Consider this: ask your florist to do your portrait bouquet in silk. Then, it can be your toss bouquet at the wedding! It will save you just a little money and will give you “perfect” flowers for all your portraits, even if it’s windy or hot.

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If you want something a little different for your first dance, you might find inspiration from this video:
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glumbert - Best wedding first dance ever.
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complements of glumbert.com
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Marathon Press has produced this fabulous online “guide to enhancing your home with photographic portraiture“.

Let help make your house a home. Grace the walls of your living spaces with images of you and your family. Make your home a showplace full of truly personal art.

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Jay White (a blogger for Dumb Little Man) presents a great starting point of conversation for those couples considering marriage. His advice is much like many marriage encounter programs offered through places of worship. Why not start these conversations, now? You and your partner will be glad you did.

Jay hits on several major areas:

• Ability to Compromise
• Money
• Who cleans the toilets?
• The plan: 1, 3, 6, and 9 years.
• Holidays
• Discipline
• Ok, religion
• Communications

Read the full article

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If you have young attendants who will be wearing flowers–such as a ring bearer–be sure to bring some large safety pins or make sure your florist provides them.

The flowers will be more securely anchored, and everyone will be more comfortable knowing the little ones can’t hurt themselves.

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From your engagement session, make coloring pages for the kids’ table! This will be fun for both them and your adult guests!

This article on fototiler shows how to do this with Photoshop.

will happily create these pages for your from any engagement images purchased in 8×10 or larger sizes.

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A wedding planner lists reasons not to hire someone like her for your wedding…

“So, here are the top reasons to not hire a planner to help with your wedding day.

1. You want to control everything…
2. You want to do the interviews with the vendors…
3. You want to spend the morning of your wedding setting up the reception area…
4. You know exactly where to find those cute little favors that everyone is talking about…
5. You’ve helped your sister (cousin, aunt, friend) plan their wedding…
6. You know how to look for something strange in a contract…”

Read the full article on Carol Bottke’s blog.

If these points do not describe you, contact for wedding planning & photography services.

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“Your family and friends came hundreds of miles in some cases to share this day with you. If you want them to love you, read this post and do the opposite. If you want them to hate you, read this post and take notes.

1. You’re boring and unimaginative…
2. You’ve left them to the wolves…
3. You’re late. You’re late, for a very important date…
4. You’re the wedding nazi.. .
5. There is very little or poor quality food…”

For the full article, visit Terrica’s wedding planning blog.

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Many brides fantacize about an outdoor spring wedding. Spring weather can be beautiful; it can also be quite warm in Texas. Use these tips to plan an outdoor ceremony that will be more comfortable for you and your guests.

• There is often a line at the sign-in book. Provide (or ask your venue to provide) a patio umbrella so guests can sign the book without fighting glare or drizzle.
• After guests sign in, have buckets with bottles of cool water for them to drink. Ushers can offer water to guests as they are seating them.
• Programs are a staple of today’s weddings. Fans are essential to an outdoor wedding. Why not combine the two? Program information can be printed on heavy cover stock and then affixed to handles to keep guests cool and in the know.
• When selecting a ceremony site, try to imagine it on the hottest day of the year. Then, try to imagine it on a misty day. While images of blue skies and white puffy clouds may dance in your mind, the sun beating down on guests can be brutal. In contrast, if there is a tiny sprinkle, you probably won’t relocate your ceremony, but it might not be pleasant for your guests. (Remember, guests sit there a long time before you walk down the aisle.) Provide umbrellas to your guests so they can have protection from the sun and light rain. If you order umbrellas in colors to match your event, this can provide a lot of color to your ceremony. If it will not rain, but you have concerns about the heat, consider affordable parasol umbrellas; these also provide a more elegant touch. Umbrellas that are your wedding colors(s)–and also one shade lighter and one shade darker–will give a really spectacular view from the back of the aisle.
  see this amazing photo by Patricia Mark Photography in Napa, California.

  

Outdoor ceremonies are beautiful and provide an excellent opportunity for beautiful portraits and candid images. recommends that you consider your guests’ comfort when planning, and you’ll add smiles to even more faces!

