Kathleen and Tony in Jacksonville Magazine!

One of our cutie couples was featured in the fall issue of Jacksonville Magazine Bride.  Congratulations to Kathleen and Tony, who were married in a beautiful ceremony at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church.  The reception at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort and Spa was one to remember, especially with the bridal party's kick-line entrance into the ballroom!  Congratulations to the happy couple for getting to share their big day with all of Jacksonville!

Click here to view the page from the magazine!

The Last Dance

My new favorite wedding tradition was suggested by Darrin Franz of Deland Entertainment for the wedding of Mandy and Zeus.  

When it was time for the last dance, all of the guests were asked to leave the ballroom, leaving only the bride and groom. Even the vendors and venue staff left the room after photographer Nikki McEneaney snapped this pic. (Okay, I'll be honest - we took turns peaking in through a tiny window!)

What a romantic way to end the evening.  And when the dance was over, the guests were all positioned outside to send the bride and groom off.  What new or unique "traditions" can you start at your wedding?

What Do You Do With Your Wedding Dress After The Wedding?

You spent months searching for the perfect wedding dress, and also quite a bit of money! The wedding day has come and gone, and you looked absolutely perfect in your dress, and now it is a little bit dirty, hanging in your closet, holding lots of wonderful memories. What are you going to do with that fabulous wedding dress? The first thing to do would be to get the wedding dress dry cleaned. Many bridal shops provide a free dry cleaning gift certificate with the purchase of a wedding dress. Also some bridal shops offer a wedding gown preservation process. This process enables a bride to preserve the beauty of her wedding dress for years and years. Another great idea for your used wedding dress would be to donate the dress to a charity of your choice. One example is the Making Memories Foundation's Brides Against Breast Cancer. By searching online or maybe even speaking with the bridal shop where you purchased your dress, you will be able to find out lots of information on what to do with your wedding dress after the big day.

If you or someone you know is interesed in donating a wedding gown to Brides Against Breast Cancer, contact heather@firstcoastweddings.com.

Mary Ann & Jack (08.11.07)

I had the priviledge of spending the day at the wedding of Mary Ann and Jack.  The ceremony at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Orange Park was lovely, thanks in part to Father Boddi and the wonderful music of Wehner Weddings.

The lunch reception at Club Continental was elegant, despite the near-100-degree temperatures outside!  It was a great day to be indoors overlooking the beautiful St. Johns River.  Mary Ann and Jack ventured outside with photographer Wesley Lester just long enough to snap some great shots like the one above.

Mary Ann shared this comment when she and Jack returned from the honeymoon in Italy:  "I just wanted to thank you again for making our wedding wonderful. Our friends & families complemented on everything and most importantly Jack and I loved the entire experience."

Meeting a Legend

While attending the NACE Educational conference in Houston, I had the opportunity to meet Sylvia Weinstock,  the famed "cake lady of SOHO."   Sylvia's cakes are as famous as those she bakes them for - Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Catherine Zeta-Jones just to name a few. Sylvia was gracious enough not only to make a special cake for the NACE 50th Anniversary, but also spoke during a breakout session.  I was mesmerized by the way she described shipping a cake across the country with such ease - I would be a nervous wreck if I were on the receiving end!

At a time when wedding cakes tasted bad but looked beautiful, Syliva made it her mission to make a cake that not only looked gorgeous and elegant but tasted wonderful too.  I share the same passion for planning events - your party shouldn't just looked great, it should be fun and memorable too. 

Don’t Stress Your Wedding Day Away!

When it comes down to the final weeks before the big day, the last payments are due, family is starting to arrive from out of town, and the final preparations are underway, many brides stress levels start to rise. There are so many emotions going through the bride those final, critical weeks, it is no wonder that some brides can definitely fall over the edge. Luckily there are many ways to subdue that pre wedding day stress, just by following some simple steps: 1. Be organized. Have documentation, preferably an excel file, of all payments that have been made and all payments that still need to be made for the wedding. This way you will easily be able to stick to your wedding day budget, and you will be able to follow the payment progression.

2. Relax and unwind. A couple of weeks before the wedding, book a massage or facial at your local spa. This way you can spend at least one hour pampering yourself and relaxing your mind and body.

3. Exercise. If you are too busy to hit the gym, try taking a 20 minute walk or jog around your neighborhood. This will help you to work out any tensions and frustration you may be feeling.

