This next wedding idea comes from Angel and Derek’s wedding and my own wedding.

We wanted to do something a little different and fun for the food at our wedding so we served Coldstone ice cream in waffle bowls to all our guests. It was definitely a hit at the party, three years later we still have people tell us how much they loved the ice cream. At all the places we looked at you can do it two ways: buy the pans or buckets of ice cream and have your own people serve it or you could pay a little extra and have store’s employees do it. Angel and Derek had some neighbors in the kitchen scooping it and taking it out on trays. We had the Coldstone people do it and it was so fun. They brought it in a refrigerated ice cream cart and scooped it when each guest came up. It was fantastic.

Information on Coldstone’s catering can be found here. Other fun ice cream shops that cater for weddings in the area are: Zeppe’s Italian Water Ice, Leatherby’s and Sub Zero Ice Cream.

Here are some more pics.

This next one is from my wedding so I obviously didn’t take this picture.

Should have spent less on the dress; more on the memories. Of survey respondents married within 12 months prior to the survey, 22 percent felt they didn’t spend enough money on their photographer. Nineteen percent of the same sample reported spending too much on the bridal gown and food.

There are other interesting finding in the survey too. To read all of the article click here.

It is so important to have a photographer you can trust on the day of your wedding who has a lot of experience and has a compatible style. Don’t make it ONLY about money.

I hear so often from people that decided to go with their “Uncle Bob” for their wedding pictures because he owned a nice camera who later wished that they would have just spent the money on a professional photographer.

I would also have to say that photography is my biggest regret about my wedding. I loved every bit of my wedding but the one thing I would change would be the photography. Here is my “what not to do” story. I got married before I started my business. I had worked in photography for years but at the time I didn’t know a lot about the wedding side of photography or a lot of other wedding photographers. Dan and I hired someone who we thought was a professional photographer. This gentleman had been in business for 30 years and owned a large studio in the city where he lived (not in Utah). He had several associate shooters and his studio did around 200 weddings a year. He personally shot 40 of those weddings. Since he was an acquaintance of my husband he gave us a great deal and he was personally going to shoot our wedding. Sounds great, right? The day of the wedding came and everything went perfect until I got my pictures back. The pictures in general were fine but I was disappointed in the quantity and style of the photos. A lot of the photos I felt had a 1980s look to them and they just weren’t my style.

I realize now my complaints could have been avoided if I had done my homework better. For example my husband took care of all the photography arrangements since he was the one who knew him. I didn’t actually meet our photographer until the day before the wedding. Also the only work of his I had seen was what he had on his website, which wasn’t much. His website looked old and outdated and I should have realized that was a red flag. If I had spent more time and asked to see more samples of his work I would have discovered that he had more of a traditional style when I really wanted more of a photojournalistic one. We also should have done an engagement or bridal session with him beforehand. Then we would have known that our styles didn’t match. In the end I feel my photos are pretty mediocre. They aren’t horrible, but they weren’t the artistic vision I was hoping for. The decision to hire him was based on money and convenience and that was a mistake. He sold us the negatives and I was able to make my own album which turned out nice. However, I do really wish we would have spent more money and used a more artistic photographer.

I really consider us lucky considering the next year we learned that this photographer had gone out of business and skipped town on a lot of couples. One day his website disappeared and there was a story on the local news about him. Kind of like the Get Gephardt segments they do on the news here. Shortly after that he disappeared and customers and even the police were unable to find him for some time. I even had one of his brides contact me wondering how to get in contact with him. I had all the same phone numbers that she had. I don’t know for sure but I think he had some personal problems and his business combusted, that and he must have had some unreliable people working for him.

Some of these missing weddings happened in the same time frame as my own. It scares me to think how close I was to being one of those brides. It could have easily happened to us too. It took a couple of months to get our pictures back and I am so grateful we got them. Eventually he was indicted for theft in connection with these wedding photographs that were paid for but never delivered.

I feel horrible for these brides that he walked out on. I know I would have been devastated if my pictures never ended up being delivered. I can’t image ever doing that to a customer. Whoever you hire please make sure they are honest and competent. At the time I thought I was getting a professional and that any professional would do. After shooting weddings for so long now I realize that there is much more to it than that. Here are some good questions to think about when booking a photographer:

What training do they have in photography?

Make sure you see a completed album or proofs from a complete wedding.

What kind of style do they have and is it similar to your taste?

Am I going to get the main photographer for my wedding or am I going to get an associate?

Do they have a business license?

Do they charge sales tax? (they better!)

Do they have backup equipment?

Are they insured? Not only equipment insurance but liability in case something goes wrong or somebody gets hurt.

How many years have they been shooting?

How many weddings have they shot?

