Grace Episcopal Church | Madison WI

A few weeks ago we posted about Cecilia and Jason's wedding. Their ceremony was at Grace Episcopal Church in downtown Madison Wisconsin. To help Grace showcase their church to couples, we designed an album that focused on the church.

 

Here are a few layout spreads. Call Grace to see more!

Very Pinteresting: Wedding Ideas on Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest? If you have a bride planning a wedding, chances are you have. The online pinboard works like a chock-full magazine, flowing with a steady stream of new ideas that you can keep organized on a virtual bulletin board. This is the place to go when you are looking for inspiration for your wedding.

Whether you are looking for dresses, cakes or favors, Pinterest has images and ideas to help you create a gorgeous wedding. There is a search function that you can use to look for anything wedding. The best time to use Pinterest is when you are at the beginning of your engagement, at the start of your wedding planning. It's great to see what kind of ideas are out there to begin to organize in your head what you want to do with this big day.

To get started, we'd like to suggest some wedding accounts for you to follow:

Style Me Pretty

Wedding Chicks

The Perfect Palette

Martha Stewart Weddings

The Pretty Blog

Ruffled

Floret Cadet

Intimate Weddings

Brides

Bride Finds

Bride Finds From The Runway

The Knotty Bride

Bride and Joy, Vintage Wedding

Offbeat Bride

InStyle Magazine wedding hairstyles

Divinefrenzy, Invitations

Luxe Finds DIY wedding projects

Junebug Weddings

Southern Wedding Magazine

Lauren Grove, Every Last Detail

Vane Broussard, Brooklyn Bride

Postcards & Pretties, Wedding receptions

Do you have any favorites? Let me know if these Pinterest accounts are helpful or if you know of better ones. Where do you like to go for inspiration?

Reposted from June 2012

Stalking the Muse

Creativity is in high demand these days. More than any other time in the history of humanity, it is desirable, even ordinary, to call yourself “creative.” Everyone wants it, from preschoolers to retirees.

People want to have great imaginative, original ideas.

Why? Maybe they enjoy pretty things, or want to be praised for their brilliant ideas. Maybe they are envious of what others can do, or just *maybe* they are conceited enough to have seen something and think they can do it better. (This is NOT a bad thing- it’s human nature.) 

So, where is your source of inspiration? Where do you find your muse? 

The saying “There is nothing new under the sun” is a lie. Anyone who says there are no good ideas left out there is not trying hard enough. You can find ideas everywhere. One of the easiest places to find your muse is at your fingertips. Your smart phone. (Which, by the way, is a great example of taking an old idea and reinventing the way people get information and entertainment.) I use my phone all the time, and you should, too.

Apps that I use that can also be your muse:

Vine- I just recently discovered Vine and I am obsessed with this video app. I now think of my life in 6-second, stop-action looping videos. I am not a master videographer, and the app could use a few more options, but I love this one. If you want a muse, Vine will do it!

Snapseed- I know the world is in love with Instagram, but I’m not. With multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, etc., I just don’t want another “network.” But, I’m a photographer and I want to play with iphone images, so I love the effects snapseed can do. Of course, it’s not as good as Photoshop, but these images will likely never be viewed larger than my phone, so I am free to play. (Though I’m sure I’m not the first person to wish for Photoshop on my iphone.) One word of caution, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” If it’s a bad photo to start with, adding a filter just makes it a bad photo with a filter. Take another photo and try again.

Pose- If your muse is seeing what fashions other people are wearing, Pose lets you stalk, and even buy. It’s like a mix between Pinterest and Instagram for fashion because people can snap photos of their own outfits and post them to the feed.

Pandora- Music is easily the most satisfying way to find your muse. A feeling or sentiment from a song can trigger an idea. Or a line can inspire certain thoughts that lead off to other conclusions. Pandora lets me pick my preference, whether I need upbeat, mellow or off-the-wall. And I can customize what I hear as my personalized stations evolve.

Pinterest- This is the bulletin board effect of marking web pages and ideas. It’s like flipping through a magazine without the articles. I use it to look at wedding trends and examples of how people use portraits in their homes. I also use it when I need inspiration for a particular project, like when we built a reading nook for the kids. Whether you are planning a wedding, looking for home decorating ideas, or even figuring out what to cook for dinner, Pinterest has pictures of it.

As you pursue your inspiration, go ahead and push your boundaries to find your muse. Don’t copy- take an idea and twist it into a completely new idea.

Stalk your muse 

and create something wonderful.

*all apps are available at itunes*

Have suggestions on ones I should have included? Tell me!

