If you want a bit more of my opinion on the topic you can read this.

I’m sure no one reading this ever fights with each other.  I’m sure all you lovely engaged people can’t imagine fighting over anything.  (Except who loves each other more.)  Trust me though, the day will come when one of you does something wrong.  It may start out over how you fold the towels.  The next thing you know you are screaming at each other about who brought the worst in-laws to the family.  Conflict is normal.  How you handle it though can have a HUGE impact in what your marriage is like.

Not long after we were married Danielle and I found out something about each other.

We don’t always agree. (Shocking right.)

At first we had “normal” fights.  The kind where you say things you don’t mean and do your best to win.  Little by little we realized this may not be the best way to resolve conflict.  Over the years, we have practiced fighting and are now actually pretty good at it.  I have learned not to spout every thought that pops into my head.  Danielle has learned to be brave and say the things she is thinking.  Most importantly, we have realized that neither one of us is “out to get” the other.  Disagreements in marriage SHOULD happen.  They show that you are still capable of forming your own thoughts from time to time.  If you are in a relationship that NEVER has conflict, then more than likely, you are in a shallow relationship.

Listen.  Marriage is hard.  Really, really hard.  I know right now you may be neck deep in guest lists, mason jars, and overwhelmed with the amount of options your florist is providing you.  The thing to keep in mind is that you are starting a marriage.  Marriage is a constant balance of being yourself and being whatever your spouse needs you to be.  The longer we are married, the more we understand when to give and when to take.  We have learned that disagreements are normal.  How we handle them though will determine how long we stay married.  AND… the longer we stay married, the more we can argue about who loves each other the most. 

 4 AWESOME books on how to resolve conflict.

How to Fight Fair in Your Marriage and Win (Kindle)

The Book of Romance: What Solomon Says About Love, Sex, and Intimacy

Sacred Marriage

From Anger to Intimacy: How Forgiveness Can Transform Your Marriage

Buy them.  Read them.  Become a better fighter.

P.S. If you wanna see more from Nikki or Darcee’s wedding click on either name.

P.S.S. Staring next week I’ll be running the Top 10 of 2011 contest for 5 categories. (Wedding, Engagement, Bridal, Rings, & Mug Machine)
Great ready to win stuff!

Parts are parts? 

Do you remember the commercial where the disgruntled, messy chickens were flying down the road in an old beat up car? They wanted to become Foster Farm chickens…you know…the excellent chickens. Those goofy birds finally got it – you can fluff them up all you want but they are still messy, skinny ole birds!!

Flowers are not just flowers! They have so many variables to them, so many grades. I remember when guys would come into the flower shop asking for a dozen long stem roses. Little did they know, a long stem rose is really only a second grade rose. Roses come in many lengths and with each come different head sizes. The longer the rose stem, the bigger, fuller and prettier a rose head can be. For example, a rose can be purchased in 40, 50, 60, 70 and even 80 centimeters. The “long stem” rose is about a 50 cm rose so you can see there are usually three sizes that are bigger and fuller. The other grading system is medium, long, fancy and extra fancy. So, you can see the “long stem” rose isn’t really such a big deal!! I usually explain this to my brides by making another comparison – take for example jeans. You can buy a pair from Walmart for say $15.00 and you can buy  a pair of Miss Me for $100.00 (yes, I know there are a lot that are even more expensive) Now, they are both jeans….both have two legs, both are denim, both have pockets, both have a zipper, both can be worn to the movies but you sure wouldn’t say they are the same!! Well, the same can be said for flowers ….just because someone says…I can make a bridal bouquet of all red roses for $100.00 doesn’t mean there is going to be any comparison to a spectacular high grade rose. On the surface it’s easy to be fooled but get the two in front of you and I assure you, you’ll pick the better one! The problem lies in a bride and her mom picking out that one of a kind bouquet not knowing the right questions to ask. You see, a florist never says, “Well, it will be made with 36 Ecuadorian, 70 to 80 cm all white roses. The variety will be Polar Star.” They just say, “It will be an all white rose bouquet.”  Then they can show up with whatever they want much to your chagrin! Now, you might say “I don’t even want roses” well, ALL flowers are selected and graded. There are florist grade and supermarket grade. There are always variables to each and every flower.

