Creating Your Dream Day: A Guide to Choosing Wedding Vendors
Congratulations, lovebirds! As you embark on the exciting journey of planning your special day, one of the key decisions you'll make is selecting the vendors who will bring your wedding vision to life. Rather than tiptoeing around budget concerns, let's dive into the art of expressing your expectations and defining your style.
Know Your Numbers
Start by embracing transparency. Rather than shying away from the budget conversation, consider stating your approximate budget upfront. This not only streamlines the vendor selection process but also ensures that you find professionals who align with your financial comfort zone. Let the experts know your ballpark figure, and watch as they work their magic within those parameters.
Set Expectations
Communicate your expectations clearly. Share your vision for the day, outlining what matters most to you. Whether it's capturing candid moments, creating a floral wonderland, or curating a culinary experience, express your desires openly. Vendors appreciate a couple who knows what they want, allowing them to tailor their services to your needs.
Define Your Style
Every couple has a unique love story, and your wedding should reflect that. Take the time to define your wedding style. Are you envisioning a classic and timeless affair, a modern and sleek celebration, or perhaps a bohemian-inspired gathering? Clearly articulating your style preferences helps vendors tailor their offerings to complement your aesthetic.
Do Your Research
Explore vendor portfolios and reviews to find professionals whose work resonates with you. Look beyond the price tag and focus on the value they bring to your wedding. Don't be afraid to ask for references or schedule consultations to get a feel for their personalities, workflow, and style.
Build Connections
Building a rapport with your vendors is crucial. Seek professionals who understand your vision, communicate effectively, and genuinely care about making your day extraordinary. A strong connection fosters a collaborative atmosphere, ensuring a smoother planning process and a more enjoyable wedding day.
Stay True to Your Vision
Throughout the planning process, stay true to your vision and values. Remember that your wedding is a celebration of your love story, and the right vendors will enhance that narrative. Choose professionals who align with your style, meet your expectations, and, most importantly, make you feel confident in entrusting them with the most special day of your lives.
In summary, be open about your budget, communicate your expectations clearly, define your wedding style, do thorough research, build connections, and stay true to your vision. By approaching vendor selection with style and savvy, you'll create a wedding day that reflects the essence of your love, without ever needing to utter the phrases "I'm on a budget" or "cost an arm and a leg." Cheers to a wedding journey filled with joy, authenticity, and the perfect team to bring your dreams to life!
7 Essential Wedding Invitation Tips
Your wedding invitation should include several elements of your wedding day.
1. You should include a host line that lists who is hosting your wedding. Whether it's your parents, relatives, or you yourself, this is basically a shoutout to all of their contributions towards the wedding.
2. Invites should include a request line to invite people to attend your wedding. U se this section to set the tone for your celebration. For example, if your wedding is going to be more formal, you should use more formal language to establish that.
3. A call to action will let guests know exactly what they are being invited to attend--"our wedding," "the wedding of our daughter," "the marriage of..." This brings us to the couple's names, which can be listed however you feel comfortable. Some couples opt for full, legal names, while others may use names they go by instead.
4. Or course you have to include a date and time so that your guests know when to arrive (which can also correlate to your photography timeline). Typically, you want to discuss ceremony times with your photographer so they have an idea of how much light they will have for photos. "Golden Hour" (usually 1 hour before sunset) is the best time of day to do your couple's photos, and you want to make sure you are scheduling your ceremony with enough time to catch this beautiful light. It is also helpful to spell out the date in words to avoid any confusion.
5. Since guests know what time to be there, you now need to tell them where to go. List the ceremony and reception location(s) along with the city and state, but you may also choose to include the street address too.
6. If your reception is taking place at a different venue/location, you should include a line for this to let everyone know where the reception will take place. Most people also include a line about the meal type like "heavy hor devours will be served" or "dinner and dancing to follow." If you decide on a plated meal, you'll usually include the meal types and choices on your RSVP card.
7. The RSVP card is oh so important as it will help you tally your guest count. Include a separate card with the reply-by-date ( typically 3-4 weeks prior to the date), iines for names of attendees, and if doing a plated meal, include the meal choices.
Additional Tips:
The color schemes of your invitations can provide insight to the wedding aesthetic, and the style can convey the level of formality (which guests certainly want to know).
An insert card is a great way to add additional information such as travel info, attire, wedding registry, and wedding website info.
