Wedding photographers are all about capturing those moments of raw, unadulterated emotion. There’s even a website that curates the best of the best from around the world and bestows an award every two months. For your #FridayWeddingFeels, here’s a sample of some of those images.
When it comes to the most important people in your life, hold nothing back when it comes to freezing those moments on your wedding day. Your photographer will have plenty of suggestions when it comes to detailing the moments of your big day, but it’s great to come armed with some ideas of your own. Especially when it comes to your ladies-in-waiting as well as the boys-who-will-be-boys. Check out some of these fabulously posed images for the modern bride.
Grab your iPhones
Photo courtesy of CinematicbyDavidM
If you and your gals are all about your shoes (especially if they’re fancy or unique) then this is a must in your image repertoire.
Photo courtesy of Anna Kinchen
Sweetness under a veil. (Oh the feels.)
Photo courtesy of Wedding Journey
A lazy morning slumber party.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Weber
And of course, the many faces of the groomsmen.
Photo courtesy of Carl Zoch
We have all seen some pretty bad engagement photos. Whether you were giggling at photos in the depths of the Internet or cringing at someone you know’s photos, we’re bet you were happy they weren’t yours. When it comes to your own engagement photos, we have some tips on how to avoid bad results. Read on…
[Photo courtesy of the Frisky]
1. Be naturals. In order to have candid and natural looking photos, you genuinely have to act that way. Try as best as you can to forget that the camera is there, and just be. Have a conversation with your fiancé about something funny, pretend to be on vacation, or observe something in the distance. If you are doing something naturally, your photos won’t look staged. Avoid corny poses at all costs.
[Photo courtesy of 234 Pulse]
2. Pick a photographer that has good chemistry with you both. There are probably a lot of options for photographers near you. Just Googling “wedding photographer in the GTA” will return hundreds of viable results. We think it’s a good idea to narrow down your choices to a handful of photographers based on their portfolios, and then meet with them in person for a quick chat. What vision do you share for the photos? Do you get along well or is your interaction awkward? Take all of these observations into account when choosing your photographer.
[Photo courtesy of Death and Taxes Mag]
3. Avoid props that may become outdated. We get it, engagement photos can all look the same: the happy couple, the ring, the candid laugh, etc. Sometimes, people want to stand out by making their photos very personal or funny with an inside joke or planned props. We think that’s great but make sure avoid props or jokes that may become outdated and irrelevant in a few years. You don’t want to look back at your engagement photos and not be able to make sense of them!
Have you seen any hilariously bad engagement photos lately? Share them with us on our Facebook page!
Lauren Chan is the Editor of the Bridal Guide.
Have you ever been to a wedding where the maid of honor performs a rap instead of a traditional speech? Last week, a video surfaced of maid of honour Jennifer Gabrielli doing just that at her sister Nicole’s wedding at La Costa Resort in California.
While not every maid of honour will be comfortable writing and performing a five-minute rap, here are some tips for creating an epic maid of honour speech inspired by this amazing video.
Start with How the Couple Met
The maid of honor is usually the bride’s best friend—sisters are best friends too—so they inevitably have an interesting story to tell in regards to their first impression of the groom. Talking about the maid of honour’s interpretation of how the couple met is a great way to capture everyone’s attention and make the speech interesting and personal. In the featured video, Gabrielli talks about how her sister and brother-in-law met online. Because it’s a rap, it’s hard to understand what she’s saying, so the story gets lost. To make your story meaningful, make sure it is clear, short, and fun.
Stand Out
While it was impossible to hear all the words in Gabrielli’s rap, there were some lines that got stuck in viewers’ heads because of the Eminem beat playing in the background. To make your speech fun and memorable you will need a few ideas that help your moment stand out from all the other speeches at the wedding. Gabrielli was good at singing and she was clearly comfortable with a microphone, and it worked for her. Play up your own strengths! If you’re funny, write some jokes; if you’re artistic, create some props; if you’re tech savvy, create or edit a video to share with guests. If you don’t want to do anything that elaborate and you still want to stand out, tell a personal story and include lots of shout-outs to guests.
Be Confident
Gabrielli’s rap is impressive because of the way she presented it. She was in-character and confident; and if you want an epic speech you have to be self-assured. The best speech I’ve ever heard at a wedding was by one of the guests who grabbed the microphone after he had a few drinks. He wasn’t drunk, but he was inhibition-free and confident enough to share a hilarious story about his childhood with the couple. He finished the speech by saying that he looked forward to making more fun memories with the bride and groom. To master the microphone you have to come prepared and you have to be sure of yourself.
If you want to make your speech stand out, all you have to do is be personal and write something honest, heartfelt, and entertaining. Even if you can’t rap like a pro, you can still blow everyone away. Good luck!
Jillian Zacchia is a contributing writer to The Bridal Guide.
“Hilarious” and “wedding photos” aren’t words you would usually use in the same phrase; but for some non-traditional couples, fun and creative wedding photography makes their wedding day meaningful and personal. Hilarious wedding photos capture a couple’s unique sense of humor—and friends and family will love the unforgettably funny snap shots.
We’ve found some of the funniest and most exciting wedding photos on the Internet. Maybe they will inspire you to make your wedding photo shoot a little bit more innovative and zany.