That leads me on another topic….colors are not just colors! Red is not just red, there is red to the orange side and red to the blue side! For example, tomatoes and blood red – you can imagine there are lots of shades of red in between. White can be to the yellow side or green, purple can be to the pink or blue sides! All the colors are not the  same….all the varieties are not the same…all the qualities are not the same….Parts are not parts in chickens or flowers!

Fake flowers are just that….FAKE!

To many times a bride gets her hopes up on a particular flower that maybe she saw in a local craft shop. She’ll come in with a few plastic or silk flowers and think we can provide her with them in real flowers only to be disappointed. In the days of Google images, it’s so easy to see if the flowers you prefer come in the colors you want. Check it out…it’s a great tool!

Magazines and blogs are giving brides unrealistic visions of color! To many times the editor or blogger is enhancing the color to “make it prettier” or more with today’s trend. Some (of course not AlexM…lol) photographers are “color correcting” and this changes the color as well as the expectation of the bride.

Brides….did you know that the groom has responsibility in paying for some of the flowers? Grooms and/or their parents are responsible to pay for the brides bouquet, the portrait bouquet, all the men’s boutonnieres and the mother’s and grandmother’s corsages or posy’s. Ask the florist to separate  the flower totals and make two copies of the contract so one can be presented to the groom. It will take you out of the equation and give credence to asking them to pay for their part.

When consulting with a florist, make sure you find one that has pictures of their own work and will guide you through the decision making process. I do my best to make sure to capture each and every brides vision of their day as each is as unique and special as every bride. So much of the time I see a bride come in for her last meeting with me and she’s exhausted and “just can’t wait for it to be over with!” Remember to ask for help, hire the very best professionals, let go of a few of the decisions and take time to relax and enjoy the best day of your life!

Wishing you a happily ever after!
Barbara | La Tee Da

Didn’t I tell you she was awesome?
Still wanna see more?  Take a look at all the “La Tee Da Weddings” I’ve photographed the past few years.

OK… What do these 4 weddings have in common BESIDES having booked a good looking and uber talented photographer?

Give up?

Ashley, Megan, Carrie, & Melissa all were smart enough to have Vanessa McKellar Productions at their weddings.  I encourage brides every chance I get to have a good videographer at their weddings.  Some listen and take the plunge, some don’t and regret it later.  I know from talking to these brides that they will never regret the choice they made.  Take a look at the trailers Vanessa & Brent put together for these weddings.  (AND THESE ARE JUST THE TRAILERS!!!!  Imagine getting to have a whole movie about your wedding day.) Seriously ladies, call her and book her right now. 903-894-6078

OH, and if you wanna see plain ol’ boring pictures from the weddings pick a bride and click here name.
Ashley, Megan, Carrie, & Melissa

The best part is the author.  It’s written and updated by a super famous and established wedding photographer. (He shot Tom Cruise’s wedding)   I know many of you spend a lot of time on wedding blogs but the reality is some of those do not give you an accurate image of what a real wedding day looks like.  Some of those sites are run by 20-something year old girls who have been to a total of 4 weddings in their life.

This dude is legit and he knows his stuff.

You’ll find out things like:

Shot Lists: Pros & Cons

Why Shoot An Engagement Session

What NOT To Eat The Week Of Your Wedding

Full Sun Weddings & Expectations

How To Stay On Time

How to Choose A Photographer

(That last one is probably not relevant since you are on this site.)

Go read everything right now.

A few days ago, we were all outside playing and we had an impromptu “family shoot.”  I set up my camera and let the kids go nuts with a water hose.  They had fun. I had fun. We had fun.  AND, awesome pictures came of it.