Address the envelope to whom is actually invited. Do not write "The Johnson Family" if certain family members aren't invited. Be clear and specific with exactly who you are including.
You can include details like "kid friendly" or "adults only" on your wedding website rather than your invitation. Plus, if you address the invite properly, there shouldn't be any confusion.
Send your invitations 6-8 weeks before the wedding via mail.
Why you should bring a copy of your invitation on wedding day? We can photograph it for you and preserve it through a photo so that you don’t have to keep a copy safe for years to come. This way, you’ll have it forever.
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Strike a Pose: Engagement and Wedding Posing Made Simple
It’s one of the most common things we hear from our couples—“We are so awkward in photos.” Although we find very quickly that this is just not true, many couples feel intimidated by the thought of having to pose for photos for even an hour at an engagement or even longer on wedding day. You really shouldn’t worry though because we’ve got you. Posing just shouldn’t be something you even have to think about, and today, we are sharing our pro tips for looking your best in front of the camera so that you absolutely love your images.
1. Shift Your Weight
Women, in particular, have a tendency to want to do the tried and true hand on hip pose, but many naturally lean forward when doing so, putting their weight on the front leg. Instead, try shifting your weight to your back leg and bending the knee (no…not a Game of Thrones reference) in front slightly.
2. Hands!
Seriously, this is the number one concern from our clients—what to do with those pesky hands. First, whatever you would naturally do to engage with your significant other is always a good idea. For example, placing your hand on the face, around the waist, or on their arm is always natural posing. The key, though, is to keep those fingers loose and the hand soft to avoid what we call “The Claw” (definitely a Toy Story reference). Just wiggle those fingers and touch lightly or just touch with one or two fingers to keep things soft and romantic.
3. Wear that Chin Proudly
Think of a business man in a suit with a square jawline. He’s proud of his accomplishments, holding his head high and jutting his chin out just slightly. That little lean forward and slight outward thrust of the chin is incredibly flattering. Not only does it show confidence, but it can help eliminate the double chin many people also worry about appearing in their photos.
4. Forehead to Forehead
It’s romantic; it’s intimate, and the forehead to forehead pose is one of our favorites. The key, however, is to not go straight on with your heads. Since we want to still see some of your face in the photo, we actually want those heads to touch more on the middle, far side from the camera. To avoid going cross-eyed, just look downward instead of directly at each other.
5. Engage with Each Other
We don’t want your chatting, goofing off, and giggling to stop when the camera comes out. Keep on being yourselves and interacting like you always do. We frequently find ourselves encouraging our couples not to be quiet but to, instead, chat about where they want to go to dinner after the session, what they loved most about seeing each other for the first time, or even their plans for the future (for those super emotional moments). We all want authentic interactions in these shots, so keep up your normal conversations and flirting, please.
Bonus tip for men: A hand in the pocket (thumb in or out, whichever you prefer) is always a good, polished look.
Bonus tip for women: Create separation between your body and your arm for slimmer looking upper arms.
And guess what? If you hire professional photographers who know how to make you look and feel good when taking photos (wink…wink…nudge…nudge), then you can leave all of this to us.
4 of the Best Wedding Planning Tips for Every Couple
Every year when our wedding anniversary passes, and we start thinking about our big day and how it was really our wedding photos that helped inspire us to pursue a new direction with our own business, to begin photographing couples and weddings. Some of the things we think about when we look back at our day now, as wedding photographers, are the aspects of the day that impacted the overall energy and the flow of our day. We've decided to share a little bit of our insight with you today in hopes that it will help our current couples and prospective clients have a seamless and amazing experience with all vendors on their wedding days.
1. The Vendors
We have a ton of couples reach out to us immediately after they are engaged, and it is always great to be ahead of the curve when selecting vendors as many tend to book dates up to a year in advance. The single most important thing to have determined, however, prior to booking any of your vendors is a firm wedding date. Asking for a photographer or other vendor, for pricing information to get a feel for what is out there and doable for your budget is acceptable, but without a specific date, you won't be able to book with the company and may be disappointed to find out later that they are unavailable. Generally, most vendors will also want to know your venue as well as some may charge additional fees for travel if the site is outside of their normal coverage area. So, set your date as quickly as possible, and go ahead and book your venue to get the ball rolling for your other inquiries.
