10 Wedding Photos I Need

I trust my photographer to get all the major "must-have" wedding pictures for me--the bride getting ready, the bride and groom saying their vows, the best man's speech, etc. I also trust that she'll be good at getting everyone in natural looking poses. She did a great job at alleviating my anxiety and awkwardness during the engagement session by giving us poses to try and tweaking them when we looked awkward. This is essential in a photographer, because sometimes you think you look great/cute/hilarious/adorable in a photo, but really you just look strange.

 

Personal pic

When we posed for this, I thought it looked cute. But seeing the picture, I am confused at the angles. What, exactly, is going on here?

I probably won't give my photographer a comprehensive list of all the photos I want taken, but I do have a running list in my head (which is to say, Pinterest) of photos that might not be standard for every photographer--photos that I absolutely need to have. Here's the Top 10:

1) The groom's reaction as the bride walks down the aisle: Obviously there will be pics of me walking down the aisle, but my favorite part of wedding ceremonies is seeing the groom's reaction to it. (Okay, maybe I stole that from 27 Dresses, but it really is a great part of wedding ceremonies!) A lot of weddings I see online omit these pictures (it's possible that they took them but just didn't include them in the blog posts) but I want to make sure I get Mr. Unicycle's reaction! And he better cry at my devastating beauty!

 

Image via Danielle Hartland Graphic Design and Photography

 

Image via Joielala Photography

2) The "dad first look" and "bridesmaids first look": I'm sensing a trend here. Maybe I'm being vain, but I want a reaction shot of my dad and bridesmaids too. Ever since I saw Mrs. Balloons' post on the Dad First Look, I've wanted one of those too. I think parents always imagine what their daughter will look like on her wedding day, and my mom won't get to see the reveal since she'll be there to watch the transformation.

 

Image via Mrs. Balloons on Weddingbee / Photo by Audrey Hannah Photography

 

Photo by Meredith Perdue Photography

3) A group shot of all the guests: I was inspired by Mrs. Lox, among others, and I would really like to see this logistical nightmare come true. It sounds like a headache for everyone involved, but the pictures are so amazing.

 

Image via Mrs. Lox on Weddingbee / Photo by Chad Lippiatt Photo

 

Image via The Knot / Photo by Gruber Photographers

4) Sassy drinking pictures: I don't know why, but I love these two pictures and I want to copy them. Except I don't drink beer, and nothing else seems as badass and as throw-back-able as a glass of beer. Can I do this with wine?? Or maybe a shot...

 

Image via Mrs. Zebra on Weddingbee / Photo by Sara Zarella Photography

 

Photo by Miller + Miller

5) A picture of us holding a "thank you" banner: We held a date banner for our Save the Dates, and it would be kind of cool to continue the theme with a thank you banner to use for our thank you cards.

 

Image via Intimate Weddings / Photo by Our Labor of Love

 

Image via Intimate Weddings / Photo by Three Blondes and a Camera

6) A photo of the sparkler sendoff: I'm basically doing a sparkler sendoff because I want the cool photos from it. I also like the drama of the bride and groom leaving in a special way. I'm sounding kind of vain again, aren't I?

 

Image via National Geographic

 

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

7) A backseat kissing shot: I love wedding pictures taken in cars. It seems so romantic and classic, perfect for my retro theme! We'll be hopping into a limo after our sparkler sendoff, so I'm not sure if this will work, with the tinted windows and all.

 

Image via Kiss the Groom / Photo by Thayer Hearts Weddings

 

Image via Mrs. Earrings on Weddingbee / Photo by Jane Sanders

8) The bridesmaids in sunglasses: I love cheap sunglasses (the song and the accessory) so I'm thinking of buying a few pairs for me and my bridesmaids to don in an ironic/hipster photo. Plus, it'll be sunny out, so we might need them.

 

Image via Ms. Kettle on Weddingbee / Photo by Bella Pictures

 

Image via flowersbythevase on Etsy

9) Informal bridesmaid pictures: I don't want the bridesmaid pics to be overly posed and cheesy. I like the ones that just look like a group of friends is hanging out. Because it's totally natural for my sister-in-law, college roommate, grade school BFF, and high school BFF to all hang out, right?

