Today we will be introducing a new format for featuring our beautiful couples. This way you will be able to enjoy more pictures from the wedding day. Stay tuned for our first installment, later today!
Over the years, Jean Valentin Photography had the pleasure of working with many professionals in the event industry. We will be starting to feature some of our partners that we worked with at different events.
For this installment, we asked Karen from Karen Pecora Events to give us her 10 tips for our brides (it’s OK if you are not one of our brides … I’m sure you will find these tips useful … and we would love to hear from you).
Karen is the owner of Karen Pecora Events (as well as the founder of The Society of Wedding Planners), a full service wedding and event planning company. “We LOVE to keep our couples calm, cool and collected” says Karen. Here are a few insider tips they share with all of their couples, families and bridal parties.
We suggest that you pour a glass of wine, squeeze some cucumber in a glass of water or shake up a martini and soak these instructions in!
Tip 1- Avoid posing for pictures when it isn’t necessary- natural poses tend to look better in photographs. Relax and let the camera fall in love with you and your emotions of the day!
Tip 2- Every once and again, you should go on a “wedding vacation”…NO talking about the wedding to ANYONE, or thinking about your wedding “To Do List” for a FULL 24 hours! RELAX!
Tip 3- Get your final haircut and color 2 weeks prior to your wedding day. NO last minute changes to your look or your weight within (2) weeks of your wedding date! Eat healthy, hydrate but don’t starve yourself or change your hair color!
Tip 4- Don’t try and compete with the Royal Wedding and send out 1,900 invites…Tailor your guest list to those whom you want to partake in your special day.
Tip 5- Make sure you use your bridesmaids! They are there to help you with the not so “fun stuff” as well, such as menu cards, programs, and the “dreaded” seating chart. Rally support in advance and not at the last second when panic has set in!
Tip 6- Make sure everything is ready and packed for your honeymoon, the last thing you want to do after your wedding is packing. Start packing the month of your wedding. This is the NUMBER one task that brides leave to the last second and it becomes a major stress factor!
Tip 7- Looking for something to set your wedding apart from your friends? Biggest Food Trend now is Mini Pie Stations! Have one at your wedding! Nothing beats Grandma’s homemade apple pie!
Tip 8- Make a date with your girlfriends…bring a bottle of wine and meet at a spa for some relaxation treatments the week before the wedding!
Tip 9- We suggest not only trying on your shoes but wearing them…. so that you don’t get cuts and blisters. We highly recommend bringing extra shoes to slip on during your reception.
Tip 10- Finally…Don’t get stressed on your wedding day! Hire a day of wedding coordinator so you have someone to hand off all of your checklists, notes and timelines! Let a professional carry a cellphone so they can deal with last minute bumps in the road so that you do not have too! Hire Karen Pecora Events & Enjoy being a Guest at your own wedding by leaving all the details to us!
I hope you find these tips useful (or at least you are enjoying that martini). Thank you Karen for your insight and I look forward to working with you again in the future.
Having a good planner helping you out with your wedding day will not only avoid a lot of the stress associated with planning a wedding, but it could save you money in the process as well. Check back for more tips and to meet more of our professional partners.
Philadelphia Wedding Photographer
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Thank you Alison. It was a pleasure.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much Val and Karen … So blessed to have had such amazing people working on my wedding <3
A nautical themed wedding on the Delaware River … very fitting for a beautiful summer day.
Venue – Pen Ryn Mansion / Belle Voir Manor
Flowers – London Florist
Ceremony – Olde Church of St. Andrew
We started at Lauren and Joe’s house …
Luckily, we didn’t need any of the tips mentioned on the survival handbook, but you can never be too prepared …
… apparently, not everybody is worried …
In keeping up with the nautical theme, Joe’s tie featured some cute whales. Loved it.
When we arrived at Lauren’s place, the flower girl went up the stairs repeating “The picture takers are here … the picture takers are here …”. It was way too cute.
I’m not sure who’s mirroring who: Lauren the bridesmaid or vice versa … either way, it makes for a great picture.
The ring and rosary was from Lauren’s grandma’ …I loved this ray of sunshine on Lauren’s hand holding the rosary from her grandmother. Almost like a divine sign.
The ceremony was held at the beautiful Olde Church of St. Andrew in Newtown.
The flower girls and ring bearer always steal the show ….
… only for a moment …
At the end of the ceremony, Joe and Lauren got to ring the church bells. I’m not sure who enjoyed it most: the kids or the adults :)
More beautiful details from their nautical theme … remember the cute whales from Joe’s tie? … they make a great wedding cake top
While the girls were having fun ….
… the guys were enjoying a game of Bocce …
Based on their entrance, the reception promised to be a lot of fun …
… and it was …
All the single girls lined up for the bouquet toss …
… but the chandelier got it :) … girls 0 – chandelier 1
Joe helping Lauren with her shoes …
… and being rewarded for his work …
OK, one more picture of the beautiful couple …
Thank you again Lauren and Joe for allowing me to capture this beautiful day.
