There is going to be a book published about Wedding Photography. It will be released in March of 2009 and has insights from 20 top photographers. If you are interested you can preorder at amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Photography-Unveiled-Inspiration-Photographers/dp/0817459103/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219773508&sr=8-1

On July 5 Carrie Patterson, one of the photographers who advertises on the site, got married in our lovely little town on Livingston, Montana at Deep Creek Grange, a venue that is starting to advertise with us. It was a bit nerve wracking shooting another photographer's wedding. But I have know Carrie for several years now and I have to say she was her wonderful self on her wedding day.

Their wedding was just featured on one of my favorite blogs by Janie Medley, a talented floral designer based on the East coast, and a wonderful person. Here is a link to her blog. She features some incredible weddings on her page!

http://thebridescafe.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/post-18.html?cid=126366758#comment-126366758


Anyway, back to Carrie and Randy's wedding. Carrie did a lot of the planning herself and designed the 'collateral' since she is also a great graphic designer. She and Randy love wine and decided to carry that theme throughout the wedding.


I love the bottles of wine with the corks holding the page numbers. The flowers in the wine boxes were simple and lovely.
Oh my god! We walked outside into the alley in town and there was a great airstream that a woman let us shoot in and on. (I actually asked permission this time!) Who could ask for a more beautiful bride?

A few weeks ago as I was talking to another bride she mentioned that she loved the spread Annie Leibovitz did of Sarah Jessica Parker for Vogue. http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/051308 I had just looked at the photos and they were amazing. I am a BIG (pardon the pun for those of you who saw the photos) proponent of 'stealing' images and making them your own. Here is one of the photos by Annie Liebovitz, truly one of the greatest environmental portraitists alive.


And then my photo inspired by hers.



While on a trip with Carrie to a photographers conference in Vegas. We found out that she was going to wear dyeable shoes. Since she is a friend and we are very candid Chieko and I strongly suggested to Carrie that we go show shopping. We went to zappos.com the following week and she bought some sweet shoes that are oh so photographable. (I love to make up words.)


And the perfect dress for Carrie.

About 10 years ago I saw a photo by one of my friends, Audrey Hall, who had shot a wedding up at Springhill Pavillion. It was a beauiful photo of the couple on the road that went on until infinity. Everytime I shoot up at Springhill I think of that photo. How do I capture the feeling of this beautiful place but make it fresh for each couple? How do you incorporate the personality of the couple and intertwine it with the sence of place to make portraits that are beautiful, fun and meaningful? Here are some photos that I took at Jill and Graham's wedding that I think do just that.

This first one is more traditional but still just a bit unusual in its composition.


Whenever I asked Jill to move her personality really came out. I love this shot of the two of them, her sincere smile and body posture shows just a bit of her charisma and happiness.


On the following photos I used a special infrared camera. I Love the way it distorts the grey tones into an unusual tonal range. I also love the moment while they were walking back to the reception after the quick photo shoot in the field.

Montana is unusual in many ways. In regards to weddings it is one of the only states in our country where you can have anyone marry you. For a few dollars your friend or relative can go to http://www.themonastery.org/?gclid=CIi6qN-S4JQCFSEbagodWmxMSQ and become an 'ordained minister'. My husband did this recently and married two couples over the last year. Jill and Graham had a very close friend do the same thing at their wedding. Here is one photo of them at the Springhill Pavillion located just out of Bozeman.


When someone you know marries you the ceremony becomes more meaningful and interesting to you and to your friends and family who are listening and participating. At Jill and Graham's wedding their friend brought in their personal history, shared how the two of them interact with each other, and instances that demonstrated the deep love and respect that they have for each other. He did it in a way that was witty and entertaining but still had a reverence for the magnitude of the promise they were making to each other.

Over the last 17 years, I have photographed hundreds of weddings and love listening to how people decide to share their promises with each other and their guests. I think you can hire an officiant/minister/judge to do the job, and if you are very communicative with them it can be a personal ceremony.

Choosing what is said and what is not said in your ceremony conveys a lot to the guests who are listening.

Over the years I keep seeing more ways that couple's have found to make their wedding unique and personal. I just shot a wedding where the main flower was was one of my favorites the peony. Cameron, the bride wore a dress that had peonies lace on the dress and they had hundreds of the flowers throughout the wedding.

I was just reading an article in Bride's magazine and it talked about using herbs in your floral arrangements and then I actually saw it integrated in such a beautiful natural way.



At the ceremony site they had more of the flowers in the beautiful fountain.


And then the gorgeous arrangements on the tables.


In my experience if you can incorporate something you love into your wedding it will come out looking really very elegant and unique.

Barbel, one of my close friends and associates, is always thinking of something different that we should incorporate into our photography. Over the last year she has been talking to her brides about doing some sexy shots while they are getting ready. She just photographed a wedding at the Rock Creek Resort in Red Lodge, Montana and did some photos that I think are beautiful and that you may want to do on your wedding. It only takes a few extra minutes and it makes for a great surprise for your husband! (You can give them to him for your three month or four month anniversary!)

Here are a few shots that she took. (I did ask the bride if she was alright with us using them on the blog and she said she was!) There are a bunch more but the bride asked me to only use the images that didn't show her face.....

I photographed a wedding last week out in California, and I know this is a Montana wedding guide but Jackie and Jason incorporated some Chinese customs to honor her heritage. Nowadays it is important to make a wedding personal and reflect your style and history. What better way to do that than incorporating some family traditions. This was my first time witnessing a Chinese Tea Ceremony. Evidently it starts by honoring the eldest family members and works it way through the various relatives. Jackie also changed into a traditional Chinese dress for the tea ceremony and then back into the gown that she was married in.