See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!
Need a Wedding Photographer?
Get in touch now for pricing and availability for your wedding date!
How to Cut Back on Wedding Costs
These days, it’s impractical to have an extravagant wedding. In 2018, the average wedding in Indiana cost roughly $31,996. While there’s nothing wrong with cashing out exorbitant amounts of money to have a breathtaking wedding, you can certainly cut back your spending to keep the price reasonable.
The key to planning a great wedding is knowing when to splurge and when to scrimp. Understandably, some elements of your wedding will be non-negotiable — and that’s okay. Where you compromise is entirely up to your personal preferences. But, being a little stingy with spending on some aspects of your wedding won’t cheapen how it looks — if you know how to execute it right. With that said, we’ve gathered a few frugal tips to help you rein in your wedding costs and avoid going over budget.
DIY your wedding invitations
Your invitation is the first peek your guests will have of your wedding, so getting it right is crucial. However, wedding invitations often have a hefty price tag on them — a special wedding invitation package often marks up the actual price of the materials and labor costs. Additionally, wedding invitations are usually designed ornately and this can easily push the costs to an unreasonable range.
Luckily, you can DIY fancy wedding invitations from scratch. While this may eat up a bit of your time, there’s nothing like having full control over this aspect of your wedding. What’s more, you can even employ the help of your friends and family, and make crafting your wedding invitations the center of a fun-filled pre-wedding gathering.
Want More Wedding Planning Help: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!
Bring your wedding playlist to life
Another wedding staple that can leave a huge dent on your finances is hiring a live band or a DJ. While hiring a DJ is a lot cheaper compared to a live band, you can further mitigate your spending by preparing your own wedding playlist in advance. To do this, you should first have a clear view of how your wedding program and reception will go. When you’re done mapping out the wedding traditions that you want to do during your wedding program, you can start splicing your wedding playlist into one big audio file. That way, you can just leave it playing and in the background while a family member or a friend regulates the volume and the playback.
While this eliminates the need for a DJ, you should keep in mind that creating your own wedding music won’t work unless you have the correct equipment. Figuring out what quality live sound equipment you need, is easy enough as there is so much available nowadays. You’ll need a media player, power amplifiers, equalizers, and a mixing deck. These will allow you to sufficiently tinker with the audio that plays in your wedding without adding more people to your wedding payroll. Most of this equipment will be available to rent as well, saving on costs.
Dazzle your guests by wearing something old
Not everything needs to be brand new when it comes to a wedding. While it’s incredibly unorthodox, more and more brides are starting to rent and buy second-hand wedding gowns in the name of sustainability. Wedding dresses take up a chunk of the wedding budget — especially if it’s a bespoke dress that requires numerous fittings and consultations. Grooms can also look dapper while flaunting a pre-loved wedding tuxedo. If you decide to go vintage on your wedding attire, make sure to have it altered to your size so you’ll look your best.
All in all, how you want to spend your wedding budget is entirely up to you. But, it’s important to keep in mind that high costs don’t automatically mean that your wedding will look exactly how you dreamed it to be. Most times, it’s best to play it smart and choose to splurge on the wedding elements that will leave you with physical mementos of your big day.
Need a Wedding Photographer?
Get in touch now for pricing and availability for your wedding date!
If you know someone who’s engaged, share this post with them!
When to Take Engagement Photos
Once you start planning your wedding, the venue and wedding photographer are traditionally booked first due to limited availability. If you and your fiance have decided to get an engagement session you may be wondering when to take engagement photos?
Summer time engagement session
Generally you want to take engagement photos 2-3 months after booking your wedding photographer. BUT that is not a hard and fast rule. There are some variables that go into deciding when to take engagement photos, the biggest being our crazy unpredictable Indiana weather.
Since most couples book their wedding photographer in the first few months into the new year, 2-3 months later is usually spring time here around Indianapolis. This can be great for engagement photos. There is the occasional rain shower or cold day, so be aware that some locations could still be damp or muddy. So have a back up plan of Indianapolis Engagement Photo Locations. But Spring is still a great time to take engagement photos.
Fall time engagement session
It also helps to know what to do with engagement photos. Do you plan to put your engagement photos on save the date cards? Depending on your wedding date you may need to take your engagement session sooner to ensure you will have them back in time to send out your save the dates. Be sure to ask how long it takes to get engagement photos back from your photographer.
Know that at the end of the day, this is still your wedding. You can do things your own way. If you want fall engagement photos, take fall engagement photos. You will remember this time of your life forever. Have it captured the way that will keep you smiling for years to come.
See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!
Need a Wedding Photographer?
Get in touch now for pricing and availability for your wedding date!
If you know someone who’s engaged, share this post with them!
How to Prepare For Your Engagement Session
You have planed When to take engagement photos and Where to take engagement photos, but before you step in front of the camera there are still a few more tips you should know to get the most out of your engagement session.
What to expect from your engagement session:
Your engagement session is the perfect opportunity to get to know your photographer better before the wedding. If you have hired a quality wedding photographer you will not need to worry about feeling awkward of uncomfortable in front of the camera. And if you are worried about that, you are not alone. In my time photographing over 100 Indianapolis couples they have all said the exact same thing. At the end of the session they are shocked at how fast time flew by and surprised at how comfortable they felt in front of the camera. You and your photographer will most likely be walking around a specific area talking about your wedding and when the photographer sees something interesting, they will stop you and give you some light direction of how to stand. I have my couples interact with each other through a set of questions geared to getting you two to open up and forget the camera is there. By the end of the session my number one goal is to make sure you two had fun and now feel closer than ever.
