Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ahhh, Valentine's Day... It's one day set aside to celebrate love with pretty flowers and sparkly goodness.  It's an excuse to overindulge & be wildly romantic.  Sounds a bit like a wedding reception!! 

We hope that you enjoy your Valentine's Day-no matter how it's spent.  However, more importantly, we hope that this day serves as a reminder to celebrate love every day.  Romantic gestures are nice on February 14th, but they're arguably much nicer on random days over the course of the year.

If we can't inspire you to be romantic, maybe this amazing photo project by Lauren Fleishman can. 

Photo by Lauren Fleishman

It's called Love Ever After - it's a series of portraits/interviews with NYC couples who have been married for 50 years or more.  It was inspired by the love letters Lauren's grandfather penned to her grandmother during WWII.  And it absolutely melts our hearts in the most wonderful way.  Go check it out & get a little melty on this chilly February day. 

Cheers!
LaVERE

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

{La Lovely Things - Vintage Inspired Group Portraits}

Pulling together a wedding guest list is no fun.  Hunting down RSVP-stragglers is no fun.  However, getting married while surrounded by those who are nearest and dearest to you and your partner is great fun.  Whether you have 25 or 250 guests, when you set foot into that house of worship, banquet hall, living room, field, etc., you can literally feel the love and joy of your guests permeate the air.  It is both an amazing and overwhelming experience.  These are the people that you have chosen to surround you as you commit yourself to your partner.  These are the people that make up your community - they'll be the ones to share your joy at future happy occasions and they'll be the ones to prop you up during difficult times.  Now, wouldn't you like to have something special to commemorate that community of yours?

Photo from http://www.wornthrough.com/

That's why we're totally loving the entire wedding group shot.  Couples of long ago had it right.  Take a look around the internets for vintage wedding photos - you will find that the post-ceremony group shot was very popular in the late 1800's through the 1950s/60s.  Then, for some reason (maybe because weddings started becoming more about the "what" instead of the "who"??!!), these types of shots fell out of favor. 
Photo from http://fashion-era.com
Luckily, there are couples & photographers resurrecting the lost art of the banquet photo.  Sure it will require a little additional coordination and cooperation, but don't most worthwhile things?

Here are a few modern day all-inclusive group shots that we're loving.

Photo by Zlatko Batistich
Post Ceremony is a great time to snap one of these photos - your guests will already be in one centralized location and likely in rows.

Photo by Terry Gruber, a master of this form.

How timeless is this group portrait?  By the way, it's definitely a good idea to provide chairs for the older generation. 

Panoramic photo by Eye Shot Photos.
A great way to make sure you get the whole group is to go panoramic like the above photo.

Photo by Kim Grubb
Or perhaps your venue has a staircase?  Isn't it lovely how this celebration is practically spilling out of the photograph?

Photo by Eric Limon Photography
 Maybe your photographer will be the one to climb the stairs.  It's such a joy to see these folks having such a good time!  We totally want to be at that party!

Whether artful or whimsical, the banquet group photo is surely a lovely momento that you'll cherish for years to come.

Cheers!
LaVERE