By Kristal Johnson (WedNet Specialist Blogger for Wedding Planning): Event Source Northwest: http://www.eventsourcenw.com/kristal.html
WOW! I’ve been married 3 weeks now, but it seems like just yesterday I walked down the aisle! It goes by so fast.
Being a wedding planner you’d think that it would be easy to plan your own wedding, right? Think again! I’ve been planning & coordinating weddings for years now, but it wasn’t until I began on my own wedding that I realized how emotionally CRAZY you become when you’re a bride. You can be as organized and put together as possible and still feel like everything is out of control. It’s almost like an allergic reaction to the emotions and stress. Some days I wouldn’t even think about my wedding and was totally calm, other days I’d break down crying over a shade of purple. It was nuts! There were many times that I had wished I had hired a wedding coordinator to keep my emotions in check. All my friends and family say “you’re a wedding planner so this should be a piece of cake for you”. Wrong! When you mix in emotions all bets are off! So now, brides, I really know how you feel! I ended up getting some help to balance my “Drama” with my wedding planning experience, and it was the most spectacular day ever! All of the people that meant the most to me were there and I’d do it over again in a heartbeat.
When it comes to the day of the wedding I have planned, I am the cool, calm, and collected “go to” girl (as long as I’m not the bride!). I get to know my brides and grooms on a personal level so I can help them create the most blissful day of their dreams and a wedding tailored specifically to their needs & personality, all while having fun during the planning process. Now that I’ve experienced firsthand how it is to be a bride, I can help brides and grooms in need of assistance even more - that’s why I’ve started this blog, as a Specialist Blogger for WedNet. While others will focus on specific topics such as photography, the needs of the groom and so on my focus will be overall wedding planning. I will touch on all topics from saving you money & reducing stress, to dealing with family drama and negotiating with vendors. I’ll be updating the blog each week with valuable information and be here to answer all or your wedding related questions. I look forward to helping you keep sane & enjoy your day.
By Jimmy Horner (WedNet Specialist Blogger for Groom Issues): The Man Registry, http://www.themanregistry.com
It’s becoming more common for engaged couples to have at least one shower that includes the groom. Typically known as couple’s showers, these events tend to be more focused on home improvement, bar and grilling tools, backyard and lawn equipment and honeymoon themes. Now, here’s a wedding shower that guys can truly get excited about (what could be better than getting a 24-volt cordless drill kit to help jumpstart your marriage?). Here are a few shower theme ideas created with the man in mind:
Home Improvement Shower: Gifts include gadgets that can be used to remodel, update or repair things around the house (such as tool sets, painting equipment or dry wall tools). A fun game idea is to write out enough name tags for the guest list, but instead of writing the guests’ names, write down the name of a tool. When guests arrive, they’ll be asked to grab a clothespin and choose a name tag that best suits them, or least embarrasses them.
Backyard, Lawn & Garden Shower: Guests bring gifts that can be used in the yard (think landscaping tools and equipment, hammocks, putting greens or tiki torches). A fun option is to have everyone dress up in Hawaiian or tropical attire and serve pina coladas.
Bar and Grill Shower: Guests bring gifts that can be used for the bar or grill such as beer mugs, martini glasses, grilling tools, BBQ sauce, cedar grilling planks or even a group gift of a new grill.
Honeymoon Shower: Guests bring gifts that go toward or can be used on the honeymoon, including towels or snorkel gear for beach destinations, camping gear for outdoors lovers or even a travel guide or cash to help ease the cost of the trip.
The Bottom Line: I recommend going with a Home Improvement Shower. Tools tend to be gifts that last a lifetime, regardless of whether you live in a house or an apartment. Just remember to be creative. There’s no reason a Home Improvement Shower can’t also include BBQ and grill accessories — gifts that appeal to both the groom and bride.
By Daniel Sheehan (WedNet Specialist Blogger for Photography): A Beautiful Day Photography, http://www.abeautifuldayphotography.com
As a wedding photographer, I sometimes run into a number of situations at weddings that present an obstacle to my taking a really good large group photograph of the wedding party or family portrait. Nowadays at weddings it seems every wedding guest brings along their own little point and shoot digital camera to capture every moment of the event for themselves. Everybody wants to be a photographer.
The majority of photographs I make at weddings are candid unposed shots of real moments as they unfold. Most of the time I have no problem with wedding guests taking pictures around me during the day unless they are jumping up directly in front of my camera to take a photo of the bride and groom just as they come marching down the aisle. That has actually happened a couple of times and is something I still can't get a kick out of.
But often at a number of weddings every year, while I am making the few formal group photographs of the wedding party and family portraits, friends or other family members with their own little digital camera, want to stand right next to me, or off to one side or another, as they attempt to get the photo I have just arranged.
There is often a lot of stress at that moment since we are on a very tight schedule, very often running way behind the schedule (I often find myself reassuring the bride just about then “Don’t worry. They can’t start the wedding without you!). Usually these formal posed portraits are taken just before the time guests begin to arrive for the wedding ceremony. It is tricky to stop and explain why I do not want anyone else around with cameras. I try as diplomatically as possible to plead to them to stop. Do they? Often they pretend to not hear me or ignore me or act offended if they do acknowledge my entreaties.
Later, during the reception, some of these people come up and tell me they think the reason I didn't want them taking a photo then was because I was afraid of losing revenue from print sales or that I was feeling jealous. That is not the case. My business model does not depend upon after wedding print sales. The reason is that I want everyone in my posed group photo to be all looking in the same direction - at me.
When several cameras are pointing at a group of people posing for a picture, it is natural for some people to look off to the left at one camera, some off to the right at another camera, and the rest will be looking at my lens. When the photograph is later printed large enough to really see it, everyone looking off in different directions has a disconcerting psychological effect on the viewer. To these guests off to the side with their own cameras, the photo they think they see me making is just a photo of a group of people. The picture I am actually trying to make though, is of a set of pairs of eyeballs and I want to photograph all of them looking directly at my lens. Nothing destroys a good group photo more than if some are looking off right, some to the left, and some right at the lens on my camera. A print of a group picture is most satisfying when every set of eyes is looking directly at the viewer of the photograph. Anything else is a reject photo when it comes time for editing after the wedding.
The best strategy I have discovered is to try to politely ask them to wait until after I have finished my shot, and then they can take their turn. Amazingly, this actually works sometimes. When I shoot, I always make multiple shots of each group to insure that there is at least one frame with no half closed eyes caught as people blink. When I am finally done I signal to them that they can rush in and take their turn. That way we all get a good picture, and everyone is happy as long as it doesn't put us too far behind the schedule. (Never make the wedding planner or the church ladies angry by holding up the start time of the ceremony. They never forget.) The aspiring photographers should keep in mind that the bride and groom have hired a professional photographer at great expense to make their wedding photographs so as to ensure sure that their wedding album will end up looking great. If they really need to get their own print of the photo, they can get a copy of my picture from the wedding couple later. If they insist on to making their own version,they need to be patient and wait a little until I have finished making the photo for the bride and groom. That way the stress will subside and we can all enjoy the wedding.