If you are anything like me, sometimes it seems like life is moving at like 4,391 miles per hour.  Regardless of how much you try to slow down, things just keep piling up;  that is part of the reason that our family practices a Sabbath once a week. But even then it’s like we don’t get enough breaks.  More and more we are realizing that we have to be intentional about stopping.  We have to “plan” to do nothing.  Maybe it’s just us, or maybe you struggle with this too.  If you find yourself seeming to never have time to “play,” you may need to just schedule it.  Put it on the calendar.  Make it the most important part of your week.  The cool thing is, the more we have time to rest and refuel, the more ready we are to get back to work or let our creative juices flow.   I LOVE some of the images we got and can’t wait to work this idea into an engagement session.  You know you want to be cool like my kids.  Email me if you are brave and want your engagement session to be H2O-wsome!!!

(Yeah I just totally put my logo on those colors.  If you upload them to Facebook I want proper credit!!! )

The thing that will make your marriage and relationship better is you.  Not your photos.

Look at it this way: 

Time spent reading and looking at wedding blogs will help your relationship about 0-5%. 

Time spent saying nice things to each other will help you a lot more than that. 

Take the 3 minutes you would have spent on this site and fire off a real live 4-6 sentence E-mail telling someone why you love them.

(I”m also closing comments because any time you have to comment should also be put towards your I Love You E-mail.)

Ready GO!

Super awesome right?  Anyway, I have no idea where the wallet size photos that she got 15 years ago went.  Even the mighty 8×10 prints have gone missing.  The only thing that stood the test of time was this 12 inch tall cut out.  I can’t even begin to guess what her dad “overpaid” for this thing?  29.99?  49.99?  Did he drop 74.99 on this?  I don’t know and I don’t care, and the reality is he does not know or care either.  I’m just glad we have it.  It’s a tangible thing we can pick up and hold, our kids love to look at it and it’s one of our most valuable family heirlooms.  (That might be a stretch but you get the point.)

The same is true of your wedding album.  Today everyone Facebooks and tweets photos left and right and it may seem silly to get a big giant book that tells the story of your day, but the reality is hard drives crash, prints come and go, and how would you feel if all your awesome wedding photos were only on MySpace.  Yeah, exactly.  A nice wedding album will last a super long time.  It’s something you and your kids will eventually look at and something that will get passed down.  How awesome would it be to have a wedding album from your grandparents wedding?

The thing is, you don’t have to just take my word for it.  A few months ago I photographed another wedding photographer’s wedding.  Megan is super computer savvy and takes more photos in 1 week than you might in 3 months so “digital files” are something she knows how to deal with.  But she also knows that just having a “disc” is not enough.  In the end she wanted an album.  I’m super glad Megan & Mitch got one and it’s heading out the door to them today but before it left I thought I’d share a few images with you and let you take peek inside.  Enjoy.

You can take a look at her whole album below.

So we all grew up knowing that the guy is the one who rescues the girl.

Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, they all needed a guy to help them climb out of their problem.  Then somewhere along the way everyone decided that women do not need to be rescued.  They are capable of rescuing themselves.  Women can do anything men can do.  Better.  The irony of this way of thinking became super clear to me when my sister-in-law asked me to “help her move.”  One of the things she could not move was a giant, heavy framed poster you may recognize.

Ladies I’m here to let you in on a secret.  We need to be rescued just as much as you do.  Your fiance’ may not tell you this because he’s still trying to impress you.  But, somewhere along the way, you will realize that he is just as insecure and doubtful of himself as you are.  The longer Danielle & I are married, the more willing we are to open up about our fears and shortcomings.  This is not something that happens instantly when you get engaged or married.  This is something that takes years of practice and work.  AND, as men it’s something that we resist.  It’s super hard for us to admit our faults.  It’s scary to tell you that we are nervous about commitment. We are told by society never to look you in the eye and say “I do not have everything under control.”

But, as scary as it is for me to open up about my shortcomings to Danielle, it’s even scarier for me to hide them.  I LOVE that talking to her is safe.  I love knowing that she likes me regardless of my failures.  This has happened because time and time again when I have opened up, she has never recoiled or pushed me away.  She has never made fun of me in public.  I know that everyone around could be pointing at me and laughing and she would stand and defend me to the end.

