Here’s to the newly Engaged! | New Year NEW BJP Weddings | Engagement Promo

CONGRATULATIONS! He asked.  You said “YES”!  Now what?  PLANNING! That’s what…and lots of it!

Christmas is a popular time to pop the question. And I vote it’s a great time of year because you get plenty of time to plan!  Whether it’s a June or Fall wedding you’re wanting, you can do it!

First tip though from my years of wedding planning and coordination: 1)Lock.down.photographer (and videographer if you’re having one). 2) Get contracts from EVERYONE. 3) Next of course would be lock down the venue, and to hire a planner or at least a day of coordinator. Everything else will flow from there.

Keeping #1 in mind here’s what’s happening in the land of BJP for 2013!

*NEW: Rainy Day Silver Lining Addendum: If it rains on your wedding day and we’re unable to venture outside for those GORGEOUS outdoor images that everyone craves we’ll shoot you and your hubs the next day, or if you’re going out of town immediately we’ll schedule a time for when you get back. *Additional travel fees may apply

*NEW: Easier, FASTER, iPhone and iPad friendly ordering site!

*NEW: This is the year I really want to strive to give you my style in every.single.session …all artified, and texturized! So, Engagements, Bridals, or Boudoir session times are all extended!

*NEW: Book “The Rose” Collection or larger, and hold your date with the retainer deposit within 5 days of first contact and get a bonus of either: a 16×24 Professional Canvas Gallery Wrap OR a Trash the Dress session (though I don’t actually like to do anything that really “trashes it)….That’s a $230 product or session…free!

*NEW: Book your wedding with me, and ask about my “refer a Bride” bonus program 😉 P.S. I travel….anywhere.

Now, before you go getting all frazzled about where to start I’ve written several wedding planning blog posts to help you out:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

And a few bonus tidbits for you:

1) I get this question A LOT “Who do I invite?” Well, simply put If you don’t invite someone to the Wedding (or a local reception if the wedding is out of town/state/country) then you do not invite them to a shower. So, if gifts are your game then you should prepare to have a large guest list…or one heck of a reception for the masses! 😉

2) Bridesmaids bouquets should be sized according to the largest/ bridesmaid. Smaller bouquets or single stems on larger frames only make them look larger AND really mess with the overall aesthetics of your pictures. Same goes for Brides…. larger bouquets tend to make the Bride look smaller…though you don’t want a petite Bride overwhelmed by her bouquet, you also don’t want it to be too small and make her look larger.

3) Not choosing me as your photographer is certainly your option as I know I’m not for every bride, but make sure you ask AT LEAST these questions I learned to have my Brides ask as a planner. Ask these questions to yourself, and to the photographer you’re looking at: 

• 1) ALWAYS ask to see an ENTIRE recent wedding they’ve shot. Everyone puts their best work on Facebook, their site, or blog….you want to see it ALL! And then ask yourself; a) do they edit every image you see, or did they just edit and/or retouch what they put on social media or their site? b) are the images consistent in quality throughout the whole wedding gallery.
• 2)What kind of retouching do you do to my finished images? i.e. If I have a breakout the day of will you remove the blemish(s) from the images with me in them? Do you whiten teeth, or soften wrinkles or skin? If I look like I didn’t sleep at all the night before, or have huge “laugh bags” under my eyes…do you minimize or lighten those?
• 3) Will my disc of images have your watermark on them?
• 4) How will my images print if I don’t go through your professional lab? *NOTE: I can pretty much guarantee they will NOT look like your disc or online gallery…retail or online labs just don’t have the equipment or paper to produce pro lab quality results…just be prepared for darker, greyer, or “oompa loompa”-ish colored images!  That’s why I ALWAYS recommend going through your professional photographer’s lab for your wall prints or gallery-wrap wall displays!
• 5) Do they know how to shoot “fluffy” or plus sized people? TRUST ME this is NOT an easy thing to do, and only a photographer who knows how to will be able to position and pose you (and/or your Bridal Party) in the most figure flattering (and chin/face flattering) ways as often as possible. (Look at their work on their site or Facebook…this can be a tell tell sign if they know how to shoot at figuring flattering poses/angles. Do you see a lot of double chins? Lot of “fattening” side shots? Sitting down “push the pudge out” shots? Straight forward/squared to the camera “at your widest” shots? If you do then RUN! Photoshop can fix a lot…but bad angles or posing it cannot! )

4) Wear your shoes DURING the rehearsal, and make sure your girls and moms do too. Practice walking around the ceremony site in them so you’ll be aware of any slick spots, holes, dips, cracks in boards, soft ground, etc… (and practice STANDING in those bad boys for at least 15-20 minutes) so you’ll know what you’re in for…the camera catches EV.ERY.THING…even those face grimmaces you make from not knowing what your shoes were going to do to you!

5) Do a “First Look”. Take it from someone who’s seen the good and bad of waiting or doing a first look.  First looks are SO MUCH MORE INTIMATE…and truthfully the dudes always seem to give more raw emotion when there’s not such a crowd 😉  For more info on why I HIGHLY recommend this please shoot me an email on my website.

Now, go hit up the blog posts for more planning goodness! You won’t be sorry!

HAPPY PLANNING!!