At the beginning of this summer, it was a privilege to photograph Maggie and Steve’s wedding not far from Sacramento California. Now if you have been following my blog posts you will noticed that this is the same couple whom I photographed the engagement session in early spring. I was an honor to also photograph their wedding which happened at Steve’s parents home. Which is becoming a big trend in wedding to have weddings not at specific venue place but have a backyard style of wedding. In some sense I enjoy these kind of weddings because they are at smaller scale and more intimate weddings comparing when there are more than 150 people weddings. Yet the best reason why I enjoyed photographing this wedding was because not only was I treated as a wedding photographer but as one of the guest. Yes that does put more pressure on me but I really connected with the family and friends and it becames more than just a job to photograph this wedding for me. The love and the vibe in the air of this wedding was magnificent, and the photos do show this. So here are the photos from their small but romantic wedding.

After the last blog that I have written about “White Dress” one of my good friends who is getting married asked me about garter toss. Now I first was curious why and the answer was pretty much the same as I usually hear from other brides or grooms of “WHY”. Well that made me think and do my research of why do grooms toss the garter and brides toss bouquet. If you are not interested in history then feel free to read something else but if you wanted to know more about garter toss and bouquet toss (and why we are doing what we are doing) then keep on reading.

History of Garter Toss

I wanted to start with with history of garter toss because in reality it updates the bouquet toss. Which was a surprise for me. The garter toss as far we know is dated back to middle ages, let’s say 1400’s but can be argued by historians. Yet the tradition of the garter didn’t really start with garter it was more … in some interesting words it was more aggressively than what we have today. So for most part when the bride and groom was married and after the party (if there was a party) the groom would take the bride to bridal chambers and have sex with her. But the the groomsmen, bridesmaids and even sometimes guest would come in the chambers and oversee that it happened (I mean intercose). While this all was happening it was considered a good luck to have taken peice of brides dress as goodluck which at the same time the bride would throw the stockings at the guest in the bedroom (especially at the guys) and who ever gets the stockings closes to the nose would be the next to get married. I don’t think this was popular for too long and it wasn’t because which bride would like to have guest in the same bedroom to watch or listen in, and also to have her dress torn apart because the dress would represent good luck and fertility. So the garter became popular later on but still we are not there yet. While the garter replaced the guest in the bedroom the custom was that the man at the party would need to take of the garter for luck, and I can imagine where this would go since there would be lots of drunk man at the party. A note to mention that guest would get drunk even before the wedding ceremony and you can just imagine the as soon as the couple would say “I Do” lots of drunken guys would hit on your wife just to steal the garter. Well after that it became a custom for the groom to do the job, and now to this day the garter toss is done by the groom to man who are not yet married (which would mean that whoever gets the garter would be married next). Now how its done with hands or teeth well thats up to the groom to decide.

Also I would like to mention that garter would represent virginity of the bride, which would say that once the groom has taken off the garter she would no longer be a virgin and belong to the groom.

History of Bouquet Toss

The bouquet toss (stick with me) originated from garter toss. What a surprise. But it did originated from England for sure, comparing to garter well nobody knows but point at France. Bouquet toss started with instead of rip my bridal dress apart and leave me with nothing to wear to garter toss to bouquet toss. Since the over the time the wedding dresses became more and more expansive the bride was not happy to have her dress torn apart, and garter toss replaced that. But that leaves one aspect of the toss in the air. Since now the man catch the garter what about the ladies. At old times everyone would steal a part of the dress (men and woman) but garter was only to keep the guys tamied. So the answer to that question was the bouquet toss. But why bouquet? Well flowers would in some sense represent fertility (and it was cheap commodity to throw at guests). So in the end the bouquet toss would help out all single ladies at the wedding and garter for the guys.

Before I finish I would like to tell you interesting fact about garter and bouquet toss. Garter toss is the least popular nowadays and still going down the hill but by a survey taken over 50 years from 1960’s to 2010 it states that the bouquet toss is still actives but has only gone up to one percent in past 50 years, from 23% to 24% of all weddings in United States.

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Enjoy this post by Denver and Sacramento wedding photographer provided by Shutter Avenue Photography offering Denver and Sacramento wedding photography in Denver and Sacramento metro area.

Shutter Avenue Photography is not your regular Denver and Sacramento wedding photographer. Every wedding that Shutter Avenue Photography photographs is treated with care and creativity not found with any other Denver or Sacramento wedding photography studio. Shutter Avenue Photography captures your wedding day in a unique photography style in the Sacramento area.

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Over the time that I have photographed wedding I have noticed lots of patterns and mistakes that happen during a wedding this is my list of things that every bride should consider when preparing for that big wedding day. If you have this done already good for you and you should just probably worry and get other things done but if you haven’t make a check list yet then read on and see if these 10 thing would be helpful to you for your wedding.