4. Don’t stress the small stuff! Worrying about how the weather maybe on the wedding day, or how Aunt Sue may react to seeing Uncle Bob, are minute details, that do not need to be fussed over. Relax and take comfort in knowing that your wedding day will be magical, no matter what happens.

An important thing to remember when the wedding day is near by is to ask for help. Family and friends will be there for you, and would probably love to take over any tasks that maybe causing you stress.

Sara & Paul (07.01.07)

What a beautiful and fun wedding!  I still can't believe we planned it in about six months.  Paul and Sara must be one of the most made-for-each-other couples I have ever met - I have honestly not seen two people kiss so much on their wedding day!

I am so glad that they decided to make their "splurge" budget item great photography - Agnes Lopez is always such as pleasure to work with, and the photos are phenominal!

With a summer wedding, the colors Sara and Paul chose were perfect.  If only the weather had been!  Despite the heavy rains that day, the wedding at Celebration Church in Orange Park was very moving.  The couple chose to show their love story video from Turner Classic Weddings at the beginning of the ceremony, and there was not a dry eye!

When the party moved to Florida Yacht Club, the bright and cheery table linens with the pink and orange Gerbera daisies made the guests forget the gloomy skies outside.  The rain even cleared long enough to get some great shots of the bride and groom on the second-floor balcony overlooking the St. Johns River and downtown Jacksonville.  And how much fun is this cake!

Straight To The Heart

Wedding rings hold much symbolism. Not only do wedding rings represent commitment, honor and love, but also the never ending circle is a symbol of peace and perfection. The hand that the wedding ring is placed on also has a significant meaning.

Dating back to ancient times, the third finger on the left hand was believed to be connected to a special vein, the vein of “love” that went directly to the heart. There is no scientific evidence thus far proving this theory, but this novel idea has lasted through centuries.

King Edward VI of England made a Law during his reign, that the third finger on the left hand would be the designated wedding ring finger. In 1549 this law was sealed when it became printed in the Book of Common Prayer. Even after King Edwards law many European brides still wear their wedding rings on their right hands. Tradition and customs all over the world will differ on which will be the proper placement of the wedding ring.

In the end it is not law or theories but personal beliefs that make the placement of the wedding ring significant and meaningful.

Changing Your Last Name Is Not Always So Easy!

The world seems to be getting smaller and smaller these days, and with how easy traveling abroad has become, it is no wonder that many future brides and grooms are meeting and falling in love over seas. Many engaged couples are living in America under the Green Card status, in hopes to apply for Citizenship some day. If the bride is not an American Citizen, and is living in the United States under a Green Card, changing surnames is not so easy, and involves many steps. The first step to take once the bride is officially married is to contact immigration and have immigration update the Green Card with the new marital surname (this could take some weeks). Once you have verification from immigration, the bride can then go to the Social Security Office to change the surname under the social security number and then head to the DMV to change surnames on the driver’s license. Once the name change is complete on all important documents, changing surnames on credit cards and bank statements should be a breeze!

Wedding Photojournalism Q&A

An Interview With Wedding Photojournalist Dan Harris Tell our readers what Wedding Photojournalism is?

DAN: The dictionary defines photojournalism as telling a story with pictures. Today there are more definitions of wedding photojournalism than there are photographers who truly practice it. Wedding photojournalism started when a bride hired a working newspaper photojournalist to cover her wedding and he did it just like he would any photo assignment using black and white film and unobtrusively documenting what really happened.

How is it different than regular wedding photography?

DAN: 'Regular' or traditional wedding photography has always involved lots of direction, posing and control by the photographer. The term Wedding Photojournalism was popularized by the Kennedy family photographer Denis Reggie. He categorizes unadulterated wedding photojournalism as photography that is captured without any control, influence or direction by the photographer.

What has made wedding photojournalism so popular today?

DAN: With so many wedding day plans and pressures many brides prefer their wedding day photography to be unobtrusive, spontaneous and natural. They prefer the photographs of the real moments captured that bring back real memories of what really happened rather than the staged or orchestrated ones.

Doesn't every wedding photographer today offer wedding photojournalism?

DAN: Because of its popularity when asked if they offer photojournalistic photography most every wedding photographer will say yes. But what they offer may not be the same as what the bride had in mind. There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace and photography style terms abound. i.e.: Classical, Contemporary, Natural, Romantic, Photojournalistic, Documentary, Illustrative, Fashionable, Eclectic, Story-Telling, Dramatic, Artistic, Life-stylistic, Environmental, Fantasy, Fine-art, Elegant, Candid, etc. Any two photographers will use the same term to mean two different things.

