What Is a First Look at a Wedding ?
A first look is the planned moment when you and your partner see each other for the first time on your wedding day, privately, before the ceremony starts. Your photographer sets it up, usually an hour or two before guests arrive. I’ve staged well over a hundred of them across 200-plus weddings, and it’s one […]
What Is a Sweetheart Table ?
A sweetheart table is a small table at the wedding reception set aside for just the two newlyweds, usually positioned facing the guests right where a traditional head table would sit. I’ve set up plenty of them across the 200-plus weddings I’ve planned, and they’ve quietly become one of the most-requested seating choices I see […]
What Is a Wedding Receiving Line ?
A wedding receiving line is an organized greeting where the newlyweds, and usually their parents, stand together right after the ceremony and meet each guest one by one to say hello and thank them for coming. It’s the most reliable way to make sure no one leaves your wedding without a real moment with you. […]
What Is a Handfasting Ceremony ?
A handfasting ceremony is a unity ritual in which a couple’s hands are tied together with cord or ribbon to symbolize their commitment to each other. It has deep roots in Celtic and pre-Christian European tradition, and it is widely believed to be the origin of the phrase “tying the knot.” Today it shows up […]
What Is a Wedding Officiant ?
A wedding officiant is the person who leads your ceremony and signs the legal paperwork that makes your marriage official. No officiant, no marriage. In nine years and more than 200 weddings, I’ve watched couples agonize over flowers and centerpieces, then forget the one vendor who actually marries them. Here’s what an officiant really does, […]
What Is a Wedding Processional ?
A wedding processional is the formal walk down the aisle that opens your ceremony, in a set order that usually ends with the bride. The officiant, close family, and the wedding party enter first, and the bride goes last. I’ve planned more than 200 weddings across the East Coast, and the processional is the part […]
What Is a Unity Candle Ceremony ?
A unity candle is a center pillar candle that a couple lights together during their wedding ceremony, using two smaller taper candles, to symbolize two people and two families merging into one. In more than 200 weddings I’ve planned on the East Coast, it’s one of the most requested ceremony rituals couples ask me to […]
Do You Tip Wedding Vendors ?
Yes, you tip some of your wedding vendors, but not all of them, and almost none of it is technically required. After planning 200+ weddings up and down the East Coast, here’s the honest version: a few vendors quietly expect a tip, several genuinely appreciate one, and a handful never look for it at all. […]
What Order Do You Walk Down the Aisle ?
In a traditional US wedding, you walk down the aisle in this order: the officiant, the grandparents, the parents, the wedding party (groomsmen and bridesmaids), the maid of honor and best man, the ring bearer and flower girl, and finally the bride with her father. That is the classic Christian and nondenominational lineup most of […]
How to Elope: A Step-by-Step Planning Guide
If you have been reading about how to elope, you have probably noticed one thing: almost every guide out there was written by an elopement photographer who would love to sell you a package. I plan weddings for a living, not photo sessions, so this is the version I hand my own couples when they […]