CLIENT GUIDE

With 10+ years of wedding experience, I've learned a thing or two about a thing or two. I am always happy to share my knowledge, tips, tricks, and lend any and all advice to help you while planning your wedding day! Below you will find a compilation of some of my advice to help assist you making your day go as smoothly as possible!

01. Planning

02. Engagement Session

03. Day of Tips

04. Caring For Your Images

05. Preferred Vendors

PLANNING

01. The Advice

02. To First Look or Not To First Look

03. Things Often Forgotten

04. The Timing of it All

Having never planned a wedding myself, I'm not exactly the authority on planning advice, but I have been asking my couples for years what their best planning advice is and here are some of the most common bits of advice

01. The Advice

  • Get the big stuff done early
  • what you two want matters most
  • set aside intentional time to plan

"Start early and do your research. That way, you have time throughout the planning process to take breaks from talking about the wedding. Involve each other in the planning process and try not to let disagreements about decisions weigh on you. Talk them through and be willing to compromise. Also, try to have conversations other than wedding conversations. I thought this would be easy, but when life gets busy and you only have a small amount of time to catch up with your partner, sometimes the only thing you want to bring up are questions about planning and decisions."

-Erica

It is up to you! This is your day and you should celebrate it how you want to celebrate it, don't feel pressure to do something you don't want to do. Talk it over between the two of you. Don't let family or friends pressure you one way or the other. This is your day!

FACT

One is better than the other

MYTH

Doing a first look does not take away from when the bride walking down the aisle. Walking down the aisle is a completely different moment. If I had a dollar for every time a groom cried both when they had their first look and when they walk down the aisle, I would add stamp collecting to my stationary obsession. 

FACT

A first look will take away from the walking-down-the-aisle moment

MYTH

FIRST LOOK MYTHS

  • Your parents or grandparents might think it's bad luck or non-traditional

CONS:

  • More time together
  • no pressure to react a certain way
  • the perfect time to exchange private vows
  • more time for portraits & a chance to attend cocktail hour

PROS:

When you do a first look this means that you can do the vast majority of your portraits ahead of your ceremony, leaving only your family formal portraits for after the ceremony. This allows you to attend your cocktail hour instead of taking portraits during that time. This also takes away the time constraint and pressure to get all portraits (family formals, wedding party, couple & bridal) done in the one hour period.

The Impact on the Timeline:

Whether or not you have a first look actually makes a pretty big impact on the timeline of your wedding day. So it's definitely something you want to weigh out. First and foremost: It is your decision! I respect whatever you choose! If you feel strongly against it, you can probably just scroll past this section. But if you're not sure, here are some of the things to think about when making your decision

02. First Look or Not To First Look

03. Things Often Forgotten

  • Group Transportation for you & your wedding party
  • comfy shoes for the dance floor