Advice from a Photographers Perspective

The first dance is such a sweet moment in the wedding day. It’s a challenge for shy brides and grooms (since all eyes are on you!), but I think it’s a particularly lovely tradition, one that can yield some fantastic photographs, and one that deserves some thoughtfulness in the planning of your wedding day. Here are a few easy tips to get you started:
1. Choose that just-right song.
Emotion in real life = emotion in your real photographs. The song can be magical or meaningful, sentimental or just plain fun, but definitely choose one that makes you two dance.
2. Consider the lighting and space you’ll use.
Lighting can add drama, but it also shows off your faces. And I know I’m always reminding folks about their grannies, but your grannies will be glad they can see your faces, too. This might mean planning your first dance just before or after sunset if you are planning an outdoor reception. Or it could mean bringing in lighting to accent the dance floor if you’re planning an indoor or late night outdoor reception.
3. Practice!
I don’t necessarily mean you have to take dance lessons, though I have seen—and thoroughly admired!—some spectacular choreographed and rehearsed first dances. Practice could simply mean slow dancing around your living room a few times before the wedding (which you’ll probably love anyway at that point in the planning!).

by: gia canali

wed. advice: photography

"Your wedding photographer will probably try to convince you to do two hours+ of portraits before the ceremony. He wants you to be able to go straight to the reception after the ceremony, but he also wants to capture the first moment you see each other in your wedding garb without any pesky wedding guests in the way. What you get is those incredibly stagy "first look" photos, where the bride and groom just end up looking like they're posing.

Come on. You're nervous. You're about to get married. And then you're supposed to turn and look at each other and be all lovestruck and amazed while pretending there's not a camera pointing at you?

You're robbing yourself of the (trust me) incredible moment of seeing each other for the first time at the altar. Or the arch or the stump or whatever. And you're robbing your guests of the joy of seeing you see each other for the first time.

For fuck's sake, please just take a little time to do portraits after the ceremony. They'll come out much better because you will be SMILING YOUR ASS OFF. You'll barely notice the camera. (Trust me.)"

great advice. thanks ESB. i've been seeing all these great wedding pics and yes, they are beautiful but some just don't ring true. they look so perfect that they could be mistaken as a magazine photo shoot). i suppose there is nothing wrong with that, BUT, i personally appreciate the candid, off the wall pics more because they are capable of capturing that exact magical moment.

(i'm sure i'll be guilty of some magazine photo shoot pictures too when i get married, he he)

secrets to a happy marriage

"Last word to the wise--everything is a negotiation and agreement. Remember that there are two parties in the relationship, and together you're so much greater than the sum of your parts. When you're headed out to see District 9 instead of Julie & Julia, you may just find that the action flick is exactly what the doctor ordered."

- Brooke Williams and Josh Liberson

"When you're married, your partner's pain becomes your pain. You long to carry the weight of the world for each other. When he has a tough day at work, I want to march down to his office and battle his demons. When I would rather jump off a cliff than compose yet another blog post, he wishes he could write in my stead. But you can't do everything for your partner, nor should you diminish each other's self-sufficiency.

So, instead, we find small ways to lighten the other's load. I can't sit through his boring five-hour conference call but I can pick him up at the train station and give him a big hug. He can't scour the web for the ten best ottomans, but he can bring me a mug of hot tea and some fuzzy socks. Small tokens of unsolicited support make a big impact and say, 'I love you, I'm proud of you, I think you're doing a great job.' At the end of the day, isn't that all we want to hear anyway?"

- Anne Sage

"Take a mini-moon. Frequently. Mini-moons originated with my parents who were married between the fall and winter break in college, and so didn't have time for a proper honeymoon. To make up for it, they took little vacations they called "mini-moons," where they would leave their six kids in the hands of a capable babysitter and spend a weekend away."

- Brooke Reynolds

"My husband and I have been married for only four months, but before we were married we took a nearly four-month backpacking trip to Thailand. Even though we had been together for years, we learned so much from the experience. So my advice is: Take adventures! No matter how big or small your adventure, you'll plan together, be spontaneous together, and create wonderful memories from the ups and downs."

- Ellie

""Love your other how they need to be loved, not how you need to be." A friend told me this simple mantra, saying that it had transformed his parents' marriage. It has stuck with me ever since. It makes so much sense and yet is so easy to forget because I think by nature we tend to be pretty selfish. Love is selfless, though, and what truly makes me happy is when my husband is happy. So, a key to a good marriage is trying your best to focus on what your significant other needs you to be to him, instead of what you want him to be to you."

- Anna Bond

*these are all {advice&pic} via cup of joe