So all that to say, take care of your mom before and during the big day. I know my mom was stressed on my wedding day because I didn’t realize until after the wedding how much responsibility she had given herself. Take care of her even if she doesn’t want you to worry over her!

Bride and Groom see each other before:

3:15: Bride and Groom meet for the first time, photos of just the two of them.
3:45: Wedding Party Photos
4:15: Family Photos
5:00: Hide out, freshen up while guests arrive & music begins
5:30: Ceremony begins

Groom sees Bride for the first time walking down the aisle:

4:15: Wedding Party & Immediate Family Photos (All the guys, all the girls, Groom with parents, Bride with Parents, etc.)
5:00: Hide out, freshen up while guests arrive & music begins
5:30: Ceremony begins
6:00: Ceremony ends
6:00: Bride, Groom and wedding party hides while guests exit & so party can save chatting for later at the reception!
6:15: All Family Photos
6:45: Wedding Party Photos
7:15: Bride and Groom’s Photos
7:30: Reception

To be honest, I have always eaten whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.  I mean, I don’t like junk food that much, but I am a sucker when it comes to Ruffles, Twinkies, and Donuts for sure.  Jesse says I eat like a bird.  I like everything with the exception of sushi and beans.  The cafe at the college I went to was buffet style breakfast, lunch and dinner. My parents were paying for my meal plan, so I wanted to get out of it as much as I could.  The summer of my last year at college I was a camp counselor where we had to eat whatever the cafeteria fed us and we never were allowed seconds.  That summer I had a inconvenient awakening to how much food I really ate.  I had to cut my proportions in half for every meal and we rarely had snacks.  Of course, I was active as well, but no more active than I normally was.  The first 3 weeks was terrible, I was hungry ALL the time.  I would have given someone $20 for an Almond Joy or a Chick-fil-a Sandwich I was so hungry.  After the first 3 weeks I was fine and I can’t say that my jeans were falling off when I got home.  I really don’t remember thinking, “Wow, I’ve lost weight” until about 6 months later because those 3 months of consistent healthy proportions had allowed my stomach to realize how much it really needed.  In other words, my stomach shrank.  It was a natural tummy tuck that didn’t cost me anything.  When I got back, I didn’t even have to think about not eating too much, I just wasn’t hungry enough.  Even now, I cannot for the life of me finish a Number 1 meal at Chick-fil-a. It is interesting how much food is served at restaurants here compared to other countries.  And it isn’t the restaurant’s fault, it’s consumers who demand the proportion.

So all that to say, I accidentally lost weight by cutting my proportions in half.  I mean, think about it… So you eat a big healthy lunch that you sort of enjoy that is only 400 calories, while I’m eating half of a big ole juicy hamburger and half of my baked potato that would have been 700 calories but its only 350 calories because I saved the other half for leftovers.  I win!  And I have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch so I just saved me some money too!  Eating healthy proportions is an instant coupon.  A friend of my husband’s commented one time that he is saving a lot of money taking me out to eat since I don’t eat that much.

Everyone is different of course and everyone gains and looses weight differently.  I probably wouldn’t have died or anything if I had stayed a size 8, but I do know I wouldn’t have felt as healthy.  Loosing weight isn’t a good idea for everyone.  I just wanted to share my thoughts on the subject since I know a lot of you are preparing to look your best on your wedding day!

Referrals are always the best when it comes to people you will be working with on a more communication and personal level.  It isn’t like you are buying a product, you are buying a person for the day.  It isn’t just important for the bride and wedding party, but also for the hired help as well.  As a photographer, I could careless how much money someone was paying me if I knew that my style of photography wouldn’t please them when they received their photos after the wedding.

Wedding planners are the most important when it comes to large weddings, brides and families who have tight schedules and bride’s planning their wedding out of town.  Thank goodness for the internet for out of town brides!  Many people plan their weddings away from the destination just using the internet and phone, but it is hard to know who is good and who isn’t from far away sometimes.  Larger weddings of course need an extra hand to organize details that a coordinator won’t be able to catch up with in just one day.

As far as coordinators and planners I recommend, it depends on where your wedding will be, so contact me and I’ll give you some good ones!

The Venue

Firstly, I’d like to share some advice about the venue of your wedding.  When it comes to the general aesthetic of your wedding, where it takes place is the most important part. I can’t express how important it is.  Think about how important the atmosphere of a restaurant is.  It immediately explains the type of food you are about to eat.  The same goes for your wedding venue.  The atmosphere of a wedding on the lawn of a mansion is completely different than the atmosphere of a Catholic church in December.  If you are going to splurge on anything, splurge here. The best venue takes very little to no decor.  Not only will this save you money, but it will save you a lot of headache!  Of course, not every city or town has an array of options, so you may have to settle somewhere.  At our wedding, the ceremony was held outside under a tent behind in an old civil war home that was turned into a restaurant where the reception was held. We didn’t have to rent tables, chairs, linens, glasses, etc. And the restaurant was decorated so nicely, we just put a small candle on each table. It saved us so much time and money that we were able to spend on other things!

