Wedding Love : The Wedding Questionnaire

As the months wind down leading up to your wedding things can get, well, stressful. There are so many last minute details to plan that it can be hard NOT to get overwhelmed with all the tasks at hand. As a former Bride I completely understand! Trying to balance wedding planning and still living your normal life is a challenge. For all those currently planning your wedding, my hat is off to you! I remember what it was like to be in your shoes and all the pressure and responsibility you feel as the planner of a such a major event! As I sat down to plan out the workflow for each of my wedding clients I kept coming back to this thought: How can I make the lives of my bride and grooms easier in the final stages of their planning? Enter the Wedding Questionnaire.

Two months before your wedding I send out a Wedding Questionnaire with lots of questions related to your wedding! It's a place where you can store all the vital information related to your wedding in one place. It's easy to access and easy to make changes to as necessary. Here you'll provide all wedding related information such as contacts, locations, times, and vendors you are working with. There is space to list family combinations for family portraits and specific images you'd like me to capture on the big day. You can write down anything you'd like me to know about your wedding. With all this information collected I have a complete picture of what your day will look like. I can better serve you as your photographer knowing that we're both on the same page!

I asked former bride, Abby, to talk about how the Wedding Questionnaire helped her leading up to the final stages of planning. Here is what she shared:

"The Wedding Questionnaire was very helpful - it provided me with a "checklist" for "day of" wedding details. Knowing that Deborah would be taking pictures of all the details reminded me to collect them all and have them in one place - such as the invitations and special mementos from our engagement. I found it especially useful because our engagement and wedding were so far apart - there were things I had forgotten about, but wanted included in our special day. Over all it was really nice having the Questionnaire to keep me on track. Everything becomes so crazy as the wedding approaches, and you lose track of what to do or even where to begin - it helped keep me accountable!" -- Abby, married in February 2012

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In addition to the Wedding Questionnaire, I also provide Family Portrait and Timeline consultations. Basically we discuss the various family combinations that you'd like from your wedding day and we create a master list that I will work off of. We do the same thing with your timeline, working together to create a timeline that reflects your needs and wants for the day (including photography!!)

The Wedding Questionnaire serves as my way of saying that I'm here for you. As your wedding approaches, if you find yourself overwhelmed or wondering what to do when and where, please don't hesitate to ask me! I'm here to help your day flow as smoothly as possible and to make it a day to remember! I want you to walk into the big day knowing that everything has been taken care of, especially your wedding photography!

Wedding Love : Besty from The Flower Kiosk

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I have to say, that today is the first day since Wednesday that I am starting to feel normal again! I've been sick since the last day of WPPI and have done nothing but sleep! So that means things like returning emails and keeping up with the blog have come to a hault.

All last week while I was away at WPPI, I was lucky enough to have some fabulous vendors guest blogging for me. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to hit publish on Friday and we missed a fabulous florist, Besty!

So I thought while I'm still recovering today and taking it slow, I'd let Betsy help me out as she shares some tips on your wedding day floral design. Without further delay, here is Betsy from the Flower Kiosk in Portsmouth! Enjoy!

It is my love for creativity that keeps me passionately involved in this business. And I am proud to say that our shop just celebrated 25 years of serving brides throughout New England! Nothing gives me more pleasure than bringing a bride’s vision to life when it comes to floral design!

When choosing flowers for your wedding, it is important to find a way to convey your personal style. Whether you have a specific design in mind or you are still searching for your vision, your florist will be there to guide you. One of the first topics that I discuss with a new bride is her color scheme. Once colors are selected, specific flowers and textures can be determined.

For you bridal bouquet, identify the style that you are going for. Are you drawn to a textural, garden style or a clean, contemporary structure? Make sure to inform your florist of your floral likes and dislikes, as well as any allergies to flowers and plants that you may have. Bring magazine clippings, photos, fabric swatches, any source of inspiration to your consultations. The internet provides endless creative ideas. Online scrapbooks, such as Pinterest, are great and can help convey your inspiration to all of your vendors.

You can add some personal touches to your bouquet, such as attaching a family member’s brooch or wrapping the stems fabric from your dress. One of my favorite touches that a bride came up with was adding small vintage stud earrings to two of the groomsmen’s boutonnieres. These were two of her best guy friends and she wanted their boutonnieres to stand out. Your bridesmaid’s bouquets can be an extension of the bridal, or follow a whole new design and color concept.

These details can make your wedding personal. Your wedding is such a memorable experience, so take the time to make it your own. I hope that this has provided you with some inspiration!

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Wedding Love : DJ Nate Downs and the Wedding Reception

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This is the third day of a week long series highlighting several local New England wedding vendors offering up value tips and information to help brides through their planning process!

