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This was a very emotional wedding for me. Beth & Fred's love for each other is just so powerful that it's hard not to get swept away with them. They put so much thought and care into their wedding that every little thing had significance and meaning to who they are as individuals and as a couple.
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After my wedding ring post on Friday, I received a great question from a bride in the comments, and I thought I'd turn this into an extended post for everyone out there who's working with a point & shoot camera and looking to get a great shot of their engagement or wedding ring to share with friends and family!! (For this post, I'll be using my own point & shoot camera, the Canon PowerShot SD870IS Elph.)
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I can pretty much guarantee that at some point on your wedding day, someone is going to ask to see your wedding ring (because I'm usually there when they ask!). This is true for both the bride and the groom. I used to think it was so gauche- like they were sizing up the rock or something. But now I understand that it's really more about how people make their rings unique and personal. I know I love seeing everyone's wedding rings because I just love design!! It's one of those little things that you can really customize to represent who you are and what you love- like a little symbolic gift that you get to enjoy every day. I don't always get a chance to photograph the wedding rings off the couple's hand (especially when couples are having such a great time partying), but when I do get the chance, I try to pair rings up with things that really represent the uniqueness of the wedding. So, here are some of my favorite ring shots so far and if you're just dying to see tons of cool wedding rings, or if you need jewelry design inspiration, definitely check out http://www.rocktographers.com which is an entire blog dedicated to wedding ring awesomeness. Seeing some of the unique rings out there totally makes me want to redesign mine for my next anniversary!!
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Megan & Jason are just the sweetest people you could ever meet. I remember meeting them for the first time in Bloomington and instantly feeling the love they shared with each other. They are beautiful inside and out, giving so much to others… such an inspiration.
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Your timeline is one of the biggest factors in the success of your event. So many things go into creating a timeline that works, so I wanted to share a few ideas about things to consider when it comes to creating your perfect wedding day timeline.

Getting Ready
Most weddings that start late are because of hair & makeup. Doing a trial can not only help give you a good estimate of how much time it will take, but it will help you figure out exactly what you want your wedding day style to be so that you aren't spending time figuring it out on the wedding day. You also have to consider the benefits and drawbacks about where you'll be getting ready and how many people from your bridal party will be getting ready with you. Whether you get ready at a salon or have a stylist come to you, figure that each person will need about one hour of a stylist's time, and the bride may need two hours or more depending on the complexity of the styling. So while one stylist could take care of 5 girls in 5-6 hours, two stylists may be able to do the same work in only 2.5-3 hours. If bridesmaids are planning to use their own stylists or go to their own salon, suggest that they make their appointment at least 2 hours plus travel before they need to be anywhere.

Getting ready at a salon can give you access to more stylists at once, as well as credit card processing and any other amenities that the salon offers. Having stylists come to you at your home, hotel, or ceremony site can allow you to roll out of bed at the last minute, have snacks or drinks of your choice on hand, and hang out in your pajamas until you're ready to get dressed. You may also want to take into consideration the kind of environment that helps you feel more relaxed. Some people may think a hotel room is great until they have 10 people in the same room all running around frantically, while others feel uneasy starting the day with navigating traffic alone and being away from everything else they need to get ready. Choose an option that will help you start your day off right.

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When I was married in 2003, I was the bride who wanted the big wedding with all the personal touches.  Since I was constrained by budget, I decided that I’d do most of it myself, with the help of friends and family when possible.  Everything meant something special to me, and because I had worked so hard on it, it meant that much more to have it all captured beautifully.  To be honest, I didn’t really set out to become a wedding photographer.  If anything, I wanted to become a wedding planner - as I think many brides do after living through a year of planning their own wedding!  However, fate had different plans for me.

Photography was always something I had done for myself, to create art for my walls, or to capture every little part of my life which has seemed to move too quickly for my memory to capture all on its own.  I had studied art intensely throughout my childhood and learned the technical side of photography through self study and experimentation during high school on a 1979 manual Olympus 35mm handed down to me by my uncle, but I never really had a vision of photography being anything more than something I enjoyed on a selfish level.

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I loved so many of the creative portraits that we did at Caroline and Dave’s wedding!! Caroline & Dave wanted a lot of artistic portraits, and they had some awesome locations to work with, so we pretty much rocked it out!! While I'm at it, I'll throw in a few standard portraits as well just to show you that I do take them when requested. Let's start with the traditional and end with funky..

A touch of Chicago skyline…

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