Photo Tips for Wedding Guests

Now that June is here, chances are that you will be attending a wedding or two sometime soon. And, chances are, you'll be bringing your camera to the wedding along with a gift or two for the happy couple. Here are some tips from the pros at the New York Institute of Photography, the world's largest photography school, to help you take great pictures of this memorable occasion.

"While most couples hire a professional photographer to photograph the ceremony and reception, there's still plenty of room for you to also capture your perspective of this joyous occasion on film," says Chuck DeLaney, Dean of NYI, America's largest photo school. "There are lots of moments that happen among the guests that will never be captured by the professional wedding photographer," explained DeLaney. "Stay out of the pro's way. He or she has a big job to do. And, never shoot over the pro's shoulder. That won't be appreciated and could interfere with the job.

"Instead, DeLaney suggests concentrating on recording the fun that you and your family and friends have at the wedding. Not only will you have a record of the wedding for your own pleasure, but imagine the joy of the happy couple to receive prints of events that the professional photographer did not see or wasn't asked to cover.

For instance, many wedding photographers no longer shoot those "table shots" of the guests because these photos don't usually get purchased by the bride and groom. This is the perfect opportunity for you. But shoot these like a pro: Have some of the people at your table stand up and move behind those still seated and take a group shot. Avoid showing the entire table complete with half-eaten food, instead concentrate on the faces of the guests.

Another photo opportunity exists at your table. Many bridal receptions now include disposable "single use" cameras at every table. You may need to get the show rolling and coax your table mates to start taking pictures. Remember,the bride and groom can't be at every table to take part in the festivities so candid photos from these cameras can show the guests having fun in a way that professional photographers aren't likely to capture.

A couple of hints on wedding photography etiquette. If you want to take photos at a church, synagogue, mosque or chapel, take your cues from the professional photographer hired by the bridal couple. If you see that he or she is not taking photos at the ceremony, chances are it is because the clergy told the photographer not to do so. Respect the tradition and don't take pictures. The same thing holds true for flash photography. Some places of worship will allow it at the ceremony, others will not. If you see that the pro is shooting, then take an aisle seat. It's the best place to get nice close shots of the couple that fill the frame as they leave the church.

One other suggestion on wedding photography is to be respectful of the professional photographer. Don't get in that individual's way. You don't want to ruin the photos that the bride and groom are paying the pro to take, and the pro can do a better job of capturing many parts of the event than you can. As we've indicated, there are plenty of different kinds of shots for you too.

Check out Seven Tips for Great Wedding Photos on this month's New York Institute of Photography website at for more hints on shooting at weddings and some great photos.

Reprinted from the New York Institute of Photography

The Pictures by Theresia-The Wedding Planner

Tips On How To Find Unique Wedding Ideas

Unique wedding favors aren't easily found on a shelf. When we say unique gifts, it obviously refers to one-of-kind present which aren't usually seen. A unique wedding favor has to be scoured at local flea markets and antique shops, and there you'll find unusual choices that can wow your wedding guests. Read and follow tips and ideas below to come up with unique wedding favors:

• First, plan, prepare and think outside the box. Make some research, browsing online and reading magazines relate to wedding can be very helpful. Or, head to a bridal show and grab some unique and fresh ideas about wedding gifts and favors for guests.
• Make is personalized. One of the easiest option to present a unique wedding favor is by adding personal touch. Consider personalized favors such as favor boxes, candle favors, soap favors and the like.
• Search for old items at local antique stores. Bizarre and unique wedding favors can be made from the image of the past.
• Explore your creativity and imagination, the purchase DIY craft materials at local craft stores. Start making a handmade unique wedding favors to show off your hidden creativity and skill with sentiment of thanks.
• Lastly, think of how to present it. Good wrapping and presentation can make a lot of difference which can capture anyone's eye. When presenting a unique wedding favors, jazz up a little bit by adding extra zest. Consider placing ribbons, beads and crystals or even organic and crafty embellishments. With such creative effort, you have created unique wedding thank you gifts to all that are worth to be remembered!

