The florist drops the flowers off…. your wedding planner hands out all of the personal flowers…. about 5-10 minutes goes by and without fail a groomsmen wanders back over to the wedding planner asking “how in the world do we put these on??” Chances are the last time you had to pin a boutonniere was prom, and we are willing to bet mom was there to help. While we at Polished love to help…. we thought we would pass on this “how to” video just in case we are tending to a wedding related emergency! Enjoy!
Photo by Girls with Pearls
This seems to be the single most re-occurring question/struggle when dealing with the traditional bride and groom who do not want to see each other prior to walking down the aisle. YES, you want the drama of traditional first look when the bride appears at the end of the aisle. YES, you want amazing portraits of you and your new husband on your wedding day in your wedding attire. And YES you want to spend as much time as humanly possible enjoying your friends and family at your wedding reception. (Side note: I suddenly feel like I’m in a car insurance commercial. Where is my price gun?? Haha!) So, why can’t you have your cake and eat it too? After all, it IS your wedding! Guess what – you CAN!
There is a new type of wedding photo session that is increasing in popularity at an incredible rate. It goes by many names depending on your photographer, but essentially it is a photo shoot with the bride and groom the day after the wedding. Whatever you want to call it, this new option offers couples a fabulous alternative. No longer will the bride and groom miss the opportunity to mingle with their guests during their cocktail hour or be relegated to portraits only within the vicinity of their ceremony and reception venues.
Photo by Girls with Pearls
Girls with Pearls, photographers located in the Woodlands, say the day-after shoot is “a very relaxed session between the newly married couple with RELAXED being the key word!” If you do your portraits immediately following your ceremony, there can still be quite a bit of adrenaline and anxiousness in your system. These emotions can translate to the photos in your expression and body language. There is a sweet sort of relief and peacefulness that often washes over a couple on the day following their wedding which can make for some really beautiful moments captured to last a lifetime. Additionally, in a photo session following your wedding day, there is no need to be as careful with your wedding dress. This fact alone allows photographers to really get creative and setup some impressive shots without the worries of getting the dress dirty or wrinkled.
The Pros and Cons of a Day-After Shoot
Pros | Cons |
| More TIME to enjoy the festivities on your wedding day! | An extra session with your photographers (i.e. more $$ unless it is included in your package) . |
| No stress about messing up your dress | Dress might be a bit dirtier and wrinkled than in post ceremony shots . |
| These are more relaxed photos, GwP suggest wearing your hair in loose waves or a messy bun | Your hair and makeup won’t be professionally done (unless you make these arrangements) . |
| You get to wear your wedding dress again!!!! | You might not want to even look at your shoes if they weren’t kind to your feet the day before…. The price we pay for fashion ladies! . |
| Outstanding photos and memories to cherish for the rest of your lives | One more thing standing between you and that honeymoon . |
You may be asking yourself what an escort card is and why do you care. Escort cards are commonly mistakenly referred to as place cards. Escort cards are placed in a central location at your reception venue, typically near the entrance of the event. They contain the names of your guests along with a table number where they should be seated. It is appropriate to place couples names together on an escort card reading something like “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” or if children are included “Smith Family”.
Unlike escort cards, place cards should only contain one name each. Once an escort card has guided your guests to the proper table, the place cards on the table will direct them to their assigned seat. It is perfectly acceptable to use escort cards but not to use place cards if you want to allow your guests the freedom to select their own seats at the table.
So, when should you use escort cards? They should be used for any formal seated dinner where to you want to make sure certain parties are seated together and you want to maximize your seating capacity. Without using escort cards, you cannot be assured that every seat at a table will be utilized in a manner that doesn’t force some of your parties to split up and be seated separately.
Place cards should be used if your guests were allowed a menu choice and have placed their order in advance. With the use of place cards, you can let the serving staff know who gets what meal by either a detailed seating chart or by making some indication on the place card itself.
