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DIY Weddings (Short for Do It Yourself) are all the rage, as incorporating DIY components into a wedding is a great way to personalize your wedding and share more of yourselves with your guests. We would like to offer some DOs and DON’Ts to help you out during your DIY wedding planning. DO be realistic…
As a person who has a theatrical background, I was thrilled by this great wedding program idea based on theatrical Playbill programs. Jill & Matt had their family, musicians, the officiant, and more listed as the crew. Their bridal party all had head shots and bios as cast members. Act I was their ceremony, with scene and musical number listings, with Act II for their reception. It’s always exciting to find some new and unique wedding ideas, but this one really tickled us.
Jill & Matt’s Ceremony and Reception both took place at White Pines Golf Club.
What Brides Consider When Making the Decision About Having A Backdrop at Their WeddingThere was a time when having a backdrop setup at a wedding was the norm. The couple, wedding party and guests would gather in front of the backdrop for portraits throughout the evening. If you look through wedding albums from 25 or so years ago, you will likely see some of these portraits that were shot in front of a backdrop.
Looks Outdated
Today, backdrops are outdated, and most couples opt to skip this part of the wedding photography. It just feels very 1970’s, and with today’s more artistic approach to wedding photography, backdrops are no longer needed. The look today is more natural. Backdrops look artificial, so they are not a good fit in today’s wedding albums.
Miss Other Shots
Another problem with having a backdrop is that your photographer will need to spend much of his or her time snapping pictures there. This means that the photographer will not be in the reception as much and is very likely to miss some of the best moments of the night.
Candid Shots
Instead of needing to be tied to the backdrop, free your photographer to be present in the reception, snapping shots of people laughing and dancing. These candid shots are much more appropriate for today’s wedding albums and will allow you not only to remember who was at your wedding, but to actually see your guests enjoying the party.
Natural Backdrops
For portrait style photographs, choose natural backdrops instead of artificial ones. A beautiful fountain, a crystal blue lake or a fireplace in your reception venue is a much more appealing choice than a backdrop that can be rolled up and stored in the back of your photographer’s van.
Even for engagement photos, natural backdrops are a much better choice. Today’s brides tend to lean to wedding details that are less artificial and stiff than in time past. It only stands to reason that the backdrop, which is somewhat of an archaic choice, would be omitted in favor of allowing the wedding photographer to get some more candid, fluid shots.
Of course, if you are set on having a backdrop at your wedding, your photographer will be more than happy to accommodate your wishes. If you do, consider paying extra to have two photographers present. This will allow one photographer to handle the photos by the backdrop while the other one will still be free to capture all of the candid reception shots.
This will give you more options once the proofs come back and you are selecting photos for your wedding album.
In my daily photographic review of weddings from the past weekend, I came across this really cool idea for a wedding memento between the bridesmaids, mom, and the bride. The girls took the bride’s shoes and signed the bottoms with well wishes yearbook style.
Hello ladies! My winter brides face a little more of a challenge when planning their wedding photos. So, I thought I’d share a few tips:
With a little extra planning, winter wedding photos can be fun and beautiful.
Happy planning!
Karen
Hello brides! I hope your planning is going well. Flowers are such an important detail in most weddings, so I wanted to tell you a little story to help you avoid an unfortunate event that happened at a wedding I recently attended.
The bride looked so beautiful, and she had chosen gorgeous exotic flowers for her bouquet. After the ceremony, we went to a lake to take some photographs. About halfway through the shoot, I noticed some purple marks on her dress. It only took a few minutes to figure out where the stains had come from, and the bride was horrified.
It turns out that her beautiful exotic flowers had been painted. The paint had started to peel off in the heat of the outdoors and had stained the front of her wedding dress. She had to go to her reception with purple stains on the front of her dress. Happily, I was able to edit the stains out her pictures, but the whole situation could have been avoided if only the bride had known to ask if the flowers were painted.
She, like most brides, had no idea that such a practice exists, but it is actually quite common. It is usually done in order to be able to provide exotic flowers in a variety of colors at a low cost. Many brides use these painted blooms with no issues, but others have unfortunate experiences such as the bride in my story.
Here are some tips to help you get the flowers that you want, but also know what you are really getting.
Painting flowers is a common practice, but it is important that you know what you are getting. Be sure to add this to your list of questions for your florist, especially if you are choosing exotic, colorful blooms.
Until next time,
Karen
Chris and Shannon wanted to make their wedding place cards sweet and at the same time match their theme of red roses, and decided to attach the names and table numbers to chocolate roses, which were then also used for decoration.
Have any great wedding place card ideas? Share them with us in the comments!
As I have mentioned in some of my posts in the past, I ha
ve heard a LOT of questions from brides to be over the years. In this blog post, I’ll address another of those questions that I have heard often: “Is it ok for my groom to see me before the wedding?”
The first thing I want to say is that there is no one answer that is right for every couple. There are a number of reasons that some couples have decided to allow the groom to see the bride in her gown before she walks down the aisle. These reasons include taking pictures before the wedding or even having the groom help to select the gown.
Still, some couples keep the tradition of not allowing the groom to see the bride before that special moment. That tradition was born during a time when most marriages were arranged. Not only was the groom not to see the bride in her gown before the wedding, but the couples often had never seen each other at all until they met during the wedding ceremony!
While that reason for a groom not seeing his bride before the wedding is not applicable to the majority of couples today, there is still a good reason for the bride to keep her gown and her special wedding day look a secret from her groom until she walks toward him during the wedding, and that is the element of surprise. Your groom has likely tried to imagine what you will look like in your gown, and you have probably imagined the look on his face when he sees you for the first time. This is sure to be a very special moment, and one that you will want to remember for the rest of your life. It is also one that you will be sharing with 200 or so wedding guests,
But there is another way.
I call it the Big Reveal. This is a moment BEFORE the wedding that the couple has set aside to spend a few moments together before the ceremony. It is at this time that the groom will see you for the first time, and you will be able to see the look on his face when he sees how beautiful that you look in your gown.
I can tell you that I have witnessed many such Big Reveals, and they have been some of the most special moments that I have had the pleasure to capture on film. This is a special
moment between just you and your groom, and I promise you that it is VERY romantic.
There are also practical reasons why a Big Reveal is a good idea. The big one is that it allows you to get a fair number of the pictures out of the way before the wedding when your makeup and hair are still fresh. You will be able to get to your guests more quickly after the ceremony, and you will find that the day will flow much better.
So should your groom see you before you walk down the aisle? It is really a personal choice, but don’t let tradition rule. If you like the idea of a Big Reveal before the wedding, then you should go for it! It’s your special day, so do what will work best for you.
Thanks for reading.
Karen
While looking through two recent weddings we came across with two great ideas for wedding place cards, both unique and different. Anthony and Suzanne chose to give out full bottles of home-made wine to their guests, attached to their place cards, providing a unique (and delicious) keepsake to take with them.
Jason and Crystal went with a travel theme for their wedding place cards, giving everybody their table assignment within a luggage tag, emphasizing the adventure of relationships and the future.
Both great ideas! What have you seen that you like?
Lauren and Tony selected a great accenting color scheme for their wedding. Starting with vivid emerald greens on the invitation, bridesmaids dresses, cake ribbons, shoes, and chair coverings, they chose to accent with contrasting fuchsia and pink, flowers and details, including a fantastic scribbled heart on their invitation.
Their ceremony was held at the Hoffman Estates Marriott, with the reception following at The Stonegate Banquet Centre in Hoffman Estates.
Want to see more wedding colors? Visit our wedding ideas page!