Wedding Shoes | Madison Weddings

Let's face it: shoes are important. Comfort and style both have to be considered on the wedding day. Shoes can add the perfect finishing touch to your bridal attire and they can add a statement about your personality.

Men get off pretty easy, as they do with most wedding decisions: they can rent from the tux shop or buy their own dress shoes. They can go formal or casual.

For better or worse, women have more choices: heels or flats, dressy or fun, white or colored, match the wedding colors or go off the wall, one pair all day, or a second pair for the reception.

As you choose your shoes, here are some things to think about:

1. What style is best for your personality and dress? Don't be afraid to have fun!

2. Would your shoes work for your "something blue"?

3. Is the heel at a height that you can wear all day?

4. Does the height of your groom effect your heel height?

5. Will be enjoy wearing those shoes well into the evening, after being on your feet all day?

6. Will you be able to dance in the shoes?

7. Will you have time to "break the shoes in" before the wedding? Make sure to purchase them early enough that the answer is yes!

What style will you be choosing for your wedding day?

 Happy Shoe Shopping!

Val & Mike | Madison Wedding

Val and Mike were married at Quivey's Grove, a quaint, old restaurant just outside of Madison, in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. The restaurant is housed in the old house, while the bar and causal dining is located in the barn, connected to the house by an underground tunnel. Their open lawn is a pretty place for a ceremony, allowing enough room for a couple large tents for dinner and dancing, and open space for guests to linger.

I love kids at weddings and Val and Mike had a lot of them. They took advantage of the space and had a large "bounce house" for kids (and the adventurous adults- bride and groom included!) to climb through and jump in. To further entertain all the kids at the wedding, they made sure to have a craft table, music geared to little ones early in the evening and they even opted for cookies instead of cake for dessert.

Cecilia and Jason | Downtown Madison Wedding

The distinct ambience and character of a Madison wedding shines when the ceremony and reception are both in the beautiful downtown area. And what better place to get married than the oldest church in town, Grace Episcopal Church. I love old buildings, and especially old churches. Madison is lucky enough to have quite a few, but Grace is the iconic church that everyone knows- the church with the red doors across from the Wisconsin State Capitol.

I love fun details. Cecilia's shoes were definitely a fun detail. Blue! What a fun way to include the wedding tradition of wearing something blue. The bridesmaids were in short black bridesmaid dresses, starting with yellow heels and transitioning into yellow flip-flops. Hair was done by Rana Kay Design and the dress was from Brandi's Bridal.

Cecilia and Jason had a warm day in June for their wedding. Actually, I think it was one of the hottest days of the summer, but the heat of the day is always forgotten once the party starts. We went across the street to the Capitol for some photographs before heading to their favorite "biker bar" for drinks.

 The party kicked off at The Madison Concourse Hotel, located a block from the Capitol. Music was provided by Jukebox Bandstand.

Wendy & Keith | Monona Terrace Wedding, Madison

 Wendy and Keith had a beautiful day for their May wedding. We had such an early spring that it was hard to know what the weather was going to be like in May. Planning an outdoor ceremony in Wisconsin is always a bit risky, but the rooftop of the Monona Terrace was perfect. It wasn't too hot or windy, and the view of downtown Madison and Lake Monona is hard to beat.

 The wedding party took a walk up to the Capitol building for some photographs. The glasses on the wedding party was planned as a "surprise" by one of the groomsmen. We love hearing how the wedding party thinks we make the whole process of being photographed easy and fun. Couples also often tell us that their favorite part of the day is when they were being photographed, just the two of them. I think that really shows in their expressions, too. 

Wendy has enjoyed the honor of being in a lot of weddings.  A LOT OF WEDDINGS. Which means many bridesmaids dresses. And many of them are purple. Okay it was seven dresses, and the shades of purple varied, but that's still a lot.

To celebrate this, she asked guests to wear bridesmaids dresses to the wedding. Extra credit for those that wore purple. Many had fun with it, some even going out of their way to find outlandish gowns to don. Many other details made for a beautiful and enjoyable evening. The cake matched the wedding invitations, ducks, food stations, a music themed dash around the room for group photographs- it's all in the details!

We said good night to Wendy and Keith after one last photo session, a night session using the Monona Terrace rooftop with the Capitol as our backdrop. A romantic end to a stunning day.

Jamye from Beyond Elegant Events pulled the day together, Daffodil-Parker did the flowers, the cake was done by Craig's Cake, Scott Mueller Mobile DJ kept the dance going all night, Poetry in Motion created the videography and Khloe's Hair Studio made the bride look fabulous.