I have been noticing so many wedding couples having trouble finding vendors and venues post Covid.  I had a bride book me almost a year ago already, her wedding is in 2022.  She booked me in 2020 when quarantines were starting to ease ever so slightly, because she knew brides that had their wedding dates canceled because of Covid, were likely shifting back a year.  Making 2021 and 2022 likely circus events trying to get your preferred vendors and venues booked.  I put together a guide for wedding couples that will help keep you organized and making sure everything gets done without getting overwhelmed.  If you are going for popular dates, such as 10/10/2020 or 05/05/05 (I know, I'm dating myself) make sure you book those even further in advance  EVERYONE thinks it'll be cool to have those for anniversary dates, so everything books that much faster.

12-24 months before the wedding

• Figure out your budget
• Figure out a date (it's great to have several options until you find your venue!)
• Find your venue!
• Choose your wedding party.  And choose wisely.  They will be going through some of the most stressful parts of planning with you

Find your venue can be the trickiest part.  Post-Covid, I have noticed venues booking really far in advance as newly married brides try to book venues, while brides that got their dates canceled try to reschedule everything.  This is making for crazy backlog, and of course, the most sought after sites are going quick.  So make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to get the spot of your dreams booked!  If you can be flexible with your date, you'll probably be more likely to get space.  Also, weddings on Friday, or even Sunday's, sometimes incur lower prices because there's less desirability for those days.  

This is also a great time to start thinking about how many guests you'll be able to have with your budget, and what kind of theme or vibe you'd like your day to have.  

12 months out

• Start looking for your vendors

Vendors book out so far in advance.  Run, don't walk.  As soon as you have your venue booked, start inquiring with the vendors you've been eyeing to make sure you get your dates reserved.  If you're going for a popular date (like 10/10/2020 was crazy popular) make sure you are nailing down your vendor before the 12 month mark, because those dates get booked QUICK!  Vendors include your caterer (if this doesn't come included with your venue), photographer, videographer, DJ or band, and more and more, I am seeing make up artists and hair stylists being booked this far out.  Get a feel for your vendors.  Sit down with them.  These people will be capturing or setting the mood for your whole day and you want to know you're a good fit!  Ask questions, make sure you get contracts and even ask your photographer if they include an engagement session with a booked wedding.  Many, like myself, do.  It helps us get to know you before the big day and it also gives you a chance to see if their delivered product meets your expectations. 

10-11 months out

• Start shopping for your wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses​​​​​​​
• Book a block of rooms at a hotel for your wedding guests if you have people coming from out of town (or even if you think people will just want  to crash for the night!)
• Create your wedding website
• Set up your appointment for your engagement pictures
• Start looking at wedding invitations and save the date

​​​​​​​Make sure you call a few bridal shops and see if an appointment needs to be made.  Say yes to the dress by 9 months out to make sure you have enough time for alterations and time for that dress to be shipped to your boutique!  

Now that you have your photographer booked, this is a great time to start getting to know them!  Get those engagement pictures booked so you have some cute pictures for your Save the Dates! You'll likely be able to find a vendor that can theme your Save the Dates to match your invitations. 

When choosing invitations, don't forget that odd sizes usually increase postage requirements.  Not a big deal if you're inviting your 20 closest friends, maybe, but it really starts to add up when you have 150 guests!

9 months out

• Purchase your wedding dress if you haven't already and make sure bridesmaid dresses are all ordered as well.
• Send Save the Dates

​​​​​​​Start looking for someone to alter your wedding dress, unless your boutique offers this service.  They may!  Just ask!

8 months out

• Register for gifts.  You can include this info on your wedding website if you've created one.
• Meet with florists

​​​​​​​Talk with your florist about your budget and the vibe you're going for.  Many will be able to suggest tips and tricks to keeping your bouquets in price range by using blooms in season!  Keep this in mind when thinking of your floral arrangements.  Remember working with a florist includes you, your bridesmaids, flowers for the ceremony, and usually, flowers for your tables as well.  There are many other options than fresh flowers as well.  Look into silk or wood flowers that will last forever and may be cheaper in the long run, especially if you have your heart set on blooms that are not in season for your wedding. 

7 months out

• Book your rehearsal dinner venue.  Maybe you're just going to hold a BBQ in your friend's yard.  Whatever that evening looks like, start getting details nailed down. 
• Order and reserve rentals. 
• Hire an officiant

​​​​​​​Maybe you're getting chairs for an outdoor ceremony.  Maybe you're securing a giant tent for your outdoor vows.  Even linens.  Some venues include a caterer, but no linens.  Make sure you're aware of what your particular package contains at the venue so you're well prepared the day of.  If you want a photo booth for your reception, now is probably a great time to start looking at that as well!