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These days, so many friends and family are involved in the wedding planning and preparation that weddings have become and all-day affair for many guests. In addition, the bride and groom may have trusted certain friends and family members with important tasks because they want them to feel involved and part of the Big Day.

While this is a great way to ensure that your day is well-prepped and that you feel surrounded by family and friends, there are some drawbacks, too. Every person who has a “job” for the day may feel that they are excepted from all the other guest rules. By the time all your friends and family break various protocols, you have a very stressful day for you, your groom, and even your wedding vendors.

With that in mind, here are some rules for wedding guests. While you can’t very well include this with your invitations, you can probably have someone sneak a copy to the troublemakers on your guest list.

1. If possible, deliver gifts to the bride’s home at least two weeks before the wedding. While an overflowing gift table makes for lovely decor at the wedding, getting home with an extra carload or two of stuff is difficult for the couple and family. (Of course, if you are traveling in for the wedding, bringing the gift may be your only reasonable option.)
2. Do not wear white. Period. Even a mostly-white-with-some-color dress is pushing it. If you just don’t have another alternative, be sure to wear a jacket or sweater in a color and some contrasting accessories. White is reserved for the bride (and sometimes the groom). She (and he) deserves to be the only one in this color. also recommends that ladies not wear solid black. Remember, it’s a wedding, not a funeral. Again, if you don’t have another color option or if the wedding is very late in the evening and you feel a cocktail dress is essential, pair the dress with contrasting accessories and wear a colored jacket or sweater.
3. Do not call the bride, groom, wedding attendants, parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings, minister, or anyone else on the day of the wedding. If you are lost and need directions, call the venue office or use Google’s directory assistance (1-800-466-4411). Find your own way (or get help from another guest) from the ceremony to the reception.
4. Arrive 10-30 minutes before the wedding. If you are too early, you’ll interrupt photography, final touches to decorations, and the bride and groom’s last few moments before they take the biggest step of their lives. If you arrive too late, you’ll miss part of the ceremony. (Traditionally, mothers and grandmothers are seated 5 minutes before the wedding time.) Study your maps and directions ahead of time, and be prepared to meander through the town and the day as if you did not have a mobile phone.
5. Silence phones and pagers.
6. If babysitting services are unavailable, make sure that any children are quiet during the entire ceremony. School-age kids should be instructed ahead of time of behavior expectations. Pre-school-age children can usually be given quiet toys such as fabric dolls/cars and coloring books. Toddlers and infants should be seated at the back of the venue and should be removed from the ceremony if they become fussy. Most ceremony venues have a cry room or side area where the distracting child can be coddled and where the caregiver can still hear and see the ceremony.
7. At the recessional, allow mothers and grandmothers–and their escorts–to follow the wedding party up the aisle.
8. Leave the venue, and travel to the reception. Do not linger in hopes of catching the bride and groom (unless the couple has a receiving line at the ceremony venue). The point of the reception is for them to greet their guests. Allow them to share their first few married moments alone. Allow for the signing of marriage licenses and contracts. Allow them to get photography started immediately so they can get to the reception as quickly as possible. Allow those closest to the couple–parents, grandparents, siblings, and attendants–to share in those first few moments alone with them.
9. At the reception, be ready to greet the couple and celebrate with them.
10. Participate in any “events” the couple or their family has planned during the reception, such as Grand March, Redovy, Generations Dance, conga line, and the bouquet and garter tosses. We promise you’ll have more fun. And, the bride and groom will have better photos for their album. (And, after all, isn’t it supposed to be about them?) If called upon, keep your toast short and sweet.
11. If you can, stay for the couple’s getaway. Receptions are longer these days and not all guests are able to make the full “marathon”. Some couples fully expect some guests to leave part way through the event while the young adults party late into the night. If you have a question about the time line, feel free to ask the photographer or DJ. They almost always know what time the getaway is supposed to happen.

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For any seated dinner–even a buffet–consider incorporating a seating chart. If you only reserve tables for the wedding party and parents/siblings, you could still leave family “out in the cold”. A seating chart will keep “chatty Cousin Carriee” away from anyone who might find her overbearing. It also keeps “drunk Uncle Elbert ” from sitting with your fiance’s college buddies. In addition, a seating chart gives you the chance to ensure that your friends will meet one another instead of just spending time with people they already know. A thoughtful hostess will put people with similar interests together so they will have something to talk about.

