Creative Ways To Honor Loved Ones at Weddings

I hate to be in the crowd of someone that lost a loved one too early, but here I am and I know there are many of us. What I would do to have my mom around to have had the chance for her to meet my husband! I totally get how it can be hard for so many couples to miss someone close to them during each stage of their wedding planning. I would like to offer some ideas here to honor those loved ones who have passed on at your wedding day celebrations in hope that it may feel like they are closer, if at least for a moment (Scroll to the bottom to watch the YouTube video instead.).

I believe memories that pop up of those people you are missing during your planning process can give you inspiration. Say you get teary-eyed wishing your Grandma could bake cookies to help ease your nerves, there ya go, share Grandma’s cookies (with her special recipe and the copies of it to share) with your wedding guests. Say you are missing the way your Dad cracked you up adding root beer to his drinks, then make a specialty drink “Joe’s Brew” with a sign dedicating his drink at the bar. Maybe you loved playing cards with your best friend who is no longer here, set up a table with some cards on it and a sign at the table encouraging guests to play some cards in memory of “so and so”. Even if no one ends up playing cards you can look over and know they were included in the day. Though of course, there are more examples than these, here are some examples I have seen, heard of, or thought up:

-A monogram over the groom’s chest in honor of his loved one. Wow! Talk about taking close to the heart literally! What a beautiful gesture!

-A photo of the deceased loved one on a folding chair at the front of the cathedral and during the ceremony.

-Placing a bouquet, corsage, or boutonniere in front of a photo during or before the ceremony.

-Add a favorite food of theirs to your day whether for dinner, dessert, or a snack to share with your guests.

-Make them an honorary part of the wedding party: ask someone else in the bridal party to partner up with the honorary wedding party member carrying their photo down the aisle, placing it up front, and taking the photo back down the aisle afterward.

-As part of the wedding ceremony processional, carry a photo and/or items with significant meaning to where that person would be sitting. An example would be a clothing item like a sweater or flannel or something they collected.

-Wear her wedding dress. If your mom, aunt, or grandma has passed, then wearing her gown is a very special way to pay her honor.

-Incorporate their favorite songs whether more formal at the ceremony (which could be noted in the wedding program) or a favorite dance song that the DJ could announce at the reception.

-Doing shots at the reception in remembrance, with either the DJ making an announcement for all who want to gather or a toast with a few words shared either by the bride/groom or a pre-appointed loved one.

-Select a wedding venue that was close to that loved one’s heart. From Grandma’s farmhouse to your sister’s favorite beach it could be very special to feel closer to that passed-on person throughout the day.

-For the bride who lost her Dad, attach a charm with a photo of your dad to your shoe so he can “walk you down the aisle”. Hard not to cry just typing that one!

As far as honoring our loved ones we miss, I say if nothing creative comes to mind it doesn’t hurt to follow some traditional ways of showing them remembrance. Often I see charms on the bride’s bouquet so she can hold those who have passed away close by. The other typical way to honor loved ones at a wedding is by placing photos around the ceremony and reception for all to remember. All beautiful ways to give honor! Another very common gesture is to light candles, as they are incredibly ceremonial and add to the beauty of your event.

This is a tricky part of weddings and I encourage you to reach out to me on our contact page if you would like to pick my brain for a creative way to honor your loved one at your wedding. It would be my privilege to get to help. As much as it hurts and as much as you wish that person/people could be there on your big day, they would want you to be happy! Planning a wedding that you desire would be what your loved ones wanted. Following your heart (even with some tears), we truly believe weddings can be fun! After all, we know better than anyone how precious life truly is!

Cheers,

Rachel

Check out our YouTube video on this blog to see more photos of these ideas: https://youtu.be/ByUuONS15lg

To First Look or Not

To First look or not: It’s a tricky decision! Sometimes it releases nerves so that the rest of your day can be more relaxed, and sometimes it can make the timeline more stressful, which clearly doesn’t help anything including the romance.

When there’s plenty of extra time in the day, the first look with your love before all eyes are on you can help both the bride and groom relax. So many times at the first look we see the bride and groom so excited and then you see this sigh of relief on their face! After seeing each other for the first time, the bride and the groom have their security blanket with them to navigate this unusual (and very exciting) day. How strong your support system is without your fiancé is also a good thing to consider. If the people getting ready with you actually stress you out, a first look may be helpful! As a photographer/videographer I must also say that the first look gives us much more time and better angles to get shots of you two alone. If your day is already on a tight timeline or you have an early wedding it could possibly add stress to do one more wedding event.

