I want to share an amazing wedding with everyone! This wedding was in Malibu… at the Malibu West Club and it was done flawlessly!!!! It was fun, warm, and such a blast!!!! Rhonda and Erik were on a budget, yet they pulled off one of the most visually beautiful weddings I have seen! The details were flawless. Rhonda and Michelle (her wedding planner) did a great job! These are a few of my favorite pictures (out of over 1200 images!!!)
Ok… I want to talk about something super important in your wedding day – possibly the most important part of that one very special day. Stress…
We all know (all of us girls who have had to plan our own weddings) that weddings can be very stressful. I mean, if you think about it – most of us are not wedding planners. We probably have never planned an event of this magnitude ever in our lives. So all of the sudden we are expected to plan a full-scale gorgeous wedding (sometimes while keeping a tight budget)!?!?! Seriously… it can make a woman a little nutty – especially if we still have to keep our jobs and every day responsibilities! (hence… why I absolutely LOVE wedding planners… they are the angels of the wedding industry! LOL!!). Needless to say… I understand all the stress… really, I do.
So you have stressed out for months (sometimes even years) planning this wedding… agonizing over every little detail. You’ve invested a pretty penny on gorgeous flowers, reception hall, cake, video/photo.. etc. So after the wedding, when you’ve received your wedding photos (and/or video) –what do you realize? That you neglected to smile ONCE during your entire day!!! OMG!!!!! All of that money, all of that planning – and you have an album full of images where you look like you’re physically in pain!?!?!
Girls… please… I can’t emphasize this enough – PLEASE…. ENJOY YOUR WEDDING DAY.
I always tell all of my clients the week before the wedding – do all the last minute stressing the last week, heck – do it the last night if you have to… get it all out of your system. Go nuts trying to get all the details absolutely perfect if you must. But on your wedding day – please just let it be… relax…. SMILE. No matter what happens… even if things don’t go exactly as planned (Trust me, they rarely do) – just let it go. You probably won’t be able to fix anything at that point anymore… you’ll just be stressing yourself out in vain. Just let things slide off, and enjoy your day. I mean, seriously… as long as you and the love of your life are tying the knot… that’s what matters the most.. that’s why you’re both there. So if you said your ‘I do’s’ – then consider the day a success! The rest is just icing on that wonderful cupcake!!!
I’m not necessarily saying that you need to smile all day long… or for every single picture. But even in pictures where the bride isn’t smiling… where it looks like she’s contemplating something – she is still glowing, and you can see the smile in her eyes… that comes from happiness and sheer joy.
I can’t tell you how sad it is to see a bride that is so stressed out that she can’t even force herself to smile. As a photographer… I wish I could give her some peace… something to smile about. I know sometimes things can get stressful… and I always remind my clients to smile… relax… enjoy. I sometimes even take them away from the wedding day ‘chaos’ during the bride and groom shots (away from family and friends) – because sometimes that helps to clear their minds. Luckily I haven’t had any cases where nothing I do works, but I have been to weddings as a guest where nothing at all works. Do you really want to see those wedding pictures 10 years down the line and only remember how stressed you were?
Remember that even the most amazing photographer in the world can’t add that smile and glow to your face if you’re truly so upset.
Enjoy your day… you’re there with your family, your friends, your love. Relax, (maybe have a nice drink), enjoy the food, the fun… and SMILE.
Beautiful and glowing bride... notice how she's not smiling, yet her glow is beautiful
Same bride... now smiling beautifully!!!
Even though she's not smiling... she looks absolutely stunning!
without even looking at the camera, this beautiful bride just glows!
One of my absolute favorite parts of a wedding has always been the first dance… that special dance filled with hope and love. I still remember my first dance when my husband and I got married… I remember him holding me close and how happy I felt! I also remember how nervous I was that I had a room filled with people watching me … I mean, I know they were there watching at the ceremony too, but during the ceremony they were mostly looking at my back (I had a Catholic wedding) – so I felt much more aware of people during my first dance than during my ceremony. First dances can be a very stressful moment, but it can also be one of the most beautiful moments of the day – and definitely a great moment for your wedding photography.
As a wedding photographer, I have seen all sorts of first dances. I have seen every style – from ballroom dancing, to completely choreographed upbeat dancing, to simple and intimate.