My advice to you ladies is this: if you want your guy to open up, if you want your guy to “talk” to you, then become his number one cheerleader.  Never criticize him in public.  Never “compare” him to another man.  The more you stand by him publicly, the more likely he is to open up to you privately.  You both need to be rescued and the sooner you work on rescuing him, the sooner he’ll be ready to rescue you.

OK, so maybe it’s time we re-think this whole “guest book” idea.  I mean, we ALREADY know everyone’s names right?   (I know you know because you had to hand write them on 372 freaking invitations!)  We also know who came because they jumped into the Mug Machine and took a snazzy photo.   So, instead of collecting names like a high school detention teacher, why not have a bit of fun with  the guest book?

SO…… without further adieu, I give you the Greatest Utility Ever Seen To Be Ordered Online Keepsake.

I call it GUEST BOOK for short.  (clever right.)

Anyway, here it is. Boom.

It has a photo wrapped image from your engagement session that looks AMAZING in person.

The best part is the inside.  It’s plastered full of photos from your engagement session & it’s full of clever little questions for your guests to answer.  Some are about the two of you, some are open ended, and some of the pages are just blank for your non-creative-we -just-came-for-the-cake cousins.

You’ll also get more than just 1 hour’s worth of use out of this thing.  You can take it to all your showers & have those friends fill in some of the answers.  You can throw it on a coffee table to show off your photos.  You can also pull it out 6 months or 6 years after your wedding and see how well your friends really knew you.

Anyway, I just love these little albums and know you will too.  Also, any bride who orders one before the end of the month will get a sweet deal on them.  So there you go.  You know you want one.  E-mail me and we’ll make it happen.

Then I was like… wait…. you totally need to draw my whole family.  How awesome is this??!!??!!

Then I was like… wait… I have an idea.  Draw these people.

And she was like.  Bada bing, bada boom.

How great is that?  You can get anything done, I had her do a wedding portrait, but how fun would it be to have a drawing of where you became engaged?  You can use these everywhere, Facebook profile pics, a print to frame and hang in your new home, wallpaper for your iPhone.  How about as custom stamps for your invitations?!?!

So here is the deal.  You need to give her a call, she is hooking you up with a discount for being a blog stalker.  She normally charges $50 for a couple but is giving you 20% off so it’s only $40.  (That’s like what you’ll spend on 1 person to eat at your wedding.

Email her here and mention my site.
(eightyniner89@gmail.com)

Ready…. GO!

Today I wanted to give a HUGE shout out to HOUSEofLOVELY.  Lauren is the mastermind behind everything there and she is based out of Dallas.  Her work is fantastic and it’s just the type of thing I know my brides would love.  Take a look at some of her work.

She has plenty more on her Etsy site and even has started doing some flower girl designs.

This is the coolest part.  Because she is so cool, and because you are so cool, and because I am so cool she is hooking you all up with a discount code!

Enter the code “alexmphoto” to get 15% off anything at HOUSEofLOVELY!!!  Not bad eh?  She’ll even let you pick it up locally so you can save a bit on shipping!
You can put all that money you are saving towards something else. (Like upgrading you SuperSquare size.

1. Kept Moving The Date Up: The more we “planned” the wedding the less fun it became.  Rather than drag the whole process out for 36 months we decided to get it on the calendar and get it done.

2. No Bride/Groom Side: We liked everyone there and let them all sit wherever they wanted.

3. No “Here Comes The Bride”: Danielle didn’t walk down to that song.  (We went with How Beautiful instead.)

4. No unity candle/ sand: We wanted to be united, but just didn’t want a candle or sand.

5. Uneven  number of bridesmaids & groomsmen: One of my friends could not make it. Rather than just add a fill in to “make it even,” we left it odd.

6. No garder/bouquet toss: Many of the single people at the wedding still found a way to get married.

7. Didn’t cut or look at my cake: I had one, we just forgot to go over there.

8. Didn’t leave for our honeymoon right away: Our friends were starting a church that night.  We wanted to be there.

9. I’m sure I left something out: Seriously, I have no idea, but I’m sure we did or did not do something at our wedding that someone may or may not have taken offense to. (It will happen at your’s too.)

Now this list may seem silly, petty, or not even a big deal, but in the course of planning a wedding THOSE are the things that turn into big deals.

