Happy Snapper Chappers- A Moody Monday Rant

In my mind, there has always been an unwritten rule- a un-voiced mutual respect of sorts when it comes to wedding pictures – not the official images, but the guest snaps, in that as a guest, you should not post images from the wedding day online, until the Bride & Groom are back from honeymoon / have had chance to see them for themselves first.


The reasoning behind this being that firstly, it's the couple’s day, making it theirs to choose to share with others also. This is the case right from the beginning from when they first decided to invite you to celebrate with them and should in my opinion totally be extended to include post-wedding stress also!


I say stress, because the last thing the happy couple want to be worrying about while on their honeymoon and away from their computers, is coming back to albums and albums of less than flattering pictures of themselves perhaps from later on in the daily proceedings, plastered all over the web.


The thing that disappoints me the most (and unfortunately this happens a lot!) is when photos are uploaded straight from a mobile DURING the event. The wedding ceremony in particular is supposed to be the most special, intimate part of the day and yet I know of a few people that have taken pictures and uploaded straight to Facebook from here! Harrumph.


From dealing with wedding clients through our photography business and also having obviously experienced the wedding process myself, this issue seems to be a common worry- particularly amongst the more self conscious of brides- to the point where I’ve witnessed it being formally requested by the bridal party on the day, that guests do not post anything until the Bride and Groom see them first.


This may seem a little extreme to some, but I feel is completely reasonable! No-one likes to log on to Facebook to pictures of them all over the place after a standard night out, so why following the day that is supposed to be most special for them, would the Bride and Groom!?


Of course, as usual this is just one hens opinion on a matter I feel quite strongly about- Many brides do not have an issue with it and there is no problem with this at all- much like with everything else to do with the day, it is down to your personal take on things, just next time you are a guest, consider checking with the bride and groom first on how they feel before getting all tag-happy.


Rant over and out.


Love,

What is a wedding?

www.dictionary.com

... A joining of lives, the making of a partnership... and yet nowadays planning a wedding is more like planning a performance- less about the couple, and more about showing off.

It feels like in the UK you can only go one of two ways with your wedding day: a) avoid all hassle - elope and marry abroad or b) make a huge show – the whole shebang and get hugely in debt. 

Whatever happened to the happy medium?

Following the success of my own ‘compact’ wedding, I am even more of a fan now of the small intimate wedding – a time when you get to celebrate your marriage with the people who mean most to you and are involved in your lives as a couple – not those you have met once / are a distant relative of – after all, how have they really affected your life as a couple and do they actually care that you are getting married?!

For our wedding, we decided to split the proceedings over two days, as this suited our views on marriage, and also protected our pockets! (Having the legal register signing separate to the reception saved us over £300 in legal fees alone!)

As a couple, we have always been of the opinion that a wedding is about the people, not the paperwork, and our two day event was a real reflection of this- we had the legal signing at the registry office on Saturday, with just the two required witnesses present, and a small party to celebrate the marriage, with family and friends the next day- This date is the one we consider to be our WEDDING day.

Our Sunday celebrations were planned to the same format as a standard wedding so no-one felt as if they had missed out on the previous day’s events (as we appreciate that people view the register signing differently to us!): we got ready separately, my dad walked me in, and we had a short blessing ceremony- performed by my hubber’s mum (who rather handily is a minister!) It was short, super sweet and personal. 
 

“You’ve all been handpicked, as being their nearest & dearest; those who matter most to them. You’re not just here to fill seats, but to share this moment with them today, & promise your support for them in the future”

Part of our blessing ceremony involved our 26 family and friends present responding to the question “Will you do all in your power to support & encourage Natalie & Andrew in their marriage?” with “We will”. While this may seem a little cheese-worthy to some, for us as a couple, it was heart-warming knowing that our nearest and dearest were there, knew we belonged as a couple, and supported our marriage.

Our guests were in no way coerced into coming to our wedding- in fact, quite the opposite! To some, wedding attendance is a chore- an expected day of awkward conversation with strangers and never speaking to the bride and groom, but our guests were never there just for bums on seats, and being such involved and important figures in our lives, they loved it. Loved being invited, loved being there and being with us. And we love them for it too.


A proper wedding.

Love,

How to... BOOTH!

One of the biggest forms of self-made interactive entertainment trending in the wedding world right now is the photo booth. It is quirky, affordable, and most of all FUN!

While people spend the majority of the day shying away and hiding behind every available obstacle to get away from the dreaded wedding photographer, once an evening photo booth is set up and the drinks start flowing, you just can’t drag them away! It is a really great way of capturing informal and uninhibited group pictures, without the standard format of standing in line with cheesy grins, and a fun way to catch unique couple shots without the need for the outreached “Myspace” arm in the bottom corner as standard.

There are official photo booths out there to hire for your event- they come manned and provide instant prints, but the homemade version always ticks the extra boxes with me- It is easily made personal to you and your theme, costs FAR less, and you can fit more people in!

This mini guide is all about how to get the most out of your booth:

1. Background:
Big is better. Bold is brilliant. Keep the background to your theme colours as best you can, but try and also make it a standout feature- bright colours and ballsy patterns really stand out and make the images look just that little bit more interesting! - Best thing is you can use pretty much anything you want for the background and it doesn't have to cost you the earth - we bought some cheap fabric off the roll, or you could even think a little more outside the box and use anything from shower curtains (like our Boy Meets Girl couple, Lucy and Rich!) or bed linen, to ribbons or rugs!

2. Props:

Here, just about anything goes! Raid your fancy dress wardrobe, charity shops and your kids' toy boxes and pull out anything that can be posed with! Oversized glasses, picture frames and hats/wigs work a treat! Can't find exactly what you're after?- Get crafty... utilise lolly pop sticks and barbecue skewers by attaching moustaches and quirky glasses cutouts... buy cheap mdf shape cutouts on eBay* and back them with chalkboard paint / Fablon for quirky chalkboards for guests to interact with and write drunken messages to you on... anything for a giggle! (*The link below is the seller we worked with- if shape is not available as standard, email through your request!)

!MOUSTACHES ON STICKS - A HOW TO!

!MDF SHAPES ON EBAY!

3. Lighting:
You'll want to take these pictures using a decent camera on a tripod - most people will know at least one person who owns a digital SLR and these are perfect. The best lighting to go with this camera set-up is a flash- when we have shot photo booths in the past, we have used a couple of flash-types- the first is an off-camera flash (a flash linked to the camera, but isn't attached to it), and the other is a ring flash- this is attached to the camera and provides light in a similar way to a standard camera flash, while being softer, more even and more flattering! (YESSSS!) If you are asking your photographer to provide / man the photo booth, they should have all this equipment as standard.

4. The set up:

Photo booths are brilliant as evening indoor entertainment- using up a corner of the room that would otherwise be empty and making the absolute most of the space you have paid for, however day-time photo booths are also becoming more and more popular - string up a washing line between some branches and peg your backdrop up, or even just use the fencing / brickwork you may have bordering your space... below are a few ideas people have worked with before to inspire you, or please contact me for more ideas!

Love,