My good friend Christy is attending the wedding of a family member next weekend. The bride and groom couldn’t afford to hire a professional wedding photographer, so they hired an inexperienced new photographer. Then a few days ago, that photographer got nervous, and canceled on her clients just two weeks before the wedding. That’s just horrible.
Apparently the bride and groom are unable to pay for anyone else. They asked Christy to help. Christy is an incredibly kind person who agreed to shoot the wedding, even though she is not a photographer and has never done anything like this.
Ordinarily, when someone contacts me and says, “My friend can’t afford a photographer, so I’m thinking of shooting her wedding. Do you have any advice for me?” I reply, “My advice is to say no.” I mean it. Shooting a wedding is a difficult and stressful responsibility, and you risk lifelong disappointment for the couple if the photos do not turn out.
But when Christy found herself in this situation, with a family member needing help at the last minute, I could empathize with her decision. Before I was a professional photographer, I found myself helping friends and family in need, too. I’m sure lots of other amateurs have been in this situation. After all, I understand that not everyone can afford to hire a photographer. After today’s conversation, I’ve decided to write a list of tips that could help people like Christy.
These are NOT my tips for professional photographers or new photographers who are starting a business. You can see my advice for new photographers here: How to Get Started in Wedding Photography.
These are my tips for amateurs who have no intention of becoming professional photographers, and are just trying to help desperate friends. Disclaimer: This information will not prepare you to become a professional, and it won’t guarantee that you’ll do a good job of shooting a wedding. But it could help you get through the experience.
Hello, wedding planners! I know that lots of you are busy putting together the final touches for your weddings, so I thought it was a great time for me to return to my regular Wedding Ideas posts. I have such a huge collection of photos of wedding details that I love to use them to help inspire people for their own wedding planning.
Here are some helpful links for wedding ideas:
My favorite wedding details of 2010
My full collection of wedding details
The big color of the moment is purple. I saw tons of purple last year, which of course I loved, because it’s one of my two favorite colors. (My own wedding’s color theme was blue and purple.) Here are some photos of purple weddings, with great ideas for dresses, flowers, decorations, and favors. Enjoy!
More photos of purple weddings
Now that Christmas has passed, I can share the beautiful albums from Liz and Brian’s wedding. They ordered five albums: a 12×12 leather flushmount album for themselves, two 8×8 leather flushmounts for their parents, and two 8×8 leather coffee table books for their grandparents. I really loved their winter wedding at Donovan Pavilion in Vail, and the final albums are beautiful.
It’s been such a full year for me! In addition to nine months of pregnancy and a move from Colorado to Virginia, 2010 also marketed my busiest photography year so far. I had fun looking back through the year’s images and choosing some of my favorites. It was hard to narrow them down, but here are some of the ones that really stood out to me this year.
Wedding bouquet made of heirloom brooches
I saw such clever and beautiful wedding details this year! I thought it would be fun to highlight some of my favorites of 2010 in a blog post. Here are some of the most interesting decorations, flowers, accessories, and food that I saw at weddings this year!
It’s album season! I’ve been busy designing lots of albums for my wedding clients, and it’s always fun to receive the finished books in the mail. This one arrived today, and it’s gorgeous! Mae and Robby got married in San Francisco, with a reception at the Cliff House, on the Pacific coast. I love this album of their beautiful wedding!
They ordered a 9×12 horizontal Fine Art Book, which is one of my favorite products and sizes that I offer. The book is contemporary, sleek, and lovely, with vivid colors and slightly textured pages.
Stephanie, Baby-to-be, and me, reaping the benefits of our wedding photo booth
Yesterday I posted Part 1 of my annual Behind the Scenes photos. Here’s the second half! As the year went on, my belly got bigger, my morning sickness got smaller, and my full wedding schedule marched on. Some of my good friends second shot with me, and as you can see above, much hilarity resulted.
Yours truly, doing the Cupid Shuffle at Sarah and Mike’s wedding
At the end of every wedding season, I post a series of photos of us in action at weddings. I love going through all the pictures and seeing how much fun I had throughout the year. 2010 was particularly memorable, because it was my busiest year ever, and because I’ve been pregnant for most of it. The pregnancy didn’t slow me down. Neither did a sprained ankle – in this picture, I had sprained it about two hours earlier, but the wedding day adrenaline made the dance floor as irresistible to me as always.
For photos from previous years, scroll through the blog posts here: Behind the Scenes
Here are pictures from the first half of 2010! Some of these photos may look familiar, because I’ve shared a few of them in posts about my pregnancy. But most are new. Pictures from the second half of the year will come later this week. 
Tracy and John
Magnolia Hotel
Denver, Colorado
November 13, 2010
Last weekend I traveled back to Colorado to photograph the wedding of Tracy and John in downtown Denver. I loved their wedding’s chic, urban style, which was made even better by their willingness to walk around in the cold for some portraits in the city! Tracy is a talented wedding photographer herself, so it was an honor for her to ask me to photograph her own wedding. You might remember her and John from their engagement portraits in Denver last summer.
This was my last wedding before my maternity leave, and it was certainly a great one to end with. My good friends and talented colleagues, Tamera Goldsmith and Stephanie Brauer photographed this wedding with me. Not only are they great photographers, but they are a ton of fun to work with. The photos posted here were taken by all three of us. Thanks, Tam and Steph!
Tracy and John’s photo booth
November 13, 2010
On Saturday I photographed a really fun wedding in downtown Denver. Those photos are coming soon, but first I wanted to share the results of my first wedding photo booth! We set up a portrait station at the reception, and my good friend and second shooter extraordinaire, Tamera Goldsmith, operated it throughout the party. The results are fantastic! I definitely want to offer photo booths at future weddings!
