I've always recommended that newborn sessions be scheduled in the first 7-10 days after birth. Primarily because that is when they are at their smallest (babies can lose about 10% of their body weight right after birth), and they're the most flexible and likely to curl up into cute little balls. After working with Hayden, I've decided that the best reason to do the session early is that the newer babies tend to go to sleep after feeding and stay asleep much better. Once they get used to being out of the womb, they don't expect to be moved around while sleeping. He's just 12 days old, and already Hayden is difficult to pose and photograph while asleep.

Because I was recovering from the c-section, I had to postpone the family photos that I wanted to do until yesterday. Marcus and I tried off and on for most of the day to get him to cooperate, but he just wasn't having it. He would fall asleep right after eating and then wake up and throw an inconsolable fit when we tried moving him around. Everything is on HIS schedule right now, and he just wanted to be left alone to sleep. Considering how long it takes to get everyone ready (it is much easier to be just the subject or just the photographer than both) and how unhappy it made Hayden (not to mention that Marcus is returning to work Monday), I'm afraid that I may not convince Marcus to try it again.

Here are a couple of sleeping photos that I took a few days ago though.

A professional coordinator will make sure that all the details are under control and can go a long way in relieving the stress on your wedding day. However, if you can’t afford to hire a pro, do ask a trustworthy friend or family member to put together a survival kit. If you’re prepared then you’re less likely to have anything go wrong, right? Most importantly, make sure that they remember to bring it on the wedding day!

 

Also, make a list before the wedding day of items to take to the venue and go over it before leaving home. Things can be so hectic. I’ve seen a groom forget the wedding bands and a bride forget her gown, but more likely you'll forget something like the garter, jewelry, or cuff links. The further you are traveling from home, the more important a survival kit and wedding checklist can be.

 

I am not saying that you need to spend a lot of time or money putting this together, but here are some things that you may want to include in your kit depending on season and venue:

Clear nail polish (for runs in your hose)
Individually wrapped nail polish remover pads, nail file, polish for touch-ups 

Scissors 

Safety pins, straight pins, corsage pins 
Travel sewing kit (including thread to match the dress)

Tissues 

Aspirin/Advil 

Brush, comb, bobby pins, hairspray 

Super Glue (broken heels, jewelry, etc.) 

Sanitary products 

Gum, Mints, breath spray 

Shout wipes - removes stains/dirt from tuxes and dresses 

PeptoBismol Tablets, Tums, Imodium 

Duct tape, Scotch tape, double-sided tape 

Lighter or matches

Bactine, clear bandaids 

Mosquito repellent 

Club soda (if serving red wine) 

Sunglasses 

Bottled Water and light snack

Rice/blotting paper and powder for shiny skin 

Umbrellas 

Wrinkle releaser 

Jumper cables 

Benadryl 

Black socks for the men 

Lint remover 

Compact mirror 

Lip gloss or lipstick for touch-ups

Toothbrush and paste 

Deodorant

Fix-a-flat aerosol can 

Wooden or padded hanger for the dress

I love petal tosses. There's something very jubilant and carefree about them. The wedding day is the one day when a girl can dress up like a princess in a frilly dress complete with a long veil and then act like a child and throw flowers in the air. Why not live it up and take full advantage of the opportunity?

Unfortunately, some brides think that tosses are only done during the couple's exit from the wedding. This just isn't true. When they are having the ceremony and reception in two different locations, couples often do a toss as they leave the first location. Some even do a toss as they leave the church and then sparklers or bubbles after the reception. However, when you are staying at one venue and have a reception that goes into the night, having a petal toss in the dark may not be the best idea. One idea that I really like is to have a toss during the recessional at the end of the ceremony. Everyone's excited, and what better way to celebrate than to shower the newlyweds with colorful petals (or bubbles if you prefer)?

As much as I like this idea, it doesn't always seem to work out as well as I would like because the guests just forget to participate. Jill and Chris addressed the problem at their fall wedding by attaching a cute little note to the petal cones that hung on the chairs.



Even then, guests are sometimes a little shocked by the end of the ceremony and may still forget to pick up the petals and throw them. I've thought that there must be a good way for the officiant to give instructions at the end of the ceremony, and I just read one way to do it on the peonies and polaroids blog. Peonies are my favorite flower so I was curious when I stumbled on this blog. The writer is self described as "a girl collecting ideas and inspirations for a wedding and for life", and if you're planning a wedding or are just inspired by art and beauty then you ought to check it out.

Anyway, Peony (as the writer calls herself) has shared some of her own wedding photos along with parts of her ceremony, and it is really beautiful. At the very end are these words

Now if you would like to throw a little luck and love Peonies and The Boy’s way, please find your little bag of confetti to shower them as they walk back down the aisle...

Perfect!