I personally think that a first dance should be a reflection of your personality (both the bride and groom’s, of course). If you make your first dance a reflection of you – then it will come out naturally, and simply (and with a little less stress). If you are a couple that loves to dance and are very outgoing and energetic, and you want to go all out and do something choreographed that your friends and family will remember forever – then by all means GO FOR IT!!! But if you are shy, this may not be the way to go for you (even if all your friends and family tell you it will be great for you to go all out) – resist the temptation to just follow their advice if you don’t feel comfortable with it. If you are shy, I might suggest you keep it sweet and simple… just think of it as an intimate moment between you and your soul mate.
I personally love romantic first dances… by that I mean a dance where the bride and groom are clearly too into each other to worry about anyone else. When they are so in love at that moment that they clearly feel they are the only two people in the room. Those images always come out amazing… the camera truly captures that love like no other time in the day! If you just enjoy your soul mate… it WILL show through… trust me!!!
If you are planning to do anything special… even if it’s a dip sometime during the dance… you might want to keep your photographer and/or videographer in mind. If you do that dip at an angle where they just can’t capture it, then it’s a moment that’s gone… it can’t be re-done. If that special dip is important to you… make sure you position yourselves so that your photographer can capture it form a good angle (preferably ‘front and center’ – but of course, that’s me wishing for the best… lol!!). Remember that your photographer is only human, which means they can’t fly across the room to get that shot… if you have your back to them when you do the dip, then that’s the moment they can capture.
Remember that your first dance is ultimately a moment between you and your husband.. So enjoy it, savor it, and treasure it forever!!!
Romantic first dance... and a delicious wedding cake!!! What more could you ask for?
A beautiful dance with a touch of flare
So I obviously keep forgetting to update my blog… I definitely need to get used to writing more often. The good news is that I now have a list of article subjects all ready to type out (hopefully more often). I am working on one at the moment, but in the mean time I wanted to showcase an amazing wedding I did last month… there was such an incredible amount of pictures from it, that it took me forever to go through all of them. Here are just a few dozen of my absolute favorite ones.
The wedding was at the CBS studio lot, at their New York Street set. It was amazingly realistic, especially in pictures!!! I loved working with Jenn and Seth, they were such a romantic, yet modern couple! They really liked to have fun.
Check out her shoes!!! I thought they were so great!!!
Super cute and modern wedding shoes!!!!
Right outside the beautiful church
Check out how realistic these buildings at CBS studios are!!!
Beautiful wedding cake details
I loved her floral arrangements!! I definitely have to get her florist's number!!!
Reception at CBS Studios - check out the sign on the 'theater'!!!Is this like a wedding in New York street or what!!! AMAZING Wedding!!!Is this like a wedding in New York street or what!!! AMAZING Wedding!!!
Is this like a wedding in New York street or what!!! AMAZING Wedding!!!
So the love of your life has finally popped the question… you’ve told family and friends… you’ve probably already started planning your day, and are now realizing that it’s not as easy as you thought!!! Flowers, caterers, dresses, cakes, favors, napkins, so many things to plan!!!! So when do you start looking for the professionals that will capture all of those details that you have planned out… the wedding photographer and videographer? I can’t speak much for the wedding videographer, since that’s not my specialty, but I can sure give you some tips for looking for and choosing the right photographer for you.
There are many things to consider when it comes to finding the right photographer for your specific needs… sure there are tons and tons of photographers (thousands in the L.A. area alone!!!), and it will be a little mind-boggling at first, trust me. So first… take a deep breath and consider a few things. I always recommend to sit down (before you even start looking) and write down your needs… what you want, what you expect, and what you want to pay to get it. Now … toss it all out the window, but keep it in the back of your head.
First let’s think about what you do want out of your photographer… what is it that is most important to you? Do you want a traditional photographer, photojournalistic, editorial? (feel free to read my previous post where I discuss the difference of those 3 styles). Do you want to get time only, or prints as well? What kind of album do you want? All of these things will play a huge role in your final decision. Remember that whatever you get now will be an heirloom for your family for generations to come. So do you want to settle for just ‘whatever’, are you ok with friends just taking pictures from those disposable cameras, or do you want to have something that will last a lifetime…
With photography, as with anything wedding related… you can get pretty much anything your heart desires – as long as you are willing to pay for it, of course. So you want an amazing photographer to document your entire event, with 3 assistants, plus you want the CD of all the images, 2 deluxe parent’s albums, and an amazing wedding album for you made out of ostrich leather with a solid gold plaque engraved with your names on it and encrusted with diamonds? No problem!!!! …as long as you’re willing to pay for it, of course. (yes.. that album does exist – and trust me, I nearly fainted when I saw the price for just printing it!!!! I can only imagine what it would cost for an actual bride after designer fees have been applied!)
