As many of you know our daughter was born very ill.  She has had a long, hard battle to health and has endured many things.  When we found that she was going to be born with many health issues I found this quote and decided I would re-do her nursery (before she even saw it) with this statement on her wall.  I chose this quote by Henry David Thoreau because I wanted her to know, from the very start, that she could be ANYTHING and EVERYTHING she dreamed.  Now, almost 6 year later I watch her dance, dream and pick wildflowers and I know that she is living the dream!  She is a miracle and as much as she doesn’t understand that yet, she will.  In the coming years as she grows up to be her own person I will make it my goal for her to understand… no matter what challenges lay ahead in life, you CAN be anything you CHOOSE, so long as you are willing to work hard enough!

As each of my brides are planning these gorgeous affairs for their weddings, I hope each of you remember… to GO CONFIDENTLY in the direction of your dreams.  Because budgets and time cannot stop you from living the life (and wedding day!) that you have imagined!

I understand not wanting to spend an arm and a leg on decorating your aisle (wherever that might be) but a bit of well placed decor and a few pops of color can go a long way!

Take Ryan and Rachel, for example.  They were married at Talon Winery, here in Lexington.  Talon is a BEAUTIFUL location, yes, but they chose to use a few pops of color in the form of dangling flowers under the gazeebo and a few tucked into the shrubs.  They also hung old glass jars with bunches of daisies from shepherd’s hooks and lined the aisle with them along with piles of yellow and white flower petals.

But their wedding was outside… Mine is in a church!  No problem… you CAN be creative with pews!  I promise  One of our brides from last year, Kelsey, decorated her aisle with bunches of Kentucky wildflowers in baskets that hung from the pews.  It was soft, subtle, homey and made a big impact!

Or you can do something that requires NO florals at ALL.  Here are some simple ideas I found on Pinterest:

From : atwestend.com but could easily be hand crafted for very little money!

Or instead of expensive chair scarves and covers, order large rolls of ribbon in a single or multi colors and use them to spruce up the chairs at the ceremony / reception.

Idea from: United with love

Or maybe a cute vintage sign denoting the spots for the parents to sit at the wedding like these we found on Etsy:

However you choose to do it, DO put some thought into the aisle you will walk down toward your new life.  It will be the last things you see as a “single” lady and those moments should be just as beautiful as the rest of the wedding day!

What will stay with me from this session though, is the absolute tangible love between Kyle and Taylor.  Not that every couple I meet are not in love, because they truly are, but sometimes, you find a couple that just has that extra spark.  These two definitely have it!  We can’t wait for their wedding day!

Now… the coolest thing about this table is that Shannon (one of the owners) hand made these tables!!! Is he fabulous or WHAT?!

The tables are 5 ft squares and will seat 8 people.  They rent for $35 per table plus $100 setup fee.  BUT… you don’t even need LINENS!  These tables are beautifully constructed and would definitely make a statement at your reception or event.

For more information on renting these tables (or any of their other fabulous rental choices), call Carrie at 859.260.1456.

IMAGE COURTESY: Honey Heart Photography, Lexington

We also love that Events with Design has VINTAGE China available for rent.  Vintage is HOT for weddings this year.  I LOVE this particular pattern:

For more information on the other items they offer for rental visit their website: http://www.eventswithdesign.com/rentals/

As not only a wedding photographer, but lover of weddings in general, I have immersed myself in the wedding industry for several (read: 7 going on years now! In that time I have seen many brides have the wedding of their dreams. I have also seen brides end up in nightmarish situations.

I understand that EVERY person on earth has a budget for their wedding (unless you are secretly royalty… in which case… call up your grandmother the queen). Whether that budget is big or small, it matters very little as long as you have your priorities straight when planning your wedding. You CAN have a beautiful wedding on a shoestring budget! The vast majority of brides are planning their one, and only, wedding which makes most of you.. total wedding newbs. Us, we have seen hundreds of weddings. I want to share with you a few tips about saving money on your wedding without compromising quality!

With a little time, a lot of elbow grease, a few favors called in and several hundred hours spent searching on the internet, you CAN have the wedding of your dreams on ANY budget!  It just depends on how willing you ARE to work for what you want.

In order to do this remember these things:

1) Do NOT compromise on these three things or you WILL be sorry: Photos (obviously!), Flowers, Cake. From a visual standpoint… these three things truly DO affect how your overall wedding FEELS. And honestly… I guarantee you that you KNOW someone who has tragic wedding photos. Don’t fall victim to the newbie photographer or the cheapo photographer… they are wedding VILLAINS!