Quinn Miller Photography
This wedding shot has gone viral and we love it! While everyone looks scared they also look beautiful—and like they’re having a lot of fun. Everyone is in character; the photo is perfectly balanced and symmetrical; and the bride is the first thing I notice in the picture, despite the fact that most of the image is taken up by a photoshopped dinosaur. Overall, it’s not only a fun image, it’s also very well executed.
This next image attempts a similar theme with a Star Wars focus. Everyone is in character yet again, but about the best part of this image is that you can see the people in the forefront more clearly. One of the downfalls of this image is that several people are completely cut out of the image except for their legs. On the upside, the pink bridesmaid dresses really stand out and looks great in this landscape. Unfortunately, my eyes are drawn to the bridesmaid center-left rather than the bride (who isn’t even facing the camera). This shot needs a few adjustments, but it’s a fun variation of the dinosaur photo.
What guy doesn’t want to feel like a superhero on his wedding day? This photo is a fun and playful way to highlight the men—for a change. The girls are wearing capes and the bride is sporting Wonder Woman cuffs, but really this photo is about the groom and groomsmen, who are unveiling superhero uniforms under their suits. We think it’s a great photo that the guys will really love and get excited about.
Image by Micah Bowerbank
Now here’s a hilarious wedding photo that brides will love. With the bride’s foot in the foreground and the men in the distance, the image is produced to look as if she’s about the crush them with her foot. It really symbolizes the control the woman has during the wedding (and maybe during the marriage), but more than anything it’s a fun and creative way of showing off the bride’s personality.
Photo courtesy of MoIllusions.com
This photo is another one that went viral, but it takes a while to realize what’s “funny” about this picture. Look closely: The groomsmen are all down on one knee and the bridesmaids are seated on the men’s knees, but because of their dresses it looks as if all the bridesmaids are little people (about 4 feet tall). Once you see how bizarre the illusion looks, you can’t help but smile! If you want to confuse and crack up your friends and family take a few photos like this and see if they can spot what’s wrong.
The bride has to have some pictures exclusively with her bridal party. In this case, the funny wedding photo shows the women doing some pretty hilarious things as they get ready. Each bridesmaid is acting out something mildly taboo, while the bride covers the flower girl’s eyes. This is way better than a photo that has all the girls standing in a row smiling because the bridesmaids get to show off their personality. This might not be an appropriate photo to frame on your wall, but if you post it on Facebook you’ll get a lot of Likes!
Finally, here’s something just as fun as the previous photo for the groom and groomsmen. There’s nothing funnier than a bunch of guys acting like a bunch of women. The stereotype is light-hearted and well executed. Here, the groom shows off his wedding ring to his groomsmen as they all flip out. This is an easy shot to replicate and it will get lot of laughs.
It’s fun to have a few silly photographs along with all the professionally-directed, smiling shots. For your wedding consider throwing in some curveballs, it’ll make your wedding album feel more exciting and complete.
Jillian Zacchia is a contributing writer for The Bridal Guide.
Paul Roy Photography
No wedding is complete without lots of gorgeous wedding photos; but does there come a point when enough is enough?
I recently attended the wedding of one of my close friends; and as soon as I saw her walk down the aisle in her gorgeous mermaid dress I burst into tears. Not only is she the first of my close friends to get married, but I couldn’t believe how stunning and happy she looked. All I wanted to do was give her a big hug and congratulate her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a minute alone with her for hours following the ceremony because she was busy taking pictures.
I understand the importance of capturing every moment at a wedding on film. There is so much going on throughout a couple’s wedding day that sometimes it’s hard to remember it all. You would think that you would recall every millisecond of your big day, but couples often do not. In the moment, your mind is in so many places at once and you are overtaken by emotions. You could imagine that, more often than not, you’re disconnected. When you think back to your wedding day, everything can be a big blur. That’s where the photos come in. All you have to do is look back at your wedding photo album and all the memories of the day will come flooding back.
All photos are used to trigger memories, but wedding photos are unique because they capture your big day moments and make them look perfect. When a photo is perfect, the memory associated with it follows suit. You won’t remember that pimple on your chin once it’s airbrushed out of your photos.
Hundreds of perfect weddings photos generate hundreds of beautiful memories, but there can come a point where you have more photos than memories.
Every time my friend went to speak to one of her guests or walked onto the dance floor at her wedding, the photographer would come in and position her for a new photo. With a photographer telling you where to put your arms and directing you around the venue for hours you may not be able to enjoy your wedding—all you’re doing is taking photos that look like you’re enjoying your wedding.
Can you have too many wedding photos? I think so. The more time you spend with your photographer away from your guests, the less fun you’ll have, and the less authentic all those smiling photos will be. You have to find the right balance between enjoying your wedding, interacting with guests, and taking photographs.
A simple solution is to have lots of candid photographs. The photographer can take pictures of the couple dancing or enjoying themselves and they still get hundreds of beautiful photographs after the wedding. As long as there’s the right balance between photos and fun, everyone will be happy, and the bride and groom will have created and captured hundreds of precious memories from their wedding day.
Jillian Zacchia is a contributing writer for The Bridal Guide.