Today DJ Nate Downs has graciously offered to share his thoughts on the wedding reception and with tips on how to create a great party atmosphere for your guests. Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to take some notes as Nate shares all about making the most of your reception and DJ experience! Meet, DJ Nate Downs!

Hi! My name is Nate and I am a a professional wedding DJ from Dover, NH. Today I'm going to share some tips on how to make the most of your wedding reception and how to best work with your DJ to create unforgettable receptions!

Engaged couples quickly learn that planning a wedding is a time consuming and stressful process.  With so many details to understand and plan for, it can be quite overwhelming.  When it comes to entertainment, many couples aren't sure where to start or what questions to ask. While many books and websites offer basic questions to ask your DJ, (do you have reviews? do you hold liability insurance? how long have you been a DJ?),  here are a few topics that are equally important to think about when planning your reception.

1. Personality. It is important to understand your DJ's personality and philosophy on wedding entertainment.  Whether you are looking for a DJ who's quiet presence is offset through perfect song selection or for a line-dance leading, room commanding DJ there are many styles and personalities out there.  When hiring an entertainer you should ask them about their level of interaction with the crowd, how vocal (on the microphone) they will be and if there be any surprises? Yes I said the word 'surprise,' as in surprise props or games involving the Wedding Party or your guests. Your DJ should understand that they are to follow your wishes and recommendations for the evening.  You will want to consider the overall style of your wedding so that you can find a DJ to match. Think about the kind of atmosphere you'd like to create and find an entertainer with a similar personality!

2. Content. While your DJ has been entertaining for years and knows how to get your guests up and dancing, it is important to discuss musical content with him/her.  Your DJ will want to understand the  age groups of your guests, the genres of music of you would to hear throughout the evening and most importantly your 'request' and 'do not play' lists. Your 'request list' will hold valuable insight and help direct your DJ towards key artists and genres of music to be played. Try to include a small set of 'must plays' that are important to you, your fiance and your families.  Your DJ will use their knowledge, experience and artistic freedom to mix your requests and other songs throughout the evening.

3. Uplighting. Uplighting, dance floor lighting and other effect lighting, have increased in popularity in recent years.  Some DJs include a basic lighting package in their services and some sell them for an additional cost. Uplighting will splash color on the walls of your venue and provide nice ambiance. If your DJ offers lighting, I feel it is important to have an understanding of the lighting they will use.  For example, LED lighting produces solid colors as basic uplighting or on the dance floor, does not spin. Whereas strobe lighting could be considered over the top.  Ask your DJ for pictures or videos of their lights.  If they don't have any, check out Youtube as every light manufacturer makes a video for each model light they produce. That way you can at least see the lights in action. If your DJ doesn't offer lighting think about looking into hiring a lighting company. Uplighting definitely adds much needed contract and interest to your reception images as well! Check out this example below of the uplighting I can provide at receptions.

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Hopefully this has given you a little help in planning the entertainment aspect of your reception.  Remember to ask your DJ as many questions as you wish and to make sure you are a good match in style and personality. Ensuring that you'll not only dance the night away, but you'll have the wedding reception you've always dreamed of!

Wedding Love: Favorite Memories

There are some memories from our wedding day that I keep tucked away in my heart. Memories that I will bring to the forefront of my mind when I need a pick me up or a reminder of all that is good in life. Like the time when Dave and I were connected by a string of spit or the screams of my bridesmaids as they feared getting struck by lighting. Of course I'll always remember arriving in style in my Uncle's decorated van or breathing into a paper bag before I walked down the aisle. So many to special memories to choose from.

But my favorite memory above all is sharing a dance with my Dad. My Dad is not the overly emotional type, he's a typical New Englander. I'd never danced with my Dad before (except if you count standing on his feet dancing) so I had no idea what to expect. I left the job up to my dad to pick a song. As the first note began to sound he whisked me onto the dance floor and twirled me around. I felt like I was five, standing on his feet, all over again.

He chose "Too Marvelous For Words" by Frank Sinatra. A perfectly wonderful song for someone who doesn't like to dance (it's only 2 minutes long.) But more than that, the lyrics are simple and beautiful and mean so much to me. Dancing with my Dad for that short two minutes as Frank Sinatra serenaded us around the dance floor is my favorite memory from our wedding day. Nothing could have meant more.

Here I am dancing with my Dad.

Here's a video of Sinatra signing "Too Marvelous For Words". Ignore the weird dancing through columns thing and the fact the forgot a few words and just enjoy Sinatra's velvet voice:)

Of course wedding day details are important, the little things that make the day flow are important, all your planning is important. But don't forget to take a few minutes throughout the day to just forget all that and remember what it feels like on your wedding day. Try to capture slices of the day and tuck them away into your heart. Then when you need them most, you can reach in and relive each precious moment, just as if it just happened. You can relive exactly how you felt that day. What could be better? What's your favorite memory from your wedding day? What are you looking forward to most?