Philadelphia Wedding Photographer
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THANK YOU Lauren! I’m so happy to hear you are thrilled with your images. I did promise you that I will make it very difficult for you to select the images :-)
Thank you again and have a great holiday weekend!
Valentin
Jean,
Just looked at these for the thousandth time. Can’t express how absolutely thrilled I was with the results ( though I’ll try to in my reviews!) The pictures, the layouts are all amazing. Can’t wait to get the book. Thanks for all your patience regarding that; it was so hard to decide if we want to change anything because the layout was beautiful but there were so many other pictures we loved too!
Lauren
Hi Bogdan,
Thank you for the kind words. The shot with the dogs was taken by the second photographer (he was with the guys getting ready that day).
Valentin
The shot with the dogs takes the cake! (no pun intended). Really like your kind of coverage Valentin. A bit unexpected and fresh.
Cheers!
Bogdan
On Wednesday I get a call from one of our partners: “We have a booth at the Best of Main Line Party and I have an idea. Can you help?”
Gown Designer – Matthew Christopher
Gown Boutique – Van Cleve Wedding Pavilion
Event – Best of Main Line
What girl didn’t play dress-up with her mother’s clothes? And what girl didn’t dream of the day she would get married. That gave the idea to Deborah and the ladies from the Wedding Pavilion for their Best Of Main Line Party booth. We got together and we captured some great images. All this was done at their place in 15 – 20 minutes. Catie (the model) was so adorable (as you can see).
I couldn’t attend the party myself, but here is a picture of the booth.
The booth showcased a few of Matthew Christopher’s gowns and one lucky lady will win one of his designs.
If you are a bride and looking for an amazing gown, you have to stop by Van Cleve Wedding Pavilion. As the sign says, they are the dream makers. And we are always honored to be the dream keepers.
Philadelphia Wedding Photographer
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Over the years I’ve heard many times the comment “You must have a nice camera” when somebody was looking at one of my images (btw, I do have a nice camera; actually I have a few since I bring backups with me). And the photographer hears: “Your creative decision was not a factor, you had a nice camera”. Yes, today’s cameras are very advanced and allow the photographer to be more creative and get results that were not possible a few years back. This also allows for people in general to take better pictures, but it’s no substitute for experience and creativity of the photographer. A good analogy would be a Formula 1 car. You give me one of those and I’ll leave you behind at the stop light in a plum of smoke. Put me in a race, and I’ll guarantee you that I’ll be last one to cross the finish line. I might get lucky and somebody might get in an accident and this way I would not be last (similar to when somebody gets a lucky shot), but short of that, my nice car would not help me much.
And recently, I saw an article in the news where the photographer was … a monkey. OK, the monkey wasn’t photographing a wedding, but it shows how good the cameras are nowadays. And I’m sure (some) people would think “Hey, if the monkey can do it, why not my cousin who just got a nice camera?”. Unlike the article (or a portrait session), a wedding (or a Mitzvah) happens once in a lifetime (I know the skeptics will say that 50% of the marriages end in divorce, but I’m pretty sure Hollywood makes up 40% of that :) ).
And that prompted this article and the beginning of a new series: Why hire Jean Valentin Photography? Over the course of this series, I will show you what makes Valentin different (than a monkey and more :) ). If my charming accent will not do it, or my awesome looks, or … OK, I’ll stop now :) … the images will sure do it. As they say (not sure who “they” are), a picture is worth a thousand words, so be prepared to “read”. Check back often, not only for this series, but to see what JVP is up to. For now, I will leave you with two emails that I received recently (I included the screen shots for the skeptics out there :) ):
Nannette – mother of the bride
“Hi Valentin,
Since the wedding several people have sent us their photos. These days anyone can take a decent picture, but this shot is why we hired you. It’s breathtaking.
Even before we see the rest of your work, I want to thank you for how you worked on Saturday. As the mother of the bride, not all my special memories involved photos. I had heard about intrusive photographers invading the home in the last hours before the wedding, ordering people around and staging “special” moments. You two were better than unobtrusive. You actually had a calming effect. From the moment you arrived, everything flowed. Your humor and occasional off-topic conversation filled the time I would otherwise have spent watching anxiously out the window for the limo. Those last two hours before the wedding turned out to be much more fun than frantic and will now provide another fond memory.
Thanks so much. I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest.”
Lauren -bride
“Hi Valentin,
Thank you so much! What an awesome email to read when we came home from our honeymoon :)
You and your assistant were so great all day. I was a ball of stress, and both of you knew exactly what to do and how to do it when I didn’t have a clue. Thank you for that … In the meantime, that picture is great! I already made it my display photo …. I can’t wait to see the rest!”
Oh, interested in the monkey pictures? You can view the article here.
Philadelphia Wedding Photographer
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