Unintentionally (or subconsciously?) we ended up with a music and photography-themed wedding. We definitely did not set out to do this, but there it is. In putting together all my wedding details to show you, I figured that I would group the photography-related ones into one post.
Heritage Photo table:
This is something I'd seen in several weddings, the idea of a table with older family photos on it. I decided to do this several months before the wedding, but didn't really get into it until about two weeks prior. I started out shopping at Marshall's and TJMaxx, and bought a bunch of pretty frames that I knew would go with the venue's decor.
My husband really got into the act, and we ended up getting a bunch of photos of both sides of the family and a few guests, who were surprised to see themselves on the table. Then, I went to my hard drives, grabbed any photo I had of "couples" that would be attending the wedding, and printed & framed them. Actually, my husband framed them. Thanks, Husband!
This project also allowed us to sneak in some other family members without making things awkward or complicated. My parents' wedding picture is there, but waaaaaay on the other side of the table is my mom's wedding picture with my stepfather (the two photos were taken over 30 years apart, so I don't think anyone noticed). I admit that not all families could get away with this, but my own father is deceased, and my stepfather was not in attendance. If either of those were not the case, I probably would have had to be a bit more subtle.
We also placed a picture of my husband's brother-in-law, who died last winter and would have been a groomsman.
This was a big hit. I really hate traditional guest books, and really wanted to have an alternative where people could actually write whatever they wanted, and we could have a bit of fun with it. I really love the idea of looking back in 40 years and seeing what all our guests wrote to us on our wedding day.
I got the idea for this instant-photo book while blog-surfing waaaay back in 2009:
photo by Lisa Lefkowitz from her blog
We had our calligrapher make a sign with the same wording, and we appointed our teenage niece "Polaroid Person." That's her in the background:
Our guests really thought this was a fun and different idea, and every single one of them made it into the book! Even our photographers got in on the act (that's them on the left side of the book, below.
Also something to keep in mind; I learned that you don't want to use Sharpies to sign your guest books and things, because they are not archival and will fade and yellow with time. Instead, we bought some Pigma pens. I put them in a cute ice cream dish, which you can see here.
We ordered the book from Adesso Albums, which had great customer service. (We weren't sure how many we needed; we ordered two, kept the 2nd one sealed just in case, and sent it back when it turned out we didn't need it. The company says you can at least 80 guests featured in one book, but I think that's a stretch.)
Also, this is not really a Polaroid album. It fits the film of a Fuji Instax 210 (although Adesso does sell Polaroid albums if you happen to have one of those cameras). We already have a Fuji, so this was pretty convenient for us. I found a cute basket to keep film in, too.
We ordered prints of our engagement photos soon after we had them done, and in a truly last-last minute project, realized that we had enough for one per table, and decided to throw them into frames. This also mysteriously coincided with the Aaron Brothers Buy one Get one sale.
The problem with these two projects? We meant to tell our guests that they could take their "couple" photos home, and we meant to send someone in each table home with an engagement photo. But we forgot. So now we have two boxes of pretty frames in our house. What to do?!
Guest Book/Bridal Portraits
And, so as not to confuse people (or, in case they didn't make it to the photo book), we did end up having a guest book at the entrance. It's also where we put my bridal portraits:
Most of these were set up in the cocktail area, so that immediately after the wedding, people could mill around, look at family photos, or take photos (with the Fuji Instax book), and generally have something to do in that "in between" time. Our guests have told us that they really enjoyed that.
Next (and without such a delay next time!) I'll show you some of our interesting and colorful floral details!
*Photos, unless otherwise noted, by David Wittig Photography.
Previously:
- A dark and stormy night
- Our Wedding Rehearsal
- The rehearsal dinner
- The Wedding Morning
- Getting Ready
- The Unveiling
- Fun With Cameras
- More than a Bridal Party
- Wedding Portraits and the Scary Moment
- The Oysters Get Married
- The Oyster Wedding Details
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