Guest Post by Nicola

Summary

Sometimes wedding photos will work out much better if people void making any serious mistakes, so I’ve talked about what they are and how people can stay away from them. The moment your wedding photos arrive through the door it can be a time of bliss, or it can be a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately some things go wrong and photos get ruined, but if you stick to a few tips I’m going to speak about today you shouldn’t suffer any problems.

Stick to the schedule

Wedding photographers appreciate it’s your big day, but at the same time you have to appreciate the world doesn’t revolve around you even on your wedding day. When you arrange a schedule with the photographer it’s best to keep it which means you shouldn’t be running around late. It might take you one or two minutes to take photos of famous monuments when you go on holiday, but if you want your wedding photographs to look great the photographer needs lots of time to do their magic.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Your photographer might think they’re taking beautiful photos of you, but when you see them you might decide you hate them. How will they possibly know what photos to take without guessing? The perfect solution is to send them a bunch of photos before your big day. Send a pile where you think you look attractive and send a pile where you think you don’t look attractive. On your wedding day this will help them take a lot more photos you will love compared to lots you’ll hate.

Going with one photographer

A wedding photographer doesn’t come cheap. They have to spend the day at your wedding taking hundreds of photos, but after the wedding is over they need to edit everything. That being said, if you want the best photographs possible you should definitely hire a second photographer. The second one will be able to capture photos from angles the first photographer won’t catch. Just in case you’re wondering, your Uncle Bob and his iPhone doesn’t count as a second photographer.

Deal with the schedule beforehand

We’ve already talked about sticking to the schedule, but first you must work with the photographer to devise one. They will know much more than you, so you must listen to everything you say. You might want to do something at a certain time, but your photographer might tell you that is the best time to take the photos so you can take advantage of the natural light. If you want photos with lots of unflattering shadows you can just ignore everything they say.

Don’t look at the camera

You don’t need to stare at the camera when the photographer is clicking away. It would look a little strange if every one of your photos had all eyes pointing at the camera no matter what the situation. Sometimes they will need to take natural shots and that means you need to go about your business as usual. I know this is quite difficult to do and an unnatural force usually pulls your eyes towards the lens, but try your hardest to stare away from the camera unless your photographer says differently.

Author Bio:  Nicola Joseph, the author of this article, is a freelance blogger, currently writing for, JS Photography, professional wedding photographers in Sydney. She takes keen interest in animation and graphics and is currently working on bettering her skills. You can get in touch with Nicola via Twitter @NicolaJoseph.

Guest Post by Nicola Joseph

Today, I’ll be talking about some of the things friends and family can do to eliminate some of the stress from the bride’s life so they don’t end up freaking out on their big day. Once you’ve worked with enough brides-to-be you’ll know they are a little crazy. They can get stressed out by the simplest of things and since you’re their friend or family member it’s your job to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re going to take a look at a few ways you can make their life as stress free as possible so they can concentrate on enjoying their big day.

Look over the contracts

Once the bride has decided which vendors she wants to work with it’s your job to take over the reins so she can forget about them. This means checking over the contracts to make sure everything is ready to go as planned. The bride won’t forgive you if the limo doesn’t turn up to take her to the church. Even though everything looks good to go you should still contact each vendor a week before the wedding to make sure everything is still on schedule, which will prevent any unforeseen hiccups from ruining anything.

Everyone should be in sync

Hopefully you’ve got a detailed time-line of everything that needs to happen during the big day. The photographer, DJ, and anyone else providing a service at the wedding should have their own one You should maybe make sure all of them line up correctly. Go over it with the bride so she can agree to it, plus she might want to change a few things. Once everyone knows what they have to do and they’re in sync there is much less chance of something going wrong.

Supervise the Set-Up

The bride-to-be will spend the entire morning worrying about what is to come. If you’re getting ready with the bride you should still send someone to supervise the set-up, so it means she won’t have to stress about things not being ready. Instead she can just stress over how she will feel standing in front of hundreds of people in her beautiful gown. Because someone will be at the venue in plenty of time it will also give them a chance to sort any last minute problems before you and the bride arrive.