 

Image via Saritalou

 

Image via Green Wedding Shoes / Photo by Deidre Lynn Photography

10) A candid pic of the Unicycles PDAing: Hey, it's our wedding day! Sue me!

 

Photo by Oh Darling Photography

 

Image via Snippet and Ink / Photo by Aaron Delesie

 What are your must-have wedding photos? What's your favorite moment of every wedding?

Ring Around the Napkins

Napkins are boring. Usually. All you really need from a napkin is the ability to wipe the food from your face after your gluttonously feast on whatever food is given to you. I would personally be lost without napkins because I'm the messiest eater ever (statistically, that's probably not true). But who really cares how napkins look? Martha Stewart does.

 

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

I found this picture back in 2009 when our wedding was but a twinkle in Mr. Unicycle's eye. Since Pinterest hadn't been invented yet, I actually saved the photo and its source (in case I ever ended up as a bee blogger. Yes, pathetic/oddly obsessed) to my hard drive. Now that my wedding is for realsies, I'm still smitten with this picture. I even included it in my inspiration board. This napkin is so simple to do--you're basically just folding it a certain way, and the napkin ring creates the cinching that gives it that bow shape. This is how I decided I needed napkin rings at my wedding.

I got the idea from these Easter egg cups on The Fab Miss B.

 

Image via The Fab Miss B

These looked like they could easily become napkin rings, and they had just the right amount of ruffles for my taste. Which is to say, they were hella ruffly. You can read how to make them on her blog--I literally did the exact same thing, meaning my napkin rings could be used as egg cups if I wanted. Here's mine:

 

Personal pic

I ruffled the streamers using my sewing machine, and hot glued the streamers and ribbon to toilet paper tubes cut in thirds. That's right, I'm using toilet paper tubes on the tables at my wedding. I found the ribbon at Paper Mart, which has to be the only place in the entire world that sells gray and white polka dot ribbon. To help me finish the job, my mom, FMIL, and I plowed through these one night, assembly line style, and made 200 of these bad boys.

 

Personal pic

I pity the fool who has to put these on all 200 of the napkins at my reception, but the catering coordinator has already approved it! Here's what it looks like with a napkin inside. Picture that the napkin is white, and expertly folded:

 

Personal pic

And there you have it, another superfluous DIY project completed ridiculously early (we made these back in July, a full 11 months before my wedding). I am a DIY FOOL!

Did you make napkin rings for your wedding? Do you think I'm sick for using toilet paper tubes?

Consider Me Shod

A while ago, I purchased 4 pairs of shoes from Zappos, tried them all on, felt like goldilocks/a bridezilla, asked the hive for your opinions, then got my account info stolen. Maybe. I was torn between the pink RSVP Raina shoes, which were uncomfortable but had a great color, the yellow Nina Electras, which were more comfortable but weren't pink, and searching for a different pair altogether. Here's what I had already:

 

 Pics on the left from my very own camera. Images on the right via Zappos and Zappos.

I also had two other pairs that I didn't like very much. I included a poll in my original post asking your opinion on what to do (first world probs fosho). More than half of you suggested I go with the pink shoes, while only 10% encouraged me to keep looking. So what did I do? I kept looking. Sorry guys!

I searched high and low and wound up finding these on Amazon during their Black Friday sale:

 

Image via Amazon

The product description said they were dyeable, so I could get them dyed that pink color I'd been dreaming of. They were high-heeled, open-toed, and covered in a giant bow, which is basically everything I wanted in a wedding shoe. And with the Black Friday sale, I only spent $76 total, plus free shipping.

When they came in the mail, I tried them on and realized they were 100 times more comfortable than any of the shoes I'd tried on from Zappos. The sling-back made them easy to put on and take off. When I tried on the RSVP Rainas, my toes kept getting squished when I tried to slide them on, and I can only imagine how much worse that would be in June when my feet are sweaty (hawt). So I shipped the other 4 pairs back. I'd found my wedding shoes!

