Posts Tagged ‘DIY Photography’

Jul 2011

Today's wedding is awesome, not just because it's a lesbian wedding that took place in a deeply red state (though I love that bit), but because of everything else. It features partners who don't see eye to eye on aesthetics and styles (you don't have to!) and DIY everything, from photography to food, and a dessert (but country club style) reception. Hurrah!

Indulgence was the word of our spectacular, DIY wedding day. Hayley and I aren’t much for themed events (or so I thought), yet our wedding was absolutely centered on indulgence, with a dash of hedonism and political rebellion. We’re a gay couple getting married in a completely crimson state, and we only set out to please ourselves. Ever wanted to see a feminist country club wedding? You should have been there.

Hayley and I come from vastly different places in the world. Geographically, she was born and raised in Louisville, KY, a city with severe bipolar disorder (Midwestern? Southern?), while I grew up in romantic, deeply Old South Georgia. Her fondest memories from childhood include riding her bike to the country club to swim the day away, while mine tend more toward riding my bike down the dirt road to the local pond to fish. She has political anemia: she knows, but she never gets too fired up about much of anything. I, on the other hand, have been known to scare lesser mortals with the vehemence of my social zeal. We may be best friends, but we’ll never be total birds of a feather.

So when the planning began we struggled to conceive of an event that said “Candis and Hayley totally love each other” in a way that was both exciting and authentic. We thought big wedding, small wedding, beach elopement, farm weekend, country club soiree, art gallery chic, etc, etc, ad nauseum. After months of ideas being rejected, we settled on one that had been heavily endorsed by Hayley and that didn’t make me want to vomit. Compromise is the name of the game after all. With Hayley’s family home as venue and garden cocktail party as the style, we were ready to get serious.

Like all couples (maybe more so with two brides) we went through the inevitable arguments over invites, flowers, cakes, dresses, favors, blah, blah, blah. Even the date wasn’t sacrosanct as we changed it twice to accommodate family members. Eventually all things were decided, plans set, dresses bought and gifts arriving in the mail. Wedding planning turned out to be both harder and easier than imagined. Continue reading Wedding Graduates: Candis & Hayley

Posted in: LGBTQ Weddings, Wedding Graduates | 26 Comments »

May 2011

Vintage Wedding: 1981

Today's Vintage Wedding comes from reader Melissa, and will make you stop in your tracks. It will make you remember what weddings are about, and what marriage is about, and why you're doing all of this in the first place. So take a deep breath, read, and then go find your partner and kiss them. If you've got love, the details don't matter so much.

My parents met in college and became close friends. They dated for 8 years before finally deciding to get married. They got engaged in July and set the date for August of the same year. They weren't pregnant at the time - they just decided it was the perfect time for them.

With less than a month to plan they decided to keep everything simple and intimate. My Dad's family all lived out of state. His parents were able to make it, but not all of his siblings. They decided to get married in my Mom's parent's backyard, on a lake.

I e-mailed my Dad to get a few more thoughts from him and he said the following :

"An intimate wedding was just what we wanted. We were both working hard in full-time jobs and we didn't have time to plan out a big fancy wedding... nor did we want one! I loved having the wedding in my new in-law's back yard, right on the water and having every one ring hand bells when the service was complete. I also loved that my new sister-in-law put a "Just Married" sign on the mast of the sail boat and took a picture of us sailing off into the sunset. I loved having a swimming party with fried chicken and potato salad with the family right after the ceremony rather than having a stuffy reception where everyone has to do The Chicken Dance!"

I wish I had more from my mom about their, but when you're 13, the younger you doesn't think to ask about wedding day memories. I really wish I had, because by the time you want to know all about that, it's too late.

They married in August 1981 when they were both almost 30. They were both pretty nontraditional individuals so much of the pomp and circumstance of regular weddings fell by the wayside. My mom picked a simple ivory dress and my Dad wore his suit and full hippie beard. They both had only one attendant. My Mom had 5 sisters, so one attendant is impressively small. They included a few songs in the ceremony, because music was so important to both of them. It's that simple. Continue reading Vintage Wedding: 1981

Posted in: Uncategorized | 39 Comments »

Apr 2011

Wedding Graduate: Abi & Eddie

I love Abi's post because she talks so wisely about the way we journey to our wedding, how we have to do the work to "reach the point that you knew existed all along." Which is so true. Plus, halfway through Abi's wedding graduate post, she starts talking about having a meltdown over barn weddings 'not seeming feasible' and I started cracking up. I know, terrible right? But in this age of indie-rustic-chic-weddings, who hasn't been there? Who hasn't had a meltdown seeing something on a blog, and then trying to replicate it, and then realizing that it would cost a million dollars and require a small production team to pull off? So here is a love song to the journey to your own truth, and to simple weddings that are actually simple.