Every.
Single.
Detail.
Gets.
Analyzed.
(over & over)

The reality is many of those details just are not important at all.  My advice to you as a crotchety, old man who has been married all of 9 years is this:

Plan your wedding YOUR way.  Do what you want.  Tell everyone else to take a hike.

P.S.  Happy Anniversary Wifers.  I love you.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this area in the back for ceremonies.  You and your wedding party will LOVE LOVE LOVE the giant shade the tree and porch provide.

This is a view of the back porch.

Bridal room.

Check out this huge reception hall.
La Tee Da brought their flowery goodness and dropped some everywhere.
Check out the cool vintage buttons.  (25 cool points for Barbra and the gang.)

Also if outdoor ceremonies are not your thing, or if rain is not your thing, they have this great chapel on site.  It totally reminds me of the chapel in Runaway Bride.  In a good way.
Well, there you have it.  A mini tour.  Now I just need a bride to book me to shoot her wedding there.  Lets get to it ladies.  Operators are standing by.  903.480.4011.  But, before you call me you’ll want to call them and see if they are available as well.

Bella Sera Ranch
http://www.bellaseraranch.com
903.723.0900

A few days ago I got this perfect E-mail from Lindsey.  She sent it to me about a week after her wedding when she saw her album sneak peek.  Take a look.

“You know, I have to admit, I was VERY nervous that I would not like ANY of the pictures of me.  I am SUPER self conscious, and pretty much hate every picture I see of myself.  However, I am not claiming that I now think I am a super model or anything, but, I do love how you captured the way I felt in each picture you took.  Thank you! ” – Lindsey

E-mails like this totally  make my job worth doing.  I love that I was able to make her feel that way, but even more I love that Lindsey “gets” it.  My photos are not designed to make you look like a Cosmo cover.  They are not retouched to the point that you confuse them with something form glamor shots.  They are a reflection of who you are right now.  Of course I try to capture and document you from flattering angles and in ways that make you look your best, but at the same time as a bride, you need to come at this expecting realistic results.

You are are who you are and that’s fantastic.

The most ironic part is this whole day is about someone committing to you and saying I choose you above all else. But even then in the midst of all this, for many girls the insecurity about how they look still make them feel “ugly” or “not perfect”.   Your groom is choosing YOU.  He is standing up in front of everyone, in an uncomfortable suit you have chosen no less, and declaring YOU as his most favorite girl in the planet.  Stop and think about that.

You have being chosen.

You have been declared a perfect fit.

You are his super model.

“Take a blast to the past! If your memory serves you well, and it should relive your first date. Where did you meet, what restaurant did you go to (is it still around?), what did you do afterwards?
Remap this special moment, and do your best to make it the same way it was when it first happened. Is this romantic? ABSOLUTELY, it also shows that you care, and most of all, you remembered your first date!!! Also have your favorite DJ make you a cd to play in the car on the way of your favorite songs during that time 
Happy 9th Anniversary Alex & Danielle!!!!!!” – Andrea Brown

This date idea fits us perfectly and we are really looking forward to it.  Also, bonus points for Andrea working her husband Casy Brown’s kick butt DJ skills into the idea.  Apparently CMB Music not only does wedding, but also 9 year mix tapes.  Congrats Andrea.

Next up is our little Mini-Cation we took as a family this past weekend.  I had a wedding in Galveston as well as a day after session and an engagement session in Houston so I figured we should all load up and head that way.  Here 9 photos and 1 run on sentence describing our weekend.  Sometimes we jump on the hotel beds when mom is not around, astronaut ice cream is fun, feeding sea gulls is more fun, Eli can stay awake for desert but not space ships, Jo found a big stick and Sara conquered her fear of the ocean, but above all brochures in hotels lobbies are the coolest.

AND FINALLY…. I got this little question from a bride and thought I’d toss it out to all you blog-stalkers out there.

