Happy New Year, friends! So many of you are getting married THIS year! Sooo exciting! I’m back again to chat more about ways to get the most out of your wedding day photography. I know it seems like I say this in every article, but today’s topic is something that I think is SUPER important. Whether you do or do not connect with your photographer can make a world of difference in the final product.

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There are a couple of reasons that connecting with your photographer is so important. First, you are going to be spending a lot of time with your photographer on the day of your wedding and you want to make sure you at least enjoy their presence, right? If you don’t feel comfortable around him or her, chances are pretty good that you will remember that feeling when you reminisce back to your wedding day. And you do not want those memories clouding the other memories of your beautiful day.

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In addition, if you don’t connect with your photographer, your pictures may not reach their full potential. Feeling uncomfortable or frustrated during portraits can make it almost impossible to capture you in all of your joyous beauty. You may not look as beautiful as you could in your pictures if you were completely comfortable, relaxed, and feeling good.

You also want to make sure that your personalities connect. This helps with the communication on your wedding day and helps the process of portraits go as smooth as possible.

Overall, you want a photographer that brings a good energy to your day. Someone you enjoy, someone who understands your vision and whose vision you trust, as well as someone who genuinely makes you feel good about being in front of the camera.

Thank you again, Liz, for your advice … it is so important so that the brides have the best visual memories from the day that they can! Liz Cook is the owner of Sincerely, Liz: Photography, and I encourage you to view her work by clicking here.

Ok, leave it to Martha Stewart Weddings to “wow” me with these. These are TOO cute!! If you are looking forward to having a spring wedding, a seed packet that looks like a traditional matchbook may just be the favor that your guests will be “wowed” by, too. Take a peek at these, and see how easy they are to make. Adorable!!!

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Here are the instructions straight from the Martha Stewart Weddings website:

Download editable clip art, and type in your first names and wedding date. There are two pages, one for the covers and one for the planting instructions inside the matchbook.

Print the front of the matchbook covers onto 8 1/2-by-11-inch card stock. Turn the paper over, and print the page of instructions on the back (test the alignment by printing one copy first, before printing the rest).

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There are three creases you’ll need to make, and there are three sets of dotted crop marks to make it easier to do so. Use a bone folder and a metal straightedge to draw creases between the dotted crop marks.

Use a craft knife and the straightedge to cut out the matchbook covers, cutting along the edges of the colors.

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Fold matchbook along creases.

Scoop seeds into 2-by-3 1/4-inch glassine envelopes, and fold top edge over twice by 1/4 inch.

Tuck seed-filled glassine envelope into the bottom flap, with the folded edge down, and staple once in the middle of the flap.

These would also be adorable for showers, birthday parties or even just a spring planting party. I adore them!! Thank you Martha Stewart Weddings … what a great resource for today’s bride.

There are two very exciting events coming up for brides in the next few months … what a great time to be engaged!

Charlottesville is fast becoming a destination location for brides that are looking to get away from the fast paced life of the bigger cities, yet it has a lot to offer brides that are in Central Virginia in the way of vendors … several of the HCB family will be there, so come and visit us!  Click here to go to the main page for the Charlottesville Wedding Classic, and click here to see the most recent update for the list of participating vendors. I am really excited for this show on Sunday, January 23rd.

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Bliss, a fine wedding fair, is also taking place in just a few weeks, and it is an event unlike any other in our area. Designed to be an upscale wedding conference of sorts, Bliss offers brides workshops and seminars along with a catered lunch in a fun, relaxed environment. Did you also see that our grand prize is a honeymoon in Aruba? I am really excited about that (and a little envious of the soon to be winner!). Preregistration is very important so that we can have a count for our lunch along with being able to adequately plan out the space for our workshops. Click here to find out more about our events for the day along with the link for registration. I can not wait for Bliss on February 26th!!

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I hope that you all had a wonderful New Year’s celebration, and I am looking forward to sharing more ideas and beautiful weddings with you in 2011. Cheers!!