1 – Beautiful Hanger

Most of the time when I photograph a wedding dress by it self before the bride puts it on the dress is beautiful but the hanger is plastic or wire and it does ruin the photo in some way. So consider a wooden or custom made hanger for not only better photos but as if custom hanger for memories to come.

2 – Cosmetics

Now I know that every bride does her make-up before the ceremony but what most brides forget is to freshen up after the ceremony, or freshen up for the photos, as well as freshen up just before the reception starts.

3 – Hotel Check-In

This applies to all the brides (and grooms) who are staying in a hotel the night after the wedding. Make sure that you (or assign someone) to call the hotel to let them know when you should be arriving. This way the hotels will make sure they have cold champagne and chocolate ready for you. Also a good idea is to have someone from the wedding to take your suitcases to the hotel (if its not far) so you will not have to worry about that after the wedding.

4 – Confortable shoes

This is important, I have photographed many wedding and I could tell why the bride is not at the dance floor but tries to sit at some table chatting. Or sometimes the bride would just hang out by the bar, in the end a bride which has been in the same shoes all day is tired from walking. I know that the shoes look pretty and it was a good idea to have them but it is also a good idea to pack a confortable shoes. So when the evening starts, slip-in them and you will be good to go for the rest of the evening.

5 – Water

It would be last on anybodies list but in reality this should be almost first. Brides most of the time play a host to everyone at the wedding and forget about themselves until the dinner starts. So drink plenty of water, this would be beneficial for your body, you will not be as tired, or worn down. Yet the downfall comes that you will have to use the restroom more often. Now speaking of alcohol, yes that considers as water (in some ways) but try to hold of until dinner because if you get drunk before dinner you will be even more tired before the wedding even started. By the way this is a must if you have a wedding in summer when its hot outside.

6 – Eat

Now I talked about water but also dont forget to have snacks or eat good breakfast before. Most of the time the bride is busy with making sure that with last minue pres and so on that they forget the dinner will be served hours and hours late so to eat a good breakfast and have snacks in between is a must. You will be less tired and your body will be re-energized so you will be not only thinking straight but also ready for anything that might happen during the wedding.

7- Prepare for take-off

I mean in the sense if you are flying to your honeymoon destination, make sure that you have the passports and driving ticket in your luggage a day before the wedding. This way you will not need to panic and  make a scene the day of your wedding in front of your parents and bridesmaid. Also a good idea is to sign up for text alerts so after the wedding all you have to do is just check your phone and see if there has been any changes to your flight.

8 – Emergency

Make sure a week before the wedding to create a small emergency kit. I can not tell you enough when a bride needs of something like bandaids and there are none around (now someone will need to go to the store and by some) it becomes a stress environment to be in. And this might not happen to the bride, yet I have see also where bridesmaid would have a headache and there is no aspen or tylenol. Again pack an emergency kit and put it with your wedding shoes that way you will not forget it later.

9 – Go to person

This doesn’t have to be a one of the bridesmaids but it should be someone you know. This helps because when something is needed this person can quickly bring something for you and not just assign a person randomly during a wedding. So talk to someone you know before the wedding and assign them to be around you during the wedding or at least not far from you.

10 – Time Out!!!

I have left this one to the end not because its not important but because its the most important. The bride and groom get caught up in the wedding so much that they forget that this is a day about them. So take at least 10-15 mins to yourselves, tell your photographer, wedding party and everyone else to take a hike. Trust me, after you will spend few minutes alone together with no one around you will see that it make all the difference in the world.

Instead of show you my photos from previous weddings or portrait sessions I would like to take some time and talk about history. Now I understand that not everyone is interested in history and you might as well stop reading this now and read something else (especially if you are thinking to yourself why is this Denver wedding photographer wants to talk about this). But if you would like to know why white dress and why in modern day most high end wedding dress designers are venturing out of comfort zone and adding color to wedding dresses? This is your blog post and you should read on.

I would like to say that I don’t think that any other color in Western culture would dominate white but we have started to see different shades of white and as I did mentioned lots of designers are starting to go with other colors for Western culture. In this post I will have to mention this is for Western culture only because I do have to admit that in other cultures for example Chinese its red, in Africa its bright colors (cheerful colors), and in Ireland its blue since this is lucky color. But I will not go into details of other culture at this time.

So lets go back in time way before the white dress came a long and for that we would need to go all the way back to medieval and renaissance periods (in reality we can go even further back but for the sake of my own sanity I will not do that). So at this time period (and before) the brides would wear elaborate versions of contemporary styles, which would represent their social status, because a wedding was not just about love between a groom and bride. The wedding was more of a union of two families, two businesses, or even between two countries. Sometimes it would be even more of a matter of political move than love, this would especially happen in families of very noble and of high social classes. Then the bride was to represent all of that, and she would have to do this in the most favorable way to everyone (not just the groom). So in the past, the bride was wearing a wedding dress as wealth as the family could be, for example: a rich and high social status bride would wear rich colors and exclusive fabrics such as velvet, silk, furs and so on. 

