Great Wedding Hints

We find that some of the best weddings we shoot come down to great details. Something fun (which is a theme with us I'm finding as I write), something that's totally unique about you as a couple. Special details doesn't mean necessarily breaking the bank by any means - you can totally find inexpensive ways to pull of classic looks and doing something completely different with your big day!

• Personalized bouquets - accessorize your bouquet with something personal. If a parent or grandparent has passed on, incorporate a small, tiny picture of them into your design. Then they're with you the entire time in spirit and you can have a way to remember them once again in your wedding pictures.
• Color - find great, bold, even daring colors in your bouquets and bridesmaids bouquets. Calla lillies, tropical flowers, orchids, tulips - in oranges, reds, whites, purples, greens can all really be the perverbial 'cherry on the top' for your big day.
• Favors are a great way to say thank you to friends and family who've shared your day with you. If you and your partner are into music - create a cd of some of your favorite music and then create an easy personalzied label and case cover! Personalized M & M's - these are great (and a personal favorite) you can add your name and wedding date AND get them in your wedding colors as well!!! Small boxes of chocolate or candies, wrapped in a simple ribbon with a photo tag of you and your new spouse. Bookmarks are another great thing to give out (and practical as well) PLUS BWDPhotography can help you with that! It's a little bonus service we offer to clients!
• Birdseed - okay, everyone throws it, try something new - make some inexpensive and easy to do paper cones out of colored paper. Fill them with confetti (if you have a paper shredder, buy colored paper and run it through a couple of times) it's a great way to leave the church. Sparklers, if done right, these are great. You want to be sure and have guests spread far enough out you and your honey aren't getting burned on the way to the car. Custom pon poms, make your own - tie some ribbon/string in your wedding colors around some dowl rods and let guests shake them as you leave.
• The Send-off - many couples wait until they're really ready to leave the reception to get the formal 'send off' image. Try doing this when you leave the church or ceremony location. You'll often times have a much larger crowd and you'll be able to get much more memorable images this way. If you plan to party well into the night, you'll want to keep this in mind!
• Flower Girls - if you plan on incorporating children in any way into your big day. Be prepared. Smaller, younger children aren't always prepared to wear a big bulky dress and then walk down the isle in front of strangers. They can get scared and tears and start to sprout moments before they walk down the isle. Consider having older children walk with the younger ones, pulling them down the isle on a waggon, etc. Brides, don't get your feelings hurt or feel like your day is ruined if one of these little ones backs out on you. They're kids and totally unpredictable at any time. We've seen everything from children sprinting to the front, lingering talking to guests as they go down, adament refusal to wear a dress or flat out temper tantrums because the wedding time is so close to bed time!! Our hint, be flexible.
• Instead of a traditional guest book that you're likely never to read after your wedding day, let guests sign a signature mat another great service BWDPhotography can provide for you. This way, you have a great custom piece of artwork to display in your new home, you can read and re-read all of the messages guests write to you and truely treasure that memory of your day forever!
• Co-Ed showers - not the bathing kind, but rather the gifting kind. Co-ed showers are really hot right now. This way both the girls and the guys can get great things they both want, need and will use. Lawn mowers, grills, weed eaters, pots and pans, towels, water hoses, even trash cans - weddings are like graduating from high school and you won't have another chance to strike it rich in the gift department until you have your first kiddo. Ask for everything you think you might could ever use or need! Guests will like it too because it can give them more variety when it comes to gift buying time. Check out Easton's Hardware when you go to register, they have an awesome selection of all things girly and for the guys too!
• Save the Date cards - here you get to be creative and have some fun! We've seen (and done) everything from postcards, bookmarks, greeting cards, flim strips and more for clients. This gives clients something to hang on the fridge and serve as a reminder about 3 months out that your wedding is coming up (and they need to buy you a gift). Plus, we can help you with this and add pix from your engagement sessions to them to make them super personal!