Dear Mr Wedding Expert,

Do u have any suggestions for sleeping through the night the week b4 ur wedding? Wedding nightmares & wide awake @ 3 am…

Thanks,
Sleepy but Sleepless

So what of it ladies?  What did you do to combat the Wedding Week Sleepless Night Syndrome? (WWSNS) Leave your solutions and remedies for WWSNS in the comments and help this girl out.  She needs her sleep.

Part 1.

Part 2:  Last year I asked one of my brides who broke off her engagement if she would be willing to share what that process was like and everything that it involved.  She was kind and brave enough to say yes.  It is still one of the most viewed pages on my website and  was the top Google result for broken engagement for a while last year.  Regardless of how great your engagement  or relationship is you should take the time to read what Kristin had to share.  (Read her story here.)

OK, so here is the deal.  This June is our 9th wedding anniversary.  Everyone makes a big deal about the 10th and we already have a few things planned for that one, but what about this year?  I mean, it should count for something right?  So, why not make a contest out of it.

I’m looking for the most creative/fun/memorable evening that cost me no more than $100 bucks.  It must be within a 4 hour driving distance of Palestine and you do NOT have to factor in gas or hotel expense.  Ideally, the date would happen in June.  If your idea is date specific it can NOT occur on a Saturday.  (I tend to be at weddings on Saturday.)

Here’s how the contest is gonna work.  Leave your date idea in the comments.  You have till Monday at 10:00 AM to post your idea. The sooner you post, the more time I have to start liking your idea.   I’ll then go through them all and pick my favorite and the winner will revise a 16×20 canvas gallery wrap of any image I have shot of them.  (Those bad boys cost $300 bucks so you know you wanna win one.)

Here is where it gets AWESOME.  Other people are allowed to submit date ideas on your behalf.  If their idea wins they get a $25 Target gift card & you get the 16×20  canvas gallery wrap.  So… the more people you have submitting date ideas, the better your chance of winning.  The best way to do that is to jump on Facebook and point your friends towards this blog post.  I also know many of you follow this blog but don’t know anyone I have shot.  If you win I’ll let you pick your favorite couple and I’ll surprise them with the 16×20 gallery wrapped canvas and I’ll hook you up with a $25 Target gift card.  Cool?

On your marks…. get set…. GO!

Disclaimer: I’m picking the winning idea based on what I think would be the most fun for Danielle & I.  You may have a terrific idea, but if I don’t like it, it ain’t winning.   By entering the contest you agree that you will not get your feelings hurt or sue me if you don’t win.  Thanks.

If you look through our kitchen cabinets you’ll see plastic cup after plastic cup.  Our dishes are also plastic.  Some are just a solid color.  Most contain a cartoon character of some sort.  Are Danielle & I allergic to glass?  Do we look down on others for owning fancy dishes?  No.  The reasons for our plastic fetish are simple.  Jo, Sara, Luke & Eli.  Awhile ago we made the decision that the next few years would be much much easier if everything that went back and forth to the kitchen table was NOT breakable.  This in turn would allow kids to take and bring all the dishes; something they could not do if we were using “big people” dishes.  (I’m sure each of you has a memory of dropping or breaking a dish while you were young.)   Rather than fight our phase of life, we embraced it whole heartedly and jumped right in.  We have yet to regret this choice AND our meals are more colorful and fun because of it.

One of the coolest things about being engaged is that you are not married yet.  You have cool words like fiancé, bridal showers.  You also get to go to stores, shoot things with a gun, and have other people buy them for you.  Seriously, think about how cool that is.  It’s a season of your life, and it only lasts for awhile.  Embrace it.  Go all out.  Find the joy in saying sentences like “My fiancé and I are having coffee today.”  You can wish and want and try and make your wedding day get here faster, but you may miss the phase of life you are in right now. The same is true of you single people.  Live in the moment of your single-ness.  Find the joy in saying sentences like “I’m having three different guys buy my meals today.”  :)

Most people live their life constantly looking towards the next moment.
When they get engaged.
When they buy a house.
When they have kids.
When they get promoted.
When the kids are out of the house.
When they have grandkids.

All of these are great seasons of life, but please, please don’t look towards them at the expense of where you are today.

Be single. Be engaged. Be married.  Drink out of plastic cups.