I think this experience with my own wedding has helped shape who I am as a photographer. It was a hard lesson and I should have known better. I am so glad I have taken a more boutique approach with my business. I shoot a maximum of three weddings per month. I feel if I took on too many clients the overall experience and my customer service would suffer. I kind of feel like the Jerry Maguire approach is the way to go, at least for me. Fewer clients = more personalized service. I really feel that I become great friends with my couples and that makes a difference. Please be careful when choosing your photographer. Don’t leave your wedding memories to chance. After the wedding is over your photos are going to be the only thing you have left to remember your day.

Happy hunting everyone and I hope some of you can learn from my mistakes when I was a bride.

At Kaitlin and Logan’s wedding they had a display with photographs of Kaitlin in her three white dresses.

At Jessica and Matt’s wedding, which I have yet to blog, they had the actual dresses on display.

I hope you find these wedding ideas helpful. Feel free to leave comments if you have any ideas you would like be featured.

To start using some of these fabulous templates visit here. Happy wedding planning!

This next wedding idea comes from Hannah and Neal’s wedding. At their reception they had a display of wedding pictures from each of their parents and grandparents. Their picture from that morning at the temple was the crowning touch on a great display. I thought it was a sweet idea and all of the guests seemed to enjoy it. I would like to incorporate something like this in my own home sometime — I just need to track down a few more photographs.

I am starting a new feature here on the blog where I will be highlighting some of my favorite wedding ideas. I go to lots of weddings and receptions and I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures of unique ideas that I have seen at past weddings. A lot of times these details don’t make it into my posts about that particular wedding overall. I know a lot of my brides for this coming year are just now in the beginning stages of planning their wedding so it might be helpful to some of them. Let me know what you think.

This particular idea I have seen a few times and these pictures are from Marianne and Andrew’s wedding that I helped shoot with Dustin Izatt at the Zermatt Resort. The basic idea is to have jars of different candies in your wedding colors that guests can make a bag of to take home and enjoy. These always seem to be very popular with guests. Here are a few pics of the idea in action.

Candy bars also make an excellent backdrop for ring shots. Yummy!

Here are some details about the sample sale from Alta Moda owner Hilary Anderson:

This is our one big sale of the year including more than 50 couture wedding dresses discounted 50% – 85%, with gowns starting as low as $400.

Good things to know:

• Sale hours are 10am – 5pm, December 12th only
• No appointments: First come, First served (wait list)
• Gowns are sold as is
• No holds and all sales final
• Most gown are suited for street sizes 4-12
• We only do this once a year, so now is the time
• Space is limited; bring along only the key decision makers

We love our gowns and treat them with the best of care, so you can be assured you are getting a glorious gown at a sensational price.

We love Alta Moda. Here are a few pics of some of their gowns I shot over the summer.

Check out the full article here.

Here is a quick excerpt:

“I now disagree more than ever with the digital-age adage that “now everyone is a photographer.” Tens of thousands of dollars in education, equipment and experience separate me from the pros. Professional photographers, like any other artists or business owners, need to spend money to make money. When you hire them, you’re helping them pay for their investments.”

1. Run a trial
Take time during the first meeting with your photographer and do whenever possible an engagement or bridal session. So that you all can practice working together. Treat it like a trial run, and be sure to tell your photographer what you loved and didn’t like. This will help to produce the best photos possible for your most important day.
2. Tickle it up
Pictures always look better when you are having fun! Don’t be afraid to be playful with each other -tickle, hug, kiss, talk… Do whatever you would do without a photographer holding a camera in your face. Being natural always looks better in the shots than a face-forward grin.
3. Take your time
No pictures are as important as the couple shots on your wedding day. So take your time. One hour is the absolute minimum for the couple session. And make sure this is your time alone with the photographer. It is not helpful to get your desired wonderful pictures if you have to entertain your bridesmaids or family while being photographed.
4. Spice it up
Throw out the traditions you don’t like and have a celebration that is about YOU!!!! This will ensure that not only our celebration will be unique, beautiful and individual but also your photos.
5. Enjoy every second
As many different things go into the day most weddings don’t go exactly as planned. There will always be something that is not as you imagined it. But don’t let anything get in the way of genuinely enjoying your day. Your wedding day is happening only once! So don’t freak out if the cake is vanilla instead of chocolate, or say the flower girl starts to cry instead of throwing the flowers.
6. Trash the dress
Stop worrying about your dress! They ALL are going to get dirty no matter what you do. And be assured nobody will notice if the trim has a little dirt because you waded through a little grass for a picture you will love your whole life.
7. Formals
If you have formal group pictures taken at your wedding, assign your best man and maid of honor who knows everybody to help gather guests for desired shots. This way you are sure your photographer can spend time on what he is doing best – taking great pictures.
8. Make it up
Don’t wear too much makeup or do something with your hair that is not you. Don’t let anyone tell you that you need tons of make up for photos! You should still be able to recognize yourself on your wedding pictures. On the same note, don’t go without any make up at all, even if you’re a super model. A little make up doesn’t hurt.