Martin Renee Photography Blog

Wedding Flowers

It feels like I have not been writing here for a long time. Wait!… Its a fact, I have not been here for a while. End of the wedding season is always the busiest time of the year. Between shooting weddings, engagement sessions, kids portraits, maternity portraits, boudoir sessions and designing albums, printing canvas prints and framing portraits we have our hands full of work. And then winter, which in any year before was slow, this year was full of business travel, conventions and workshops and making great photos. I don’t even know where to pickup the slack with the blog. We are in the full swing wedding season 2010, bookings for 2011 are coming at a steady pace. I’m already excited for the weddings we have booked for 2011, Its going to be a great year. Our studio family is growing larger; two of our 2009 brides are pregnant – Congratulations guys, so I’m excited for them as they embark on a new experiences in their life together. Can’t wait to photograph the kids.

OK, Getting back to the subject…

Flowers

Flowers are pure magic for the senses, their vibrant color, their unique scent, their ability to transform an ordinary space and set the stage for your wedding and lets not forget their romantic significance are key part of your day. From the bridesmaid’s bouquets and groomsman’s boutonnieres to the decorations around the altar or chuppah, flowers will appear everywhere and play a significant role setting a look and style of your event. The flowers need to play with the overall style of your wedding just like the color palette, stationary, accessories and even the dress. The bridal bouquet is the ultimate floral accessory. You want one that compliments your gown.

Flowers for your event need to align with your wedding style. You want to consider their color, size, shape, season and scent. Not all flowers are available year round so if you love a flower so much and have to have it, you need to look at scheduling your wedding when blooms are available or importing them just for your event which requires spending more money. When it comes to bouquets their shape is equally important to the choice of flowers because the shape is what will ultimately establish its look. For ceremony, flowers can be attached to almost anything, they also can be suspended from tree branches or an archway,  they can be tied to the columns or placed in a majestic tall vases. From stunning table decorations to fresh blossoms on the wedding cake, receptions are the ultimate floral showcase. Table centerpieces are important focal point. The range of sizes, styles and arrangements is simply a matter of personal taste and design. Centerpieces can be tall and narrow or low and wide but never to obstruct the view.

Its important to remember that a stylish event is not about how many flowers you have but how the blooms enhance your wedding style and overall look of your big day.

Anyway, surround yourself with the flowers you love.

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Wedding Veil, Headpiece, Shoes and Accessories

Headpieces, Dress Details, Shoes and Accessories.

Finding the glamorous shoe, beautiful piece of jewelry or gorgeous veil can be essential to pulling together a spectacular bridal look.

Sometimes less is more, so as each small decision presents itself, continue to focus on the overall impression you want to make.

Choose your headpiece with your hairstyle in mind and according to your wedding style. When buying your dress look carefully for those special details that will make your dress really unique. It is a bride’s dream to find elegant yet comfortable shoes. Pick the style of your shoes to match your dress, location and the time of the year. All accessories should compliment your overall style but never take away from your dress, hairstyle etc.

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Wedding Dress

Wedding Dress

There is no single thing more important for the bride to be than her dress. The perfect dress has to feel good, it has to be the ultimate expression of bridal style, it has to work best with the bigger picture of your event.
The endless number of styles, colors, designers, prices and shopping destinations certainly does not help with the selection. Close your eyes and envision yourself walking into a reception room in your dreamed wedding dress. Let your imagination do the work for you before you make any assumptions or make final decisions about your dress. Consider your style, season and location of your wedding in your dress selection. Make sure you try different styles and fashion cuts that will enhance your figure and make the dress your own.

A lovely but simple empire silhouette might be perfect for an outdoor ceremony, garden or beach wedding, whereas a ball gown or a-line gown would be perfect for a classic or fanciful wedding. The fabric and color of your dress is another factor to consider. Once again please consider the season, location and formality of your wedding when choosing your dress. Satin or silk will make a classic wedding elegant and rich. Chiffon or Georgette are ideal for a beach or garden wedding with flowing movement and soft and lightweight fabric. Lace and crystal will make your dress sparkle and make you shine like a princess. White and off white are most popular and timeless colors where rich and adventurous colors will create a bold contrast in your wedding.

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Wedding Stationary

Wedding Stationery

Invitations offer a peek into what you’re wedding will be like. They offer the first glimpse of what’s to come later. They should be a representation of your wedding. When deciding on you wedding stationery think back to your wedding style. A crisp, dark blue invitation with monograms of a couple’s first initials engraved in white creates the scene for a classic wedding. A palm tree hints at a tropical destination, while an image of landscape or a rustic barn aligns with a more country or rural setting. Flowers, leaves and wines represent a garden theme, whereas architecture or landmarks can provide hints to wedding location such a museum.

