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Photo courtesy of Brad Howe Photography
If your invitation salesperson doesn't know the difference between Stationery and Stationary, you need a new vendor.
Stationery refers to, among other things, the paper products you are hoping to buy (not to mention have printed accurately).
Stationary is what you should not be when you discover this mistake. Don't stand "still" and accept this. It's their business. If I couldn't spell wedding, would you hire me to plan yours? When you see "stationary" in a website or on a document printed by a stationer, run, don't walk, away and find a real pro.
The original version of this posted appeared on The World According to Weddlady in 2006. I've updated it and given it a shiny new appearance for a re-debut here in 2010. The advice is still excellent and applicable. Enjoy!
Feed Thy Vendors
So, you’re working up your budget, tallying up the RSVPs and counting the number of chicken, beef and lobster plates you’ll need. I remind and beseech you to consider the pros working to make your day perfect. Specifically, do not forget to “feed thy vendors”.
I met Marni Gold via Twitter and I'll just say it - I like her! She's not only creative and conscientious. She's funny! Since then I've confirmed that she is a real person (you never know with Twitter) and I am delighted that she's allowing me to share some of her pictures on the Weddlady blog this afternoon.
Marni and Creative Custom Cardboxes have turned this necessity into a spiffy, attractive wedding accent. In her own words:
We strive to create beautiful hand-made Card Boxes and Cake Table Decor using beautiful embellishments to perfectly complement your wedding and party design! Card Boxes are a wonderful way to personalize any event where gifts and cards are collected including but not limited to weddings, showers, Bar or Bat Mitzvah’s, Sweet 16’s, Quinceniearas, birthdays and more!
We believe that it should be affordable and easy to personalize your wedding or party. By creating custom hand-painted, eco-friendly items, we can help you to customize your event in your colors and theme!
Marni's Twitter handle is TheCardboxDiva. She also has a Facebook Fan Page and she's getting dangerously close to 500 followers. In fact, I'd be suprised if she didn't already exceed 500 by the time I get this posted. In case she doesn't, though, I need you all to stop by her Page and fan her. You won't be disappointed. She posts really great tips and pretty pictures galore.
Happy Planning!
Shayna Walker, Williamsburg Wedding Design
Welcome photographer Meghan McSweeney! Her guest post about personalizing your engagement portraits and building a trusting relationship with your photographer follows, and all of the totally fun photos are hers. Makes me want to get engaged just to model for a whimsical engagement shoot! Enjoy.
First off, I have to say that there are so many different shooting styles and approaches to an engagement shoot. My way is simply one of many, so I'd like to share how I help my brides and grooms add a personal touch to their engagement shoot.
I approach my engagement session as a great way to get to know my clients and for them to get to know me better. After all, we are going to be spending the biggest day of their lives together! It's during the engagement session that we get used to how the other one works while shooting or "posing," which is a fabulous thing.
In order to make their engagement session truly their own, I always get to know their story. I send out a full questionnaire that asks what my clients like to do together, how they met, their favorite colors, their style... really too many details to mention here but it just helps me get down to the nitty gritty of the couple. It helps me to know how they interact, what their interests are and what's most important to them as a couple i.e. their family, their group of friend, their animals.
For example, I recently shot Jillian and Ben, who initially met in high school, as they both played the viola in orchestra. Ben was the "big shot" senior, and Jillian, a sophomore, sat behind him. They spoke briefly from time to time when dropping off their violas in the orchestra room. Some minor flirtation ensued but nothing terribly serious. After the holidays, they had seating auditions and suddenly Jillian found herself sitting by Ben and becoming stand partners. They began hanging out more and it became apparent to their orchestra teacher Mrs. Gordon that they were each nursing crushes. Mrs. Gordon suggested to Ben that he ask Jillian to prom and she said yes- the rest, as they say, is history! We had a great time incorporating the violas into their session.
As for John and Sarah, they met after Sarah made a last minute decision to head to the Outerbanks for the weekend. John was the first person she saw when she walked in the door and over the weekend, they clicked- even finding out that Sarah had recently ordered products from his logo company. As the bride likes to tell it:
About 3 weeks later, Sarah desperately needed a logo design and t-shirts, but she hadn’t heard from John yet and didn’t want to appear like a stalker. Taking a chance, she Googled his company and gave him a call. After a briefly awkward moment, John asked, “so, did you get the package I mailed you?” Sarah answered, “no.” John asked: “so how did you get my number?” Later that day, John’s package arrived, with a nice note and a few of his company pens. Yes, they both had the sparkles.
Kuba Kuba was a favorite spot as the couple, so it made perfect sense to include it in the shoot.
The best part of shooting an engagement session that is fun and personalized is that by the time their wedding day rolls around, I feel like I am working with friends. This helps with everyone's comfort levels, and gives me more access to telling the story of the day. Since they have already seen the results from the engagement session, I have built a level of trust with my clients so that not once throughout their day do they have to worry about their photography!
Meghan McSweeney is a
Meghan McSweeney Photography
Meghan McSweeney
804.647.9412
We are delighted to feature a guest post from the photographers at Strawberry Road.
Boudoir Photography
Boudoir photography has been injected back into the mainstream and become an acceptable outlet for women to show a side of themselves they rarely get to. Sexy lingerie is generally reserved for the romantic interlude. That is where boudoir photography comes into the mix.
A frequent question we hear is, "why are women doing this?" That question, believe it or not, never comes from men :-) It comes from women who haven't really taken a moment to answer the question for themselves. Jennie and I have shot numerous boudoir sessions and I can tell you that the thrill for us is just how happy the women we shoot are during their session.
Continue reading "Guest Post: Empowering Women Through Boudoir Photography" »