 

Personal pic

Sayonara, shoes!

I had no clue how to go about dyeing shoes, so if you're in a similar boat, here's what I learned: you can take your shoes to any shoe repair shop and they can probably dye them there! I thought I'd have to find some sort of shoe dyeing company or something complicated like that, and pay to ship them there and back, but it was actually much simpler. I dropped them off at a shoe repair shop down the street from my house, and picked them up a few days later.

 

Personal pics

The guy at the shoe repair shop was hesitant to dye them for me. Apparently some shoes say they're dyeable, but they're really not, so they don't turn out how you expect them to. He wasn't sure what they'd look like after he dyed them, and he didn't want me to be disappointed. I appreciated his honesty, but since I wasn't dyeing them to match anything (I only had a vague idea in my head of what color pink I wanted), and I was definitely NOT going to wear white shoes, I told him to go for it. "Have fun with it!" I said. Not really.

 

Personal pic

I think they turned out great! The ink bled in a few areas, but I don't really care because those won't be visible anyway. I only paid $15 to get them dyed, so I can't really be mad about that, can I?

 

Personal pic

 

Personal pic

I think I might just use the dye bleeding as an excuse to pimp my wedding shoes, à la Miss Fox!

More shoe pr0n:

 

All personal pics

 

What do you guys think? Are you mad at me for not listening to you last time I asked your opinion? Or are these shoes way better now that I've dyed them?

The 1988 Wedding

When I was born in 1988, I wonder if my parents thought about what my wedding day would be like, who I would end up marrying, and what I would be like when I got married. Did they picture me in a shoulder-padded wedding dress, dancing to Def Lepard? I assume they never could have dreamed up dubstep or T-Pain in their wildest dreams. Weddings in 1988 were a lot different than weddings in 2012. And now for a trip down memory lane...

 

Image via Zazzle

In 1988, this dress pattern was purchased by DIY brides who were into the whole high neck, poofy shoulder look.

 

Image via Copperton Lane

Little girls (who are now probably brides themselves!) made their Barbies marry Ken while wearing this monstrosity:

 

Image via Karen's Toys on Amazon

A popular slow dance at a wedding reception might have been "Never Tear us Apart" by INXS (according to this website):

 

And a popular fast dance? None other than Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." (Hey, some things never change!)

 

Lots of celebrities got married in 1988 (most of whom are now either divorced or has-beens or both), including Todd and Sarah Palin:

 

Image via Gawker

The Palins in the olden days. Looks like the 80s to me!

Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks also tied the knot in 1988.

 

Image via Life / Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage

Love the peplum!

And so did Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

 

Image via Life / Photo by Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image

The median age for men to get married was around 25.5 and for women it was around 23 (I interpolated using this data from Info Please). The median age in 2010 was 28.2 and 26.1 for men and women, respectively. So I guess Mr. Unicycle and I are more in line with the 80s in that respect!

I imagine wedding cakes looked more like this:

 

Image via Weddingbee member jillfedewa in this thread

And the decor probably looked like this:

 

Image via Wedding Reception Centerpieces

What else happened in 1988? Besides shoulder pads, the aforementioned celebrity nuptials, and my birth, there's an entire list of major evens that happened in 1988! Rain Man won best picture, we had a leap year, the winter Olympics were held in Calgary, and Windows 2.1 was released, among other things.

 

Image via Wikipedia

What, no Pinterest??

Brides in 1988 couldn't read Weddingbee because it didn't exist yet. They also couldn't change their relationship status on Facebook (Mark Zuckerburg was 4 years old!) and they couldn't just email vendors to ask for price quotes and availability. How the hell did people plan weddings in the 80s??

When my parents pictured what my wedding day would someday be like, I'm guessing they didn't picture colored shoes, mismatched bridesmaids, Ke$ha, paper flowers, or me blogging about my planning for strangers to read about! 

What year were you born, and what were weddings like back then? How many of you actually remember 1988? If you have a daughter now, what do you picture her wedding day being like?