Lighting

As a photographer, I’ve had some really bad lighting conditions. No one looks good under fluorescent lighting. Pick a place that has some great natural lighting.  Your photos will turn out so nice. If you are having your wedding at night, a white ceiling will help with external flashes and spotlights.

Discount

Venues and other wedding services love weekday weddings. If it could be an option for you, ask them if they would consider giving you a discount for a weekday.

Location

Having the ceremony and the reception at the same place is a good idea. If it isn’t an option for you, make sure you have a card with well written directions and even a map. Designate someone to pass the cards out after the ceremony or include it in the program and invitation.

Parking

Think outside the box.  You can have a ceremony and/or reception almost anywhere!  The biggest thing to consider is parking.  Although, that may not even stop you.  I was a photographer at a wedding right on 3rd Avenue in Nashville where it would be impossible to find parking on a Saturday night for that many people.  She really wanted to have the wedding there, so they resulted in hiring a valet service which made it even more classy than it already was!

Your Guests

Also, think about your guests.  If you have several older guests attending, insisting they sit outside in the middle of July is inconsiderate.  So many people will want to make the wedding day the bride’s day, but when your guests are uncomfortable because they had to hike to get there or had to wait 2 hours just to eat will more than likely make them feel unpleasant and in return dampen the mood of the afternoon or evening.

Most importantly, pick a location where you know you will have a great time!  A lot of people forget that the wedding ceremony was intended to be a CEREMONY, so CELEBRATE!

1. The Boutineers: Even though this isn’t a tragic one, about 1 out 2 weddings have an issue with the boutineers in some fashion.  Most of the time, there hasn’t been anyone designated to pin the flowers on the guys and since putting a flower on your left shoulder isn’t a normal routine for a guy, they usually stand around with their shoulders shrugged waiting for direction where there usually isn’t any.  In fact, I’ve been known to help put on several boutineers!  I don’t mind at all of course, it just eliminates a few minutes of a good photograph or two.  It is always more special to have the mom or some other relative help pin them and normally the parents are the ones running around taking care of everyone else.  So waiting on them delays even more time for photos and other events.  What I would suggest is to schedule a time for someone close to the groom to help pin them on and allow 15 min to do so for all the groomsmen as well.  Sometimes its hard getting those things on!

2. Scheduling: Writing out a schedule for everyone is so important.  It helps eliminate everyone in the wedding party asking a million questions and wandering when they should be somewhere else.  Especially when it comes to photos, if the group photo is of 30 people and 29 people show up, all 29 people have to stand there and wait for the last person and more than likely one of the 29 people has to go find the last person.  Sometimes, the last person shows up before the guy that went to go look for him comes back and so on… it can get frustrating.  Not to mention it delays everything else following.  Having a schedule posted on doors and in people’s hands help out so much for everyone.  Think of it like you are scheduling air line flights, more than likely, something is going to be delayed and it is going to effect the most of the events following.  You’d rather be early and have to sit around for an hour than be in a hurry on such a fun day!

3. The Bride’s Hair: Most people go for a more simple look these days.  There are probably a lot less metal hair spray cans in salons inventory these days.  Although, it is just one of many things that you can’t do ahead of time, it has to be done at the last minute.  If you are planning on doing your hair yourself, practice a lot before the wedding to make sure you have it right.  If someone else is doing it, have a trial run appointment.  If you are having engagement portraits or bridal portraits, the morning before your portraits would be a useful time.

4.  The Legal Stuff: You’d be surprised how many weddings I’ve been to and someone forgets the really important stuff because they were so worried about all the details.  For instance, the marriage license…yes, for real!  I’ve been to three weddings now where they have forgotten to go to the courthouse and get the marriage license!  The rings are a big one as well.  The bride thinks the groom has it, the groom thinks the best man has it, the best man thinks the dad has it… I have also been to two weddings where the bride has completely forgotten to put her veil on!  Veils aren’t as popular these days so usually no one notices if there isn’t one.

5. Flowers: The flowers can be arranged differently than you hoped very easily.  If you are having a florist arrange and deliver them, make sure you are very specific about what you would like.  There are many kinds of flowers, colors and designs.  Bringing photos help a lot.  One less expensive and less nerving approach you should consider is silk flowers.  I know, it sounds really stupid, but if you know where to go to get some nice silk flowers, they look fantastic.  Some flowers are really hard to get in different seasons so silk flowers gives you way more options.  Plus think of other fun things to add to your arrangements like peacock feathers, christmas decor, ribbon, etc.  Visit www.etsy.com for some fun ideas.