You're planning your wedding and you've probably invested quite a bit of time and money for your special day. Of course when you envision the day you envision perfection, joy and becoming one with the love of your life. Unfortunately you may sometimes encounter stressful situations that could have been avoided with a little extra knowledge. Here are some tips that I think will help tremendously.

1. Hair and make-up. These are the two of the main elements of your bridal prep. Most brides need them since they are important in the completion of your overall look. Hair and make-up can also be the reason why you are late to your ceremony. You can combat this by scheduling a hair and make-up consult before your wedding day. Here's why I love a pre-wedding consult; Your pre-wedding hair and make-up consult gives you the opportunity to discuss your look in detail with the artist and preview your look before the wedding. You can tweak things here and there with all of the time in the world to do so. It also gives the artist a chance to learn your facial structure, skin undertones and hair type BEFORE the wedding, helping the artist choose the right products for you. Consider this time as the dress rehearsal. Another thing that I really like about having a hair and make-up trial is that you get to know the people who will be servicing you on your wedding day. Being familiar with your wedding day team takes some of the stress off of you because it leaves you with less to wonder about and more time to enjoy the process.  

2. Designate a go-to person. It is often instinctual for your guests or wedding vendors to reach out to you with questions on the day of your wedding. This can place unnecessary stress on you and take away from your ability to be in the moment on your wedding day. To combat this, designate a person (or two) to be the go-to for the day. This person can be responsible for making sure that vendors get paid, helping guests out with simple questions and making sure that you are stress-free. In my consults with my couples, I am sure to ask them to provide a point person that is familiar with the family and can assist me with gathering the family for portraits. This brings me to my next point. 

3. Schedule a consult with your photographer. The purpose of the consult is to go over, or even create, a proposed timeline. This step is really important since it will help to put the days events into perspective. During the consult we will schedule the day (almost to the minute) from the very beginning until the end. This helps in maximizing time because we can anticipate things like the length of the receiving line and how long that will take. This gives us an idea of the amount of time that we have for photos between this time and the reception. Now don't get me wrong, the timeline may more than likely change a bit on the day of. It happens. BUT, at least we have a flow of the day and can anticipate where we need to switch up to accommodate the changes that have occurred. 

Hopefully these tips will help you in planning your day. If you have any ideas that I haven't covered here, please feel free to share in the comments section!

You have taken the time to incorporate these special details into your day but chances are, in the swirl and hustle of it all, you may not be able to fully appreciate the effort put into it. Your photographer, however, understands all of the work put in and should capture these details for you to appreciate at a later date.

I was a second shooter at Maple Chase Golf & Country Club in Winston Salem, NC this past weekend. When I walked in I immediately took notice of all of the cute details that the bride and groom had brought in. Their colors were taupe, creme and red, which made for a classic look with really cute pops of color.  

The groom and groomsmen sported tuxedo shirts with rolled up sleeves for a casual touch. The guys each wore a calla lily and red rose boutonniere, which was attached to their red suspenders. Red was also incorporated into their bow-ties.

The bridesmaids all wore different styles of lace knee-length dresses in the shade of creme. They each held a simple, yet elegant bouquet made up of three calla lilies wrapped in red burlap. Pops of red was also incorporated into their shoes, nail polish and lip color.

The official flowers were the calla lily and the red rose. (LOVE calla lilies!)