Real Wedding: Pam and Anthony

Today's wedding took place on the super hot Fourth of July at the Westlake Village Inn in Westlake Village, California. The pictures were taken by Stephanie Williams for Next Exit Photography, who is quickly becoming my favorite wedding photographer. The wedding was coordinated by Lynda Mort. I loved todays wedding not only because it was beautiful, but because the bride is smiling huge in every photo and it reminded me of my own wedding day - I couldn't stop smiling and couldn't take any of those "I'm too cool to smile" serious pictures. And that's how a bride should be - ecstatic to be getting married!






















All photos by Stephanie Williams for Next Exit Photography.

Wedding Photography: Figuring it out

I had a conversation with a friend recently about wedding photography, and how important it is. As I told her and as I have learned from experience, after all of the planning, DIYs, "I Do's", champagne, cake and dancing, your pictures are the only thing you have to remember the day (well, and video also if you are having one). It may seem like a lot of money upfront (the average is hovering around $3000 for 8 hours coverage last time I checked) but it is an investment, and an important one.



Some advice as you begin your wedding photographer search:
1. Scour wedding blogs and through them find photographers' blogs. Sites like Snippet & Ink (scroll down the left hand column under "Photo/Video Blogs"), Style Me Pretty (she features real weddings every day), Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book (choose "Photographers" from the pull down menu) and Elizabeth Anne Designs have tons of links to amazing photographer's websites and blogs.
2. Figure out what style of photos you like, and look for a photographer who specializes in that style.
3. Remember that most photographers will happily travel anywhere (for a fee) and sometimes will even drop their prices for you just so they can have a mini-vacay, so don't rule out someone who's work you love just because they don't live near you. 4. While you are scouring: Decide which shots you love, create a file, and share them with your photog. Let them know that you want to go for something similar, but keep in mind photographers are also artists and won't want to copy a picture exactly, but they will get a good idea of what you are going for.
5. Having a "photo checklist" with not only the family shots and such, but a list of the crucial shots you wanted to get on it as well. Share it with your photographer before the big day. Remember though that flexibility will allow your photographer to get creative on the wedding day.

My adorable blog friend and awesome photographer Jenna Cole had some great advice to add as well:
Photo by Jenna Cole
"The one thing that I would caution against is choosing a very specific shot and then asking for an exact duplicate. This will not lead to happiness with your photos. If you want a specific shot, hire the photographer who took it!
- I do have a clause in my contract that states there is no guarantee of any specific images. Likely your photographer will have something similar.
- Getting inspiration is great, so you can say "I would like a shot of my shoes alone, of my dress hanging somewhere pretty, of my husband and I holding hands and walking away from the camera." Those are things that photographers can do for you!"

Are you a photographer? Anything you would like to add to help brides? Leave a comment!

I'm off to Las Vegas!

I never mentioned it before, but for the last few months I have been planning a non-profit auction that took place this past Sunday. I worked about 32 hours in two days, so I apologize I have fallen behind on my blogging! I promise next week I will be back with a whole new batch of wedding awesomeness. I am leaving for Las Vegas for a long weekend of relaxing and goofing off with my MOH and some girlfriends. We're staying at the fabulous Wynn Las Vegas where I will be taking a tour of their incredible wedding salons and sharing my pics and findings when I get back... Oh and shhhh don't tell my husband, but I am going to be seeing about doing a fun vow renewal there next year for our two year anniversary!

Dresses Under $1000: J.Crew

While browsing Jcrew.com for flip flops for my upcoming Vegas trip, I couldn't help but look at the Wedding section. I was blown away by all the dresses, and there were some total stunners in the $2-3k range, but I am more about high style that only looks like it costs a lot. So here are my favorites for under $1000.

Cecelia silk tricotine long dress, $395

Goddess silk tricotine gown, $325

Gwendolyn silk dupioni gown, $695

Whitney solid silk chiffon long dress, $395

Sabine silk taffeta gown, $695

Confetti limited-edition dress, $995

Real Wedding: Kelsey and Brandon

This real wedding is from a friend of mine, this time it's my college friend Kelsey from the University of Oregon. It's a perfect wedding for summer (even though the wedding took place in early December) since Kelsey and Brandon got married in Hawaii on the beach of Ohau's North Shore. The amazing photos were taken by Alecia Hoyt of Alecia Hoyt Wedding Photography.



















The best part is that Kelsey was pregnant with twin girls at the time of the wedding! Can you believe it? Congrats to the happy couple and parents!