Another option is the anti-look. So you want to wait until the ceremony to see each other but you’d love to have a moment to connect ahead of time. In your case, you can stand back to back with a door between you holding hands. It’s a great photo opportunity and you get that calm before the storm holding hands. You could simply chat for a bit or read letters to each other. I actually find this option quite romantic! If you decide to go with the anti-look make sure to tell your photographer ahead of time because a door that would photograph well can be tricky to find, but well worth the hunt.

If you are a very traditional bride who has dreamed of having your groom gaze into your eyes with a tear falling down his cheek as you walk down the aisle, you already know your answer. In your case, skipping the first look, I highly recommend you talk to your groom about how important this moment is to you. I hate to tell you ladies, but most guys have literally never even talked about this moment with their friends growing up! Can you imagine!?! Photographing weddings I have seen too many guys stand at the front like a deer in the headlights, not knowing where to look when and so afraid of “messing up” that they don’t always have a photo-ready look on their face or even look at the bride all the time! I have the opportunity at a first look to remind the groom how important this moment is for his bride and encourage him to try to relax and enjoy his bride and not try to hold back any emotions. It’s hard for many grooms to instinctively know this is not a wedding detail to check off a list but an important heartfelt moment. I can assure you many grooms have thanked me for this tip. As a bride who says no to the first look, I highly encourage you to have this conversation ahead of time!

There is one more option that even took me by surprise at a recent wedding. The bride and groom decided they wanted to do a “first look” after the wedding ceremony. They said “We will just pretend”, knowing they wanted photos of him taking her in but not enough time before the ceremony for one more thing. It truly was a beautiful moment! Who would have thought? I just love it when couples get creative! That reminds me of my theory on weddings: remember that it’s your big day so follow YOUR dreams (whatever they may be!) when it comes to planning! Following this advice, I have seen that weddings can be fun!

Cheers,

Rachel

Where to Start With Choosing Your Bridal Gown

You have finally started planning, the food, the venue, the color scheme; down to the last bit. The only thing left is the dress! Bridal shops provide so many options in bridal gowns, it can be overwhelming. Long sleeves, short, or none; A-line, ballgown, or silhouette? There are so many choices for every type of bride.

Yes, you love your mom, sister, sister-in-law, maid of honor, and six bridesmaids—but if you've ever tried to get a crowd to agree on where to go for dinner, you can only imagine how hard it will be to find consensus on a gown. Narrow the group down to the two or three people whose opinions matter most to you. A negative comment from a cousin or mother-in-law is another way to add more strife to the already incredibly stressful process of planning a wedding. It's easy, especially for people-pleasing brides, to bend at the moment to what gown your mom, sister, or maid of honor loves on you. But it's crucial that you go with what you love and what feels like your dream dress, regardless of other people's expectations. Before you go to a bridal shop, go crazy on Pinterest. Scroll through and create a board specifically for the style(s) of dresses you like; whether that be a long-sleeved lacy boho dream or a satin A-lined ballgown. If long skirts aren’t your style, go for a tea-length or a white minidress with a rocker-chic party vibe. Don’t want a dress at all? Try a chic pantsuit. Whatever the style, it’s yours. That reminds me of our theory on dresses, and weddings in general: remember that it’s your big day so follow YOUR dreams, whatever they may be! Following this advice, we have seen that weddings can be fun!

Cheers,

Talia

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Micro Weddings

Micro weddings… a new buzz word in the wedding field, but what does it mean? and why is it so popular all of the sudden? As the name suggests a micro wedding is simply a smaller version of a regular wedding. Each micro wedding looks different just like typical weddings vary. What unites all micro weddings is that everything is done on a smaller level. That means less guests so the counts on everything go down and tend to feel more intimate. Some couples choose to do destination micro weddings and sometimes call those elopements depending how small. Technically some say 10 and under is an elopement and between 11-50 would be a micro wedding but who really cares what we call it if it works for you?!?

How did these micro weddings get so popular? Well that whole COVID thing limited numbers of people gathering and also limited the venues that stayed open based both on laws and which venues survived. There was essentially a “traffic jam” of brides who postponed their weddings along with new couples who got engaged during 2020-2021. Out of this increased need for wedding venues birthed the popularity in micro weddings. Some couples choose micro weddings for these reasons and many are choosing the more intimate wedding type. I say it feels a little more “homey” and easy going when the groom and bride all have their very closest people supporting them, but of course only you know what type of wedding is the right one for you!

Until next time remember that it’s your big day so follow your dreams when it comes to planning! Following this advice I truly believe weddings can be fun!

Cheers,

Rachel

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