Fall Brides 20150921

Bridal Journal fall edition

of Northeast Mississippi

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2015

Photo by Toni Mask Photography

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Confessions of a Soon-to-Be Bride

By Emma Crawford // Daily Journal

About six months ago, I got engaged and began planning my wedding with my soonto-be husband, Jacob.

We’ve laughed, we’ve gotten frustrated with each other, we’ve gotten so overwhelmed with plans that we just threw our hands up and binge-watched “Parks and Recreation” for hours – all of which make me thankful for the time period that is engagement.

Not only does it serve as necessary time to plan a wedding, but it serves as a time to practice doing life with your future spouse. Trust me, you learn a lot about each other when making plans for a wedding and for life after the big day, especially when things don’t quite turn out as you hoped they would.

So now, I present a brief overview of some of the bumps in the kraft-paper-lined road to our wedding day, which is now about a month and a half away. (I love kraft paper, and I love that it’s become such a big trend for wedding décor. You better believe I’m using it.)

I began my search for a wedding dress at one of those heavenly, champagne-serving bridal boutiques. It was like a dream. I tried on gorgeous, vintage-inspired, beaded gowns, and of course, fell in love with one. We all cried. And then we saw the price tag, and we cried some more. I cried all the way to the cupcake shop next door where I whimpered hopelessly between bites of strawberry icing. My mother suggested we look at a consignment and vintage clothing store down the road, and reluctantly, I agreed.

A few hundred dollars later I had a vintage dress that I love, and the world was a good place again.

I’ve had to take said wedding dress to two seamstresses, and last week, the second one told me she was unsure whether or not the dress would be wearable. She called me yesterday and told me she fixed it, and another bump in the road is behind me.

Upon realizing how expensive catering can be, we had to cut our guest list for the

rehearsal dinner almost in half. This was no easy task.

I made a wedding day appointment at my favorite hair salon in Starkville, only to find out someone put me on the books that Saturday not knowing the salon would be closed.

All you ladies out there who have hairstylist trust issues, I wish you could’ve wept in my car with me when I found out I would have to get my updo done elsewhere.

In an effort to be a good DIY bride, I bought a calligraphy pen to address my invitations. I spent two weeks attempting to write in flourishing, whimsical script with the pen, but it just was not working. Jacob picked up the pen and wrote perfectly on his first try, then informed me I was holding the pen wrong. I was.

Jacob has graciously listened to me rant and cry over these mishaps and my ever-growing wedding to-do list. We’ve also shared excitement and joy about celebrating our marriage with our friends and family with a day we hope reflects who we are as a couple.

There have been many days during our engagement where I wanted to fast-forward to the wedding because I’m tired of planning. What I have come to find, however, is the closer we get to our wedding day, the more practice we get at functioning as a couple through the stress. Even through seemingly menial tasks like reminding each other to call a groomsman or bridesmaid about wedding plans or deciding how many tables to rent for our rehearsal dinner, we learn to work together. So, when your plans go awry, take the setbacks in stride because in them you can find a lesson in teamwork. At the end of the day, you’re going to leave your wedding hand in hand with a forever teammate. Keep that in mind and everything in between will pale in comparison to the privilege of having a partner in the many mishaps and abounding joys life will inevitably throw your way.

Crawford addresses invitations with her calligraphy pen after her fiance showed her the correct way to use it. Photo by Lauren Wood // Crawford and fiance Jacob Kent during their engagement photo session.

Photo by Jackson Donald with Revival House.

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Trends, left to right: For bridal brunches and showers, floral watercolors and touches of glitter; for engagement parties and more casual wedding ceremonies, rustic combined with feminine; for wedding announcements, script fonts and floral accents.

Photos by Lauren Wood, invitations provided by Swirlz in Tupelo.

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Invitation Trends

Dirty Little Secrets of a Photographer I feel like I have been mentally writing this article for eight years. I’ve shot more than 100 weddings and by far, these are my most abused/underappreciated tips. Some of these tips are things your wedding photographer can’t tell you for fear of being rude.

Well, here’s my chance. I finally get to say the things I have always wanted to tell but have been bashful on account of good ole Southern manners.