I honestly believe that the trick is to finding a good balance between what you want to receive and then reconcile that with the budget you have for your wedding photography.
So look around on-line, visit photographer’s websites… look at what they can do with images. Personally, when I got married, I would not consider photographers that had a portfolio that had one image from each wedding all mixed into one gallery – I personally wanted to see more images from one particular wedding (at least 24 images from one event, but the more they showed the better). I liked to get a better idea of what my wedding images might look like. I mean, if a photographer shot 2000 images, of course they can find one to showcase and add to their portfolio… I want to see more than one… I didn’t like the idea of just having one great wedding image from my wedding day. Of course, like I said, that is just my personal opinion… I think that’s why I like to show tons of images from each event in my galleries (I have anywhere from 80-100 images per event in each one of the wedding galleries in my portfolio).
Once you see what style you like, look at what they have to offer in their packages. Do they offer packages or all a-la-carte? What do the packages include? CD of images? How many hours? Album? What kind of album? Prints? One thing I always emphasize to my clients is the fact that I color correct each individual image before they even go on the on-line gallery, and it is those color corrected images that are in the CD that they will receive. This is important because some photographers give you the images “as-is… right off the camera” – that means that they may not be at their best saturation. Sure, the prints you get from them will look good since they would surely color correct those images before sending them off to the lab, but what about the images you see on YOUR CD? I personally like to know that any image ‘out there’ that I took will look great!
With the album in mind – ask what kind of album you will get. Traditional? Matted? Coffee table album? Leather album? Hand made album? There are so many types of albums out there! I personally offer the coffee table albums (linen and fully designed cover) and the deluxe leather lay flat albums as well. You might also want to ask who designs the album? Does the photographer do the designing? Using templates? Or custom designed from scratch? Does he/she send it out to an album design company? Do you get to see the album design before it’s printed out? I personally feel it’s very important to see what the album will look like before it’s printed… but I know not all photographers do that. And what happens if you need changes made? Is there an additional fee for those changes? (This is usually the case if the photographer isn’t designing the album himself… he will most likely have to pass on the cost that he will incur from the album design company that he or she uses). I personally design all of my albums individually (from scratch) – no templates or third party companies to worry about. But I know this is not always the case… I happen to be a graphic designer, so I like to have full control of my own designs.
If you feel like they offer great quality, but you might not be able to afford the packages initially, maybe you can inquire about a-la-carte options… maybe the most important thing to YOU is to get them to shoot your wedding day, then you can worry about everything else later… so just ask for their hourly rate or a services-only package. But beware that a la carte options usually tend to run more expensive in the long run than an actual package … but, it usually also means that you don’t have to pay too much up front.
Another very important thing to consider is the deposit/retainer to hold the date. Most vendors in the wedding industry require a percentage as a deposit – anywhere from 20% up to 50% or sometimes more. Think of that when looking for any of your vendors. When I was shopping around for photography for my own wedding, I did notice most photographers that I interviewed charged 40-50% up front… the photographer I chose to hire only required $100 non-refundable deposit… and I loved that! It was such a huge relief to not have to worry about that payment at that point. So that’s what I require from my own clients… just $100 to hold the date.
So now to what I believe is a vital part to consider – the chemistry between you and the photographer. Remember that the photographer will literally be your shadow for the bulk of your wedding day – they will be right there no matter where you turn… so you want to make sure that you definitely feel comfortable with them… make sure you trust them and that you have good ‘chemistry’. The more relaxed you are around them and their camera, the better your images will turn out! If you feel tense and stressed out it WILL show. I like to make sure that my clients are super comfortable with me… we laugh, we share jokes, we relax together – that way the images look more natural and more intimate. When you interview your potential photographers try to pick up on what their personalities are like… aside from their profession, do they seem relaxed, do they seem like they would go with the flow- while still having a strong enough personality to take charge when they need to?
I guess there is no easy way to ‘weed through’ all of the photographers that are out there ready to capture the beauty of your wedding day… just make sure you feel comfortable with whoever you choose and that you trust them professionally and artistically!
Flower girl looking on as the bride gets ready for her wedding day
