When you see each other for the first time at the alter, you get to smile, hold hands and get on with it.  With a first look, you can take time to really experience that moment.  You can cry.  You can hug.  You can tell each other how smokin’ hot you look.  You can even do all those things at once! What’s even better is that you get to have pictures of it all (pardon my bias, but I honestly can’t help myself).

A first look also allows you to complete all of your formal portraits before the ceremony, which in turn allows you to maintain the momentum and emotion of the ceremony straight through to the reception.  You don’t have make a fake exit, circle back into the sanctuary, and wrangle up all your family and bridal party members. Instead, you’re free to jump in the limo, snuggle up to your honey and drive off into the sunset. 

My strong preference for the first look approach isn’t just because it provides opportunities for beautifully emotional images or because it’s a more efficient use of precious wedding day time.  I also prefer it because I know how stressful a wedding can be when you don’t have your best friend and partner by your side.  My man and I didn’t see each other before the ceremony, and I was a giant bucket of stress.  My one and only attendant was MIA, my grandmother-in-law-to-be was lost, and the clock was tick-tick-ticking.  By the time I started my walk down the aisle (20 minutes late), I was such a mess that I burst into tears the moment I laid eyes on my man.  And believe me when I say that my cry-face is not my most attractive look.

The one thing that would have put the kibosh on the pre-ceremony freak-out session would have been having my honey next to me, making me laugh, giving me smooches, and assuring me that no matter how many things went wrong, we’d still end up married and happy at the end of the day.

If there ever comes a day when I can talk my husband into marrying me again (I try it every year), believe me, we will see each other beforehand.  We will cry.  We will hug.  We will tell each other how smokin’ hot we look.  We may even do all those things at once, and there will be amazing photographs of it all.

Love it or leave it.

The absolutely most important, top of the list, highest priority step for getting the most out of your wedding photography investment is to hire the photographer you love.  I cannot stress enough that saving a few hundred bucks is not worth getting stuck with images you’re not proud to display in your home and show to your family and friends.  Love it or leave it.  It’s that’s simple.

A zillion uses for engagement session photographs

If your photographer includes an engagement session, take advantage it!  An E-session is a must-have for a number of reasons: 1) It gives you a chance to get comfy with the process and the person.  Then when the big day arrives your photographer will know what you like, and you’ll be more at ease knowing you’re in good hands.  Less stress is best! 2) Engagement images are great for guest books, save-the-date items, place cards, centerpieces, programs, slide shows, signature mats – the list goes on and on. 3) Besides the zillions of wedding uses, it’s always nice to have portraits in your home of you and your honey in “regular” clothes. 

Keep your honey sweet by keeping your time line on track.

Work with your photographer to plan a realistic time line and stick to it.  Your photographer will know how much time to schedule for portraits, and you’d be well served to take his or her advice.  Few things can turn up the stress levels more than running behind schedule and trying to cram everything in to whatever time you have left. You’ll be stressed.  You friends and family will be stressed.  And your honey will cease to be as sweet.   Schedule in a little “just-in-case” time here and there to be on the safe side. 

Crowd Control

When you meet with your photographer for your final consultation, be sure to discuss your expectations for formal family and bridal party portraits.  I’m a big fan of utilizing a shot list for formals because it makes sure everybody’s on the same page, helps determine the amount of time needed, and addresses the additional time and considerations that might be needed to accommodate small children, divorces and physical or mental challenges.  If your photographer doesn’t work with an assistant, enlisting the help of a friend or family member that knows most of the people involved can help keep groups under control.  Additionally, it allows your photographer to concentrate on creating the images rather than tracking down the subjects.

It pays to be a blabbermouth.

Communication is vitally important to your time line and to your wedding day sanity.   Talk to your hair and make-up vendors about how much time they’ll need.  Talk to your florist about when your photography coverage begins.  Talk to your family and bridal party members about when they’ll need to be ready and where you’ll need them to be for portraits. Talk to your ceremony coordinator about when you can arrive and when you need to be out the door.  Talk to your DJ about when the first dances take place.  Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, repeat. 

Divide and conquer

This is your day but you’ll be sacrificing chunks of hair to the stress gods if you try to do it all yourself.  Delegation is your salvation.  Delegate tasks to the people in your family and bridal party that your can trust to follow through.  Better yet, involve a wedding planner.  Some companies offer smaller “day of” packages if you’re looking for a budget-friendly alternative.

