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Q: Now that we’re having a baby, I need to get a decent camera! I have a little point and shoot now, but I think it’s time to invest in a decent SLR. I’m not a professional, of course, so it doesn’t have to be fancy –it just needs to take good pictures. Any suggestions? - Michelle
A: I get this question all.the.time. And to be perfectly honest, unless I’m lugging around bulky professional gear, I typically rely on my iPhone for quick images to upload to Twitter or Facebook. But if you have a little peanut in your family’s future or perhaps just want to make some nice images from your honeymoon, purchasing a digital SLR is the way to go. You won’t regret it.
SLR, by the way, stands for single-lens reflex. The biggest difference between a digital SLR and a point & shoot (hereafter referred to as p&s) is you can change the lens. And unlike a p&s camera that uses an LCD display, SLR cameras use a mirror to show the image that will be captured in a viewfinder (more thorough geek tech explanation found here). By manipulating the digital SLR’s camera settings, you’ll be able to capture action, photograph in low light, zoom in tight on those precious baby toes, and print frame-worthy quality enlargements as you see them in your camera’s viewfinder.
In my humble opinion, there are only two brands of cameras worth looking into: Canon and Nikon. I learned how to shoot on a manual SLR Nikon in high school and switched to Canon in 2005 when they seemed to be leapfrogging Nikon on offering the best professional cameras and lenses. At this point, they’re still neck & neck, both producing a consistently reliable quality product. You can’t go wrong with either.
You can get a decent p&s camera for under $400. You’ll need to invest a bit more to upgrade to a digital SLR, however, so don’t let the prices shock you. According to Consumer Reports, these are the top rated consumer models for according to image quality, useful features, battery life and weight (listed in order of price):
This invitation suite we just did with our fabulous retailer, The Dandelion Patch, came out so pretty I had to share. The bride chose the Vintage Romance collection from the Letterpress Album and customized the design with her color palette of Champagne and Blush.
I believe your wedding album design should reflect your sense of style just as much as every other choice you make for your wedding day. To help you identify which wedding album design is most appealing to you, I’ve taken one set of images and created a variety of album designs to show how each album design affects the viewing and interaction of the images on the page. While there are literally infinite design possibilities for wedding albums, I’ve found that most designs can fall into one of the following categories: Fine Art, Traditional, Editorial, Collage, or Embellished. I’ve included a quick preview here, but you can click on the links to view the complete album design sample.
FINE ART
This album design displays one image per page, like a gallery in a book, allowing each image to stand on its own and command the full attention of the viewer one image at a time. Images are usually centered on the page with a white or black background or matting, with or without contrasting border/bevel (the sample below is black background with contrasting white border/bevel.) If the book is printed with images on the front and back of each page (allowing two images to lay side by side when open) there are opportunities for pairings of images that uncover hidden or implied relationships. If you’re a minimalist, or want your album to look like a portfolio of art, this is the album design for you:
It’s a Jaime Thing is a blog I have been following for quite some time and over the last few months Jaime and I have become blogging friends, so to speak. I reached out to her to put together some details to inspire an invitation design of mine and she came back to me with this dramatic and dark, True Blood board!
Photo credits: cupcake by Sweet Avenue Bakeshop, flowers on left byBella Signature, candlelit room via HMDesigns.com, boutonniere via Blooms By Martha Andrews, chairs via Jomy Goodness, black dress via Bebe, Lower right style board photo credits: True Blood on HBO.com, TrueBlood.hostend.eu, TrueBlood-Online.com, True-Blood.net and all put together at It’s A Jaime Thing on Polyvore.com
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
This was like the wedding I imagined for myself after watching Disney movies as a child. It was one for the storybooks, set in a private chateau in Le Grand Lucé, in the Loire Valley of France.
I feel so lucky that Cailen and Sean found me floating around the internets. It’s such a true blessing when I get to work with a couple so kind and loving. The relationship Cailen has with her siblings is enviable. Her brother had so much to say in his toast that he wrote her a book. Her little sister clung to her side as Cailen prepared for her right of passage. At one point, they lay on the bed, gazing at each other with marvel, saying I love you. I mean, wow. Just being around that kind of love is eye opening. And that’s to say nothing yet of Cailen and Sean.
I love my job because it is pure joy. I get to be around all these amazing people with amazing relationships, and I get to tell their amazing stories. Sean came to America from Ireland on a track scholarship. It was on college track that he met Cailen, and these years later they look at each other like they each are the luckiest people around.
