Wedding Spats

We’re not talking disagreements here but fashion forward remakes of the shoe accompaniment to the famous zoot suit. Joelma Souza creates fabulous wraps to wear over your high heels. The ones currently in her Etsy store are ever so chic must haves for any current wardrobe. She informs me that she is working on some spats designed specifically with brides in mind. Think feathers, pearls, rhinestones, soft colors and fabrics. Of course if you happen to be an “anti-bride”, you may well fall in love with one of her current designs for your big day. I can see many of those with steampunk styled wedding gowns. Can’t you just imagine your bridesmaids with short dresses and these fabulous spats? Every woman in the place will want to know where you found them. Visit Joelma’s shop at: joelmasouza then email me to book your photography: lvotey@live.com

Another Great Bridesmaid Gift

With more and more couples opting for “down to earth” weddings, many brides are searching for fun and unique gifts for attendants which don’t cost an arm and a leg. I know a number of ladies who believe these gifts should be tokens of appreciation not budget busters. With that in mind, I just discovered cosmetic bags from artscow which allow you to have photos printed on them. There are LOADS of fun templates. The price just couldn’t be any better either at about $14.00. Think of using photos from your bridal shower or shopping trips. In fact, I’m thinking every lady in my life needs one of these. Too FUN! Here’s the link: cosmetic-bag

Frosting Free Wedding Cake

When it comes to wedding cakes, brides always want something special and unique. Many people dislike all the frosting typically found on cakes. Some folks don’t care for the taste of fondant. My grandmother was a diabetic but loved to bake and entertain. She experimented with different flavors. She tried to use creativity to replace excess sugar. In warm months, she would sometimes create tall cakes by using a fruit “mash” between layers and then arranging whole fruits or slices on the very top. The filling was nothing more than juicy fruits lightly smushed by a potato masher. She used blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches and even an orange/banana mixture. Sometimes she would lightly sprinkle the whole thing with powdered sugar or cocoa. During cooler weather, she often used light cream cheese mixed with various chopped or ground nuts as the filling between layers. Because she wasn’t using fresh fruit to decorate the top, she would place a doily on top and sprinkle with powdered sugar or cocoa. Once the doily was removed, she had a beautiful lacy design. My particular favorite of the ground nut/cream cheese blend was almonds. Yummo! She also used chopped pineapple mixed with cream cheese. Divine!! Start thinking outside the box. What are your favorite flavors? How can you make a healthier version of the typical wedding cake? Try different stencils and layer on both powdered sugar and cocoa.  Try different fruits between each layer and then combine all of them for the top.  These days you can find metallic or pearl shimmer dusts in the cake decorating departments of many stores and online. I wish I could offer images for your inspiration but back when Gramma was baking, I didn’t take a camera with me absolutely everywhere.  Have fun and send me some pictures of your treats.

Lyana

Fall Garden Weddings

My favorite season is Autumn with all its glorious colors, crisper air, fairs and harvests. If you’ve always wanted a garden wedding, I urge you to think beyond spring and summer. With Fall in the air there are few bugs to deal with during an outdoor ceremony. Temperatures are much more tolerable for guests. People with flower allergies will have less to deal with in the Fall garden as compared to Spring when most flower varieties explode with pollen. If you want a colorful setting, just consider the beautiful yellow, gold, orange, russet, burgundy and scarlet of the Autumn garden palette. Additionally, any well designed garden will have a great variety of textures and shades of green for plenty of visual interest.

Even if you can think of a few popular gardens, it’s well worth the effort to contact the local garden clubs for a list and/or recommendations. Often gardeners are willing and honored to share their “pride and joy” for a small wedding. Poke around and ask questions. You might just find a little known jewel which could be the backdrop for your most special day.

Autumn

Good morning everyone! My goodness how I do love Autumn. Apples, cider, leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, rich colors, hay rides, harvest festivals, county fairs and bonfires. Oh my list could go on. Last night I made great plans for yet another moose safari (to take advantage of antlers but try to avoid “real” rut season). This time to an area known to be a “sure thing”. Glitch……3 hours away and best times are dawn and dusk. I was going to head out at 3 a.m. but……..you guessed it……after only two hours of sleep, I hit that snooze button until the alarm gave up. Considering heading out now to maybe explore the area and then nab some dusk shots. Dunno though-feeling a little lazy.

If any of you are planning Fall weddings be sure to read my older blog posts. There’s a great one about using hay bales for ceremony seating and another about a couple who recycled mugs to use for beer and cider at their wedding.

Drop me a line and let me know what your unique tips, tricks and ideas are. Other brides are always interested.

Document This Special Time in Your Life with a Calendar Project

Running across fabulous ideas for brides just makes my day and I can’t wait to get to my laptop to share with all of you. This one is OUTSTANDING! Many folks I know are participating in a trend called 365 Day Projects. If you haven’t heard of it, the project takes a commitment to create one photograph per day for a year. Well, now my lovelies, there is a company called ShutterCal, taking that idea to the moon!  ShutterCal is a free, calendar-based photography project where you can document your life and improve your photography skills at the same time.  Membership is free so you can load your daily shots to create a calendar which really becomes a diary of your life and what you thought was important at the time. Here’s where it gets really good for brides……….think of utilizing this from day one of your engagement all the way to the wedding. You’ll have a record of the joys (and maybe sorrows) of that period of your life. Like the ad says, “Life comes at you fast”. We think we’ll never forget some happenings but alas, we do. Lock them in. Keep them forever. You could even start a project on your wedding day to document the whole first year of marriage. WooHoo! I wish I’d done that! Soooo much fun and it flies by.

