Six Must-Have Wedding Day Shots

Of course you need photos of those boutique bridal shoes, the stunning boutonniere, the beading on the wedding gown, and the first kiss, but there are six must-have shots that truly exemplify a couple, their love for each other, and capture the essence of the wedding day.

The moment he sees his bride for the first time...

A perfect capture of their true personalities...

A father giving away his little girl, with no doubt in his mind that she will be treated like a princess...

The true emotions of happiness and love for a little sister...

Those moments of surprise...

And that look in their eyes...

Christopher Todd Studios

Vendor Feature: Trade Stress For A Sample

If you’ve already started the planning process, you may be discovering that it is more stressful than you had imagined.   You may be finding it difficult to truly enjoy the process.  And for many brides, the biggest stress of all is the gown. At some point before the wedding, you are going to select the most important dress that you will ever wear. But no pressure!  Every bride has a unique journey to find the dress.  It’s all part of the experience of getting married.

Each bride has a different experience when finding her gown, and the hunt has to start somewhere.  Getting started, maybe you have run into one (or many) of the following issues:

     ·         Perusing your Pinterest, you realize you’re in love with the pricey styles by Monique Lhullier, Reem Acra, and Alexander McQueen, and the dresses of lesser quality really aren’t doing it for you.
     ·         You feel your style changes so frequently that it would be impossible to purchase a gown you may not love in a year. 
    ·         Crunching your budget, you find there’s no way you could afford a dress that’s going to run you $1,000 per hour on your wedding day. 
     ·         You’re a curvy girl (and proud of it), but the shop can’t show you a gown in your size, so they promise it will look perfect on you when it comes in six months down the road in your size.
     ·         Checking your calendar you realize that your window in which to order a dress has closed.
     ·         Looking through pictures of your favorite, you realize the one you love the most is from a few years ago and is no longer in production.  
     ·         You’ve got a baby on the way, and the wedding is during your pregnancy.  
     ·         You’ve had the terrible misfortune of ordering your dream gown, and it arrived with issues (whatever they may be).

Finding a gown should be an enjoyable process.  If any of these situations has been yours since you started planning, you may be feeling like the journey has been far from pleasant.  However, don’t stress.  You can get a designer dress, you can spend less than your entire year’s earnings, and you can have it in time for your wedding day.  Most importantly, whatever issues you may have run into, you can find a dress that you love.  Enter: the sample gown.

Ever wonder what becomes of the dresses that brides try on at the shops when stock changes over, the gowns that cross the runways or grace the magazine pages, and the ones that brides cancel due to a change of heart?  Those are the dresses (whatever size, shape, or style they may be) that become samples.  These gowns cannot be sold as brand new if another person has put them on or if they have been ordered for another bride.  This doesn’t render these gowns useless; it gives them a whole new purpose.

For many brides, the designer is important.  Some brides really appreciate the hours that go into the beadwork, the Alencon lace, the dupioni silk, and the expert craftsmanship. What is important about the dress varies from bride to bride, and being in one of the aforementioned situations does not limit you from getting the designer gown of your dreams.  If the designer is important to you, then it is a valid factor to consider when making your purchase.

Back to budget issues, and this time with good news.  Loving designer details can be of concern when it comes to the budget, but don’t fret.  Those previously described gowns from the discontinuations, fashion shows, etc., cannot be sold for the same price as they cost to order from a shop, but they are still so valuable for their luxurious fabrics and superior construction.  Sample gowns sell for a fraction of the price for which they retail when ordered. Purchasing a sample makes for a great way to express your expensive taste without paying as much for it.

As for the time crunch issue, it’s less of one in the case of getting a sample gown.  With samples, what you see is what you get.  There is no ordering, and there is no waiting for months to see your gown.  This is great for the bride who waited till the last minute, was too afraid of her changing taste to order months out, the expecting bride, or the one who got engaged last month and is getting married next month.

Taking a “traditional” route and ordering a $5,000 dress eight months before the wedding is only one of the options in finding a wedding dress, but many natural life occurrences may make this method simply not an option, and that’s okay.  Embrace it, don’t stress, and make it all part of the journey.  Purchasing a sample gown is a great way to get a fabulous designer gown at a price that won’t break the bank.  You don’t have to compromise your expensive taste, and you don’t have to order months in advance.  You could end up with an $8,000 designer gown one month before your wedding that you only paid $900 for… and no one has to know that besides you!

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The Sample Rack

Designer gowns for less!

A Guide to Being the Best Maid of Honor

It is truly and honor to be asked to be a Maid/Matron of Honor and once a bride pops the big question, your duties begin! While there are no set rules as to what you have to do or what you are in charge of, you are the bride's right hand woman, and should want to make her feel special for this amazing time in her life.
So why not do everything in your power to make her feel like the princess she truly is :)

The Engagement Party

While there may be many family members and friends who cannot wait to throw and engagement party, you're in charge of making sure it all happens! As the engagement excitement slowly fades, there is going to be a lot of talking, and less doing when it comes to planning the party. Now I am not saying that you have to pay for it or even host it at your house, but you are in charge of making sure it happens.

Talk to family members and friends who may be willing to host the event. Or hold a pot-luck so everyone can take part in making the event special. And this doesn't have to be anything extravagant, just a celebration of an amazing couple and the journey they are now beginning.

The Bridal Shower

Just like the engagement party, you are not required to pay for this event or host it at your home. You are there to make sure it happens. No bride should be planning a party for herself, right? Put yourself in her shoes and you will begin to realize that these events that take place before the wedding are meant to be fun and to celebrate the amazing bride and groom. Whether you are hosting a bridal tea or a garden party in her mother's backyard, you are there to make sure the event is as special as possible for your favorite bride-to-be!

The Bachelorette Party

Now this is an event that, most of the time, parents do not attend. So it is up to you to bring the bridesmaids together and decide what type of event the bride would want for her bachelorette party. Whether or not she is involved (mine was a surprise!), you need to organize or assign a bridesmaid to organize the event. The rest of the bridesmaids are there to help out too, so lean on them for advice so you don't become too overwhelmed.

The Wedding Day

While you don't really have any "duties" when it comes to the wedding day (besides holding the bride's bouquet for her as she says her vows), you are there to ensure her day is more special that she ever could have imagined. And I could not have asked for a more amazing maid of honor, my big sister Nicole, because she truly went above an beyond to make my day as special as possible.

When I arrived to the bridal suite the morning of the wedding, there was champagne, bagels, and snacks ready to go and set up beautifully. As we began getting ready, Nicole gave me a gift that I will cherish forever. It was a box filled with notes from family and friends that had been a special part of my life - from my childhood babysitter, to my first cheerleading coach, sisters, my dad, grandparents, and finally, my soon-to-be husband. This was a gift that I frequently open just to read the letters again and re-live that amazing day. And a quick tip: If you decide to do this, make sure she reads the letters BEFORE her makeup is done. And having a photographer there is an added bonus :)

As a maid of honor, you are there to make sure the bride's experience up to and on the wedding day is more special than she could ever imagine. Be her right-hand-woman throughout the process and offer to help wherever  you can. While you don't have to organize everything or do everything, be there to ensure the events are planned, the DIY's are put together without the bride getting stressed out, and do everything you would want your own Maid of Honor to do for you on your own wedding day. Be the best you can be and the bride will truly cherish all the work you have done to make her feel special.