There is nothing more classic than a pure white palette for a wedding. I’m a big fan of playing with proportion and textures in order to make a classic white wedding more contemporary.

A bunch of white hydrangea is always pretty and timeless.

Images: 1. Mark Lund 2. Lisa Lefkowitz

I love when a bride and groom have fun posing with their getaway transporation. Here again, is another place to add a personal touch to your wedding day…

Hot vintage sportscar and a hot couple, need I say more?

Baby blue bike and a just married sign, such a lovely detail.

Fun couple + Vespa = one of a kind photo

A tandem bike? Even better!

1. Halberg Photographers 2. Elizabeth Messina 3. Red Photo Co. via Snippet & Ink 4. Jose Villa

I love the deep jewel tones of peacock feathers. And used in a subtle way, it could be the perfect element to bring your wedding’s design together.

I love how this hair piece uses the peacock feathers with a tiny cluster of crystals at the base.

For bridesmaid’s dresses you could use aqua and deep blue colors from the peacock feather.

For a clutch, this peacock print bag is perfect.

Images: 1. Photo by Arrowood Photography, tabletop design by Camilla Svensson Burns 2. Sweets n Lo 3. Left, Monique Lhuillier, Right Jcrew 4. Red Ruby Rose

What’s better than one pair of hot shoes? How about 5 pairs?

Photo by Melissa Musgrove.

Pink flowers are so soft and romantic, and are the perfect accent to a garden wedding.

I love this bouquet with three different types of roses.

For this poesy, the florist wired together pink cymbidium petals to create a large “flower” called a composite.

I love the simple footed white vase against the different shades of pink flowers.

This arrangement features only one large pink dahlia, but the crocheted cozy around the simple glass vase creates such an interesting and pretty texture.

I love the subtle contrast of the pink cymbiums of this bouquet paired with deeper jewel tones and the subtle purple accents.

Images: 1. Sandra Lane 2. Once Wed 3. The Green Vase 4. Jo Tyler 5. Rose and Radish 6. Camilla Svensson Burns Couture Floral & Event Design

Signature drinks at weddings are a great way to welcome guests and provide a pop of color and interest at the bar. Best of all, coupled with serving wine and beer, it can help keep your alcohol bill under control.

To me, a signature drink does not need to be a new drink, but rather it should be a favorite drink of the couple. The best way to make your signature drink memorable is is to pay attention to presentation.

I like to have a good 20 drinks setup on a separate table from the bar or tray passed. This helps prevent a long line at the bar (one of my biggest pet-peeves), and all the drinks lined up with their beautiful garnish is just so pretty. Make sure your caterer gets the drinks set them up a little before guests arrive so your photographer can get a shot of them.

All signature drinks don’t have to be alcoholic. Refreshing cucumber water or a great lemonade are perfect for a pre-ceremony welcome drink.

So have fun creating something personal and refreshing for your guests to enjoy at your wedding.

Images:1. Gemma Comas 2. Frances Janisch 4.Feastivites Catering 5. Anna Williams

I love the tradition of a wedding cake, but I also like to mix it up a bit and offer guests a variety of sweets at a wedding.

How can anyone go wrong with ice cream? Tray passed to the dance floor in traditional sugar cones, your guests won’t be able to say no.

To finish a traditional Italian feast, biscotti and espresso would be the perfect ending.

An individual serving of chocolate mousse? Yes, please.

Decadent cheesecake, creamy and delicious.

Images from: 1. Erin Quon 2. Ian Wallace 3. Feastivites Catering 4. Ben Dearnley

Our next post comes from Harper of Harper Smith Photography:

Photojournalism is defined as using photography to tell a story and document life. Capturing a moment in time without interfering or changing it’s course. Objective, honest, and above all else…incredibly real.

The root of my photography comes from a strong photojournalism background which lends a unique approach to the weddings I shoot today.  I’m a fly on the wall, an outside observer, moving unnoticed and stepping in at just the right moment to capture just the right shot.

Often these are moments you wouldn’t normally expect because they’re natural and un-posed. The nervous bride having a private moment alone in the limousine after all her bridesmaids have exited before her. These moments – which maybe awkward or embarrassing at the time – often turn out to be the most beautiful, intimate photos in retrospect. That’s why one of the biggest challenges of photographing in this style is earning the trust of the bride and groom so that on their wedding day they do let their guard down and trust that you’re capturing the images they never expected but always dreamed of.