Any time I send an email, whether personal or business related, I am always impressed when the recipient responds quickly. This is something we really strive to excel at in our correspondence with clients, and it's one aspect of our communication that our couples really value. This is just as important when requesting information from a photographer, caterer, or venue, just as examples, from a client perspective. We always appreciate when a couple gets back to us, even if it's just to say that our pricing does not work in their budget. That's ok, and there are never hard feelings on our end. We are grateful for the response, and we both know that it's nothing personal or that they don't love our work. The other aspect of the pricing conversation is also being willing to ask what a particular vendor can do within your budget or requesting if there is a package or option that may suit your needs better. I always think, what's the worst that someone can say? No? I can handle that. If you really want to book a particular service or company, just ask, and the vendor will let you know if your vision is doable or not for them in your price range. Although pricing and budgets are, of course, important, many vendors want to get to know you a little better and build a relationship with you also. Sharing details and information about yourselves as a couple and being specific about your dreams for your wedding allow us to have some insight about who you are and if we are a good fit for capturing your big day. Quality work, goods, and services may cost more than you anticipate when starting your wedding planning, and although you should stick to a budget, make sure you are considering other aspects of what a vendor can offer including experience and the overall vibe you want to achieve for your wedding.
Finally, referrals from friends and family are always meaningful, as personal experience is definitely valuable, and meeting with vendors in person to discuss options can always help you evaluate the connection you have with one another, which is another important factor to consider. Your wedding day should reflect your values and your style, and carefully choosing your vendors will ensure that you have the best, most memorable day possible.
2. The Coverage
We always aim to tell the story of our couple's day through our photography, and you want a full picture of the day to do so. Some couples want every moment captured, and others only want the highlights; however, booking your venue and photographer for a determined period of time is one of the most important decisions you will make. Budget generally comes into play with such decisions when a photographer offers a lower priced package for fewer hours of coverage, but it is important to consider other factors when determining the hours of coverage right for you. 1) How many family members will be included in photos? If you have a large family and plan on doing photos before or especially after the ceremony, you will need to account for that. We generally recommend that you only include immediate family for these posed photos (parents, grandparents, and siblings), but this is a personal decision. For example, I have a super small family, but Jason's is huge. We chose to do all of our family photos (aside from a couple quick shots with parents, grandparents, and siblings prior to the ceremony) at the rehearsal dinner. There are always options, but the bigger the families, the more time it takes to photograph individuals and smaller groups. 2) How big is your bridal party? We had 7 on each side, which is a pretty good sized bridal party. Throw in 2 ushers on top of that we wanted in photos, and you're talking 18 people. Although we work super quickly, we also like to get shots of the bridal party as smaller groups, as a whole, and individually with the bride and groom or couple. With that said, it's a good rule of thumb to include a little more coverage if you have 10 people on each side of the aisle than it is with just a maid of honor and best man or a couple of friends.
2. The Timeline
Although you may hire a coordinator for your wedding or the venue you book may include a day of coordinator, your photography timeline will be a pivotal part of keeping the day running smoothly and ensuring that you get all of the fabulous moments from your day captured. Your photographer should schedule a time with you-- usually a couple weeks before the wedding-- to plan out a specific timeline for all of the photos you want captured on your special day. This really helps keep the timing on track and allows for brides and grooms to allot enough time for various details of the day.
It's one of the most difficult parts of the wedding day, too. Hair and makeup take a little longer than planned, the ceremony site finishing touches may not be completed on schedule, or a groomsman from out of town could be running late. These things happen, and the important thing is not to stress when they do. One of the things I think about when I reflect on our wedding day is that we were about 30 minutes behind the prescribed schedule because we took a little longer than expected at the salon. It stressed me out because I'm a very punctual person, but our photographers didn't skip a beat. They quickly caught us up and still managed to get all the shots we wanted (and more) from our day. Experience plays an important role in this. As wedding photographers now, we learned very quickly that timelines can't always be followed to a tee, but it is important that you try to maintain some sense of the schedule. A strong photographer can generally still get all of the shots that you want and can easily make up the time lost, but being realistic about how long set up, hair and makeup, and all the important preparations take, is key in having a stress-free day. We have photographed enough weddings to know how to create a sensible timeline, so trusting your photographers to do so will help the day run as smoothly as possible.
