Insider's Tips: Tip #26 - Phones on wedding day.

Can you hear me now?

 

This week's tip is from John, so it will be short and sweet and not too wordy.  Give your cell phone to a bridesmaid early in the am of your wedding day.  I would hope that if someone NEEDED to get a hold of you, then they would first try someone else.  But you don't need to deal with having to answer the phone and give directions or times while you are getting your hair done or putting your dress on.  

 

An idea from Katie Calhan with Engaged said maybe even record a cute message saying you are in the process of becoming the NEW Mrs. ______ and give them another number to call.  

 

I would also like to add that this also applies to the mom of the bride as well.  

Insider's Tips: Tip #25 - Church audio

This next tip is one that I thought that I had already posted, but I can't find it.  And I don't want to hold it any longer, due to the shear importance of it.  

 

This past summer we filmed a beautiful wedding.  Everything was just perfect for the day.  During the ceremony, one of the mics that was on a soloist went out right before he was about to sing.  When a mic goes bad, it doesn't just stop working, it transmits this awful sounding static that is heard by everyone in the church.  

 

I guess these things happen. The problem was that as soon as it started, we looked over to the sound board for the operator to fix the problem on the board and no one was there.  Yikes!  The sound board was turned on by the church, but they didn't have anyone to operate it.  I don't know if this is normal policy for lots of churches, but come on, the ceremony is under 45 minutes usually, can't the church pay someone to be there!!!!! 

 

If someone had been working, they could have had the ability to fix the mic problem or if nothing else, pull his mic altogether.  Because trust me, this guy could have carried the entire church without using a mic!  To make it worse, people were looking at us to fix the problem, but we couldn't.  It wasn't our sound board, and we are running cameras.  Needless to say, for the final edit, we tried and tried to minimize the static on the video, and we made HUGE improvements, but you could still hear it.  Thankfully the wonderful bride and her family didn't let it ruin the day.

 

Moral of the story, make sure that the church not only has a sound board, but also an operator for your wedding.  

Insider's Tips: Tip #22 - Lavender

You'll poke your eye out!

You would think that I have learned my lesson after posting a conversial topic on here (seeing each other before), but no.  I just don't really know what to think about this new trend of throwing lavender at the bride and groom when leaving the reception.  The times that we have seen this done, it seems to clump and then acts as a weapon against the couple.  John says that the humidity in the South aids in the "clumpiness."  Everyone is also immersed in a cloud of lavender after the couple runs through.  It might smell wonderful in small doses, but when 3 gallons of it is throw at your head, you might think otherwise.  

Insider's Tips: Tip #19 - Practice the flutes.

Practice makes perfect.

 

Tradition has a lot to do with what is done at a wedding.  Interlocking the arms and drinking from the chapagne flutes is a picture that everyone wants.  But it is the most awkward position to be in.  And it doesn't work if the bride and groom are more than 4 inches different in height, trust me.

 

But they say practice makes perfect, so spend an evening practicing.  Maybe even get out that old game of Twister to try to make it work!  No really, just remember that the goal is to drink out of your own glass.  Gracefully, please, if you don't mind.   And if it doesn't work, then you spent your whole evening drinking wine or champagne.  Darn!  

 

I like the newer tradition of just holding the glasses out in front of you and having the picture made then. Less trouble.  Same effect.  

The Launch of the Insider...

For a while now, I have been jotting down notes from all of the various weddings that we film.  These notes are really just tips for the bride and groom to use when planning a wedding.  Sometimes the tips come from good things that happen, other times they stem from bad experiences.  But I really hope that brides can use this as a resource when they get engaged.

 

So let's get a few things straight:

 

I am NOT a wedding planner, and don't make any claim to be, but I do see a different wedding every single weekend.  You will not find anything about floral trends or colors or anything like that. Some of my tips will be about videography (what I know the most about), some about the planning process, some about picking vendors.  The heartbreaking ones are from brides that wish they would have done things differently in regards to their wedding day.  I will never be mean to anyone or name names (either in a good or bad setting) - this is just a resource that I truly help can help a few people.

 

I am committing myself to this new blog segment for one entire year, one tip per week.  I realize that this is 52 tips, but I am ambitious!  Although I am thinking of the peak wedding season when I can barely get my clothes washed, and I am getting a little scared!!!  And if you have tips of your own, send them to me!

 

My hope is that this new segment will give people an insider's view when planning their wedding.  I try to remember when talking with a bride that (normally) this is her first time to plan such an event and if I have a few tips that can help her in that process, then I will gladly give them to her.  After all, you can't go back and redo the day.