Practice makes perfect

Utilize trial runs for your hair, make-up and attire.  It’s better to find out in advance how long each task takes, how your veil works with your hair, and how well your make-up holds up throughout the day.  Try on your dress with all your accessories, including undergarments, shoes and jewelry.  Make sure you can sit, stand, walk, bend, lean forward, raise your hands over your head, and even dip and jump to make sure that everything moves when it should and stays put when it should.

Make-up Malcontents

If you’ve ever seen photographs were it looks like someone’s make-up was a few shades too light, the culprit was most likely SPF.  Although SPF is a definitely a “do” on every other day of your life, for your wedding, it’s best to avoid lotions and make-up with SPF.  It reflects light differently from skin without SPF, which can cause that oddly mismatched look.

Similarly, avoid other products that reflect light like body glitter, lip gloss and shimmery eye shadows.  These products can create “specular highlights,” which in non-photographer speak means “white dots” on your images. 

 Obviously, no one wants to look like a raccoon after a good boo-hoo, but you can do better than waterproof mascara.  I’m talking about fake eyelashes, ladies.  Get them.  Wear them. Love them.  You can even have your own eye-lashes dyed!  Will wonders never cease? 

For additional wedding make-up tips, check out these articles by Annalise Kaylor.  I was lucky enough to photograph her wedding, and I can attest to the fact that her make-up was the picture of perfection.   As both an author and an extremely talented make-up artist, this girl knows her stuff!

Tanning: Friend or Foe?

The answer, with a doubt, is foe!  Tanning is not your friend.  It is an evil, evil liar.  It’ll whisper sweet promises of a more gorgeous you, but when you’re not looking, it’ll punch you in the gut and run away with your youth. I’ve sat in front of my computer until my eyes are on the verge on bleeding retouching tan lines, wrinkles, yucky skin texture, and shades of orange that don’t occur naturally within the human race.  This tan-ban includes fake tans, too, folks.  They’re notorious for being splotchy and even worse than regular tans for producing weird-o orange tones.  Your best bet is to make friends with your natural skin tone and kick that nasty, evil tan to the curb.

Drink, drank, drunk in photos.

If your rehearsal dinner is the night before, keep the cocktails in check.  A hangover is not an accessory you want to be wearing on your wedding day.  It doesn’t look good, and it sure as shoot doesn’t feel good.  Additionally, try to refrain from pulling out all the party stops until the reception.  Whether you want to believe it or not, drunk shows.  And it does not photograph well.

With those hair-pulling memories fresh in my mind, I’m here to offer you a hand out of the depths of decision-making despair by providing useful information for choosing the perfect wedding photographer for you.  There’s three steps:

1. Compile a short list of your favorite photographers.
2. Meet with your favorite photographers.
3. Decide which is the best match for your style, personality and budget.

Easy peasy.  Now let’s get crack a’ lackin’.

1) Who makes the cut: Compiling a list of favorites.

Do you love the photographers’ work?  Only consider those you LOVE, and I mean really, really LOVE.  When you’re surfing websites during your lunch break (and I know you do), wait for that “Ohhhhh!” moment.  If you respond emotionally to a stranger’s wedding, think about how you’ll feel when it’s you in the photograph.  If you don’t LOVE a photographer’s work, don’t bother, no matter how tempting the price tag. 

Can you work it into your budget?  Keep an open mind when it comes to what you can afford and remember that you’re making a purchase for a lifetime not a day.  If you think the photographer you absolutely adore is out of your range, consider a smaller package.  Six hours with a fantastic photographer are far more valuable than 12 hours with a mediocre one.                                                                                                           

2) And the nominees are: Meeting prospective photographers.

Once you’ve determined your list of favorites, make time to meet each photographer in person.  You can get the information you’ll need to make your decision by asking the following questions:

Is photography their full-time profession? Full-time photographer’s stake their family’s financial well-being on the quality of their work.  That’s some serious motivation to exceed expectations.

How many weddings do they photograph a year? It goes without saying that a photographer who shoots 25 weddings a year is more apt to be at the top of their game than someone who shoots four or five.

Do they specialize in wedding photography? Photographing weddings is a universe unto itself.  It involves working with large groups, tense situations, tight time lines, constantly changing lighting conditions, challenging locations, and in spite of all that, everything absolutely, positively has to be right the first time.  This kind of photography is not for the faint of heart; it takes experience to know how to accommodate the unique demands of weddings.

Is the photographer you’re meeting the one who’ll be photographing the event? Some studios have multiple photographers.  Be sure to meet with and review the work of the person who will actually be photographing your event.