4. The Photographer (or photographers for us)
A quick Google search can show that not all photographers are the same. We all have different specialties, areas of expertise, and stylistic choices. When selecting a photographer, definitely pay attention to the photos posted on social media, the photographer’s website portfolio, and blog posts that show a fuller picture of a wedding day. We suggest selecting a photographer who focuses predominantly on weddings, and you can clearly see that when checking out the photos from these sources. You can also ask to see a full gallery of images of the photographer’s work, particularly for a wedding. This can really help paint a picture of how a particular photographer will capture your day, and it will also help show how consistent their work is especially in relation to editing and proficiency in various (and challenging) lighting situations.
There are many different styles of photography and combinations of those styles, but two predominant categories have seemed to emerge over the past couple years—light and airy or a darker, moodier vibe. We have always considered ourselves light and airy photographers, but neither style is inherently better than the other; however, you’ll want to decide what you prefer and exactly how you want your photos to look now and 20 years from now. Consider as well that most photographers don’t change their overall styles for different clients because they want to keep their branding consistent, so asking a photographer that mainly shoots lighter, for example, to do darker photos may not work.
Choosing a photographer is a big decision and a financial investment for your wedding day. Most couples spend about 12% of their total wedding budget on a photographer according to Wedding Wire. Paying attention to what photographers offer as part of their collections and the quality of the goods and add-ons is also very important. We always encourage you to ask the photographer questions specific to your needs and budget as many just want to see how we can best accommodate you.
Although we could give advice on even more particulars, these are just a few tidbits that could have a tremendous impact on the flow of the day and the photos themselves. We hope you've gleaned a little knowledge from our personal wedding experience as both the bride and groom and now, as photographers, coming from a completely different perspective. Best wishes, and happy planning!
Wedding Planning Tips for Every Bride - Part 1
Our 4 year wedding anniversary recently passed, and it got us thinking about our big day and especially the photography from our wedding. See, it was really our wedding photos that helped inspire us to pursue a new direction with our own business, to begin photographing couples and weddings. Some of the things we think about when we look back at our day now, as wedding photographers, are the aspects of the day that impacted the overall energy and the flow of our day. We've decided to share a little bit of our insight with you today in hopes that it will help our current couples and prospective clients have a seamless and amazing experience with photography on their wedding day.
1. The Timeline
Although you may hire a coordinator for your wedding or the venue you book may include a day of coordinator, your photography timeline will be a pivotal part of keeping the day running smoothly and ensuring that you get all of the fabulous moments from your day captured. Your photographer should schedule a time with you-- usually a couple weeks before the wedding-- to plan out a specific timeline for all of the photos you want captured on your special day. This really helps keep the timing on track and allows for brides and grooms to allot enough time for various details of the day.
It's one of the most difficult parts of the wedding day, though. Hair and makeup take a little longer than planned, the ceremony site finishing touches may not be completed on schedule, or a groomsman from out of town could be running late. These things happen, and the important thing is not to stress when they do. One of the things I think about when I reflect on our wedding day is that we were about 30 minutes behind the prescribed schedule because we took a little longer than expected at the salon. It stressed me out because I'm a very punctual person, but our photographers didn't skip a beat. They quickly caught us up and still managed to get all the shots we wanted (and more) from our day. Experience plays an important role in this. As wedding photographers now, we learned very quickly that timelines can't always be followed to a tee, but it is important that you try to maintain some sense of the schedule. A strong photographer can generally still get all of the shots that you want and can easily make up the time lost, but being realistic about how long set up, hair and makeup, and all the important preparations take, is key in having a stress free day. We have photographed enough weddings to know how to create a sensible timeline, so trusting your photographers to do so will help the day run as smoothly as possible.
2. The Coverage
Our poor photographers! That's what we think now when we look back on the amount of coverage we expected on our wedding day. We wanted our photography team there from the beginning of the day at the salon and the guys hanging out at the venue to the end of the reception. When we look back at our photos, though, did I really care that much about my silly jacket that said bride across the back or getting shots of my hair disheveled without makeup? Not really, but I did love the shots of Jason and his groomsmen hanging out and putting on their bowties, and I adored the photos of me getting into my dress. These are the shots we usually start with, what we call "the finishing touches," when we shoot weddings. We look back now and think we expected a little much, but we are grateful that we do have a glimpse of the entire day celebrating our union.