Copied from American Bridal

Unique Wedding Ideas

Everybody must think about how the weddings gonna be. And everyone must dream about Unique Wedding that nobody will have the same wedding as they are. But how to have that kind of Unique Wedding. Here are some ideas that might help you decided to make your own Unique Wedding Ceremony:

• First, think about something UNUSUAL. If you think about having your wedding in a curch in front of a lot of people just like everybody, forget about Unique Wedding. You must think of other place like forest, old house, custil etc.
• Never think of Roses or Lily for the flower. Think of forest flower, or Wild flower that you can string up to become something really beautifull.
• Think of Torch instead of candle.
• Change the wedding cake with combinations of fruit and vegetable. Specially for vegetarians, they will appreciate this kind of wedding cake.
• Try suiting rather then paper for your wedding invitations. Such as miniatur of your clothes with word about the invitations. Or on a T-shirt with your picture with date and place of the wedding.
• Try specific menus for your wedding ceremony. Like Indian food, or Japanese food, or Indonesian food.
• Choose other countries or other theme wedding dress. For example wedding dress from Java, Bali, Maroko, Japan or like Cinderella cloth, Shrek Clothes etc. This ideas could give you the different ambience of a wedding.
• Last one, manage the ceremony just like you want. If you choose to be a Cinderella, don’t forget the Cinderella’s Wagon, with of course with line of ladies in waiting and Cinderella’s decoration.

Then I guaranty that you will have the Unique Wedding that every guess never forget.

Written by Theresia-The Wedding Planner

Wedding Veils

The wedding veil is probably the oldest wedding tradition that is performed during a wedding. Many people believed that wedding veils protected the bride from jealous spirits. This usually referred to any enemies of the couple who might try to steal her the day of the wedding.

Wedding veils, were also a sign of humility, it was not considered proper for women to display their beauty so openly. Even back in the day though, brides were still considered the most beautiful of all women.

Wedding veils are worn today to complete the entire wedding look for a bride. Choosing a wedding veil depends on the personal preference of the bride and the wedding dress she will wear.

For brides with extravagant gowns, it is best to keep the veil as simple as possible. You don’t want your wedding veil and dress to be competing for attention. Plus, this could spoil the elegance of your wedding gown and you could end up looking to overdone. If you want to add a little something to your veil, consider putting a simple ribbon or trim along the edges.

If you have a simple dress, without a lot of beading or embroidery, the veil should add the drama. You can construct the veil to add that extra glamour to your wedding look.

It is important that wedding veils don’t hide anything on your dress. If the back of your gown is the center point, you don’t want to get a long veil that covers your back and hides it. Just make sure when looking at wedding veils, you think of the dress you will be wearing. You want your gown to compliment the veil and vice versa.

Antique veils have become very popular and is considered very “in” when it comes to the fashion industry. Besides the fact that an antique veil is very vintage, it is also considered good luck. Borrowing a wedding veil that your mom or grandmother wore at their weddings can bring luck to your new marriage. Just make sure that you borrow a veil from someone who is happily married for this to work. If you do decide to wear an vintage veil, try not to fix it in any way. You do not want to ruin it by trying to dye it to match your gown. Most of the times, if the veil doesn’t perfectly match, most people can’t tell because the fabric is so sheer.

Make sure you think about the length of the veil is suitable to the length of the aisle. Long wedding veils are great for huge churches such as cathedrals. In other situations, the veil will just bunch up and be a pain to walk around. Also, look at wedding veils that are easy to take off after the ceremony.

Article from www.weddingarticle.net

To Wear or Not To Wear - A White Wedding

As a little girl… or even now… I am sure that you have laid about dreaming of marrying Prince Charming, looking gorgeous in your wedding dress. Of course, what color is the wedding dress every time you do this? I am guessing that more often than not it happens to be white. Millions of women and little girls dream of getting married in a fairytale white wedding dress. But wait. Where did a white dress come from and why is it so popular?

Believe it or not white wasn’t always the traditional color for getting married in. Honestly, the tradition of a white wedding dress hasn’t even been around for ages and ages. A white wedding dress is something that every girl is instinctively born with today. You can’t get married in anything but white. Well, while this may be true for some and not so for others, white is worn to symbolize the virtue of the women and to just carry on the tradition.

Not surprisingly, the white wedding dress came from a place full of legends, and where tradition is important. So, low and behold, the white wedding dress was started in the English Monarchy. Queen Victoria was the first “celebrity” that was looked up too, who wore a white wedding gown. Because of her, the popularity of white dresses has become a true tradition among women around the world.

The marriage of Albert of Saxe and Queen Victoria in 1840, was not surprising. The gown she wore though caused quite a stir. It was considered flamboyant and did not start the white wedding gown tradition instantly. Many of the upper class women though, saw this as a unique fashion statement and had no issues in copying the Queen by marrying in white dresses.

A white wedding dress though was worn to show wealth. Virtue was not in the meaning at all. If you could get married in a elegant white gown then you had to have money. White was not easy to clean, so a white wedding dress was something that you most definitely weren’t going to wear again. Spending money on a white gown was something that only the wealthy could do.

Only the wealthy and vain women insisted on being married in white. Most women still married in dresses of different colors and styles after Queen Victoria’s fashion statement. During the Edwardian times however, the white wedding dress gained popularity once more when Coco Chanel unleashed its brand new design….. a knee-length wedding gown, with a huge train in none other than white.

