I'm going to make it really simple today...and then I'm going to add ten thousand complications. It's what I do. :)
The first step in planning a wedding is...Prioritize. Simple right? What is important to you? For some couples, the music is what makes or breaks their wedding day. For others it's the decor. Other brides fantasize about finding the perfect dress or having the location of their dreams. Sometimes brides and grooms don't even see eye to eye on what is THE most important aspect of the wedding. For example, my fiance has but few requests: good food and good drink. Done and done, darling. (What can I say? We love food around here!)
For me, the number one priority is photography, and here's my little plug as to why this is so important: I would rather get married in old jeans and a stained t-shirt in order to have enough money for a good photographer rather than spending money on any other aspect of our wedding. Photos will last a life time. Think about all the joy experienced by ever so many people as they look back on their memories of their wedding day encapsulated in photographs. Think about looking at your parents' pictures...your grandparents'. We remember, we laugh, we love.
A thing to remember about priorities: It's not necessarily about the money. It's about arranging your preferences so that what is important to you is present on your wedding day. What was really important to me was finding someone who could tell the story of our big day through finding real moments. We wanted a brilliant photographer who was really great at capturing photojournalistic images rather than setting people up for pose after pose. We Quad Citians are so lucky because we have MANY photogs in the area that are delightfully talented. In the end, we went with Giraffe Photography.
Yesterday, I spent some time with Stephen and Elaine while we took some head shots around the Village of East Davenport. Along with the time spent on taking pictures, I was also able to hang around and watch as Stephen edited the photography to ensure that the lighting was correct, the best angle was shored up, and that the bags under my eyes seemed to magically disappear. (Thanks, Stephen!) Here are some of our favorites from the shoot:
"I am so busy!" (Staged.)
"I love this door!" (Not staged.)
"I have no forhead wrinkles!" (My forhead is airbrushed.)
"Look at me!" (Look at the awesome wallpaper that Stephen and Elaine have!)
Watching Stephen work yesterday just reinforced what I already knew about photography: It's my priority. I'm glad I've got that figured out.
What is your priority? Comment below and share!
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