2) Choose a date with budget IN MIND. Popular dates = competition. Competition= more $$. Consider having your wedding in the “off season” (which for Kentucky is December-April) or on an odd day (Sunday-Friday). Your family will more than likely be taking off work anyhow and your whole week will revolve around your wedding so what does it matter if your wedding DAY is Friday, SATURDAY or Sunday? Most vendors offer big discounts for these for off season and odd days. Because there is not a ton of competition, they are able to give you sometimes sizable discounts.

3) The grass is always greener- when it’s FREE! Have the ceremony or reception at a location that doesn’t COST money. Use your own church, or a friend’s farm. Saving money on venue gives you room to spend in other places! Many wedding venues cost several thousand dollars which can go a long way toward decor. You can really dress up a place for $3000-5000! That is a whole lotta tulle! (Just joking… please don’t use a ton of tulle!)

4) Pick a theme that lends itself to value. If you choose bling and crystal to be in your theme… you ARE going to spend more money. Period. These things just COST more. Vintage, eclectic and natural themes can rely on FOUND objects. Forget about everything being all matchy matchy… who are you? The Brady Bunch?

5) DIY things that you CAN do easily. Things like programs, invitations and favors… there are SO many ideas out there that there is little reason to spend thousands on paper products. Anyone with a decent printer and the internet can come up with some amazing things on their own. Plus… these can be done MONTHS ahead of time and can be neatly stored away. DON’T however take on too many projects or you will turn into Bridezilla! (Bridezillas are BAD… )

6) Check out sales. The wedding industry is not unlike any other industry. We have SALES. We offer incentives. Be READY to book when you go to wedding shows and you can save BIG money and get lots of freebies offered by professionals there. Follow the blog, Pinterest and Facebook pages of your vendors and watch for specials and incentives. Hit up Craigslist, the Knot classified or a local wedding consignment. You never know what you might find. Really they only used it ONCE! Still plenty of use left in it!

7) Think outside the box. You would be surprised what you can do with a can of spray paint! Make Pinterest your friend. Enough said. (If you don’t know what Pinterest is by this point in my list… you need more help that I can give you!)

8 ) Limit “rentals” – often you can purchase things for less than the cost of renting. Things like tablecloths… these can be made from material found at fabric stores for $1-3 a yard. You can do a large runner over a table instead of floor length linens.. or do a simple white linen (less expensive) and really embellish on the table DECOR.

9) Save money on an officiant by having a friend marry you. It is more special / sentimental and most officiants charge several hundred dollars. Did you know you can get ordained ONLINE to perform a wedding in Kentucky? (neither did I! …until a friend of a bride said he could have paid a bit more to become a MYSTIC WARRIOR when getting ordained ONLINE! Well yeah. Everyone wants a Mystic Warrior to marry them!? Rock on!)

10) DON’T put your money where your mouth is! Seriously… who cares if your dinner plate cost $5, $10 or $50? People will remember your wedding by the emotions of the day, how beautiful you were and how your photos remind them that your day looked! Let’s be honest, after they have downed their 5th free beer… no one cares!

11) Have your wedding at at time of day that does not require you to serve a FULL BUFFET or plated dinner. Morning / breakfast weddings or early afternoon are becoming more popular for this reason.

12) Booze. Yes… you can spend a big honking lot of money on alcohol. To save money limit your “open bar” to a cocktail hour only. OR Beer and Wine only throughout the night. OR Have a single signature “drink” that fits your theme and nix the rest. Especially if you are having a Sunday afternoon wedding booze is not EXPECTED or REQUIRED!

13) Florals… choose something that is native to the area or “in season”. Why? You can chop it down yourself! I know my favorite florists Suzi and Doug are absolutely gagging to hear me make that statement BUT… if you have the most beautiful florals in the world… and no pictures of them… what good did it do you?  Or consider alternatives to live florals such as these awesome flowers made from fabric, or a broach bouquet?  Having a whimsical wedding?  The bridesmaids can carry paper pinwheels!  Consider a monogrammed pocket square for the groomsmen’s gift and have them wear that instead of a boutonniere.

14) Borrow an old sportscar or vintage car from a friend or call a car club to ask if they would be interested in transporting your bridal party. This can save hundred on the standard “Limo”.

15) If you have “favors” in your name… CALL THEM IN! Weddings are an “all hands on deck” situation! If you have an army of cousins who can help you save on the “cleaning” budget by cleaning up instead of paying the venue… do it! If you have a handy crafty friend, ask them to help with your favors or build the perfect arch for your ceremony. This is no time to be shy! If there ever was a time to take FRIENDS and FAMILY up on their offers to help… it is NOW! Aunt Gina can sew… put her to work making flower girl dress or bow ties for the groomsmen. Your best friend is a graphic artist? Have her design a monogram, logo, invitation, or other printed materials for your wedding!

