The BIg I Do! Planning fora great Ceremony!

Here it is! The moment everyone has been waiting for! The music is playing and the guests have been seated. Ushers make their way to the back of the church, and the coordinator is lining up the bridesmaids while giving the musicians a 5 minute warning. The bride is about to walk down the aisle to the love of her life..... and if she’s like most girls, she’s dreamed about this moment for a long time! Vows will be shared and promises will be made... this is what it’s all about! In a world full of wedding blogs, Pinterest and bridal magazines, it’s easy to be overwhelmed and consumed by the “prettiness” of the event. While details do matter and planning is necessary, it’s important to never lose sight of the real purpose of this amazing day! 

 LIGHTING

Ceremony lighting is really important. If you get married outdoors at 12pm, the lighting will be extremely harsh and not only will there be harsh lines of light on your faces, you will also be squinting. I suggest planning an outdoor ceremony 1 hour before sunset if you are having a first look.  If you are not interested in sharing a first look, then I would suggest having your ceremony 3 hours before sunset to ensure that you will have plenty of time for all of your portraits afterwards. The lower the sun, the more romantic the lighting. If you are having an indoor ceremony, it is always best to have EVEN lighting at the altar. If there are two spotlights on the bride and groom, I will not be able to expose the rest of the bridal party. It is better to have even light across the whole altar.

ORDER OF SERVICE
I have seen so many couples do so many amazing things during their ceremony. Some couples share in communion while some light a unity candle. I’ve seen sand ceremonies, rope ceremonies and the signing of the family Bible. e options are limitless! As you plan your ceremony, make sure you design it to be exactly what the two of you envision it to be. is is your day! If you have the freedom to be creative, then by all means, be creative! My hubby and I had a less than traditional wedding, we had a oceanside wedding and during the ceremony we stepped away from our guests for ten minutes to pray together in the sand together, while our guests just waited patiently. It was different, but it was by far my favorite ten minutes of our entire day because it was so personal and just exactly how we wanted to begin our marriage.

PROGRAMS & DETAILS
The best advice I have for the program-making process is to remember that not every guest needs a program! A lot of people print a program for everyone attending our wedding but quickly realized that most families only took one. A lot of weddings end up with hundreds of extra programs! Yikes! Also, before ordering your programs, have several people check it for spelling and grammatical errors. Programs and the ceremony decor are things that the bride can plan in advance but then delegate the actual job of setting it up to a friend or coordinator. The last thing a bride needs to be doing the morning of her wedding is running around setting up oral arrangements! This leads me into my next column.

C O O R D I N AT I O N

Hiring either a full event planner or just a day-of coordinator is SO important! Brides realize very quickly that if they do not have someone in charge of the coordination of the day, that responsibility will automatically fall on the mother of the bride, the photographer or the BRIDE! All of the most stressful wedding situations I’ve seen were caused by a lack of organization and coordination. Your investment is best used with us dedicating all of our time and energy to making your photos look the best, not coordinating the timeline. All of my most stressful wedding situations were caused by a lack of organization and coordination. It’s so important to make this a priority. If you need any recommendations on wedding coordination services I would love to share some of my favorite vendors with you! 

Hope this helped as you plan out your big day! All our best!  - Jenn Wagner and the Studio Girls