Color is also extremely important part of your wedding stationery. Often the wedding location will dictate the color palate of the wedding. Beach wedding will have soft blues and seashell white. Old rustic cabin will give way to rich chocolate and khaki color scheme. Bold, vivid crimson and hot pink will lead the way for an exotic affair.

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Wedding Colors

Wedding Colors

Once you picked the style for your dream wedding, choosing the colors is next.

The colors, I mean not only your bridesmaid’s dresses and vests for the guys, but everything from the little accents on invitations, flowers, linens, to the wedding cake. The colors that you choose should enhance the style that you picked earlier and should tie everything together and provide continuity.

You can get inspired by anything that is around:  beautiful nature, the seasons, holidays, the flowers that will be blooming where your ceremony or reception is going to be held, even your cultural background might give you some ideas.
Lavender hues and greens work very well in a countryside settings, pastels or more traditional colors are the best for classic wedding. Blue, pink and ivory looks nice in a beach setting
whereas orange, lime and turquoise might be better for contemporary wedding. There is nothing easier than to pick colors for garden wedding where you can get inspired by the endless choices of flowers with their incredible hues of pink, green and yellow. When choosing your exotic palette, let your cultural background or location be the inspiration. Out of the box wedding might benefit from bold colors like fire engine red, apple green and bubble gum pink to make your wedding fun, whimsical and interesting.

Color can enhance but also it can detract from the wedding style you have chosen. Simple is the best. One or two carefully picked colors that continue through all the details can really bring everything together and compliment your wedding style.

Choose the colors that make you feel beautiful and comfortable, that best tell your style, after all its your special day.

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Wedding Style

Your Style

Your dream wedding should be a celebration, a spectacular event that will reflect your style. It should show your personality, your likes and dislikes, your individual heritages and maybe even special requests from your families. Whether you like classic, beach, contemporary, countryside, garden or exotic you have to focus and keep this vision as you plan all aspects of your wedding.
Choose a style of your wedding first as this will be you building block that you will go back and reference in all your future planning.

Classic – traditional, timeless, elegant, refined, tasteful; a few words that one might think of while thinking of Classic Style Wedding. Usually a church, chapel, temple or synagogue can help set the tone.

Beach – romantic, soothing, tranquil, casual. Having the Beach wedding is all about bringing in the natural elements of your surroundings from pastel colors to barefoot bride in a simple white silk sheath dress.

Contemporary – modern, chic, current. Where you can set the tone by having you affair in an art museum an urban loft, or the rooftop. Simple yet elegant and sophisticated full of trendy colors and geometric shapes.

Countryside – relaxed, carefree, serene, rustic. If you are planning a countryside wedding, you should be looking at wineries, barns, farmhouses and ranches to host your event. Always allow the location to inspire the style details.

Garden – fresh, airy, natural set in a backyard, botanical garden or park. Captures the carefree elegance of summer.

Exotic – vibrant, mysterious, adventurous, unique, out of the box. This is the style that will show the most of your personality. Either be a wild hot air balloon, yacht, amusement park, cultural or religious make your dream a reality by bringing the flavor and style to you.

Pick your style and start planning the rest of your wedding celebrations with the style in mind. From picking up the location to the linen and napkin colors and all the detail in between. Make your own rules, and you will find a style that no one else could have dreamed of.

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Planning a wedding

Planning a wedding:

It’s a long road from the proposal to the actual wedding day, so make sure you’re keep the positive attitude and concentrate on the ultimate goal: the marriage itself. Surround yourself with encouraging people that will help you deal with everything that goes on. Don’t stress over small stuff, its not worth it. Create a plan and try to stick to it.

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Wedding Tips, Tricks and Advice.

Wedding Tips, Tricks and Advice will be our new series of posts that will be appearing on our blog regularly. The idea for the posts came up after one of our recent brides told me that because I knew a lot about weddings and wedding industry and I was so helpful to her I should become a wedding planner. Don’t worry I have no plans giving up photography :) But at the same time I have planned my own and seen quite a few weddings and virtually every one of them was different.
So I thought about why not just give advice to all our brides and grooms. No, it will not be only about photography but I will be about everything wedding related.
Please post a comment if you have anything to add about the subject mentioned. Even the smallest advice can go a long way. Something that you might think is somewhat obvious might help someone and make the process of wedding planning a lot easier and stress free.