If you're getting married in a church, or on a cliff side, make sure you start looking to book the person who will pronounce you man and wife.  Again, if you're choosing a very popular date, you may need to look to do this a little sooner than 7 months out. 

6 months out

It's starting to get real!  Your big day is only 6 months away!

• Book transportation for your guests to the ceremony and/or the reception
• Book your transportation for the day of
• Book the honeymoon!
• Start the rental process for the groom's and groomsmen's tuxes
• Find your baker and discuss your wedding cake details.  Make sure to ask if they have a tasting so you and your significant other can find the perfect flavor for you!
• Start DIY-ing anything you're going to do yourself to take the cost of the wedding down. 

​​​​​​​DIY can take a bit of time.  And let's be honest, between your full time job and this wedding planning, you're going to need all the time you can get!  Have a night where you invite your bridal party over and get everyone involved.  Four hands are better than two! 

​​​​​​​If you're not sure if you'll need transportation for your guests, think about the ceremony or reception venues, and what their parking areas look like.  Will your guests have to park a couple streets over?  May be a good idea for you to get a shuttle, especially in hotter months, so guests are still fresh when they get to your venue. 

4 months out

• Have your final tasting with your caterer. Some will charge a small fee, but you'll be able to likely customize a few options for you and your guests.
• Buy your wedding bands
• Have your hair and make-up trial with your artists​​​​​​​

3 months out

• Finalize your menu with your caterer
• Order your wedding invitations (order extra!)
• Start putting together guest favors.  You may have already started this if this is part of your DIY projects!
• Start writing your vows if you plan on writing them yourselves!

​​​​​​​2 months out

• Send out your invitations. (Pro tip: number each invitation and keep a master list of who is getting which invitation.  You'd be stunned at the amount of people that forget to send them back with their name!)
• Pick up your marriage license (this can vary by state, so make sure to look up what needs to be done in your state!)
• Buy your wedding party gifts.  
• Meet with your florist and do a mock up of what your bouquets and centerpieces will look like.  
• Finalize your song selections with your DJ or band, also at the church with the choir director, if applicable
• Finalize any special shots with your photographer.
• Buy all your small things that you left to the end.  Unity candles, ring bearer pillows, rose petals, guest books, cake cutting utensils and anything else!

​​​​​​​I meet with my brides several times before the day of the wedding.  I want to get a feel for what your hopes are for the day, what little pieces you may forget to tell me the day of, the family member you'll just die if you don't get a picture with....tell me (or YOUR photographer) ALL of that!  When the day is gone, all you'll have left is the photos and videos, so make sure you keep these people up to date on all the changes or special pieces of your day.

1 month out

• Create your seating chart
• Pay your vendors in full
• Put cash in envelopes for tips.  Give these to your wedding planner, or delegate someone to do it.  You'll have enough to worry about the day of.
• Have a final venue walk through.  Make a list of questions beforehand so you don't forget anything.

​​​​​​​The week of your wedding

Yay!  It's the week of your wedding!  This is time for all the fine details.

• Get your nails done
• Get your eyebrows done
• Get a massage (you're worth it!)
• Pick up your wedding dress and make sure your maid of honor or a bridesmaid is with you and can learn your bustle
• Pack for the honeymoon
• Get your rings cleaned
• Practice your vows
• Make any last minute adjustments with your vendors

​​​​​​​Night before your wedding

• Any boxes, bags or survival kits that are being brought to the wedding (if you're spending the night in a hotel) or on your honeymoon, get those in your car
• Attend your wedding rehearsal.  

HAPPY WEDDING DAY

• Eat a good breakfast.  Your day will get crazy and you're going to need to eat where you can find time. 
• Steam your dress, if needed. 
• Layout the items for your photographer that you want captured, such as your ring, bouqet, invitations, etc.

Finally, enjoy your day and make sure to stop and take in the moments.  The day will be over so quickly and you'll want to remember this day you've been planning for over a year!

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I said a blog post was coming this week on what to expect for your sessions, but in order to write that post correctly, I'm going to take a little more time to do it.  

This week I'm going to focus on pictures, and why it's so important to print your pictures.  

