Engagement Party

He asked . . .  you said, "YES!!!" . . .  So . . .  Now what?  You're engaged!  Congratulations.  Now what?

Now it is time to start announcing your news, planning your wedding day, and get organized.  The first step after getting engaged is to host an engagement party and take professional engagement photos. 

Why?  Great question!  Why host an engagement party?  The engagement party is the introduction for your two families.  Have your parents never met?  Grandparents?  Cousins?  This is the time to bring everyone together and let relationships between your family members build - before the wedding date. 

Who should host the event?  Traditionally - the bride's parents.  Modern-day?  Anyone who is involved in the wedding day.  We have seen Made-of-honors, groomsmen, parents of the groom, the bride and groom themselves host the engagement party. 

Where should the event be hosted?  Someplace intimate and private.  This is a smaller event - usually restricted to family members and very close friends.   Restaurants, parent's homes, small party centers, church centers, the bride and grooms home *(if they have one together already), picnic in the park, or even an activity center or arcade room.  We have even seen a successful bowling alley engagement party.  We have photographed destination weddings where they do host a larger engagement party locally for the guests who can't make the out of town wedding. 

When?  This really depends on many factors.  Most often than not, the party is right after the engagement.  I've seen the couples that start calling family right after the proposal and do it that same night.  Do you have people coming from out of town?  Make sure to work with their schedules for picking a date to host the engagement party.  The engagement party should be the first event celebrating your up-coming wedding.

Don't confuse the engagement party with the bridal shower.  The engagement party is usually a more social event with just food and toasts - not really any games or gifts.  The bridal shower is held closer to the wedding date, has games, more guests, and presents.  Engagement parties are to introduce family members to each other.

Many couples will usually hire a professional photographer to help make their announcement public.  It is very important for the bride and groom to have called all important family members before posting an image on social media making the announcement public.  Why call family first?  "Heard it through the grape-vine." No grandma wants to find out that their grandchild is getting married via someone else.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brother all love to hear directly from you.  Make them feel loved by letting them know with a phone call or a snail-mailed letter.

How do I use my engagement photos for the engagement party?  The couple will often use a professional image at the engagement party and to invite guests to the event with a photographic invite mailed to guests. 

Guest Book using engagement photos

Guest Book using engagement photos

Guest Book using engagement photos

Guest Book using engagement photos

Planning your wedding day

As I sit here making sure we have everything for our fist time with a table at Bridal Blast 2018, I can't help but remember my own wedding night and running over our last minute list for day of with our families. 

My husband and I reflect often on the many months planning our wedding day.

We put so much effort, energy, time, and creativity into every detail and moment.  Our families helped pull everything together too.

My goal with our blog is to help you plan the perfect wedding day.  We know many of the local vendors - we have quite a long list of vendors that we recommend to our clients.  Recently we met up with a new make-up artist (new to me!)  I can't wait to share more about her - we are waiting for our first session with Beauty by Sabrina Shell.  Sabrina sent me a guest blog post to share with ya'll - once we have the an image from the upcoming session we will post everything together.

To make that last night before you turn from Miss to Mrs stress free, keep an ongoing list and a folder that EVERYONE knows is for the wedding.  This way your groom, maid-of-honor, mother-in-law-to-be, sister, mom, aunt, ect... knows where they can find information pertaining to every detail of the wedding.   My husband is an I.T. guy, he used Google docs and Google drive to do most of his part of the wedding planning.  He made updating the wedding guest list easy. 

Lists, organization, and constantly being in contact with your vendors and bridal party are three simple factors of putting together a fun memorable wedding day.

See you at Bridal Blast.

Peace, Love, and Laughter, Suzie Thompson  AKA Lady In Pink Photography

Destination wedding, Boldt Castle on Heart Island - New York

Save the Dates: 101

Wedding planning is really fun.  Save the dates are one of the most important items to send to guests you would like to invite who are out of state, who are super busy, or you haven't seen in a long time.  This can help guests plan ahead.

Save the dates can be as simple or creative as you would like.  For instants, a beach wedding I interned on in Miami (WAY BACK WHEN...2002... way before Lady In Pink Photography even was thought up of...) sent out a small bottle full of sand, shells, and a note saying "Save The Date..." to each of their guests.  It truly was all the guests talked about before the ceremony, "How creative!", "Really made me want to come today.", and, "Oh look the save the dates match their decorations!"...  They spent all night talking about how creative it was to send an item that was part of the theme.

Magnets are also a popular save the date.  My husband and I did that exact thing along with a DVD slideshow with his proposal to our family members.  

Our save the date. This is a 4x6 magnet.  We still see them on our family and friend's fridges.

DVD cover sent to family members, to view the slideshow proposal visit youtube.com.

Save the Dates need to be sent out early enough for guests to plan.  1 year is the earliest Save the Dates should go out.  Or as soon as you book your venue.  Never send out the save the dates without actually having a venue booked.   Stay tuned for more wedding planning tips.

Grown-ups

How many of you have blinked; and when you opened your eyes the world around you has changed?   Your kids are all of a sudden rolling over.  Then. . .  what's that?  He took his first step!  Oh my, how our children grow so quickly.

We blinked!  Two of our favorite clients came in to update their photos.  Once, an infant and toddler, are now young and sophisticated make-up wearing ladies turning 4 and 5.  These are just a few "sweet sneak peeks" from their Valentine's mini session.