Over time the brides would still dress to their social status. On the other hand the poorest bride would wear their best sunday’s church dress to her wedding. Another point to make is that the amount of material of the wedding dress contained also was a reflection of the bride’s social status so the more fabric in the the dress the higher wealth status. But now we are coming to the point of where white dress overtook all other colors only (but the social status of the dress was still the same). The first person recorded to wear white dress was Queen Victoria in 1840. Before I get slammed with emails from historians I would like to mention that this was not the first documented white dress but hyped about. That is why there a lots of photos of Queen Victoria in a white dress (just google it and you will see what I mean). Also this was not standard for her social and cultural status as well, which made it even made it more noticeable at that time. But this made the public follow the queen and the white dress started to dominate in the western cultures.

But now why white color? Most people think that a bride needs to be in white color and groom in black. Yet the one reason why Queen Victoria was wearing white dress, well in plain words it was VERY EXPENSIVE!!! See, the social status even with white dress was a big move to show of. But most people think that white represents purity and thats why the bride wears white as well as for Queen Victoria, yet this is wrong. The color for purity was and in some culture still is blue. The color white to this day still stands for perfection, cleanliness, the new and so on. Also in the religion the white was usually used for Christening, do you see where I am going this this.

Yet I am not saying that we need to band white color, I think that its beautiful color to have as a wedding dress but what I am saying and this is must my own opinion, “don’t let anyone put you down if you have ivory or off white, and even some other color for your wedding dress” The color means nothing and you as a bride should feel comfortable  in any color you chose. The cultural status of trying to impress others as well as dress to your status is somewhat over. We don’t live in those day and age, (now some cultures still do and there is nothing wrong with that). Just make sure that you are comfortable with the dress you wear and you will look beautiful at your wedding day.

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Enjoy this post by Denver and Sacramento wedding photographer provided by Shutter Avenue Photography offering Denver and Sacramento wedding photography in Denver and Sacramento metro area.

Shutter Avenue Photography is not your regular Denver and Sacramento wedding photographer. Every wedding that Shutter Avenue Photography photographs is treated with care and creativity not found with any other Denver or Sacramento wedding photography studio. Shutter Avenue Photography captures your wedding day in a unique photography style in the Sacramento area.

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Few months ago I had an opportunity to photograph Toly and Gina’s wedding in Sacramento California. It was not a big wedding but more of an intimate wedding which makes it great because there I get to focus more on the bride and groom than anything else. Also after the wedding I got a chance to  meet with the couple I asked them few questions and here are their answers.

Toly and Gina, how did you guys feel that day, where you excited, nervous or very happy?

Toly: On the day of the wedding I felt both excited and nervous, I was nervous how everything was gonna turn out that day so I just wanted to be with Gina on the dance floor already and celebrating our big day.

Gina: The day or our wedding I was EXTREMELY excited and overjoyed.

Gina how did you feel walking down the aisle? What was going through your head?

Walking down the aisle I was really nervous, in my head I was thinking “oh my gosh, I’m at my own wedding that we planned and have been waiting for and everyone is here for US. Today is our day and I just can’t believe it that it’s about to happen right now!

Toly what was going on in your head when you first saw Gina in the beautiful dress walking towards you?

The moment I saw Gina walking down the aisle, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I froze for a moment and couldn’t believe this was happening. Gina looked gorgeous in that white dress. Every part of that moment was special.

After saying “I Do” how did that make you guys feel?

Toly: After saying “I Do” those words sounded much bigger to me. At the very moment, I knew how much responsibilities there was. It reminded me that these words are the promises that I am making to commit to Gina for the rest of my life.

Gina: Saying I do, as a young women made me feel confident. Confident that this was all God’s plan. It made me feel so blessed how much me and Toly have gone. It made me look at him as my … H-u-s-b-a-n-d.

What was the most funniest memory from your wedding?

For both of us was the Italian game. As for me (Toly) it was awkward but funny because it was mainly pair of couples that played the game.

Did your wedding go as planned and if you could change at least two things what would it be?

Toly: For the most part our wedding went as planned. If I was to go back and change two things, one would be more alcohol on the table and second make the wedding at night.

Gina: Our wedding went exactly as planned as for decorations, and flowers. If I could change two things I would have taken time to invite more loved ones, and also have longer wedding because it was so much fun!

Any advice for future Brides/Grooms?

Toly: Two advices for both the bride and grooms would be: first, to get in the bed early the night before the big day, and second would be to eat a good breakfast.

Gina: Keep calm and know everything will be OK! To definitely not over stress and pick a relaxing honeymoon. Enjoy and soak in every moment of your wedding day and honeymoon with your husband because it truly only happens once.