Weddingbee Blog

After a morning of pressing and primping, Mr. Lace and I were off! Mr. Lace, the photog, my MOH C, and I drove off to the Lab to take some photos. We chose to go to the Lab because we took half of our engagement photos there and it was down the street from our venue. Since a lot of our photos took place in public places, we got a lot of oohs and aahs and well wishes from people who saw us walking around. Everyone was really sweet and they made me feel pretty darn good about how I looked! Taking photos totally helped me feel more relaxed because we were busy and I didn’t have to think about walking down the aisle with people looking at us.

So, now it’s tip time from the other side of the wedding.

1. Photos before, between or after?

Couples do their weddings in many different ways. Some people opt to take their photos before the ceremony so that they’re all out of the way. Some people choose to take them between the ceremony and reception so that they don’t break tradition and see each other before the ceremony. Some take them after all the partying is done. I suppose it depends on what time your ceremony is, but Mr. Lace and I took our photos before the ceremony and then took another set of photos after the ceremony with our bridal party. We split our photos into two sessions mainly because we HAD to have a cocktail hour (for the venue to change the ceremony location into a reception location) and we didn’t want our bridal party to show up four hours beforehand and follow us around to take photos.

2. Bring someone with you!

MOH C had the foresight to volunteer her services during the two hours we were taking photos. She got ready a bit earlier than the rest of the BMs and came with Mr. Lace and me. She was AWESOME! When Mr. Lace’s orchid snapped and we had to stop by the wedding site to pick up another bout, it was MOH C who ran down to pick it up. When I needed someone to hold my bouquet or lift my dress, MOH C was there. When I was trying to get into the car, it was MOH C that made sure that all of my dress made it into the car and didn’t drag on the street as we drove from place to place. And lastly, when we were getting a bit hungry and needed a snack, it was MOH C that jumped out of the car in 4 inch heels and bought 20 pieces of Chicken Nuggets for us to share.

3. Location, location, location!

If your photog isn’t familiar with your reception site, snap some photos while you’re there so your photog can get an idea of what the place looks like. Better yet, when we went to take our engagement photos, we spun by our venue to let her see it for herself. That really helped because she knew what the lighting would be like, potential locations for group photos and any interesting spots to snap photos. We decided to go back to the Lab because we thought it’d be fun to have a set of casual and formal photos in the same spot. See? (All photos by the fabulous Hanssie!)

The Rainbow Wall during our engagement photos.

And at the same wall on our wedding day.

The Waterfall Cans during engagement photos.

and here we are again in our wedding duds!

4. Props

While I would’ve loved to bring props, I had too much to keep track of to remember to lug props around with us. Plus, I think Hanssie did a great job making every photo look interesting!

The girl is amazing. She took this set of beautiful photos with a wall and some light!

I can’t decide if I like this better in black and white or in color! I LOVE the shadow on the wall!

And my perpetual dilemma as I look through wedding photos…black and white or color?!

Do you have any special plans for your wedding day photos?

• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• I get all dolled up.
• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I become a real housewife of Orange County.