To See or Not to See? Taking Photos Before the Ceremony.

This is a fabulous article by Kimberly Brooke on bridepop.com for brides and by brides on whether or not the bride and groom should break tradition and see each other before the ceremony. The author lays out all the pros and cons and goes into great detail. And she laments that she did not do this for her wedding day.

This fairly new practice of seeing each other before the ceremony is called First Glance or First Look and is set up by your photographer. I must admit that if I were marrying again and having the big wedding, I would choose to do this. I have found that it really does not take away from that first look the groom has of the bride coming down the aisle in all her splendor or the bride seeing her groom waiting for her at the other end of the aisle with all the guests watching. That thrill is still there. Those glances are so different from seeing other in private before the ceremony. The meeting with each other in private with just the photographer present before the ceremony allows you precious  time alone and yields really wonderful photos of your wedding day without all your guests watching you look at each other for the first time.

How To Avoid A Wedding Photography Disaster

The following article appeared in a blog today and I thought it was very good. I would credit the author but his/her name was not given. Enjoy!

There’s a person at your wedding ceremony who could make or break how your wedding day unfolds and enormously influence the experience of your special day for you as well as your family and guests. That individual is your wedding photographer.

There are a lot of components to be thought about when selecting a wedding photographer. Two important things are the years of expertise and elegance of their wedding ceremony photography. Images are a combination of art and craft. Some photographers may be great craftsmen however lack a creative sensibility that should be honed over many years as a photographic artist. Many photographers can create good pictures when the conditions are excellent, but a true professional can create great images of your wedding ceremony under troublesome or sometimes antagonistic conditions.

Do not make the error of hiring someone who doesn’t understand how to seamlessly mix in with the wedding day that enables events to unfold naturally. This ability to mix in, not only facilitates better images, but will greatly improve the experience of your wedding day for you and your guests. Of course, a truly skilled wedding photographer has the ability to gently transition your family members rapidly and smoothly through the crucial post-ceremony photo session without breaking the magic spell of the romance and enchantment of your wedding day by being overly bossy, insensitive, or egotistical.

I have seen while attending weddings as a guest or heard many stories about how the photographer “ruined” the wedding by being overly bossy, insensitive, or losing their composure. I’ve heard of weddings where the photographer had a tantrum and had to disappear for ten minutes before having the ability to return and resume taking photos.

One technique I take advantage of to help the day go smoothly is to do many of the portrait photographs before to the ceremony. Often I start with the groom and his parents, finest man and the groomsmen. The groom then goes off elsewhere whereas I photograph the bride and the bridesmaids as well as the bride’s parents. Usually I will begin the portraits no less than one hour previous to the ceremony and this significantly shortens the time needed for photographs after the ceremony and allows the bride and groom to shortly rejoin their visitors once the portrait photographs are completed.

I photographed a lovely wedding just a few years ago where we did images of the bride and bridesmaids primping and making use of make-up which frequently make for very sweet photos. We then did many portraits previous to the ceremony. By the time we had accomplished the formal portraits after the ceremony, it had been more than six hours since I had anything to eat. With the amount of energy I expend while photographing a wedding, I began to feel the shortage of nourishment was affecting my potential to do one of the best job possible.

When a passing waiter offered me an appetizer, I accepted it and at that moment, the bride’s stepmother walked by with the bride’s father. The bride had warned me that her stepmother could be insensitive and abrasive but I was still surprised when she said to me “It must be nice to receive all this money to race around eating appetizers.” The bride’s father had a stricken look on his face and I knew that if ever there was a make or break moment at a wedding, this was it.

I smiled at the stepmother and said “You are correct, it’s great to get paid to stand around consuming appetizers, plus I like getting to be part of a beautiful celebration where I often really feel like a member of the family by the end of the day.” She was totally disarmed and we ended up having a beautiful conversation. I later realized that she was someone who could not help saying the first thought that entered her mind and as a result was often misunderstood.

Ensure you choose a photographer who knows how to get together with many types of people. Somebody who can park their ego at the door and can concentrate on helping to facilitate the magical day you deserve whereas creating stunning photographs that you’ll cherish for a lifetime.

Nicole and Steven's Lovely Wedding at Caffe Luna!

Nicole and Steven are such a sweet couple and I was so happy to officiate their wedding. They are both quite mature and a good match for each other. When they put together the ceremony they wanted for their wedding day, I thought it needed some personalization about the two of them so I sent them some questions to answer and from that we created their "story" for the ceremony.  Their parents and guests just loved that and the humor we slipped in. Their wedding was Sunday March 7, 2010 at Caffe Luna, one of the most fun places around to have a wedding and reception.

Their wedding party consisted of two attendants each. We had our rehearsal on the Friday before and practiced everything so the wedding would go smoothly. I thank their friend, Peter, for being our wedding director. Peter, you did a great job. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of him. Nicole was escorted in by her proud father, Michael. The parents are sitting on the front row and got the best seats in the house.

