The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Bridal Show is only a week away, and I’ve been busy getting ready.
If you are a bride you should definitely plan to attend. Just sampling the different caterers’ offerings is worth the price of admission. Tickets are $5 in advance and can be purchased here. Tickets are $7 at the door.
This is a huge bridal fair, and if you are planning a wedding it can be overwhelming. A little preparation can make the bridal fair much more relaxing.
The first thing to do is to get a vendor map, which can be downloaded here. Print that baby out; you will need it later. Then, check out the “Resources” page for a list of vendors that will be at the bridal fair. Focus on the vendors that you still need to book. Visit as many websites as you can to see who might interest you. If you like someone’s website highlight or circle their booth on the vendor map so you can be sure to visit for a closer look.
Before the bridal fair, get some of those little address labels from an office supply store — the kind that have templates you can download to create your own. Include your name, phone, email, wedding date and possibly address. Take at least one sheet of labels to the bridal fair. Many booths have giveaways and you can use these stickers instead of laboriously filling out form after form.
Oh, and don’t forget to leave your information with the vendors who you might be interested in.
Using your vendor map, plan your route. Most of the time the crowds all seem to go the same direction. If you focus on the vendors who interest you, you may be able to avoid the worst crowds and get some one-on-one time with the vendors.
Plan to take a friend or your mom, or even all your bridesmaids. It’s easier when you have another person’s opinion, company, and another pair of hands.
Wear comfortable shoes. You may be standing in line for a while before you even get in the door.
If you really don’t love crowds, and you are wanting to get down to business with your wedding planning, don’t come early — come late. The crowds tend to taper off after the first couple of hours and it will be easier to get around, to talk to people and to maybe even get some vendors booked for your wedding!
Don’t forget your checkbook. You might just fall in love with a particular band, wedding venue, videographer or photographer. In that case, you will want to reserve your date then and there since these folks can typically only book one wedding a day.
Overwhelmed. That’s what I was after shooting Diane and David’s wedding at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Little Rock. There were so many photos that I loved, that I’m just now getting around to writing the blog post.
Just a few, and I’m planning a slide show later:
Getting ready. I loved the layered feel of the photo on the right.
Roses and greenery were in keeping with the Christmas theme of the wedding.
Not surprisingly, there was some serious dancing going on at the reception. The band was Tragickly White, and though I really like them, my favorite part of this reception was when they took breaks and the traditional Greek dancing started.
I've never seen a man so happy to catch the garter.
A new and fragrant variation on throwing stuff at the bride and groom: rosemary.
Stay tuned for part II, including the groom getting impromptu dance lessons.
This slide show from Amanda and Marcos’ engagement session will be one of those featured at my booth at the Bridal Fair January 17 at the Statehouse Convention Center.
I will also be producing (and posting) a couple of slide shows from recent weddings. The wedding slide shows are included in all 2010 packages: copies of a high definition DVD for the couple and their parents, plus a link where the video can be shared with friends on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, etc.
Something about Marcos and Amanda’s wedding at Hilltop Manor in Hot Springs reminded me of a painting by and Old Dutch Master. Maybe it was all the warm tones of the walls at both the ceremony and the reception. Or it could have been the beautiful directional light that seemed to be everywhere. It was a natural choice to go with available light for some of my favorite photos.
Hilltop Manor in Hot Springs was the setting for Marcos and Amanda's Christmastime wedding.
Getting ready in the Sycamore Suite.
Amanda's mother watches as she puts the finishing touches on her makeup.
Amada gets help with the corset back of her dress.
My favorite image, incorporating the Christmas lights at Hilltop Manor Bed and Breakfast.
The reception was at the Porterhouse Club in downtown Hot Springs, where again, the light was wonderful.
Leaving the Porterhouse Club in Hot Springs.