I fully encourage couples to have their photographers arrive 3-4 hours before the wedding for this reason. The unscripted, unrehearsed moments that capture the real, raw emotion of the day often take place during this time.

I also encourage the bride and groom to let go, live the moment, and pretend there isn’t a camera around.

{Editor’s note}

Harper actually shot my wedding and I had to share one of my favorite images she captured of me that day. My mom had brought some champagne for me to sip on while I was getting ready and Julie Morgan, the thoughtful makeup artist that she is, brought straws with her so I could drink without messing up my lipstick. This is the un-posed, all natural, photo Harper got of me:

Our next post is from Tim Halberg of Halberg Photographers:

Read the wedding magazines and they will give you check lists of things to ask your photographer: do you shoot digital or film, who will actually photograph my wedding, do you offer the digital negatives…

What the magazines don’t tell you to ask is how your digital negatives will compare to the photos you saw on your photographer’s website, the photos which drew you to their work in the first place. You need to know what the difference is between a print you will receive from the digital negatives when you upload them to your local lab vs. a finished print you will receive when ordering directly from your photographer.

Photographers prepare files for several different uses: marketing ie: their website and ads, proofing for brides/grooms to first view their images, album images and finished prints are among the most common.

Photos used for finished prints, albums and marketing have usually been processed through Photoshop to ensure the images look their VERY best. Depending on the photographer this may include adjustments that can take anywhere from a minute to an hour.

Usually printed proofs and online proofs have simply been adjusted in a digital workflow program such as Adobe Lightroom or Apple’s Aperture. Most photographers utilize this software to adjust brightness/exposure as well as color balance. The process is much more involved than this – but to go into detail would require an entirely separate and fairly technical article, but the end result is a photo which is close to correct for exposure and color.

With all of this in mind, there are some additional questions you may want to ask your photographer before hiring them:
*Can I see a complete wedding as delivered to a previous client for proofing (ask for more than one) – this will give you an idea of what to expect in your proof images vs. what you see on the photographer’s website.
*What does a final print look like when delivered from the photographer? – hopefully this will look very similar to what you have seen on the photographer’s website.
*What type of retouching is included in the cost of a print, and what does additional retouching cost?
*What type of adjustments/retouching will be included with the images delivered as digital negatives?
*Why should I order prints from you vs. using the digital negatives to have prints made down the street?

Your digital negatives will usually be a match to your proof images. This means if you order prints from your digital negatives from a lab down the street such as Walgreens/Walmart/Snapfish/Costco/Kodak.com your prints will not come close to the quality of what the photographer would deliver as a final print if you were to order from them (that is if the photographer does retouching when you order your prints).

(more…)

Part II with Katie Moos:

6. When creating a list of group photos for your photographer include individual people’s names.  So for example you want a photo of the Johnson family list off the individual’s names…Alice, Rob, Bobby, Sue, and George.  The reason for this…if the photographer calls out “Johnson family photo” they might get questions like “Did you want the spouses and kids?” “Did you want my fiancé in the photo too?” “Is Grandma in this one?”  “Did you want aunts, uncles, and cousins?” Some of those questions might be embarrassing to answer on the spot.  What if you do not want your brother’s fiancé in the photo—it’s hard to say that when she is standing right there looking at you or asking the question.  So talk about it before and put names on the list…that way the photographer will simply say “Can I please have Alice, Rob, Bobby, and Sue in this photo?”  It also is more personal and is easier for the photographer to gather people because she/he knows how many people to expect.

7. Bring a nice hanger for your wedding dress.  We like to take a shot of your dress before you put it on and often times the dress is on a cheap plastic hanger…not so cute.  Also, the best hangers do not have the cross bar where pants hang.

8. Bring an invitation to the wedding…we’d love to take a detail shot of it.

9. Have your reception area set up well in advance so the photographer can get some photos of it before it gets…well, messed up.

10. Last but not least—feed your photographers…they are starving by dinner (often times we are there from 8-10 hours and have missed lunch and dinner…we work hard for you all day—think about your job– 2 -10 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch break…not us-we work all day straight-unless of course you feed us at which time we will eat what we can in a few minutes and then we go back out for more photos)!!  ☺

Thank you so much!!  I hope these tips are helpful.  If you have any questions please feel free to email me at info@katiemoos.com.  You may also check out my blog at www.katiemoos.com/blog.  Also, as a special treat for Kelly Oshiro blog readers—I am giving $50 off an engagement or family session when you mention this blog posting!!