Usher guests to reception venue. 

This is one of the most overlooked aspects of a wedding and everything will go a lot smoother when someone takes care of it. As soon as the wedding ceremony is over you should put on your shepherd’s coat. Imagine all the guests are sheep and it’s your duty to make sure they get to the reception venue in plenty of time. It means people won’t get to mess around and the party can start much sooner, plus the photographer won’t get bored standing around waiting on everyone.

Take care of their personal property

Once the reception party is over the bride will want to sail off into the sunset, so she won’t want to waste her time making sure all of her personal property is taken care of. You can take her wedding gifts and secure them in a hotel or storage room so nobody can steal anything. Don’t think you have to do all the heavy lifting yourself. Ask some of your trusted friends for help if they’re not too drunk, but you just need to oversee everything so the bride doesn’t have to worry about it.

Author Bio: Nicola Joseph, the author of this post, is a freelance blogger, currently writing for, Dream Day Limousines, a renowned limousine hire service in Brisbane. She is great with software and designing and enjoys spending her time in research. You can get in touch with her on Twitter @Nicola Joseph.

If your friend or family member is getting married and you’re throwing a bridal shower, it’s no surprise you want the day to be perfect. After all, the bride is likely so busy sending out save the dates, taste testing cakes, and planning out her ceremony that she hasn’t had a moment’s rest. So how can you make your friend’s shower extra special? By adding your personal touch to the décor. DIY is all the rage these days, and with a little creativity, you can transform a bridal shower from okay to ah-mazing!

Invites, Name Cards, and Favors

When it comes to the paper goods for your friend’s bridal shower, don’t go plain ol’ store-bought. While that could mean time spent purchasing supplies, stamping, and embellishing cardstock, it can also mean designing personalized bridal shower invitations online. It’s quick and convenient, and with hundreds of pre-designed templates, fonts, and colors to choose from, you can’t go wrong! For name cards, use the embellishments – everything from ribbons to buttons, jewels, and glitter – and bring your creative flair.
A few fun ways to create name cards that will double as favors include:

• Wrap a beautiful package of homemade cookies. Tie it with a ribbon and name tag with each guest’s name.

• Purchase colorful journals. Create embellished name labels and affix them to the front. Then, turn the journals on their side so they stand up.

• Gather enough Scrabble stands and letters. Use them to spell out each guest’s name. If you want to add extra flair, paint the stands in accent colors.

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 Table Décor

In addition to name cards and favors, you can spice up your bridal shower table décor with planted herb centerpieces. Attach several cards with recipes using that particular herb – for example, rosemary chicken or thyme-rubbed steaks. Or, add a twist to the classic vase. Find and create a bouquet of silk flowers, beads, and anything else that catches your eye. Another idea is to use the bride and groom’s engagement pictures as centerpieces – print them in black and white and place them in vintage frames for a fun effect.

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 Food & Drink

An essential part of any bridal shower is the food, but what if you could use the food to double as decorations? Cookies, cupcakes, homemade popsicles – all of it can be used to add color accents and lend to the mood of the shower. Place them on pretty white or silver trays, and create dimensions by including some flat trays and some tiered. Come up with other creative food displays, such as using glass jars for smaller snack items. And what’s creative food without fun drinks? Make a juice that matches the colors of the shower. Then, serve them in mason jars with decorative name tags and striped straws.

Guests will gush over your ingenuity! No matter the theme of your friend’s bridal shower, by adding your own personal touch to the décor, you’re sure to create a fun environment for the bride to be. And a huge bonus – seeing how much time and energy you put into planning and designing the perfect shower will make the bride feel extremely loved. And after all, isn’t that the whole point?

Author Bio: Heather Hewitt is a seasoned writer and guest author who enjoys connecting people with thoughtful products, services and ideas as they relate to crafting, photography, gift giving and personal expression.