Also, the Mayor of the town donated all the flowers for the wedding! How insanely awesome is that??
I recently met with a couple who were interested in ways to incorporate their support of marriage equality in their wedding ceremony – so I turned to one of my favorite sources (the internet!) to find some good ideas for them. I am proud to live in a state that offers civil unions (it’s a big step in the right direction!).
Officiating at the civil union of Jess & Lorrie
My favorite suggestions came from this A Practical Wedding blog post. I really liked the idea of including a brief notice in your program:
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
The headband, that is!
I’ve had a less hectic month than most, so I had a little bit of time to work on pieces that weren’t necessarily commission-based. The result? A few fancy headbands… and one sparkly necklace. All but Loretta and Shirly can be worn traditionally or over the forehead.
Feeling demure? Wear it pushed back!
Feeling like a hippy-dippy love child? Pull it down!
Couples are often looking for interesting ways to showcase their personalities through their weddings, and having meaningful table names is one way to do just that! But what “themes” work best? Here is a list of recent ideas that our couples have come up with:
Wedding #2, that is also a FAVE wedding of the year, features soft pinks, creams, and white whites. Details including this lovely invitation printed on a handkerchief and mailboxes are just a few that the bride, Lindsey incorporated in her San Francisco Wedding.
Without a doubt, one of the best desk accessories I have is a custom made address embosser. I originally purchased it for stamping my return address on my wedding invitations, and ever since it has left a beautiful mark and lasting impression on any correspondence I send.
I actually have two embossers in my arsenal - one rectangular and the other is round. Since we recently moved into a new apartment, it has now come time to update my plates.
Hi Nancy,
I follow your blog and just admire your work so much. I have a question for you regarding hydrangea. I love love this flower but ran into quite a few incidences where it drooped on me if left out of water. I see them in magazines all the time where brides hold a beautiful white hydrangea or even mixed with hydrangea or hydrangea pomander, and wonder how long does that bouquet last?
Such as this wedding featured on Southern Weddings of Christi and Chris’ wedding photographed by Studio A Photography.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Ms. Le
This is good question and one that I faced as well.
After 12 days of not posting, I feel like I really owe you some visual goodies. Hopefully this post does not disappoint!
A few weeks ago, Mrs. Bee asked me to help her decorate and plan a few aspects for an upcoming party she hosted in her West Village apartment. The meet-up was full of past and present WB bloggers, vendors and even a reader or two. Setup was a big group effort - lots of girls came early to help lend a hand.
photos by Mrs. Avocado / Jenna Cole Photography
As many of you probably know, Jesi Haack is one of my favorite wedding planners to work with… her designs, personality, and professionalism make her a fabulous find in the wedding industry! I was so excited when she and I were able to work together on Jessica’s wedding! I had the pleasure of getting to know Jessica previously at events at The White Dress in Corona Del Mar. Jessica is a manager there and has had us come and sample our yummy treats for their clients on various occasions. This is a special store for me since it is where I got my fabulous wedding dress a couple years ago. So as you can tell, I was doubly excited to work on this wedding since it was for people I knew! Jesi did an amazing job with the design for the wedding and I thought I would share some words from her blog that described the event…
“When Jessica, manager of The White Dress in CDM, hired me to design and plan her wedding, I squealed at the opportunity! Besides the fact that Jess & Eric are BEAUTIFUL people, they have such a clean, classy, modern style. My favorite part was that Jess gave me FULL reign so my crazy mind was whirling! The only thing they insisted on was having a cocktail party style of event with lots of EATING, DRINKING, and DANCING! We were working with a tight budget, so it was so fun pushing through the challenge and thinking outside the box… and outside the box is my favorite place to be! My AMAZING team created 500+ paper flowers to flood this event with style and sass.”
I was a theatre major in college – and when I would stage manage, I was often the voice that told you to turn off your cell phones and pagers and unwrap your candy before the performance would begin.
Groomsmen at the rehearsal before the ceremony (via Melissa Blemur)
(And, yes, both of the photos in this post were taken at recent weddings I officiated… before the ceremony!)
I loved working with Amy and Phil on their August wedding in the UK–I love my international brides! Amy and Phil look so happy together and paid so much attention to every detail. Amy did an awesome job with the decor and even made an adorable little felt boutonniere for each of her groomsmen (and she sent me one, too!). I’ll let Amy say more about her big day in her own words…
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