The seating chart does not need to be complex or elaborate. It also doesn’t have to be the laborious chore it was when our mothers got married.

recommends Simple Seating dot com. This nifty and affordable ($0-$45, depending on your needs) program will allow you to import your guest list, play with table sizes/shapes/arrangements, track RSVPs and headcount, and places guests in the exact seat you want them to have. If seating charts are this easy, then why not create one?

The latest advice we’ve seen suggests that you avoid having a “singles” table. While your single friends may appreciate the chance to know exactly what guys there are not attached, it’s usually an uncomfortable situation for all of them. Instead, put single people at tables with families of 3 or 5. Or, work in two single people at a table of couples.

Finally, be sure to factor in a kids table if children are invited into the main reception room. Kids are usually quite bored at weddings. Be sure to include activities, toys, and games that are quiet and will keep them interested.

will be happy to help you sort your guests into smaller groups that will make nice groupings at your event. We also have a wide variety of ideas for making a kids’ area special and entertaining for them.

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Wedding maps are essential in today’s invitation folios. They help guests find the ceremony and give them valuable information about hotel reservations and other travel details.

can design a printed map with driving directions for your invitation. We also recommend that you include the “from ceremony to reception” map and directions on the back of your wedding program. (Your day will run much more smoothly if you do not have to give directions to your family and friends during those first few moments of marriage.)

Thanks to Google maps technology, there is now a great online service, Wedding Mapper, that allows you to map not just the ceremony, reception, and hotels, but also a variety of points of interest in the town(s) where your event(s) will occur.

As a demo, I’ve made a map of some of the locations from our wedding events in 2001 and some of our favorite places in town, now.

This fabulous service can be used for free (like my demo) , but is only $10 for some advanced features.

Add this site to your own wedding website. Your guests will have an easier travel experience, which will lead to more fun for them and less stress for you.

because everything should be just…

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According to Tommye White, “Budgeting is key to paying for your wedding”.
Tommye’s article in Sunday’s (July 8, 2007) issue of The Bryan + College Station Eagle recommends that couples set a budget for weddings and plan early.

As a photographer, I agree with this advice. I find that one feeds the other. If you are planning early, you’ll have more time to research options that are within your budget. You might catch silver/gold/white/cream decor on sale after the Christmas holiday season. You might have time to construct the elaborate centerpieces you want, but can’t afford to purchase. You have more lead time to book the affordable and popular vendors before other brides.

Time is money. If you pay attention to both, you’ll have a much more successful (relaxed, fun, smooth) event! And we all want everything to be just…

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Hair

Dirty or gelled hair is easier to style and will hold an updo or curl longer. Either don’t wash your hair 24 hours before it will be styled, or wet your hair, run gel through all your layers, and let it dry. Also, check with your stylist who may have a preference for one or another. Don’t forget to wear a button-down shirt so that you don’t have to remove a pull-over with your fancy new do!

Veil

Consider using a ribbon to gather the veil (instead of a comb) and then use a bobby pin to pin the veil into your hair.

Flowers

Whether you plan to use fresh or silk flowers, have a bouquet made for the portrait session. Even if it’s a silk replica of your planned fresh bouquet, you’ll have a prop for the photos that will give you an entire other set of images to choose from. The silk can either become your toss bouquet or can be displayed in your home with other wedding photos and memories.

Shoes

Wear comfortable shoes that are taller than your wedding shoes, so you can keep the dress from touching the ground as much as possible. If the shoes are an important element to your attire, bring them along and we’ll do some shots with them, too.

“Assistants”

1-2 assistants can be a good thing. 3 or more can be chaos for both you and your photographer. Of course, if you happen to have quiet friends who will be helpful “behind the scenes”, you may be able to bring a small group.

Eat

posing can be tiring. Be sure you eat something substantial ~2 hours before the shoot.

Drink

Drink a moderate amount of water so you won’t get dehydrated. Just be careful not to drink too much.

Be Merry

If you are relaxed and laughing, you’ll have better images than if you are stoic and too “posed”. Plan to have fun with your shoot.

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Find the June issue of the newsletter here:

http://www.asyouwishbcs.com/Newsletter/news_20070612.html

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