Hilltop Manor is an amazing place, and since dark was coming on when I arrived, I didn’t even get to see most of it. What I saw was wonderful, partial as I am to craftsman style homes. The service was far beyond expectations, and who wouldn’t love a Jacuzzi tub next to a fireplace this time of year? I’m already plotting how we can stash the kids with grandparents and visit it ourselves.
I met Amy and Rich at Murray Park in Little Rock for their engagement photos. This was a stand-alone engagement session since the couple is getting married out of state.
The usually quiet park was unexpectedly busy with a kids’ birthday party, plus what seemed like half of Little Rock coming out to enjoy the great weather. Who can blame them? The sun was setting towards the end of the session and shedding golden light on everything.
I think they look like they ought to be in a magazine.
It’s that certain time of day, when the light comes in from the sun sinking in the west and throws interesting shadows on my walls. The kids are blessedly asleep after a day of errands and playing. The house, for once, is quiet.
The sunlight is captured by the dust on the window that I really need to wash, creating a perfect glow.
The holly bushes, which I usually hate, throw beautiful patterns on the glass.
The sunset colors show through bare trees and the crayon marks that my two-year-old made on the glass doors.
I realize that many times the things I often perceive with annoyance can, with only a slight change in consciousness, be perceived as blessings. I am seeing things, literally, in a different light.
I had a soft spot for these guys as soon as I met them. For one thing, the youngest and my youngest share a name. Also, they have exactly the same distance between their ages as my boys do. It was so much fun to see them have fun together. These photos warm my heart.
I start these photo sessions with a short period of posed shots to make sure I get some photos and to let the kids get comfortable with me, and then let them go play. The play photos are always some of my favorites and can be used for a wonderful collage or a small photo book.
I love to use shadows and shapes in my photos, as well as colorful playground equipment. The photos are eye-catching both for their composition and the moments they capture — kids being themselves, having fun.
We warmed up for a second round of posed photos with the boys throwing leaves in the air.
From there it was easy to move quite naturally into some posed shots of the kids together, using the beautiful fall foliage as a background.
I also like to get individual shots, especially those that show the child’s character.
The fall colors were at their most beautiful, and combined with perfect weather and a charming pair of boys, it was a great afternoon photo shoot at Hidden Valley playground in Little Rock.
New photos have been added to the website from weddings I shot this summer and fall. I had a hard time letting go of some of the older photos that got replaced, but I had to make room for new photos that I love even more.
I have also added a “How to Help” page to the photo stories section. So many people have been moved by the people and issues featured in these photo stories that I felt it was important to provide a way to take action. I will be adding more information to this page in the future about how to help with some of the issues I deal with in my documentary work.
It’s been a little dull around my house with all the rain going on (except for one notable basement-bailing-out episode, but that’s another story). I hauled out the tripod last night to do some ghost photos. I didn’t exactly get what I wanted, though I did manage to rescue the tripod from the aforementioned basement disaster. I revisited ghost photos this afternoon with Nate. We had a little fun and got some pretty cool shots.
Myself as a ghost.
I chose the staircase as being the spookiest-looking location in our house. I don’t really have a spooky house. It’s a great mid-century house full of mid-century modern furniture, but if it was going to be haunted it would be haunted by someone named Maude wearing a mint-green polyester double-knit pants suit.
Ghost photos are great because you never know what you are going to get until you look at the photo. You have to do long exposures, as I explained in this tutorial. Things move around during the exposure, which is actually what creates the ghost effect. The final result is always a surprise, and I love surprises.
Nate volunteered to be a ghost, or, at least, to be on the stairs -- his favorite dangerous place.
Since there are few willing volunteers in my house, I had to pose for my own photos to illustrate the article I was working on. It was a fun way to spend the kids’ nap time and get away from my daily grind for a while.
Sunday was a perfect fall day in the Little Rock River Market district. The weather turned nice and the leaves were brilliant. I had a great time taking engagement photos with Amanda and Marcos. The couple made a road trip up from Texarkana for the session. I can’t wait for their wedding in December.