If you've worked with me, you know almost all of my Collections include prints.  I print only at the best quality professional labs to ensure your images are printed on the highest quality paper with the highest quality ink so that these images will be able to last for generations in your family.  Just like the picture everyone has of grandma, or even great grandma!  You are ensuring future generations have something tangible of your legacy in the family.  Time is fleeting.  I lost both of my parents before I was 30, and every single picture I find of them today, I swear, is like a treasure.  I love going through their friends photo albums, because I know, an image of them will sneak up somewhere and it will make my heart sing.  

Picture of my mom and her brother. Both gone now, but this picture sits on my desk and makes me smile.Picture of my mom and her brother. Both gone now, but this picture sits on my desk and makes me smile.

A picture of my mom with her brother.  Both gone now.
This sits on my desk now and makes me smile every time I see it. 

Technology is always changing.  Depending on how long you've been with me, I started out by giving digital images on CD's.  I shudder to think how many of those digital images are completely obsolete at this point and gone.  With my newest laptop upgrade (thanks to my amazing husband at Christmas!), I no longer even have the ability to make CD's on my computer.  And with my weddings and events, I give a custom USB drive with images.  But even USB ports are disappearing on computers as technology marches ever forward to be smaller, sleeker and more efficient.  Leaving me to wonder if I should continue to offer these, or just do downloads online like I do for regular galleries.  

Picture from the CD days.

An image from my CD days. 

Computers also crash, or need to be updated.  I can't tell you how many pictures I've lost over the years with losing phones (or destroying them), and computers needing to be upgraded.  Thankfully, I have a storage system for all client images, but I am not as careful with my own images (though recently, I've started to make sure those are safe as well).  I have been contacted by several clients in the past that hope to God I still have their images as they've had some sort of major computer malfunction, all their pictures gone.  And I do!  

And look, photography isn't cheap.  I understand that coming to me is a bit of money.  I do hope people understand that me taking your pictures isn't just showing up to click a button.  It's hours before a session communicating.  It's hours before your session planning.  It's hours before your session making sure my equipment is in order, lenses are cleaned, memory cards are formatted, batteries are charged.  All in multiples.  This equipment is also incredibly expensive and there are multiples I take to every session, in case, God forbid, a failure happens, I can be ready to go with the next battery/card/lens/camera body.  Then there's the time after your session I spend.  It's 20-30 minutes just getting your session loaded into the computer and then culling (the act of going through the images where your eyes are closed, your body positioning is off, my camera missed focus for some reason....)through the session takes time, and then every individual picture in your gallery is taken in to photoshop and edited to it's full capacity to give you a beautiful final image.  

After all that work, after all that money, wouldn't you want to SEE your pictures?  Downloading them to your computer, you'll likely leave them there, maybe sharing them to social media.  After that, you'll see them once a year as they show up in your "memories".  It's hard to really enjoy them that way.  Print them!  Put them on the wall!  Remember how funny it was when I told your kids to whisper a secret into each other's ears, and one thought the other said fart and they broke down into hysterics (that's happened).  Remember how little your kids were in the moment.  Remember your senior as she (or he) finishes up their high school years and how excited and full of hope they were as they took on life and had nothing but the future ahead of them.  It goes fast.  People tell you it goes fast, but you never really believe it.  Until you realize your "baby" can start taking drivers ed classes in less than a year and you SWEAR she was teething last week.  (I'm fine, we're fine, it's all gonna be fine)

The "fart" photo.

The "fart" image.

Print your pictures.  And not at Walmart where they're trying to beat prices by giving you inferior products.  Print through me.  Or ask me where to print!  I'm happy to give you some cost effective places that I know won't ruin the quality of my work or the lasting quality of your print.  Your kids, and your kids kids, will thank you. 

*In a future post, I will be showing the comparison of printing at Walmart, or CVS, compared to a professional lab!

If you've ever asked me about a location, you know I'm a little touchy about giving you a direct answer, unless you've already booked with me.  Why?  

First, is overcrowding.  Two years ago, I did mini sessions in a park.  There was fifteen photographers at this park.  I counted.  Even with photoshop helping me remove extra people out of a background, working around that many people (don't forget to add in all the photographer's clients!) out of images becomes a headache!  If you are with me and have younger kids, all those people can be distracting to them as well, making it harder to keep their focus on what we're doing.  

Sadly, people don't always have the most respect for their surroundings as well.  My daughter was assisting me one day at a popular location.  We watched another photographer do a cake smash with the cutest little boy ever.  There must've been 8-10 adults with this cutie, all getting shots with the birthday boy.  When they left, my daughter and I oohed and aahed over him as he passed us, with his little hat and suspenders.  

My daughter helped me finish up my sessions and then as we were cleaning up, we noticed the other photographer had left EVERYTHING from her session as trash on the ground where they had been working.  Streamers, confetti, even the plastic container the cake had come in had just been left on the ground.  

