Wednesday 29 May 2013

Our Wedding Celebrant


A key part of any wedding is the celebrant.

This is one person who can make or break your wedding ceremony. They are there to be an extra support person in the months leading up to the big day. To offer wisdom and inspiration, to stand beside you when you stutter and sweat at the rehearsal. Then finally to whisper encouragement and any forgotten words in your ear and watch you shine on the day itself.

So, it's important to find the right person for the job.

We found the right person in Belinda de Lautour


© Ross Herbert Photography

Thursday 16 May 2013

Suit Up! - Chris talks suits (Guest Groom post)

Weddings are driven by fashion. A bride will spend a lot of effort on her dress - so what can the Groom do in the meantime?

SUIT UP!

Few things are timeless like Men in Suits. At first suits seem simple; just a jacket, shirt & tie, trousers and shiny shoes. But there are actually a lot of options and detail involved with finding the right outfit.

For our wedding I decided to hire suits for myself and the groomsmen. A decent looking suit can be bought from Hallensteins for not much less than the cost of hiring, but hired suits are generally better quality at this price level.
I went through Van Meer for the rentals, who have agents nationwide. Dragging the mates out to try on clothes isn't something we do very often at all!
We got measured up and tried on everything that took our fancy. My initial ideas were for a super formal Morning suit, maybe with a hat and cane to class it up.
The trouble is, jackets with tails look very retro, and make most men appear short. For example, this fellow -whoever he is, the first result on google images - is obviously tall and handsome, but seems to have borrowed his grandfathers church outfit.
Lookin' fine, Grandpa.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Capturing the day - Our Photography

Your memories will fade, but the photos will remain.

Our photographer was a very important decision to us. So careful attention was taken to find, just the right one. Who would capture the day, but also reflect the style and feel we were after.

A photographers style can completely change the way your photos looks.
Photo journalistic and candid shots allow the day to be told like a story.  Moments are captured when the models are not expecting them and movement, moments and emotions are more natural.
The other side is a more formal, structured and somewhat "classic" approach, which you have all seen in your parents photo albums. These are also good to have, as you can capture more individuals in the photo, everyone has their "photo face" on, and it is easy to hang on the wall.
We choose to go with a photographer who balanced both of these styles beautifully, we got so many candid real moments of the day along with the posed photos that helped to highlight our best selves.

Ross Herbert was our photographer and we couldn't be happier with what he produced. We spent a long time looking through his photos deciding what we liked, and anticipating what he might have in store for us. We were pleasantly impressed.

The weather

I know that almost every bride/groom hopes for a gloriously sunny day, with not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind; and for your friends and family will be out basking in its glow and take home warm memories of the day that was. On the other hand, the boys will be sweating in their suits, the girls may need to slather on some sunblock and everyone's getting a bit hot and bothered. The photographer will be battling the flare of the white dress, as the sun reflects off it and blocks any intricate detail that may be hiding. All the while trying to position everyone to prevent any severe cases of squinting and face shadows. 

However, if you are looking at a gloomy day, look up. The guests may have to run between shelter to avoid the rain, and you might not have the outside ceremony that you always wanted; but you'll have great photos.
Given the right photographer, he can make the rain disappear (not literally of course, but make it appear so). By choosing the right locations, posing and lighting no one will know by looking at your photos that its raining. No one is squinting, no one is sunburnt, and you can get some really dramatic scenes and reflections. Experience is a big factor here, if they can show you their previous "wet" events and how they dealt with it you can have an idea of what to expect. Better yet, make a plan for the worst with them, what ideas for locations or props (cute umbrellas) would they suggest?

When the day comes, hope for something in between, but either way some one will always be happy.


Get organised

The more you know, the more the photographer can anticipate.
A good photographer will move about, without too much notice from anyone, but any prior information is always appreciated. Knowledge of where you are entering from, where you will be standing, where everyone will be seated, who is of most importance, along with any places where they should not be.


A good photographer will see the scenes no-one else will anticipate. Capture the emotion you cannot bottle.
Preserve memories, to make them last a life-time.
“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”
Karl Lagerfeld

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Keeping Organised: My wedding planning and budgeting tool kit

Until I started planning our wedding properly (more than just ogling pretty dresses and centrepieces) I didn't realise truly how much work would be involved, and all the decisions to be made and kept track of. 
I swear, I have never been so organised... in. my. life. Through planning our wedding my general organisational skills have improved significantly (one of the unexpected bonuses of planning your own wedding.)

I used a lot of new gadgets and tools to accomplish this, and I cannot rave about them enough.