1. Do a first look.

Yes, for selfish reasons all photographers want you to do a first look. It makes our lives easier; there is no denying this. But there are some other reasons I beg you to consider when making this important decision:

(a) Your nerves are going to be crazy amped up. I have seen some brides who literally wanted to tear their mom’s head off for asking simple questions. You will be in full beast mode until you lay eyes on your honey and things come back into perspective. Your photos will show your stress. You will be so nervous and bent out of shape that it will show in your bridals and all the shots taken up until you see him. I promise, the moment you lay eyes on your honey, the stress literally melts off your shoulders. Do us all a favor and seek comfort in the arms of your honey ASAP. (Your mom and bridesmaids will appreciate this, too). (b) If you have a 20+ bridal party (we will discuss this later) and a large family, then your reception will be in full swing by the time you get there. I always tell my bride and groom the most important photos I take that day are your portraits. I want at least 20 to 30 minutes to take those photos. If I have the bride and groom, combined bridal party and family shots, we are in for at least one hour, and zero time for creativity. You and everyone else will be in a hurry and unfortunately, more times than not, important photos will be skipped because you want to hurry up and leave. (c) First looks are more romantic. I try to make this moment extra special for my clients. I make it private. Just you, your honey and me (like a ninja over in the corner). I will allow you to see each other and then give you about 10 minutes alone. Just you and him. No 300 people staring at you as you see each other for the first time on your wedding day. You can hug him, talk to him. This will be the only 10 minutes you have alone all day. Please cherish it and enjoy it. Remember why you are there in the first place.

2. Hire vendors you mesh with.

I always encourage my potential clients to meet me face to face before you hire me.

Photographers are important because they will be with you all day. If you don’t mesh well, it could potentially ruin your attitude for the whole day. If you hire a coordinator/ planner, make sure you know they have the experience needed to effectively run your wedding. You should not be worried with any details about anything on the day of your wedding. That is why you have hired a coordinator to run the show so you don’t have to.

Also, make sure you share your vendor information with each vendor. Many times they have worked together and can collaborate details to make the day run more efficiently. If you hire a videographer, make sure they know and/or talk with the photographer. There is a special “dance” photographers and videographers must do when working together.

If they don’t work well together, it could potentially interfere with coverage of important events like the ceremony.

3. Staging goes a long way.

I know you have never seen a beautiful photo of the bride getting ready with a bra draped across the back of a chair. Staging is a very important part of making a good photo its very best. I recommend after you and your girls are ready, pack all belongings up and hide them. Also, bring a hanger for your dress. Have a few of your girls get dressed so they are in the background hanging out all beautiful in their coordinating dresses.

4. Bridal Party or Possee?

Over 70% of my weddings have bridal parties of more than 30. I can’t tell my clients this, so I am going to use this opportunity to vent a little. When you have that many people, it limits your photo opportunities so much. First, I am usually shooting combined bridal party portraits around 2 in the afternoon. At that time, light is very harsh so I am constantly looking for shade to shoot in. When you have 30 people to place in a shaded spot, you have problems. Second, you limit creativity. I’m sorry, but it’s hard to get creative with posing a large bridal party. If there is not a location with steps so I can stagger, then you will have one large flat line of people and it’s usually pretty far continued on page 11 // Photos by Taylor Square Photography

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Gift Guide

Bridal Party Etiquette

Photo by Taylor Square Photography

You should always try to ask within two months of the engagement. It is very important to remember to ask everyone at the same time, especially the people who run in the same social circles.

party attendants are usually financially responsible for their attire and transportation.

Tradition still dictates the bride and groom pay for their attendants’ lodgings. If there is an attendant who is unable to pay and you are able to take on the cost, the bride or groom should do so. No attendant should ever have to stress regarding being a part of a friend’s wedding.

2. Do I have to have the same number of bridesmaids and groomsmen?

5. Who pays for wedding party grooming?

1. When should I ask people to be attendants in my wedding party?

Absolutely not. There is no bridal law saying you must have equal number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Single attendants can walk down the aisle alone or in pairs.

3. Do I have to ask my fiancé’s sister to be a bridesmaid?

There is no written rule saying you have to ask your fiancé’s sister to be a bridesmaid.

I always tell people to think about the future. It is always best for family harmony to include the siblings. After all, they are going to be family and remember, you will have to see them during the holidays.

4. What should attendants pay for?

It is very important to remember how your choices will affect your bridal party. Bridal

It’s fair to ask a bridesmaid to wear her hair or makeup in a fancier style than normal, as is asking someone with long hair to wear it up (though “ask” is the operative word.

It’s the bride’s big day and most attendants are prepared that the bride will want a certain style when it comes to hair, make-up, etc. It is always rule of thumb for the bride to cover the cost of grooming and to ask nicely for her attendants to comply with her fashion decisions on her big day.

I try to remind every bride and groom to not get too wrapped up in “wedding laws” and remember to enjoy themselves. A wedding is give and take and lots of working together to make your day special.

Kelly Brewer is a certified etiquette coach in the Tupelo, Mississippi area.

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Low-Key Bridal Party Trips

By Riley Manning // Daily Journal

cut loose like people in the Delta. People always leave having had too much fun.”