Many local parks and public areas are starting to implement permit fees for photographers.  Reasons like this is why.  Leaving your trash and not respecting the area ruins it for everyone.  If I shoot at 5 different locations with 5 different permit fees....I have to be able to pick up that cost somewhere.  So my prices need to go up, or clients need to pay the permit fee up front.  OR, they need to choose another location.  It's a lose/lose/lose for my clients.  

I didn't have to say a word to my daughter.  When we were done cleaning up our area, we quietly went over and started cleaning up their area.  There were trash cans on site, so there was literally no excuse for not cleaning up.  Especially when you had so many adults that each could've grabbed just one thing and dropped it in the can you had to walk by on your way out anyway.  

My "secret" spots...no one is there.  Few know about the location.  That cuts down on the overcrowding and the litter.  It creates a more unique session for you because not every person in town has that same shot.  

I also sometimes ask you to do things during your session that may seem odd.  Or feel weird.  TRUST ME!  I'm going for something here!  But now, when I ask you to do that weird thing, "kiss with your teeth!", you can do so without a park full of people watching you and your loved one try to figure out what I could possibly mean by kiss with your teeth. It's just you, your loved one, myself and possibly a horse (a horse literally showed up at my last session!). 

Lastly, I've had people ask me for locations, I talk with them about the locations and then they ghost me and go with another photographer, using my location.  Look, you can work with whomever you love as a photographer.  If my style doesn't fit you, THAT'S OKAY!  If my price is too high for you, THAT'S OKAY!  I take no offense.  I do take offense when you sneakily get information out of me to pass it along to someone else.  I have spent time looking for these locations and hours out of my day and away from my kids to make sure these spots are perfect for what I need when I need it.  I have also, sadly, had photographers try to send people my way, just to pretend to inquire about a session, ask about locations and then pass the info back to them.  Unfortunately, more reasons for me to not discuss locations until your booking process is completed.  If a photographer finds the location on their own, more power to them!  I have no problem sharing the space.  I do not work for anyone other than myself though.  I put in the time.  I put in the effort.  Feel free to get out and explore the great outdoors on your own.  

How do I find my locations?  Sometimes I literally stumble upon them.  God did not gift me with an internal compass.  My mother once got lost on her own street once.  For real.  Her sister-in-law was taking her home, turned down her street and my mother argued with her from the second she turned down her street until the moment they pulled into her driveway that she was NOT on the correct street.  Another time, my Dad had friends over for a card game and sent her to go grab some pizza for them to munch on.  The pizza place was two streets away.  We loved in Pawtucket, RI at the time.  Two hours later, she called the house and told my father she needed help because somehow she had ended up in Fall River, MA.  Of course, she didn't know that's where she was and it was a guessing game as my father asked her to describe her surroundings until he figured out where she had ended up.  "Barbara, how did you end up in Fall River?!  The pizza place is two streets over on the corner!"  "I followed the guy in front of me," she replied.  "He had RI plates and seemed to know where he was going."  He did!  It just wasn't the same place YOU were going!

I seem to have inherited that poor sense of direction.  Though, thankfully, not to that degree.  And since driving around lost with her on back roads in the late 80's and early 90's, there's been the invention of GPS.  Someone must've known I was going to need it.  I sometimes get turned around, but I always know where I'm somewhere I'm NOT supposed to be.  Haha!  So sometimes, I stumble upon locations by just being in the wrong place at the right time.  This is an example of one of those locations:

I was looking for another spot entirely, went one street over too far and found this lovely quiet beach that it seems no one knows about except the people on that street.  And no, it's not residents only, but it may as well be.  The most people I have ever seen at this location is 2.  And when that tide goes out, there's frequently seals that sun themselves on the rocks just off the beach.  It is so lovely and so quiet.  

Sometimes a client leads me to a location.  Do you have a beautiful spot you love spending time in, hiking in, playing in?  Let me know!  We don't have to use just MY spots.  Sometimes YOUR spots are way better than anything I had!

Some days I flat out go out with the intention of finding locations.  I drive around and stop anywhere that looks beautiful and not prohibited.  As you know, I'm not afraid to hike in a ways.  In fact, my prep guides for sessions should include making sure you have a decent set of shoes for walking in, because rarely are any of my spots right on the road.  Sorry! 

So that's the reason I keep my spots on the "secret" side.  I'm trying to keep your images unique and I'm trying to avoid dealing with the people that are going to inevitably create permit fees at more popular locations.  That keeps your cost lower.