It never fails, at every wedding there’s a rouge item. Something you meant to bring and it slipped your mind. Something that could make life easier, and now you are on the verge of a major melt-down. I’ve compiled a list of things I know can go missing or get left, consider yourself warned 😉 1. A NICE hanger. Do not, under any circumstances rely on your hotel/house/cabin to have a hanger you can use for your wedding dress. Yes, your dress is likely on a hanger already in the bag… but it’s probably a clear plastic one (maybe with one of those cardboard bust things over it). You bought a $4000 dress, why are you hanging it on something that is so dang ugly. Personally, I think bridal salons should provide you with a beautiful, wood or silk hanger… but they don’t. You may want to have a cute personalized one made up, if so, great! If not, not biggie… but at least have a pretty one.   2. Bobby Pins I would say that 50-75% of weddings I shoot, I give out a few bobby pins. I keep them stashed in my camera bag because there’s always a wild hair that needs taming! My advice is to ask your hair stylist for a few extra and pin them on your bouquet or your bra! Curls get loose, wind blows, your veil will get tugged loose during all those hugs. Have a few extra! 3. Food This sounds silly, but in the mix of all the craziness you can forget to eat. Put someone who loves to cook or help out in charge of lunch or breakfast, whatever you’ll be eating during your “getting ready” time. There’s usually an aunt or cousin who’s dying to have a task, this is perfect for them! When we got married I had our caterer make up some box lunches and had them delivered to our hotel room. This saved us time from going out and finding food.  On the same note…. drink LOTS of water! Mimosas are fun, but you need hydration too. No one likes a drunk bride (or groom) at their ceremony! 4. Keep your accessories together When you pack up all the items you will be wearing put them together. It is very easy to loose earrings, or a bracelet. Those items are so small, they can easily slip under a seat or bottom of a bag. If you have a shoe box or bag, I would pack all these little items inside! A lot of times I’ll photograph your jewelry with your garter, perfume, or veil. So it keeps you organized to have all these together, and easy for me to use them all at once. 5. Clear heel protectors If you’ll be walking through grass in heels, I advise these. I’ve never had a bride use them, but they can be a lifesaver (or heel saver!) if the ground is even a little soft. 6. Pills. Any medication you take can easily be left on your bathroom counter at home. It really is a conscious effort to not only take it, but have it with you! ….. no one wants an unplanned pregnancy on their honeymoon 😉 7. A rain plan. Even if your events are all inside, you’ll still need to get too and from the car without melting. So…. make sure you’ve got umbrellas (and that they wind up in the right spot…. an umbrella inside the church does you no good when you need to dash from the car to the church!) On the same note… if your events are all outdoors…. have a backup plan! 8. A copy of your invitation I love to photograph invitations, after-all they are the first incling  your guests receive about your wedding day. They help set the tone for what kind of ceremony & party you will be having. I often ask my couples to mail me one, but just in case, bring one with you. If you have had someone to make you an entire suite (invite, directions, place cards, program) have one of each available with all your bridal accessories. Hope this helps save some frustration on your big day! We want you to be able to sit back and enjoy the day, not panic all through it!

So, with the whole spring forward over the weekend, I’d had great plans to write about my thoughts on wedding timelines and how to create a great one…. and then I got called away to a meeting yesterday :-/ And then I checked back online last night and realized Southern Weddings put together a great one…. with pretty graphics and all! (seriously, I wouldn’t expect anything less though!) There’s some great advice on there, and I really encourage you to go read it if you are putting together a wedding day time line, or if you’ll be helping a friend make one! I thought I’d go ahead and share my thoughts on the subject too….  A few years ago I realized that couples really didn’t know how to begin making a timeline, and they would book me not knowing when to tell me to start coverage. So… I decided to make them a little cheat sheet. I now send it to all my clients as soon as they book. Part of our contract states that you must include us in your timeline planning…. and that’s not to be all up in your business, but to make sure you get all the photos at the best possible time of all the events happening! It’s just a little double-edge requirement that makes sure you get great photos, and we get the time to make those great photos. Rule #1: Work Backwards. Start with your reception. What time are you leaving/is the party over? What time do you arrive? How long will it take you to get there (if getting married somewhere else)? Now move on to the portraits. Do you have a long list of groups you want photographed? Plan on 5 minutes per group larger than 8, and 2 minutes per group smaller than 8. It never fails, a groomsman, uncle or flower girl has wondered off and someone has to go find them. This really stops the flow and eats up time. Now, your ceremony…. how long is it, and how long do you want/need to be tucked away before it? We always try and have you tucked away at least 30 minutes prior to your start time… which means you’re likely getting dressed a minimum of an hour before your ceremony (but probably more if you want any photos done before the ceremony)Back to travel… are you riding to the ceremony site from the getting ready site? How far apart are they? Now, hair & makeup…… **How cumbersome is your wedding dress? Will it take 4 people to get you laced up, strapped in? Some dresses take a good 20 minutes to get into! Something else- while it may take you a while to get in your dress,  it could also take your bridesmaid a while to locate her bra and shoes. I’ve seen it happen. Rule #2: Hair & Makeup takes longer than planned. Always. Plan an extra 30 minutes to an hour to whatever they tell you. If you have 5 ladies getting primped, and they tell you it will take 40 minutes for hair and 20 minutes for makeup… that is an hour per lady. Will there be more than one hair/makeup person working at a time? If you only  have one, then that’s a good 5 hours of hair/makeup…. and the bride always takes extra time. Rule #3: Make sure you count travel time. Often times, the 10 minute limo ride gets left off the schedule…. but 10 minutes often takes 30. It takes a while to get everyone and their stuff loaded. Don’t leave this out. Rule #4: Sunset is a gold on a wedding day. Most photographers will want to do a few photos during this time. It offers the prettiest light, with a different feeling. Even if you’ve completed the “portrait” section of the day, your photographer will likely want to grab you just for a few moments at this time. Make sure you know what time sunset happens on your wedding day.   The last thing you want is to feel really rushed on your wedding day!

Back over November I ran across a deal on Ruelala for a swanky hotel in Dallas, Le Meridian Stoneleigh. So I asked my best friend, Karen what her and her hubby were doing for Valentines Day… no plans. We each booked a room there for Friday evening, and then Karen found a second deal (via Groupon, I think) for The Adolphus, a grand, old hotel in downtown for Saturday evening. Now, getting to Dallas was no small feat… it took a small army to push our Mini out of the neighborhood in 8″ of snow Thursday night before our Friday morning flight. Thankfully, we got out and made it to the airport and happily traded the snow for sun and 60-70 degree weather. I really loved the furnishings at the Stoneleigh. All the muted, velvet furniture was just up my ally. I really wish I had taken more photos of the hotel! Just down from The Adolphus was the Neiman Marcus flagship store… complete with bridal salon. I wanted so badly to play dress-up. After we checked out of the Stoneleigh, we headed to Bread Winners for brunch, it was a shot in the dark on google maps, but I think it was our favorite meal! Jeremy had a bacon, jalapeno bloody mary. After leaving The Adolphus, ate lunch and then decided to site see… this is dangerous when left up to Karen and I. We ventured to see a giant longhorn statue in a not-so-nice part of town, and then on to AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play. The Roadside America website can be both amusing and scary at the same time. A few quick good-byes at our hotel, and they were back off to Waco. We’ll be out there again, we still need to see Southfork 😉 *if this blog runs across any Dallas/Waco/Austin brides, I’ll fly out to shoot your wedding with no travel fees* *All images Portra 400 35mm, minolta maxxum, scanned by Indie Photo Lab