What to wear for engagement photos?
First and foremost you should wear something you are comfortable in. When you feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera, it will show. An outfit that is a solid neutral color will be more flattering than something bright with busy patterns. Then pick an outfit for your partner following the same guide but opt for some something that complements rather than matches. You two are not twins, no need to dress like it. Lastly pick one accessory that will stand out. A necklace or bracelet are perfect. More and more couples are using a rental subscription like Amazon Wardrobe that lets them rent multiple outfits for engagement session and return what you don't want to keep, all from the comfort of your own home.
Think about Hair and Makeup:
Your engagement session is the perfect opportunity to get a hair and makeup trial done to see exactly how your look will photograph. Compile a list of ideas and bring it to your makeup artist and talk about what you are going for. For your engagement session try to shoot for slightly less makeup than you will on your wedding as it’s easier to turn it up on the day than it is to turn it down. Also as many wedding make up artists will tell you, use SPF free makeup when taking photos as it can make skin look more pale because of how it interacts with some light.
Can we bring our dog to our engagement session?
Absolutely! If your fur baby is a member of the family you can absolutely bring your four legged friend to your engagement session. From experience I can tell you it is very helpful to bring a friend along who can hold on to the pup while you two take some more romantic and intimate photos together. Pro tip, take the pup on a walk to to the dog park before the session to let out some wound up energy!
Should we bring Props?
I love the idea of making your engagement photos as personal as possible. If you two have something that you share that means a lot to your relationship like a favorite book then by all means bring it! I have found that once a couple brings more than 1 prop it can become cumbersome carrying and keeping track of the items. Remember your engagement photos are a reflection of your relationship and does not have to include a vintage picnic complete with chevron paper straws and vintage wire birdcage.
What time of day to take engagement photos?
As a photographer my number 1 tool is light. If you have ever taken a photo with a lens cap on, you know how important light is. Because of this it is generally best to start engagement photos an hour and a half before sunset when the sun is low in the sky. Because of this timing is everything. Try to prepare for possible traffic or road conditions to ensure we can start on time and get the best engagement photos possible.
See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!
Need a Wedding Photographer?
Get in touch now for pricing and availability for your wedding date!
If you know someone who’s engaged, share this post with them!
How to Make a List of Family Photos to Take at Your Wedding
Weddings are a special occasion for more reasons than you’d think. With how busy our lives are it's rare for entire families to get together. So when they do all get together it is important to get everyone in a family photo.
Family photos traditionally happen immediately following the ceremony. Some couples take family photos before the ceremony starts if they decide to do a first look, and others wait until after dinner. That's more common in the summer months when the sun is out later.
Whatever you decide is right for your wedding you will need to compile a list of family photos you want your wedding photographer to take.
Here's what I like to have my couples do. I call this my "wedding planning homework":
Sit down together, and put together a full list of all of the family combinations that you might want.
Rather than stressing about what you're supposed to do, think about the photos that you might actually want in an album or framed on your walls. Who are the people you want to remember being there when you show your wedding photos to your kids in 30 years? Most couples have 5-10 groups, plus a few more casual groups at the reception later. You can absolutely plan for more or less, but make sure that you leave time.
Send the list to your parents to make sure that you haven't missed any combinations.
There might be photos that they want for their own homes that you hadn't thought about. Just make sure the list doesn't get so long that this will take over a huge chunk of your wedding day. Again, a max of ten groupings is ideal.
Put the list in order.
I like to start with the largest groups so that they can leave first and clear the area out, but sometimes it makes sense to prioritize grandparents and who will have a hard time standing or need extra help or children who will have short attention spans. It's also helpful to note who is "finished" after each grouping so the person calling names can tell them that they're all set to go.
Assume that groups will take an average of five minutes each
It only takes a few seconds to take the photos once everything is set up, but it can take a few minutes to get everyone in place, especially large groups. Smaller groups can usually jump in and out within two minutes or so, but I always leave a buffer in case things run long or we can't find someone who we need (it does happen).
Share the list with everyone who is on it, and let them know where they need to be and when.
You can email out the master list to everyone ahead of time, then print out copies to pass out to family members so they know when to be ready.
Find your "Person”
Identify the person who is the loudest and/or knows the most people. This person will get a copy of the photo list to help corral the groups since your photographer most likely does not know your Uncle Jim from Aunt Sally.
Here is an example list
B+G w/ Brides immediate and extended family (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins)
B+G w/ Brides immediate family
B+G w/ Brides Parents together then One with mom, one with Dad
B+G w/ Brides siblings
Then the same list would apply to the groom with any changes that don’t apply, possibly without siblings ect.
Things to keep in mind:
If your parents are divorced, don't feel pressure to put them in a group photo together. Again, if you wouldn't frame it, don't feel like you have to take it. This is really a personal decision.
Think about special occasions that you might want photos for in the future. Don't forget a photo with just you and your siblings that you can give to your mom on her birthday (or post on national siblings day, because Facebook just told me that that's a thing). The same goes for photos with just you and each parent individually. These can make simple gifts for Mother's Day/Father's Day.
The sooner this is done, the better as it can take a bit of time to compile.
See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!
Need a Wedding Photographer?
Get in touch now for pricing and availability for your wedding date!