McCarty said the hotel’s Great Escape package is the best deal for bridal parties. It covers two nights and includes two drinks at the hotel’s bar, breakfast, two hour-long massages, 20 percent off tickets to the cooking school, and coupons to Greenwood’s downtown stores.

For the fellows, the bachelor party is guy time.

Amory native Jason Simpson married his wife in May 2014. The month before, his brother led Jason and four of their friends on a day trip to Memphis, where the crew spent a few hours playing outdoor laser tag at Battlefront Laser Tag and Paintball. Afterwards, they took in a meal and a Memphis Grizzlies playoff basketball game.

“My brother had the most input in what we did, but I asked him in planning it to keep it reasonable in terms of money,” Simpson said. “My friends were all college students, and I said, ‘Let’s just have a good time.’”

Laser tag at Battlefront costs between $14 and $24 an hour. The basketball tickets were the most expensive component at around $75 each, but Simpson noted it was a playoff game. All in all, he said, the day was as relaxing and fun as he could have had anywhere.

“It was a huge bonding experience,” he said, “Some of my groomsmen were friends from high school, and others were from college, so not all of them knew each other.

Everyone got to be friends at my bachelor party, so on my wedding day, that initial awkwardness wasn’t there between groomsmen.”

Whitetail Ridge Outdoors in Saltillo offers any shooting sport you can think of, from paintball to archery.

“We do everything,” said owner Dick Holloway.

While Whitetail Ridge doesn’t offer packages specifically for wedding parties, it does allow a day’s access to the paintball facilities for $50 per person. This deal includes the play fee, equipment rental, 500 paintballs, and one tank filling of CO2.

“We’ve got skeet fields, fishing lakes, everything,” Holloway said. “You really have to see it for yourself.”

When you think of a bachelor party, you might think of a weekend-long blowout in Las Vegas or New Orleans.

Bachelor and bachelorette parties are stereotypically wild, rowdy affairs, but most grooms and brides prefer something a little more low-key.

Tupelo resident Amanda Hayden is many times a bachelorette party planner.

“The other parts of a wedding can be so stressful – planning the food, the flowers and all that,” she said. “But the bachelorette party is one night with your friends to let loose.

The people are the important part, and if you’re not careful, the party can become just another stresser.”

Hayden said for girls, any kind of getaway is usually a success. She pointed to The Z Bed and Breakfast in Oxford. The Z is just a few blocks from the downtown square, which offers a plethora of options in the way of food, drink, shopping and music. On one occasion, the bride and groom held their parties simultaneously at hotels just a few streets down.

“Of course, the men ended up crashing the girls’ party,” Hayden said.

Annie Hooper, owner of The Z, said for bridal parties, she usually recommends the White House on South Lamar Boulevard. The stately Victorian home is the biggest of The Z’s three properties, and is made up of five bedrooms, sleeping up to 14.

“It’s nice to have options, but too many options can be overwhelming in a place like Miami or something,” Hooper said. “But Oxford is perfect. From any of our properties you could walk to anything you’d want to see.”

The White House books as a whole for $1,600 per night. Hayden said bed and breakfasts can be perfect venues for things like lingerie parties, which are always a hit.

“By the point of the bachelorette party, you’ve already had showers where you get your dishes and other house stuff. Plus, you don’t want Grandma picking out your lingerie,” Hayden said. “It’s just a time to be silly and have fun with your girls.”

For an all-in-one package, there’s none better than The Alluvian hotel in Greenwood.

A subsidiary of the Viking Range Corporation, the Alluvian is well-seasoned in creating Photos, left to right: The Z in Oxford, Whitetail Ridge Outdoors in Saltillo and The Viking cooking the perfect Delta experience with its renowned spa and neighboring Viking cooking school. The hotel is a stone’s throw from local shops and restaurants, and hosts its own live music every Thursday.

“There’s even a winery down the street where the wine is made totally with local produce,” said Alluvian marketing director May McCarty. “We’re a little more remote, but Only the BEST... you can still have a blowout here. Nobody knows how to

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Your Local Wedding Resource

away, which limits detail. Do a search on Pinterest for “bridal party photos.” You very rarely see shots with more than 5 to 8 bridesmaids. So, if you want creative and intimate bridal party photos focusing on you and the groom, narrow down the list, ladies.

8. Lights.

11

Engagements are my favorite thing. This is your time to have normal, plain-clothed photos of you and your honey B.C. (Before Children). Ladies, let’s go ahead and not kid ourselves, you know having photos professionally made with him anywhere in the near future (B.C.) is going to be a long shot. Plus, these are the photos you will want to hang in your home. The down-to-earth photos of just you and him having a blast, deeply in love. This is also a very important time for me as a photographer, because it gives me the opportunity to work with you (most importantly the groom) before the wedding.

That way, when I show up on the wedding day, he is not all freaked out about me having a camera in his face.

