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5 ways a bride can dress her best on her big day

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Written by: Rabbi Melinda Bracha Bernstein

www.melindabernstein.com

Every so often my mother and I go through her memory albums and books. Whenever I take out her wedding album, she gets very upset.  My parents were happily married for 64 ½ years until my father passed in 2015. According to her, the wedding album didn’t capture their first moments as husband and wife very well and she adamantly refuses to allow me to share her wedding album.  She does like one photo and allowed me to share it with you. It’s sad for me because when I look at her wedding album, I see her beauty.  Of course she’s my mother and I am immediately biased, however I truly honor her emotions and disappointment.

South Florida Wedding Officiant



I don’t want this to happen to you and that is why I am writing to share a few things that will help you be sure you won’t. First of all, it’s important to share a bit of my childhood experiences so you can appreciate these tips.  When I was growing up the place my mom took me to the most was the 163rdstreet mall in North Miami Beach.  Not only were there several big stores for her to fill her desire to shop, there was an outdoor playground with a train ride for her to take my brothers and I on before the travel home.  All of my life my mother has taught me the art of thrift and the value of coordination so I guess I have her to thank for this advice.  Thanks Mom!

Before I give you the 5 tips, what does dress big mean to you?  For myself, dressing big is an art form that reveals a natural essence and intrinsic beauty of the bride.  With the wedding “paparazzi” ready to snap away and share their excitement, dressing big will enable even the amateur to capture and accentuate the you inside your dress and under your makeup and hairdo.  Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out there, here are the 5 ways a bride can dress her best on her big day!

  1. Choose colors that will aesthetically enhance your wedding theme. If you are going for a seasonal theme, then make sure those colors blend with you and your beloveds skin tones. If you don’t know your skin tones, google has lots of charts to help you.

  2. Make sure your venue has color or existing décor that compliments your ideal colors. If you’re already in contract with a venue and didn’t consider the colors, you may have to modify your vision and use their colors to determine your wedding theme. There are plenty of ways to not let this be an obstacle though.

  3. Beauty is not just skin deep, it is soul deep and you deserve to indulge your soul at every turn before your wedding. Plan early so your wedding flows with greater ease. Even if you love to organize and/or have budget constraints, find a friend who is knowledgeable about wedding planning and has the time to help out. Or better yet, HIRE a wedding planner. (more blogging on this later)

  4. Make sure your wedding officiant is able to follow your vision or share with you their talents and skills so your ceremony is well remembered with exuberance and joy. This stands true for all your other vendors too. I suggest you make a list of your desires and if you’re unclear, ask each vendor what makes them stand out and choose according to what your heart feels.

  5. Speaking of standing out and what your heart feels, get your wedding officiant and guests to dress in a complimentary style as you. Think about your future pictures and what you want to see. When I work with couples I always give them a questionnaire to fill out so that our consultations are efficient. I’m looking to see your colors, your theme and your level of religiosity (if any). Most of the time people don’t even think about coordinating with their officiant, but I can assure you, I do. Thanks mom!

 

Whether I am flown out of the South Florida area for a wedding or stand with a couple in the areas of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach, South Florida, for a wedding; I want to help my brides dress their best!



South Florida Wedding Photographer

An artisan bride and all around colorful couple, Brandon & Lindsay. Their wedding was outdoors at Benvenuto Restaurant.  Lindsay and Brandon have a special flair and it stood out the moment we met in person.  When I arrived at the wedding, I noticed the creativity of their colors on many of their guests.  I chose to wear my handmade Tibetan prayer shawl over a sleek and unique white dress.  This shawl has been with me since my days in California but never had I worn it for a wedding.  I had also never seen so many guests with hair dyed in lilac to match the wedding colors either.

Preparing For Your Session | Part 1 'The Client'

You're gonna look great! 

There are many different kinds of sessions that photographer's offer. The first thing you should do is understand what kind of session you are having, don't worry, most of the session names are pretty straight forward. This allows you to get into the right mindset and distinguish the different variables that set your session apart from the others. For example, if you are meeting with the photographer for an engagement session, you want to look beautiful and in love. A lot of the time, you won't be posing in an engagement session looking like you're about to go to a Halloween party. However, if that is how the two of you met, by all means, I think that would be an awesome session and I would love to photograph it! If you're preparing for an editorial session, you'll want to check out different magazines and I don't have to remind you how wonderful Pinterest for ideas. Just be aware that the photographer is also an artist, and while getting creative ideas, will most likely not want to copy the exact photo that you have. Here are some more words and pictures!

Whoops! :P

Whoops! :P

Confidence!

There is a laundry list of items you could think about to get ready for your session, but the best thing to do is keep it simple. 

1. Be you and be comfortable. Being yourselves will overall get you the best photos! The clothes that you wear should reflect your personalities and how you see yourselves :) They should also be clothes that you can move around in, play in, and work your body into different poses. Don't be boring like a plain white shirt with khakis, but venture to find your clothing spirit animal, just keep it in the same color family so it's not chaos.

Don't have one of those moments like when you look back at your high school yearbook and think "What was I doing!?" We've all been there. 

 

2. Now, I always carry certain props with me but that's because I feel they bring a certain energy to an image. It's like putting italics on a word :P 

Now, we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl yet so they chose Daphne and Myles as names

Now, we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl yet so they chose Daphne and Myles as names

I do ask my clients to bring items with them that they like. ^^^ Amber and Jimmy brought baby blocks to spell out their baby's name. #SoCute

3.  Most likely the photographer will have a great location set out for your already, but if you have a special place that you'd like your session to be, let them know! We love going to places that make you happy, it makes for better images!

4. Think about how you'd like to display the images you've taken! The products Sonacity Photography offers range from small prints, to albums, to large prints on metal! How big do you want that canvas of your family to be? Would you like to be able to see all the photos in an album? Remember, these moments become family heirlooms that will be treasured by your children and grandchildren. So be sure to make ridiculous faces and stick your tongue out at them. 

5. Trust your photographer :) -Thanks, Carlos Romero!

What are you thoughts? How do you get ready?

If you have any questions or feel I've left something out, feel free to contact me! The inquiry page is really close by :)