We always aim to tell the story of our couple's day through our photography, and you want a full picture of the day to do so. Some couples want every moment captured, and others only want the highlights; however, booking your photographer for a determined period of time is one of the most important decisions you will make. Budget generally comes into play with such decisions when a photographer offers a lower priced package for fewer hours of coverage, but it is important to consider other factors when determining the hours of coverage right for you. 1) How many family members will be included in photos? If you have a large family and plan on doing photos before or especially after the ceremony, you will need to account for that. We generally recommend that you only include immediate family for these posed photos (parents, grandparents, and siblings), but this is a personal decision. For example, I have a super small family, but Jason's is huge. We chose to do all of our family photos (aside from a couple quick shots with parents, grandparents, and siblings prior to the ceremony) at the rehearsal dinner. There are always options, but the bigger the families, the more time it takes to photograph individuals and smaller groups. 2) How big is your bridal party? We had 7 on each side, which is a pretty good sized bridal party. Throw in 2 ushers on top of that we wanted in photos, and you're talking 18 people. Although we work super quickly, we also like to get shots of the bridal party as smaller groups, as a whole, and individually with the bride and groom or couple. With that said, it's a good rule of thumb to include a little more coverage if you have 10 people on each side of the aisle than it is with just a maid of honor and best man or a couple of friends.
Although when we reflect as photographers ourselves 4 years later and think that we may have gone a bit overboard, each couple has to decide what they really want to see in that album or gallery down the road and exactly how many hours to book their photographers in order to achieve that vision.
3. The First Look
We frequently have couples who are undecided on doing a first look. The deciding factor for those who choose not to do a first look is often that one person wants that traditional, storybook moment of seeing the soon to be spouse coming down the aisle as everyone's eyes fill with tears. Others, however, choose to do a first look, and this is what Jason and I decided was best for us on our wedding day. See, we didn't want to have to take any photos other than candid, natural shots throughout the evening as we celebrated with our guests. We also didn't want a large time gap between the ceremony and dinner due to the need for more photos. The decision to do a first look is frequently one that goes hand in hand with the timeline and how a couple anticipates their day progressing. The main benefits to choosing a first look are having a private moment between the couple, allowing for more immediate couple's photos (and sometimes a less rushed series of shots), and the possibility to have most if not all of the photos completed prior to the ceremony. The first look does create an opportunity for the couple to share a moment at the beginning of the day that is just about the two of them, a sacred bit of time to see each other alone and maybe even share gifts (like we did...a bracelet for him and some new earrings for me) or just some raw emotion together. The couple's photos are typically immediately after, and this usually means that there is sufficient time allotted to capture several photos without feeling the rush to get to the reception after the ceremony.
Whether our couples elect to do a first look or not, we always discuss the idea in relation to what exactly the full picture of the day is for the two. We usually have about a 50/50 ratio on the first look, half of our clients choosing to do one while the other half elect to see each other initially at the ceremony, and regardless of the hours of coverage, strong photographers can make the timeline work with whatever the couple chooses. The day is, after all, completely about the newlyweds. When appropriate for the time of day, we like to offer for our couples (with or without a first look) to sneak from their reception for a few moments to grab some sunset photos. That way, they have even more photos together but do not have to spend a ton of time away from the party and their guests. This also has the added benefits of optimal light for gorgeous pictures and some alone time for the couple after a hectic day.
4. The relationship
Yes, we met with and inquired with other photographers before we selected ours, but there is a reason why we chose the husband and wife team we ended up using, Joe and Kathleen of JoPhoto. That was the connection we felt with them. They were personable, and they wanted to know about us as individuals (what we like to do together, our hobbies and interests, and our vision for our wedding day and wedding photos). We enjoyed spending time with them, and we felt comfortable talking to them and trusting them to help outline our day. These are super important factors to consider when determining who exactly to hire for photography. After all, they will be following you around paparazzi style all day.
We always strive to get to know our couples better from the initial inquiry; we include a complimentary engagement with all of our packages just to get to spend some time with the couple prior to the wedding day, time that we all use to get to know one another. These are just a few of the things we like to do build a meaningful relationship with our clients, who often become much more than that. We can't even begin to discuss how many lifelong friends we've made just because we photographed their wedding, and we are grateful that so many individuals have allowed us to not only be a part of their special day but also remain a part of their lives. It's this connection that means the most to us, and we like to think that this reflects in our work.
Although we could give advice on even more particulars, these are just a few tidbits that could have a tremendous impact on the flow of the day and the photos themselves. We hope you've gleaned a little knowledge from our personal wedding experience as both the bride and groom and now, as photographers, coming from a completely different perspective. Best wishes, and happy planning!
Part 2 of our tips series is coming soon!
