What to do with Your Wedding Photos

The leftover cake has been eaten (or frozen for your first anniversary). Your dress is hanging back up in its giant white bag. You're mostly unpacked from your honeymoon, but just not ready to put away the suitcases and admit that it's all over. And then you receive your beautiful online gallery of wedding photos! After you freak out and look at them all at least a hundred times... what do you do next?

Here are 5 things that I think everyone should do with their wedding photos: 

1. Print your Favorites - Choose a bunch of your favorite wedding photos and print them 4x6 or 5x7. Set them up on a plate stand and rotate through them every few days. Frame a few for side tables or your desk at work. My recommended printing company is MPix.com, which is a site designed for consumers from a company that also services professional photographers! The quality you'll get here is vastly different from what the Walmart print counter will give you!

2. Hang a larger Canvas or Framed Print - Having a favorite wedding image (or a few images) on the wall where you can look at them every day is one of the best ways you can decorate your home.

3. Order Custom Thank You Cards - I love getting thank you cards from my couples, especially when they use their wedding photos for the card design. And I know your wedding guests will feel the same way! It makes a beautiful memento of the day for them! Holiday cards with your wedding photos would also be something your friends and family will love.

4. Create a Christmas Tree Ornament - We purchase a new ornament every year to represent something special that happened or a fun trip we went on. We also add a photo ornament every year, so why not start with a wedding photo? Or you could print a cool custom ornament from MPix!

5. Order a Wedding Album - I absolutely love designing wedding albums for my clients! Your wedding album is a thick high-quality linen covered book and contains 75-100 photos. These beauties are built to last so your grandchildren can flip through them one day!

Want More Wedding Photography Tips?
Advantages of a First Look
Timeline VS Wedding Day Time
The Family Formal List
The Must Take Shot List
Budget Wisdom from Every Last Detail
Sunset Time on the Wedding Day
What About a Rainy Wedding Day?
Options for Your Wedding Exit
What To Do With Your Wedding Photos

Natalie & Tony - Blush & Navy Historic Post Office Wedding

From the first moment they met, they were drawn to each other. Because when you meet someone as kind, caring, and compassionate as Natalie & Tony, you are drawn to them. Pulled as if by a magnet. And all at once, they found themselves best friends and deeply in love.

All their hopes and dreams and prayers to find the right person… the perfect fit… had finally brought them together. There were no doubts in their minds. Or in anyone else’s mind either. Their family members echoed this thought in their wedding toasts, “When you see Natalie & Tony together, you know they belong together.”

Together they are better people. Together they are stronger people. Together they are kinder people. Because together they are whole.

Natalie & Tony had such a sweet and intimate ceremony. I loved that they decided to face the row of arches.

There were so many sweet tears during these dances! And oh man... I thought the mother/son dance made me cry last year, but now that I've held Darcy and danced with him in the middle of the night... the emotions are tenfold!

And Natalie & Tony's reception wouldn't be complete without their sunset portraits! I always love when we have sunset portraits scheduled in the timeline! 

The Creative Team:
Coordination: Kelsey Ann Events
Venue: Historic Post Office

Bridal Gown: David’s Bridal | Beauty: Poquoson Hair and Body Shoppe | Bridesmaids: David’s Bridal | Cake: Carrie’s Cakes | Catering: East Beach Catering | DJ: Astro Entertainment | Florals: Floral Fashions | Groom’s Attire: Ames Tuxedo | Officiant: Paul Eaker | Rentals: Distinctive
Event Rentals

Options for Your Wedding Exit

Today I wanted to share a few tips about something I've never really talked about... the wedding exit! Traditionally, the wedding exit is all the guests lining up to send off the bride and groom at the end of the night. Couples love this idea, but they often have a hard time deciding what kind of exit to do, because there are a lot of variables. Here are some of them:

- What if our guests leave early? While wedding invitations list a start time, they don't usually give an end time for the event. So the guests start trickling out over the course of the evening. When couples have a sign, maybe sitting on the favor table or the bar, that tells guests when the exit will be, they will have a bigger group of people to see them off. Now if the exit is at 11 pm and your grandma was planning to head out by 9:30, she probably won't stick around another hour and a half. But a sign will prevent a good number of guests from unknowingly leaving 20 minutes before your exit, and you'll have more people to help send you off.

- Sparklers can be dangerous. At the end of the night, many of your guests have probably had a good bit to drink, and the last thing you want to do is hand them fire (aka sparklers). If your venue allows sparklers, make sure to get the 20 or 36 inch ones so they can give you plenty of space to walk and no one is concerned about burning their hands.

- Our venue doesn't allow sparklers. That's ok! There are a ton of other options! Ribbon wands, bubbles, confetti, flower petals. If your exit takes place before sunset, or there's a good amount of exterior lighting at your venue, all of these are beautiful options.

- We can't have sparklers and it's too dark at our venue for other exit options. That does seem like a problem, but a few of our couples have chosen to do a ceremony exit for this reason. (Or because they knew they'd party way later than a lot of their guests!) If you have guests pick up their confetti/bubbles/ribbon wands before the ceremony with their program, they can shower you as you walk back down the aisle as husband and wife. Or, you can line the guests up on the steps of the church to send you off. I love this idea for several reasons.