In an effort to help my clients have the best wedding day (and best wedding photographs) possible, I am doing a series of blog posts that contain various tips. If you're the sort that likes to read everything you can about weddings then this is for you. If not then you can skip this and wait for the next photo post. This section applies to the planning stages of the wedding. Feel free to add your own tips in the comments section.

·         Please be conservative when scheduling wedding day activities, and assign a bridesmaid or planner with helping you to run on schedule if needed. I will help clients come up with a tentative timeline in advance. However,  wedding days rarely go as planned.  I am there to document the day as it occurs and am not a stickler for schedules and time tables.

 

·         Plan to be early. Add some cushion to the time-table “just in case”. Tell the family and wedding party to be at the church at least thirty minutes before they really have to be there, but let them know that the timeline is tentative so they won’t be upset if they have to wait. Having extra time is never a problem.

 

·        The middle of the afternoon is the absolute worst time for outdoor photographs. Outdoor ceremonies or formal photos should be scheduled with 3 hours of sunrise or sunset.

 

·         Sunset ceremonies may sound good, but don’t count on them going as planned. Variations in weather and cloud cover could leave you in the dark. It is far better to plan the ceremony 2-3 hours before sunset when there is plenty of time to do the formals in daylight. Then, if there is a nice sunset, the couple can sneak off for a few romantic shots together.

 

·         Schedule your hair and make-up appointment early in the day and pick a salon that is close by or have them come to you. Plan 1.5-2 hours for your hair and 30-60 minutes for makeup plus any travel time. Travel to the salon in your own car so that you do not have to wait on other friends/family to be ready.

 

·         Complete the wedding worksheet so that we know in advance which formals should be taken. Plan enough time into the wedding day schedule for the formal portraits that you want. Allow approximately 4 minutes PER formal photo. I will be taking several shots of each pose to ensure a good result.

 

·         I strongly recommend setting aside 20-30 minutes for portraits of the couple alone. This day is about the two of you, but you will not get those dreamy, romantic shots of just the two of you if you don’t plan it into the schedule. If your timetable will not allow this, seriously consider doing a couple/bridal session at a later date.

 

·         Arrange flower deliveries to be at least 30 minutes before the photographer’s arrival.

 

·        While videographers and photographers are both there to capture the day and help you have a wonderful wedding, our individual styles may be in conflict. I prefer to be as unobtrusive as possible and will often shoot from a distance. If your videographer has more of a “breaking news” shooting style in which he circles the couple and likes to get up close and personal, he will often block my shot or be in the background and will have a negative impact on the photographs overall.
 

·         In the event that you would like to feature some of the photographs from a bridal or engagement session at your wedding, the session must take place no less 6 weeks before the wedding (earlier if you want a photo guestbook). Prints must be ordered no less than 3 weeks before the wedding.

 

·         Don’t sweat the small stuff. Do all of the planning that you can before your wedding day. Then assign someone else to be the “go to” person in case of problems on the big day and instruct them not to worry you unless absolutely necessary. No, that spot on your dress and the fact that your veil is not perfectly straight will not show in the photos so don’t worry about it.

 

One problem that I run into over and over again is a misunderstanding of print crop ratios. Last year, I tried to explain this confusing issue in a blog post, and today I want to offer an example. For illustration, I'm using a photo of the lovely Jessica that I just happen to be working on.

All of the files from my camera and, therefore, the photos in the galleries are in a 4x6 ratio. This is obviously a rectangle, but many of the American print sizes are much more square. For example, an 8x10" print is a 4x5 ratio. When someone orders an 8x10 from the gallery, I must crop off part of the image in order to make it fit that size. This doesn't always present a problem, but sometimes it can. In the example below, the first photo is the original 4x6 ratio.



This second photo is a 4x5 ratio. Compared to the image above, you can see that I have had to crop off most of the bouquet, but this is what must be done to make it fit onto an 8x10 print.



What if you wanted to keep the bouquet in the shot? Well, you have a few choices.

First you could just order a print size that stays in the 4x6 ratio such as an 8x12 or 16x24. These irregular sizes would require custom framing OR a less expensive option is to have a custom mat cut. For instance you could use the 8x12 with a mat to fit a 11x14 frame.

The easiest option is to do a digital mat. I can keep the entire image and have a black or white border printed around it so that it will fit on a standard size print. For the example below, I used a black border to make the image fit on an 8x10 piece of paper.



The digital border works well with normal photos. However, if you are ordering a canvas and don't want to lose any of the image then you would want to order a size in the 4x6 ratio. Canvases don't need framing anyway so it isn't a big deal to have an irregular size.

If I get an order for a print that will be affected by a crop, then I will sometimes send an email and ask if the customer prefers to have the photo cropped or to have the border added. Most people prefer the border. In my professional judgment, if the photo is going to be ruined by the crop and result in the loss of important elements such as people or body parts then I will just go ahead and add the border. Although many photos like the one above wouldn't warrant an automatic email or border, they just don't look as good cropped. Just keep this in mind when deciding what size prints to order.