Sept. 25, 2010 turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life.  That is the day my first born child and precious daughter joined her life in marriage to my new son-in-law.  My daughter and I planned her wedding day completely in less than 6 months. These were the sweetest 6 months we have ever spent together and I think forever marked a turning point in our relationship from not only mother and daughter, but also best friends.  I will tell you, there were moments of stress and disagreement.  But in the end, no matter how I felt, I just had to constantly remind myself that this was her day, not mine.  This was all about her.  Times have changed so much since I got married.  I will never forget when she came to me and said she wasn’t walking down the aisle to “Here Comes the Bride”.  I was in complete shock, I couldn’t believe it.  How in the world do you not walk down the aisle to that song?  How would anyone know when the bride was coming and when they should stand?  I just could not even fathom this idea.  But, this was her day, not mine.  I had 6 months to get used to it and by the end, I was completely ok with it and it turned out perfectly.  But then she came to me and said she was going to see her groom before the ceremony so we could take photographs before the wedding.  What?  No way!  This can not happen!  It’s bad luck!  Again, I could not fathom this and again, I relented and it turned out perfectly and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.  It saved so much time and our guests weren’t kept waiting at the reception.  Times have changed since we were getting married. I would just encourage all mothers who are planning a wedding with their daughter, to keep an open mind.  And above all remember, this day is all about her, even if we are paying the bill, this is her day.

Planning a wedding will definitely have its stressful moments.  They are just unavoidable. But we eliminated as much stress as we could by pretty much leaving everybody else and their opinions out of it.  Grandparents, fathers, siblings, cousins, friends, they all have their own opinions and want to share.  Really, it doesn’t matter what they think anyway, so why stress for one minute trying to make them happy.  This day is all about her.

Another thing I will say moms is when the wedding day comes, just enjoy the day.  Do not designate yourself to do absolutely anything other than cleanup after the whole thing is over with.  This is such a special day that you will never ever have again.  Delegate, delegate, delegate and do nothing yourself.  Don’t even bring a camera with you.  Which brings me to the absolute, without a doubt, most important thing you will need for this day… the photographer.  If you only splurge on one single thing for the whole wedding, it needs to be this.  Moms, again, keep an open mind.  I wasn’t convinced of this either in the beginning, but my daughter felt strongly about this from day one.   She had her photographer (AlexM) picked out before she was ever engagaged. I was, lets just say, a little skeptical.  I mean, everybody at the wedding will have camera phones right?  Why do I need a photographer?   That is, until I met Alex and saw some of his work.  In a matter of minutes I was as convinced as she was about it and that was that.  The best investment without a doubt.  I promise, you won’t regret it.

Also, as I look back, I just must share this.  I tortured myself for weeks over plastic or real dishes.  I wanted real everything, but daughter wanted plastic.  This turned out to be one of the best decisions we made for that day.  It is so much easier and less stressful.  Plastic all the way, and it is just as beautiful.

Our wedding was almost 5 months ago.  I miss it.  I want to do it again, but I just can’t.  Thank goodness I have all of my beautiful pictures from that day so I can relive it over and over again for many years to come.

Moms and daughters, as your planning your big day, have fun, don’t stress too much and just enjoy this time.  Your big day will be here and gone before you know it.  And you know what comes next moms……. grandchildren!  I know I can’t wait.    I hope your day will be as special as ours was

I’ll be super honest with you, I only know 1 thing about Anthropologie, ladies love that website.  So, I figure the fact that they are launching a line of wedding gowns might be worth pointing out.   These dresses look amazing.  I can’t wait to shoot a bride in one of these things.  Here a just a few of them.

They also have bridesmaid dresses and things to put on your head as well as things to put your feet in!!! (They even have braziers for sale.)

Head over to the site to see everything they have to offer and to lose the next 1 hour of your day.

Also everyone in my house is super excited about the launch of a new show: “Jake and the Neverland Pirates.”  We love us some Peter Pan and this looks like it will totally take care of our Captain Hook fix.  If you have little people in your house, you should check out this show.  You can even get the first THREE episode for free on iTunes. (Click here.)