How does a bride eliminate the confusion between the different styles and terms?

DAN: The bride really only needs to concern herself with two classifications of photography. 1) the staged type that requires pre-planning, setup and time out of your wedding-day schedule and 2) the type that occurs naturally during the course of your event without any interruption to your event timetable. Your preference in regards to these two classifications will determine how much time will be spent 'posing for pictures' (time away from your guests) on your wedding day and the type of photographer you should hire.What if a bride wants a mix of styles?

DAN: Every photographer has his own unique style and strengths. Some do a fantastic job of spontaneously capturing the decisive moments at an event, others have the talent to orchestrate a glamorous pose and no two are quite alike. Not many photographers are the best at both. Multiple photographers may help or they may just end up in each others pictures. It is critical to do extensive research into your photographer's style to insure you know what they are really capable of and to insure you hire the right photographer to match your own style.

Do Wedding Photojournalists take formal group photographs?

DAN: Some will and some won't. Over Fifty percent of the brides I work with request some type of group photographs. (Some formal and some casual) Our goal is to give our brides the highest quality natural-looking group photos in the least amount of time and have fun while doing it. We never go over the pre-planned time allowed for posed photos.

What are the advantages of Wedding Photojournalism?

DAN: The advantages include natural looking images, unobtrusive photographer, complete coverage, unexpected images and lots of photographs capturing real memories of what really happened. No interruption of your event timetable. ~ Less cheese.

What are the disadvantages of Wedding Photojournalism?

DAN: You won't know in advance exactly what you are going to get. Not all real images are pretty! You may have some wasted shots.

What should a bride do to find the photographer who is right for her?

DAN: I have written a lengthy pamphlet on this subject. (Available online at: www.FreePhotography.info ) In regards to style, I think it is critical to see lots of images and complete albums from your potential photographer as this will give you a realistic view of what they can really do for you.

What about viewing images on a photographer's website, literature and in their advertisements?

DAN: That's a good place to start but you must go deeper than that because too often a photographer's true capability is masked by the limited number of edited photographs they allow you to see. Ten of a photographer's best edited photos from the past 10 years may not be a true representation of the type or style of actual images you will receive from your wedding day. You can prevent disappointment if you look at hundreds of images and several albums from your potential photographer as you will have a true and realistic understanding of their style and what they can do for you prior to hiring them.

What about digital wedding photography?

DAN: Professional high-definition digital cameras (DSLR w/10+ megapixels) in the hands of an experienced professional photographer (with extensive computer skills, software training and staff) can make great digital images that far exceed any photographic quality previously achieved from any other equipment or medium. The camera alone doesn't make the photographer. Today there are a lot of inexperienced people who are experimenting as part-time photographers, although they may call themselves ‘professionals’ I would be cautious.

How can a bride prevent wedding vendor problems?

DAN: A bride should take the same logical steps they would in hiring any wedding-day vendor, check references (both previous clients and other wedding vendors) and verify insurance and licenses, check their Better Business Bureau report, make sure they are upstanding members of local support organizations and read the fine print on their contract and clarify everything in writing. I would pay with a credit card because they will work to insure you get what you pay for and will be your mediator if you have any problems.

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Dan Harris is a member of the prestigious Wedding Photojournalist Association (www.wpja.com) a highly screened, critical organization of the world’s most talented wedding photojournalists. Less than 5% of all wedding photographers qualify for membership.( Members of WPJA have the goal of 'telling the story of your wedding day, not dictating it for you'.) He is also a member of the National Press Photographers Association. For more information, please visit his website at www.GetRealPhotography.com or call Dan at (904) 398-7668 with your photography questions.

Brides Against Breast Cancer Nationwide Tour of Gowns

"Brides Against Breast Cancer" is the Making Memories Foundation's top fundraising event across the nation, and the tour will soon be in Florida.

Events will be held in March in Orlando and April in Tampa. Thousands of gowns are available for purchase, and the money raised is used to grant wishes to terminal breast cancer patients. Gown prices range from $89 to $799 and are available in sizes 4 to 24.

While some gowns are donated by brides, over half of the gowns are new and come from manufacturers and bridal shops. Find out more by visiting the Making Memories Foundation website.

If you or someone you know in the Jacksonville area would like to donate your wedding gown for an upcoming sale, please contact Heather Trimboli at heather@firstcoastweddings.com.