Yes, weddings are expensive.  But we knew that BEFORE you got engaged.  If you are not engaged but close to it… start SAVING.  With enough time, planning and creative thinking, you can have an amazing wedding day that you are proud to remember!

and the winners of our BEST OF WEDDINGS 2011 contest are:

Chip and Melanie Gray

Congratulations Chip and Melanie!  You have won the Grand Prize package valued at $1600 which includes:

• 16×20 Gallery Wrap Canvas
• 8×10 Custom Coffee Table Book
• Highlight DVD Montage Video
• Complimentary 1st Anniversary Session
• Your choice of 10 Digital Negatives with Rights

Our Second Place winners are:

Adam & Tracy Childress

Congratulations Adam and Tracy!  You have won the Second prize package valued at $800 which includes:

• 16×20 Gallery Wrap Canvas
• Highlight DVD Montage Video
• Complimentary 1st Anniversary Session
• Your choice of 10 Digital Negatives with Rights

Our Third Place winners are:

Brian and Amanda Furby

Congratulations Brian & Amanda!  You have won the Third prize package valued at $470 which includes:

• 16×20 Enlargement Print
• Complimentary 1st Anniversary Session
• Your choice of 10 Digital Negatives with Rights

2011 has come and gone and all our “brides” are now newlyweds.  So what now?  We haven’t seen many of you in months and quite frankly, we miss you guys!  :)  From what we’ve heard many of you miss us too!  What better way to bring us all back together again than with a giveaway?  Plus we know that you want to brag about your wedding photos…  So here is your chance

The long and short of it:

1. Go to our Facebook Fan page and like our page.
2. Go to the Best of Weddings 2011 tab.
3. View Results and”VOTE” button to vote for your favorite image(s)!!

Simple as that!  :)

There will be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner all of whom will be decided by popular vote on our Facebook page.  If you were an SS&G bride, you are already entered in the contest and there is no need for you to do much of anything other than bring out the vote for your image!

VOTING

Voting ends February 13, 2012 and the winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day, February 14th .  What’s more romantic than winning a HUGE package of free stuff made from your WEDDING photos?   Who can vote?  Anyone and everyone who has a Facebook page!  If your DOG has a Facebook page… I guess we will count him too

Here is the important part… YOU need to get out there and do some leg work to WIN!

1. Get anyone and everyone you know to go over to our Facebook page and LIKE the page.(Any votes from those who don’t LIKE our page also will be disqualified).
2. Go to the Best of Weddings 2011 tab.
3. View results and vote for your favorite image by clicking VOTE.
4. The couple whose photo has the most VOTES on February 13 will be declared the winner!
5. Claim your AWESOME prize!!!

PRIZES

So what’s in it for the couples??  Oh boy!!

1st Place Winner will receive

• 16×20 Gallery Wrap Canvas
• 8×10 Custom Coffee Table Book
• Highlight DVD Montage Video
• Complimentary 1st Anniversary Session
• Your choice of 10 Digital Negatives with Rights

This package valued at $1600

2nd Place Winner will receive

• 16×20 Gallery Wrap Canvas
• Highlight DVD Montage Video
• Complimentary 1st Anniversary Session
• Your choice of 10 Digital Negatives with Rights

This package valued at $800

3rd Place Winner will receive

• 16×20 Enlargement Print
• Complimentary 1st Anniversary Session
• Your choice of 10 Digital Negatives with Rights

This package valued at $470

**All winners will be allowed to choose their favorite images to be used as their prints / books.  The DVD Montage Video will be artistically selected by Troy and Amber… we know you trust us… we shot your wedding!**

Good Luck and have a Happy New Year!

Well we have made it to the end of Schmidt Studio’s biggest year ever!  30+ weddings in a single year.  Many memories made, tears shed, laughter abounded and FRIENDS made who will forever be called family.  Today, is our last wedding of 2011.  In less than 8 hours our “shooting” year will be done but we STILL have many more weeks of work ahead of us, proofing, and getting the year wrapped up!   We cannot think of a better way to end our year than with Joe and Helen’s wedding TODAY!  It is a beautiful fall day and we are SO excited to call them friends.  I know today will be a beautiful joining of two lives and a heck of a party after!!!!

So, Joe and Helen… get ready!  The Schmidt’s are ready to make this one amazing!

While you are waiting on their wedding peeks… here are a few from their firehouse engagement!

Yup.. It’s 11/11/11 and that means a TWO wedding weekend especially since 11/11/11 fell on a Friday.  I first met Candace while working in the wedding industry but have gotten to know her over the past year since we photographed Maureen and Chad’s wedding!  We are SO happy for Candace and Danny.  They are the couple who you just know will be together forever.  Mutual adoration is how I would sum up their relationship (from our perspective! LOL)…

Can’t wait to see them say I do!!  See you guys in just a few hours! Happy Wedding Day Candace and Danny!