eyes all you want. (I can hear you!!) But I believe every women deserves her Cinderella moment. Every one.
And now - after all that build up - here are Megan and Jon who opted to do a "first look" BEFORE the ceremony. Since their wedding took place late in the day on a January evening - it would be dark out after the ceremony and outdoor photos were very important to them since they were getting married in such a beautiful place! I love it when couples opt to see each other beforehand. It gives them a chance to have their wow moment privately without a hundred eyes watching to see their reaction - and often they react more genuinely because it's not rushed or scheduled. They can really savor it for themselves. It also really frees up the timeline for after the wedding and gives an opportunity for some truly special photos. For their first look - we scoped out a spot at the venue (Stonehenge Lodge) that was out of the way and had great lighting. We asked Jon to stand and the botto of the steps and wait for Megan to arrive.
Megan's sisters helped her carefully down the path and arranged her hair and veil at the last minute so everything would be perfect.
When Megan was in place, I told Jon that he could turn around whenever he was ready. . . .
It was perfect. A moment frozen frame by frame in time. I stood at the bottom of the steps and Sean was just off camera at the top of the steps. Images of Jon by Sean.
They stood for a moment (by now I am shooting like crazy through my own blurry eyes not knowing whether I should laugh or cry because it was just so perfect) then Jon climbed the stairs to his bride.
You could see all of the anxiety and tension just melt away as they laughed and smiled and celebrated.
From that moment on, everything was smooth sailing. No one was nervous, no one was worried. They were just happy in the moment. The whole rest of the day just flowed. I would recommend a first look to anyone who is comfortable bending that particular tradition. Not only does it take a whole lot of pressure off the day and free up your timeline AND give you the opportunity to get photos you will cherish as memories.
Most importantly - it doesn't ruin your wow moment. It gives you the opportunity to really enjoy it for what it's meant to be.
4 Comments added to this post ▣ Stacey & Tim's E-session
Ahhhhhhh............ Love is in the air. The flowers are blooming, the sun is finally shining, all the birds are chasing each other around the yard. It's the perfect time for engagement sessions. Why? An E-session comes with every full day of wedding coverage booked for 2009 - take advantage! An E-session is a great way to get out, get some great pictures of yourselves goofing off and having fun and being together. (Trust me - they are the kind of pictures we wish our friends would take when we're out having fun but instead we get a bunch of shots with red eye and tan lines.) These days there are so many cool things you can use good photos of yourselves (engagement shots) for at the wedding. Ivitations, favors, place cards, table cards, announcements, save the dates, thank you's, wedding websites - or just simply framed and scattered around your reception site to make it more personalized. And mom's love them. Face it - they want to show you off :-) And it's a chance, especially if you're nervous or shy to get out there and practice having your picture taken. It helps your photographer out too. Every person is different and an E-session helps your photog get to know you a little better so that by the time the wedding day arrives, you're like old friends. We know which is your good side, your best angle, your natural smile. And the anxiety just melts away and what's left behind are images that will make you break into a smile every time you see them.
Meet Stacey and Tim, two weeks ago we got together to shoot some engagement photos around town. They were awesome! They let me set the time and pick the location. Honoring the golden equation that: Lots of time for photos + trust in your photographer = Unbelievable images. They were such a great couple, very comfortable just hanging out and laughing together.
I have been eyeing this spot for photos for months and months now but haven't met the right couple to take it for spin till now :-)
It was so worth it. Fear of hidden cameras will never defeat me !! They were up for anything - "Let's crawl around an abandoned warehouse!" Ok! "Let's sit in the railroad tracks!" Ok! "Let's play in the creek!" Ok! It was awesome.
When I asked Tim where he'd gotten such an amazing ring for Stacey, he paused, broke into a smile, and said: " I went to JARED :-D "
Hang on to the edge of your seats viewers, Stacey and Tim will be tying the knot on August 1st and if their chemistry is any indication - their wedding is going to knock your socks off! 2 Comments added to this post ▣ Out around town - cool wedding idea of the week (Pittsburgh Popcorn Co)
The weather is finally getting better and it's time to be outside. Pittsburgh is not famous for being easy to drive around, but it's great for walking! Pittsburgh is known for its three rivers, its bridges, and The Neighborhoods. Unlike most cities, Pittsburgh has a relatively small downtown metro area (where the skyscrapers are) surrounded by neighborhoods characterized by their geography, architecture and ethnicity. There's the North Side, the South Side, Mt. Washington, the West End, the Hill District, Polish Hill, the Mexican War Streets, Oakland, Bloomfield, Shadyside, Regent Square, and more. But far and away one of the best places to visit is the Strip District. Originally the Strip District was a section of the city made up of glass factories, foundaries, and warehouses for industrial production. As times changed these old structures were converted into produce warehouses, markets, lofts, studio spaces, restaurants, and more. If you're showing out of towners around the city or looking for a taste of pittsburgh yourself, this is the place to go. You can park, feed the meter, and walk all day through specialty shops, art galleries, and all the gourmet food you can handle. It's a foodie's paradise. If you like italian - check out the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company Over 100 years old the PA macaroni company has a deli with all kinds of meats and cheese, an olive bar, every shape of pasta you can imagine, produce, homemade bread, fresh pasta, and all kinds of specialty items for italian cooking. You can even choose and dispense your own olive oil in bulk.
If you like seafood ( or food in general) go to WHOLEY'S . The fish sandwich is legendary. You can buy fresh salmon, shrimp, crab and more. You can choose your own live fish or lobsters from the tank and have them prepared and wrapped up to take home and cook that evening. And it's not just fish - on the other side of the store you can get everything from lambshank to sirloin to cow tongue. Chickens for frying, wings, pigs ears, sausage. Everything. EVERYTHING.
This was our big fantastic find of the day. Listen up those of you planning a wedding and still looking for ideas for favors or food! The Pittsburgh Popcorn Company was a wonderful surprise. They make gourmet popcorn in a variety of flavors and packaging. I know we've all eaten popcorn before that we microwaved or bought out of some big popcorn bulk tank at the movies. But this is the real deal. You have to try this stuff! We tasted the Cinnamon Toast flavor and it was to die for. Their popcorn is all made fresh throughout the day on the spot. Now here's the cool thing - they make wedding favors! You can choose your flavor and it comes in a neat little package ready to hand out to your guests. OR if you're looking for snacks or something unique for cocktail hour - you can have a popcorn bar! Choose your flavors and they are set out in barrells with scoops and bags are provided for your guests to make their own treats.
Ok admission of guilt here - I have no idea what the name of the shop was where I took this photo. If you know me - you know I LOVE tea. I love my tea flavors and my tea gadgets and just the whole experience of tea. I have no idea what this shop is called because I was in awe . The walls, the counter, everything floor to ceiling was different barrells of coffe and glass jars of exotic tea. Everything from Irish Roast to Yemen Mocha.
The weather is going to be great this weekend - get outside and experience something amazing!
3 Comments added to this post |
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