Lights can be a photographer’s friend or his worst enemy. There are a few instances that occur all the time that I have to battle with every wedding. First is cake lights. Most people would naturally think you should light the cake with some spectacular pin lights suspended from the ceiling to make it light up like the Empire State Building. Not so much. Pin lights on a cake are great just as long as they can be turned off during photo opportunities. It’s very difficult to expose the cake properly when there are blazing bright lights on them and especially hard when I am taking photos of you cutting it. I will not be able to expose your faces and the cake properly at the same time if there are lights on it. Most light setups placed by rental companies include a remote control for this very scenario. Make sure your coordinator knows where this control is and can turn it off when needed.

Second is D.J. and band lights. Those multi-colored flashing lights and smoke are really cool when you are about five beers into dancing the night away, but can give me nightmares when editing. I always use off-camera flash at a reception in order to over-ride crazy lights, but sometimes they are too strong to combat. The best solution is to have the D.J. or band turn the lights toward themselves. That way you don’t have red, green and blue dots on your faces during that romantic first dance. If you want to look like a discotheque, by all means, proceed.

If you want to do some creative and beautiful lighting, stationary lighting (up lighting) always looks beautiful and classy.

6. Eat, Drink and Be Merry. Most Importantly, Eat.

9. Have an unplugged wedding.

5. Do an Engagement Session & Bridal Session.

I’ve done many bridals and it never fails, the bride discovers something that day that is crucial for the wedding day. She doesn’t like her hair style, the veil does something funky with the bun, it won’t stay pinned correctly, her dress pulls in a certain seam, she hates the flower design—I could go on forever. That’s why this is so important. Not only do you have the photographer all to yourself for a few hours and you get some amazing photos, but you also get a trial run on hair, makeup and florals. That is important.

It never fails. I have seen so many weddings where the bride and groom have no time to eat at their own reception. It’s so sad. You are running around all day long taking photos and preparing for this extravagant party, then get there to be inundated by guests, and ultimately, you don’t even get a bite of food. Forget that. I always suggest to my bride and groom to ask the coordinator to have a plate prepared for them in a hidden room, so when they arrive at the reception, they can slip off and eat while I am preparing my lighting for the first dance. Also, ask the caterer or planner to prepare several boxes of to-go food for your limo ride. You will thank me later.

7. Spray tan.

Oh goodness, you either love them or hate them. This is one of those things that can cause me hours of editing time. I know you want to look all sun kissed and Sports Illustrated-swim-suit-model-looking, but actually, you could end up looking like an Oompa Loompa. Do a trial run. Make sure if a person is spraying you, they do a good job. Try them out a few times. Make sure the space between where your arm pit and your dress

Yep, you have heard that one too, but it is so important. Most photographers cannot use flash during ceremony in churches based on the rules of the location. That rule doesn’t apply to guests. Neither does them hanging off the end of the pew, standing up or getting into the aisle to get the perfect shot. I’ve had many aisle shots ruined because Uncle Bob had his iPad dangling off the end of the pew the whole ceremony. Also, during key events at the reception such as cake cutting, people behind the photographer with cameras clicking can and does interfere with the frequency of our flashes, which can make them not fire. The last thing I need to happen is my flash not work while I am trying to combat exposing properly for an overly-lit cake. Ask guests to put away their cameras during key moments so they will not interfere with the professional’s views, as well as equipment.

10. Remember why you are there.

I know planning the perfect wedding can be so stressful. You want everything to be just as you have envisioned since you were a little girl. Trust me, I get it. But don’t let the hype overshadow the reason you are there. This is a ceremony as old as time. A vow before the sight of God to tell the world how important that person is to you.

They are your forever, and this is the day your forever begins. Relish it. Cherish it. Remember something special he whispered to you while you were saying your vows.

Remember that look on his face when he put the ring on your finger. Remember how you felt when you danced for the first time as husband and wife. Cherish those memories because ultimately, that is why you are there in that moment. To say forever to him.

Give her a ring that’s as one-of-a-kind as she is. A ring that you create.

Visit us today for your custom design experience.

Ann-Marie Wyatt is the head artist and owner of Taylor Square Photography Co., based in Oxford, MS. She has been married for 10 years to her amazing husband, Dustin and they have three beautiful, hilarious and wild children. www.taylorsquarephotography.com

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2015 READERS CHOICE

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line up isn’t streaked with orange. It’s a lot easier for me to make you look tan vs. removing your orange Oompa Loompa-kissed glow.

Dirty Little Secrets of a Photographer (continued)

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ALISON EVANS • ANNA WEATHERLEY • ARTLAND • BERNARDAUD • COUZON • CUTHBERTSON • GIEN • GLOBAL AMICI • GORHAM • HEREND