During the world wars though, most women couldn’t afford to wear white. Most just wore whatever they had when they were married. Only the rich kept wearing white wedding dresses. After the 1950’s though many Hollywood stars and royalty still wore white at their weddings. This sealed the deal and tradition of being married in white.

Article from www.weddingarticle.net

Who’s Gonna Pay the Wedding?

Well well… this question is really come up in our head but really difficult to find a way to talk about it in the first place.

Don’t be afraid…
First that you have to know is how well you know your partner? You’ve just met then think about a wedding? Or you have ran the relationship over years?

I will tell you about culture in some country.

If you are European
Ask your partner politely when you have a tea break in a sunny day weekend. So you can talk almost about anything to your partner, just find the right time in the right place, because this subject is a little bit sensitive.

If you are Asian
Usually for Asian, they have culture that the men are gonna pay all of the wedding cost, but in this modern era, some of the Asian concern about paying that together. If you deal with the conservative Asian family, you have to prepare paying all the cost.

If you are American
American are very open, and they can talk about anything, anytime, anyplace (even in the bathroom) without worrying they will hurts their partner. This topic didn’t scare American, and for most American dividing all the cost all together.

If you are African
African is very complicated, but I could summarize that the African Groom almost pay for everything, but then the wives doesn’t have their right as the wives in other continent have.

If you are Australian
You have no problem to communicate the cost of the wedding to your partner. As American, they are very open. Mostly Australian also pays the cost together.

If you are Japanese
Japanese people are like conservative people, they still hold the tradition so tight. The culture says the groom should pay all the cost

What Happen After Engagement?

Congratulations! Now You're about to have a greatest adventure for both of you - the first, of course, being your life as a wedded couple and the second being the exciting, yet often overwhelming process of planning a wedding. A wedding will probably be the biggest and most involved party or ritual either of you have ever put together. Before you get overwhelmed, take a deep breath, and then do these ten things.

1. Enjoy being engaged

Kiss each other a thousand times. Jump up and down saying "We're engaged!" Stare at the engagement ring. Take the time to write down in detail how you got engaged. Contemplate the wonderful things ahead of you. Take pictures of yourselves with the engagement ring. Kiss each other a thousand more times.

2. Tell your parents

You should tell your parents of your impending nuptials before anyone else. (Unless of course, you are estranged.) Both of you should be present and ideally you will tell them in person - they'll have a chance to see your happiness up close, look at the rock, and start talking about the wedding. Traditionally the bride's parents know before the groom's do, but any order is really fine. Then share the news with a few close friends - the ones who are likely candidates for maid/matron of honor and best man, or definite attendants in some capacity.

3. Purchase a journal if you don't already have one

This will be a time of ten thousand moments you won't want to forget, as well as some frustrating times that you'll need to vent about, and not necessarily to your partner. The journal you keep while planning your wedding will not only help you through this time, but it will be something you cherish for the rest of your life.

4. Announce Your Engagement

Tell everyone the good news! There are many ways of doing this, and no way is more correct or better than another.
Consider:
· Announcing your engagement in print publications
· Mailing announcements to your family and friends
· Creating a wedding website

5. Set the Date

One of the most important decisions you will make as you plan your wedding. Not only will it be the first question everyone will ask you, but you'd be surprised how difficult it will be to make any progress on planning your wedding without knowing the date.

Copied from Nina Callaway
http://weddings.about.com/

Why We Need Wedding Planner?

Lots of people want to do something by themselves, like decorating the house, gardening, cooking or even plan their wedding. But some people want the other to do for them. For example is wedding.

Which are you in? Well nothing is wrong with both of that, you can have most of satisfaction if you do plan your wedding by yourself, but some people don’t have much time to plan their wedding, so they might be need help from others who are expert in Wedding Planner.

Plan a wedding it is not like planning your vacation, why? For some people they want to have special wedding that in their mind might be ones in a life time. They need a Fantastic Wedding, White Wedding, Traditional Wedding, Mystical Wedding or just a Simple Wedding. It is up to your Dreams Wedding.

Why we need help from wedding planner? For some reason, if we want our wedding very special and perfect, I bet we don’t have much time to plan the wedding ourselves. So in this case “YES” we need help from Wedding Planner.

The wedding planner will help you in all aspect, like the place to take a vow, how the wedding decoration is going to be, the wedding cake, the wedding dress, the wedding invitations, even the guess list, the ice sculpture, the flower, who’s gonna pay that, who’s gonna pay this etc.

With help from wedding planner, you don’t have to think all of those things and just prepare yourself to enter the new world.
Hope this article will help you decided the best for your wedding.