1. All of your guests get to take part, because the ceremony has just taken place. That means your 4 year old flower girl and elderly relatives will still be there.

2. You can choose any exit you want (as long as the venue permits it), because there's plenty of light.

3. Everybody looks beautiful (because they haven't been on the dance floor for the past three hours)!

4. You can book a smaller photography package since you won't need coverage until the end of the reception.

Whether you have a ceremony or a reception exit... it's a fun way for your guests to express their love and excitement for you, and we love photographing them!

Want More Wedding Photography Tips?
Advantages of a First Look
Timeline VS Wedding Day Time
The Family Formal List
The Must Take Shot List
Budget Wisdom from Every Last Detail
Sunset Time on the Wedding Day
What About a Rainy Wedding Day?
Options for Your Wedding Exit
What To Do With Your Wedding Photos

What About a Rainy Wedding Day?

While it might be fun to end the engagement session completely soaked, it's not what most people have in mind for their wedding portraits! A lot of brides envision an outdoor ceremony and outdoor portraits for their wedding day, and if it rains on the wedding day, it might seem like the only choice is to stay inside. Here are some tips for wedding day portraits in the rain:

1. Umbrellas - This is a must for rainy wedding days, so we don't have to stay indoors the entire day! If rain is in the forecast, I have a few clear umbrellas that we can use for portraits, but I recommend buying a few really big golf size umbrellas to help people get from the car to the building or across the lawn. You'll want enough for the entire bridal party or at least one per bridal party couple.

2. Backup footwear - Even if it's not rainy while we take pictures, the ground might be really wet and soft, so I recommend wearing rain boots instead of your pretty bridal shoes. We don't have to show them in the pictures if you don't want to. 

3. Have a helper - If the groom holds the umbrella and you hold up the skirt of your dress, you'll probably need someone to carry your bouquet or help if you have a long veil.

4. Try to stay dry - Like I said, our goal is not to get soaked! So we'll keep our eye on the rain and shoot under covered areas (porches or tree cover) until the rain is light and drizzly. Then we can venture out a bit for some pictures without getting too wet. If we don't want the umbrellas in all the shots, we'll get it all set up and then hand off the umbrellas to someone. That way you stay as dry as possible.

5. Arrange for transportation - Our chosen portrait location might only be a short 2-3 minute walk away, but on a rainy day, it's best to stay protected from the elements as long as possible. Especially if the ground is getting soggy. Having someone drive you to the portrait location instead will help you stay dry.

6. Rearrange the timeline - If we know the storm is going to blow over, we might rearrange some of the photos. On Alicia & Jordan's wedding day, we had planned to take wedding party photos outside, but it was pouring at the church. So we moved a few things around in the timeline, took the wedding party photos indoors, and drove across town to their reception venue a little early where it wasn't raining. Not only did we get beautiful outdoor bride & groom portraits like Alicia wanted, but the sun was even shining a bit!

7. Move fast - If it rains on your wedding day and we decide to do portraits in the rain anyway, we'll be shooting as quickly as possible. When the couple's vision is to take portraits outdoors, ten minutes of portraits in the rain is better than 45 minutes of indoor portraits.

We won't let a little rain ruin your beautiful wedding day! In most cases, all it takes is a little extra care to get beautiful outdoor portraits on a rainy day. And you know, they say that rain on a wedding day is good luck!

Have more questions about wedding day photography? I'd love to hear from you!

Want More Wedding Photography Tips?
Advantages of a First Look
Timeline VS Wedding Day Time
The Family Formal List
The Must Take Shot List
Budget Wisdom from Every Last Detail
Sunset Time on the Wedding Day
What About a Rainy Wedding Day?
Options for Your Wedding Exit
What To Do With Your Wedding Photos

Monday Musings

Dear Toaster, you're a pretty simple contraption. So how come you can't make an even piece of toast? It's a relatively easy job. No one is asking you to save the world. Just make nicely browned bread.

Dear Carpet, I am sorry that my son is determined to devour you.

Dear Grocery Stores, Why are there always more employees walking around than at the checkout?

Dear Tupperware, Could you sound a warning when you're not fully closed and I'm about to shake you? That would be helpful.

Dear Cheese Dip, You are my nemesis.

Dear Brand New Jeans, I was looking for a new top, but I'm so glad I found you instead. Thank you for knowing what I truly need.

Ryan Quote of the Week:
I'll roll down the windows. That way the photos aren't tinted

The CGP Cookout

Sunday we had several of our past and present CGP couples over for a cookout. We loved introducing them to Darcy and meeting their babies and fur-babies as well! I set the camera out and forgot about it as always, but I'm glad we got these two quick shots at the end of the night.

Whenever I decide to plan a party, I start pulling out my fancy dishes and planning cute menu items. But I let all that go this year. We ate off of paper plates. I didn't style a single thing. And I let my baby drip watermelon juice all down his sweet little belly. Every inch of counter space in our kitchen was covered in food (including the stove top) and our back deck was covered in chairs. And it was perfect.

I can't wait to do it all again next year!