I started out like most brides probably do. I ignored any and all duties and began scouring the internet for venues, dresses, caterers and bands. I set aside school, dog walking, dinners and even my poor fiance while I delved into the once unknown world of trendy online wedding blogs. I denied that I was working hard on this event, or that I was trying to plan anything spectacular. When people asked I would say that we weren't in any big hurry to get married and we would just see what we found.

The truth? Having gotten engaged in February and being in the middle of nursing school, I was internally freaking out that if I didn't have my wedding over the coming summer, I would have to wait an entire 16 months from our engagement until the following summer and I just didn't want to wait that long. A winter wedding maybe over my school break? I looked at romantic and beautiful snowy venues but soon realized that it would cost a fortune to have everyone inside and I could hardly ask my friends to fly to San Francisco only to be caught on Donner Pass in a freak snow storm with no chains.

After 2-3 months of trying to squeeze my budget and time frame into the beautiful world of weddings and other brides (with bigger budgets) that I was seeing online, my head began to spin. I had had it with the wedding industry dictating what I "should" do and tacking on several thousand dollars to every service once the word "wedding" passed through my lips. I felt like every idea that I had was shot down as being unrealistic for our budget, and that nobody had solutions for me, only potential issues like, "that venue is too small" or "too far away" or "too expensive to get to".....agh! One night I finally cracked under the pressure that I didn't even know existed and began a good solid crying session after a discussion with my mom about how a barn wedding without a caterer just didn't seem feasible.

After some wonderful consoling from my soon to be husband, we remembered that this was supposed to be fun. Right then and there I decided to do everything in my power to have a wedding without enlisting the help of "the industry". I knew that I could do it and that it could be simple, I was just going to keep my vision and not get distracted. Once I reached that point and made that decision, it was as if opportunities just started falling in my lap. Continue reading Wedding Graduate: Abi & Eddie

Posted in: Wedding Graduates | 36 Comments »

Mar 2011

How To: Plan An At Home Wedding

Recently, we started a new part of our How-To series: posts on how to throw specific kinds of laid-back weddings (our first was the Beach Wedding). Because, weirdly, it seems like there are not very clear instructions on how you actually go about throwing simple weddings. So today, I'm beyond delighted that I was able to bribe Kathleen, of Jeremy & Kathleen, invitation designer, traveler, entrepreneur, and stylish lady extraordinaire to talk about how she threw her At Home Wedding, what she learned, and what advice she has to give (And PS! After we scheduled this post, I found out that today is Jeremy & Kathleen's two year anniversary. Fate, huh? Congrats you guys!). Now, let's do this thing!

{Yes, it was 2009 and yes I had a yellow balloon bouquet. I still love it.}

First, l was so flattered and thrilled when Meg asked me to write up a home wedding How To. I'm excited to share Jeremy and my wedding with you all. Here is what worked for us and what I would've done differently, and some funny stories while we're at it.

But before I get started, a disclaimer. This was a second wedding / marriage for both Jeremy and me. I had already had the big white wedding in the backyard of a mansion surrounded by twinkle lights and white cake. I was kind of embarrassed about making a big to-do about my second time to say "I do." I asked Jeremy if we could elope at the courthouse and from there live happily ever after, but he felt strongly about making this commitment to each other in front of our nearest and dearest. He felt like our love deserved a celebration. And he was right.

Jeremy and I had spent the summer prior to our wedding remodeling a historical house built in 1929. Together we made our place our home. When we decided to go through with a wedding, getting married in our home seemed like the obvious venue.

So on to the details (and I think lots of this advice can be applied to a more traditional wedding as well):

{Our modest home and the location for our wedding}

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:

If you want to get married in your home consider the space. Our home is only 1,500 square feet so we made almost every single room open and available for guests to mingle and sit in. We had about 30 people at the ceremony and then opened up the home for a reception in the evening where guests could pop in and out as they pleased. I think at most we had 60 people in our house at once and at times it felt like a tight squeeze.

You might also consider using the fabulous home of a close friend or family member (if they're open to the idea). I have some friends that got married in their parent's gorgeous backyard. But as always, have an indoor alternative in case weather gets crazy.

The great thing about getting married in your own home is the flexibility you have to get things ready in advance. However, that didn't keep me from procrastinating down to the very last minute. Learn from my mistakes, people! Continue reading How To: Plan An At Home Wedding

Posted in: How To | 46 Comments »

Jan 2011

How-To: DIY Your Wedding Photography (Part II)

Here's the thing - I'm a huge fan of photography. I'm a fan of photography as art (guess where I head in museums first?), I'm a fan of photography as documentation (guess who has old family photos all over the house?), and I'm a fan of professional wedding photography (guess who has, in her own humble opinion, the best wedding photographs in the world?). So, I work really hard to make part of the mission of APW to get y'all access to amazing (affordable) wedding photography, with awesome sane photographers.