Do they belong to any professional organizations? Membership in professional organizations is a positive sign that the photographer is involved in their professional community and continuing education.     

Do they have back-up equipment and insurance? If you’re meeting with a photographer that doesn’t have back-up equipment or insurance, feign a visit to the restroom and escape out the back door.   This is one of the few subjects that brings out my snarky side.  It’s irresponsible, selfish and just plain stupid to work without backup equipment.  It’s the couple and their families that ultimately suffer if equipment malfunctions and there’s no Plan B.

Do they work with an assistant? Assistants allow photographers to focus on what they do best – create gorgeous, meaningful images.  Assistants can also make your life easier because they often assist with wrangling family and bridal party members during formal portraits.  If you’re friends and family tend to wander, you’ll appreciate this more than you can imagine.

What exactly is included in the price, and what expenses might there be after the event? Know exactly what your package includes and what products or services might be necessary after your event.  Some photographers “back-load” their prices, meaning that although there may be a low up-front cost, there are significant post-event expenses.

3) And the winner is: Making the final cut.

After meeting with photographers, you’ll undoubtedly have connected with some more than others.  Don’t underestimate the importance of a good personality match.  Your photographer is the only vendor that will be with you ALL DAY LONG!  You’ll spend more time with your photographer than you will with most of your guests, so make sure it’s time well spent. 

At this point you should have an even shorter list of favorites.  To make the final cut, circle back to the beginning and ask yourself again, “Do I love their work?”  Can you imagine their photographs on your walls?  Can you imagine passing the album on to your children?  If the answer if yes, then ask yourself if you can spend your wedding day with this person.  And last, but certainly not least, can you make the investment work with your budget? 

See, I told you it would be easy.

And here’s the deal-io muchachos, and I say this only because I have witnessed it personally, Sarah’s presence is more calming than prescription pharmaceuticals.  And for anyone that’s ever planned a wedding or participated in a wedding, you know that things can get downright frightening.  Moms get stressed.  Sisters get lost.  Best men get intoxicated, and red things get spilled on white dresses.  But with a qualified, experienced wedding professional like Sarah, all you’ll have on your to-do list is to enjoy one of the best days of your life with the most important people in your life.

And here’s a little secret you may not know about wedding photographers . . . we’re all terrible control freaks.  In order to create gorgeous images, we want to control the light, control the pose, control the location.   Having to “share” a wedding with another professional can rattle our obsessive-compulsive nerves.  But I can honestly say, and I’ve told Sarah this myself, that I wish she was at every wedding I’m invited to photograph.  And that, my friends, is the highest praise I can give.

071_LisaGary 090_LisaGary 145_LisaGary 170_LisaGary 183_LisaGary 272_LisaGary 285_LisaGary 366_LisaGary 1 377_LisaGary

I’ll get straight to the point: Tara Guerard ROCKS.  This woman has vision, and she knows how to party.  She is widely regarded as one of the premier event planners in the states, and she shared with us her take on the upcoming wedding trends for 2010. 

Chocolate has been ousted from it’s thrown, and Grey will reign as king.  Lavender, pink, gold and campaign will also sit on high.

Candy stations, and thank goodness for this, are still on the “to do” list.  Whether you kick it old school or stock up with your current favorites, tie them to the main theme through color or custom wrappers. 

Teeny, tiny food is tops.  Tara recommends keeping your mini-sized appetizers and desserts to single-bite selections.   Apparently, two bites is too much. 

Custom monograms continue to be a favorite and are being stitched, painted, projected, printed, etched, and frosted on just about anything that will hold still long enough. 

Something Old is going to kick Something Blue to the curb because vintage is in and blue is out.  Sorry, Blue.

Signature drinks get a big, fat YAY from Tara not only because they personalize your wedding but also because they help minimize lines at the bar.

Details that are worth the effort: “going away” signs on the back of your get-away vehicle, embroidered ribbons, wax seals, menu cards, etched glasses in lieu of place cards, rose petals, and painted foliage.  Of her party favor suggestions, my personal favorite is providing flip-flops at the reception for guests wanting to escape their painfully cute shoes. 

These last few trends aren’t the most budget-friendly, but they certainly sounded glamorous.  Tara is a huge fan of separate spaces for cocktails, dinner, dancing, and lounging and recommends partitioning off areas with draping if multiple rooms aren’t available.  And when the dancing is over and the cake’s been eaten, Tara says it’s time to change into a different dress, move into a new room, and start the eating and drinking process all over again.  I told you this girl knows how to party.