ShutterCal offers not only calendars but an iphone app, postcards and a super fantastic shoebox and print service. Best part—–the prices are REASONABLE!

So take those daily clicks, document your life but don’t forget to contact me to document the wedding or any other special day. I want to be your photographer. I want to also be your friend. Let’s build happy memories together.   lvotey@live.com

LyanaVoteyPhotography.com ShutterCal.com

Block Party

Yesterday, I spent hours listening to great music, sharing interesting conversation, enjoying heavenly food and dancing the night away at the Chandler New World Festival in Randolph, Vermont.

It just occurred to me that a street fair style venue for a wedding could be incredibly meaningful and frugal. Ok, hear me out….There seems to be a trend toward simple close to home community oriented weddings. This may be because folks are thinking more about the planet and our imprint on it or because of the economy. Whatever the reason, it makes sense. Think about weddings of “old”. Friends, relatives and neighbors gathered at a home and all brought food, beverage, flowers, etc. Have you ever attended a block party? Even if you don’t know your neighbors, seek them out, engage them. Most people love weddings. It’s a joyous occasion. You may just develop new relationships which last a lifetime. If you take the street fair or block party approach, you might be able to get a permit from your town or village to section off a portion of your street. Depending on where you live and the weather, you may or may not need a tent. You won’t need a dance floor because you can dance in the street. Provide colored chalk so adults can write lovely messages to the happy couple and kids can play. There is something so touching about things which are fleeting. Think of sandcastles. Messages written on pavement have the same effect. If you want to save some which are special, photos are the answer. There are always musicians around who love to show off their talents or “jam” with other musicians. Ask around. Take advantage of locals. Invite everyone to bring food. This can be an event which truly brings a community together. We are such a transient society that we have lost our sense of “tribe”. Get it back. Start your new life together with your own “village” to support you. Ask everyone you know to come celebrate with you. Get creative. Make it colorful and fun and free-spirited.

Sunrise Wedding

This morning, I was up at 4:00 to make the trek to the summit of Cadillac Mountain for sunrise. My body thinks I’m a night owl but I swear I do love early, early morning when the world is quiet and then becomes pink and orange with the arrival of the sun. As I sat there on a rough cold mountain ridge, I thought about how many couples have exchanged vows at sunrise right there on that very peak. Now guests may grumble about having to get up so early, but I believe it’s a spectacular way to usher in a new marriage. Beware however, that the weather up there can be different from Bar Harbor. I’ve met the dawn many times when the air was still and calm. Today though, like many days, was very windy and a bit chilly for most folks.   With that in mind, plan for hair to be wind-blown.  Of course, flowing veils are gorgeous in the breeze.

Since I have yet to photograph a wedding at the summit, I’d like to offer a very special rate to couples adventurous enough to start their life together on Cadillac Mountain. Shoot me an email and we’ll get the ball rolling. lvotey@live.com

Here’s a scene from this morning:

Surname Change

There has been plenty of discussion surrounding a woman’s option of keeping her maiden name or taking the surname, better known as last name of her husband. There are some women who decide to hyphenate using their maiden name and the mister’s family name separated by a simple dash. I’ve also heard of same-sex couples who choose a whole new name for their new family. Over the weekend, I just learned of a local couple who put a different twist on their surname. The couple created a hyphenated name with hers first and his last but they BOTH adopted it as a new family name. Now why didn’t I think of that??? While this was a second marriage for both of them, it would work beautifully for first weddings and/or couples of any age. What a beautiful way to honor the heritage of both families and maintain identity while creating something new and very unique for newlyweds. I hope if I get the word out, the idea will spread and we will have a new trend. How romantic.

It’s All in the Details

When planning my own wedding, I was so aware of the fact that our big day was not only OUR ceremony and celebration but a party with guests. As with any party, I always try to make my guests comfortable. One of my little extras was truly appreciated by my now Mother in law. You see, our ceremony was held in a beautiful old chapel with hard wooden pews. Wooden pews are not that comfortable for anyone but some folks have a harder time with them than others. Remembering that my husband’s mother keeps a cushion in ‘her’ chair at the dining table, I thought I might need to remedy the pew situation for her.

Since I sew, I thought I’d make her a special cushion which would also be a memento of the day. I bought fabric which coordinated with my wedding colors. I cut the front for the cushion and took it to a local embroidery shop to have the words “Mother of the Groom” stitched on. If you have a machine with embroidery capabilities, obviously you could do this yourself. If you like to do cross-stitch or embroidery or crewel, etc., then you could even do it by hand. After the shop finished the top, I put the cushion together with a ruffled edge and covered buttons. My Mother in law loved it. As you can see from the photos, it has now been very loved and very used. It makes me so happy that she actually uses it instead of stashing it away.

You could do the same thing for anyone special to the two of you. People love the small gestures of kindness and will remember your day with fondness. Placing a cushion in that person’s seat at the church gives them such a place of honor.