But. I am very aware of the fact that not everyone wants professional wedding photography, and beyond that, not everyone can afford it. And really, I want to make sure that no one feels like they NEED professional wedding photography. You should feel empowered to choose it, but like everything else in APW land, you should remember that wedding photography is a choice. So I'm thrilled to bring you Casey, who used the APW How-To DIY your wedding photography post and rocked it out. (PS, for more inspiration, check out all the wedding graduates who did Do-It-Together photography).

You know that How-To post on DIY/DIT Wedding Photography? Well, it was great, and, um, we did it. If anybody wants proof that a bunch of friends wielding a dozen cameras can produce absolutely incredible results, here it is.

Matt and I were pretty certain from the start that professional wedding photography was not for us. You know how we each have a certain set of things that are "YES amazing and I am willing to shell out $X because THAT is what makes this wedding US" ... and a certain other set of things where we look at the price tag and our eyes bulge and we hyperventilate and decide "There is No Way In Hell I could pay $X for this and still feel good about myself"?

Well, for us, good food, good beer, and looking rather classy were the former, and photography (among other things) was the latter. It's not that we don't appreciate pictures - in fact, we're both pretty obsessed with photos and the power they have to transport us back to some really kick ass times. It's just that the moment captured matters so much more to us than the style, the poses, the lighting, the edited-in-fake-angel-glow. Some of our favorite pictures of our life together are pretty poor quality, but damn do they memorialize some wonderful moments. After some hemming and hawing and heart-attack-inducing peeks at online pricing, we decided that as long as the day was documented by somebody reasonably skilled at clicking a shutter release, that would be good enough for us. Continue reading How-To: DIY Your Wedding Photography (Part II)

Posted in: How To | 142 Comments »

Jan 2011

How To: DIY Your Wedding Photobooth

After Intern Lauren mentioned how much she wanted a photobooth at her wedding, and how out-of-reach that seemed to her cash-strapped self, I thought it made sense to lead off our How-To Series with a post on DIY Wedding Photobooths. The excellent Emily (pictured at left, how cute is her dresssss?) sent this in. The post is so Team-Practical-spirited that it cracks me up. At the end of writing her wedding photobooth tutorial, Emily says basically, "Hey, we forgot to charge our camera, so the pictures didn't really turn out so well... but here is the How-To anyway. And um, charge your camera." The girl is so un-shaken by her photobooth going a little wrong, that she's willing to write you a How-To post about it. And I LOVE that. L-O-V-E. So, this tutorial ended up being a bit of a collaboration between Emily (who provided the words), and Cara (who's amazing photobooth you'll remember from The Wedding In 73 Seconds movie, one of my favorite things I've ever ever run on APW), who provided the pictures. And um, may I suggest that if you take this project on, you DELEGATE it to someone else altogether on your wedding day? Yes. Do that. So without further ado, the DIY Wedding photobooth.

PhotoBooths were one of the blog-chic wedding features that I absolutely fell in love with. I love photographs and had grand plans of making a photobooth station in which guests would sign a card, take their own picture, and then I would later assemble a gorgeous scrap-guestbook with all the photos. This later got downsized to just having the photobooth and I set my budget for this project at $50.

Here’s what I decided and what worked for me:

1. Use a DSLR. I’m a bit of a photo snob and felt I needed to honor that aspect of my personality. Luckily, I have a friend who owns an old DSLR that she rarely uses so I didn’t feel bad about borrowing it. If you don’t have such a friend and don’t have your own camera to use (you likely won’t use it that weekend anyway), a regular digital or film camera would work fine.

2. There must be a remote shutter device. I think it’s important that people can sneak over to the booth and take their own pictures. This is especially important for kids who might get embarrassed making silly faces at the camera in front of their moms or strangers. The remote allows for surprising pictures.

3. The tripod setup must be sturdy. You don’t want anybody knocking over the camera after a few glasses of wine.

4. A viewing station where guests could click through previous photos did not work. The viewing station is an amazing feature, but was too expensive or didn’t work with my DSLR requirement (Party Booth software).

My solution was a combination of borrowing from friends and using the expertise of a photography store. In Baltimore, that place is Service Photo and their help was invaluable. If you don’t have a photo store in your town, call these guys and I’m sure they can help. They have catalogs that detail which accessories work with which cameras and they can also recommend off-brand accessories that are just as good. Service Photo rented me a big sturdy tripod for the entire (3 day holiday) weekend for $17. Renting a Compact Flash card for the quirky ancient DSLR was $5. They also sold me a 6 foot long remote shutter for about $15. Studio lights were $70 so I nixed that and figured guests would just have to stand still!

Here’s how it worked:

My brother and one of my bridesmaids (the owner of the camera) set up the “booth” in about 5 minutes.

1. We hung a piece of fabric over a door at the hall and that was the backdrop. We are not mustache people, so we didn’t have any cute props, but obviously those could be added. Felt or construction paper and a few wooden dowels or bbq skewers would probably work nicely. Continue reading How To: DIY Your Wedding Photobooth

Posted in: How To | 64 Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘DIY Photography’

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