In the ceremony we told how they met and what they were looking forward to in marriage. I told the guests that Steve told me he was looking forward to never hearing the question “so when are you two getting married?” again. Well, that ended right then, right there. We also related their greatest adventure so far: adopting their beagle, Ben, from Tribeagles Rescue. It was a fun ceremony and the guests surely enjoyed it. The parents also enjoyed the tribute their children made to them during the ceremony.

I made the pronouncement, they kissed (too briefly!) and I presented them to their guests.

And out they went to enjoy the rest of their wedding day!

While the guests went to the other rooms for the reception, the wedding party and parents gathered outside for photos and well wishes.

Nicole told me how much she enjoyed the ceremony and how wonderful it was to be married! Steve looks pretty happy too!

The deed is done and it was time to have some fun! Nicole and Steven, I wish you all the best in life!

Many thanks to Tim Oxendine, our wonderful DJ of Diamond DJ Entertainment, for providing our ceremony music and hosting the reception. Here we are clowning around before the ceremony. Thanks also to Jennifer Kidd who was our photographer. Jennifer is always great to work with and does super work. Thanks to the staff of Caffe Luna, especially Ryan Hill, catering manager. She is always a delight to work with.

Professional Wedding Guild (PWG) Luncheon at the Sheraton Chapel Hill

This luncheon last Wednesday 2/24 was my first professional wedding outing since my surgery in January. The last PWG luncheon was in November and they don't have one in December. The January one was the day after my surgery. So, it was good to be back at one of these networking events. We met at the lovely Sheraton Chapel Hill. It has been remodeled and redecorated since I was there and it is beautiful and spacious. They can accommodate a large wedding reception of 400+ people! The photo above is of a section of the ballroom. The lovely table decor was by Andy Karras of A Special Event. The table linens were so pretty. That is harpist Marilyn Wienand standing behind the wedding cake by Buy the Pound which was delicious and was served by the baker, Sandra Timmons. I was so happy to get a slice of the middle layer which was chocolate pound cake--yum, one of my favorites!

I saw lots of wedding professionals as usual and it was great to see them again after a long break. We were entertained before lunch was served by Patrice Kaluza  of Sea Sound Studio Entertainment. Patrice is a wonderful vocalist but unfortunately she developed laryngitis the day before and was unable to sing for us.  Maybe next time?

Across the table from me are Julie McKay and Ashleigh Collins from The Carolina Inn. Ashleigh is new to the Inn and Julie was introducing her around. Standing behind them is Rev. Robin Renteria, close friend and colleague. Rev. Barbara Lodge and Rev. Phran Gaucher were there too.  See the pretty table linens Andy provided? The flowers were provided by Flowers by Gary.

Jim Shaw of Jim Shaw Photography and Brian McGuire of McSound Productions (DJ) were busy networking!

Our program this month was a panel of 4 brides and one mother of the bride for us to ask questions. It was quite interesting. One of the brides was Amanda Jones whose wedding I am officiating. They are from left to right: Chanel Francis, Amanda Jones, Cecilia Mackey, Jane Peppler, and Danet Bratton. Cecilia's wedding was last October and so she was able to answer questions from that perspective and what she might do differently. Jane is our mother of the bride whose daughter's wedding is in June. Jane comes to PWG luncheons because she is a musician who sometimes plays at weddings so she had an "inside" perspective. To the far left is our moderator and publisher of Perfect Wedding Guide, Gail Galloway, who had received questions from us ahead of time that she presented to the brides and mother. It was a great program and I am sure we all learned some valuable tips from these brides.

After the program Gail was discussing things with Dajuan Jones from In His Image Photography who took photos at the luncheon for PWG. They will be posted on the PWG website soon.

Well, it was a great experience today. To make it even more terrific, I won one of the door prizes--a nice bottle of Chardonnay from Bartending Unlimited. (Thank you, Contada!) Good to be back in the groove. Weddings for me start on March 7th, next weekend at Nicole and Steven's wedding at Caffe Luna. Watch for a post on their wedding!

Reverend Kayelily Middleton on Facebook.........

A friend of mine and wedding photographer, Jennifer-Leigh Aanerud, generously came to my home today and set up a professional page for me on Facebook where I can have fans! I invited all 280 friends from my personal Facebook page to become my fans and anyone else who wants to be is invited too. I plan to post lots of wedding photos there this year as well as on this blog for each wedding I do. There are places on the site for discussion and reviews too. I have links to this blog, my website and a wedding video too.

Jennifer and her husband, Chris, are expecting a baby next month and we plan to have a baby blessing ceremony a few months later. This will be featured on my Baby Blessing Blog. Thanks a bunch, Jennifer! I am looking forward to seeing great photos of the new baby on your Facebook page.