Anyone getting married in New Orleans knows to
be prepared for a great time. The New Orleans crowd has had enough practice
at Mardi Gras to know just how to party at a wedding reception. When you're
a wedding photographer, you see everything from a different perspective
than everyone else. Capturing these moments is our job, and we couldn't
possibly have a better city for watching the fun roll by behind the lens
of our cameras. On top of the craziness, there are some moments that have
made memories that these couples will never forget, even though at the time
they seemed disastrous.
The key to keeping yourself sane on your wedding
day is to have faith in the vendors which you put so much time into choosing.
If you know you have hired competent, capable people who will focus their
attention on your requests, you know that your money was well spent. You
have invested a lot of time in planning, so you know that you have done
everything you could possibly do to make your day as special as you want
it. One bride was so stressed out and worried over the small details (that
she had paid someone to handle) that she didn't even know who the photographer
was when she pulled up to her hotel (despite the camera in hand). Your only
job on your wedding day is to make your fiancé smile as you walk
up that aisle, so keeping yourself away from as much stress as possible
will keep you feeling and looking good.
Most of the time the things that go "wrong"
are only wrong according to the bride. However, if a candle was not lit,
or if the cake was not exactly the way that the couple ordered it, no one
else will know about it besides the Bride, the Groom and a few close friends.
This is still important to the couple, but at least it was not something
that everyone noticed. Some of the Brides have had some events occur that
were (or could have been) obvious to everyone else around...
One bride was to be married at a plantation, and
we were taking some portraits of her on the lawn before the wedding began.
The ceremony and reception were to be held in a separate building located
at the back of the plantation, so she was offered a ride in a golf cart
by one of the plantation attendants. Unfortunately, the dirt road they took
was wet and muddy, and as I photographed her riding away, I watched as the
mud flipped up onto her beautiful white dress, unbeknownst to her. She was
able to clean up before the ceremony, and she can now look back at the photo
of the mud...thank goodness she had help cleaning up that dress!
Recently, a beautiful church ceremony was taking
place, the couple kneeling at the altar. Everyone in the whole church heard
commotion and loud talking at the side door of the church (which evidently
had not been locked). The priest continued his Mass as we watched a woman
with several children running in and out, talking very loudly (even after
she saw that there was a wedding taking place). The photographer walked
over to the side door and the woman proceeded to ask if she could come in
to get some holy water. The Bride was obviously upset (everyone in the church
saw what was going on), and I nicely requested that she come back later.
Sometimes Iit's difficult to understand what people are thinking!
The groom at one wedding forgot the ring...YES,
the RING! He asked the photographer if I thought the bride would be mad
if he didn't have it. HUH???
On a lighter (musical) note, a wedding downtown
required the help of another photographer, Celeste Mackenroth. Both photographers
waited up at the altar for the ceremony to begin, but it never did. One
walked to the back to inquire about why it hadn't started yet, and the bride
said that they were waiting for the organist to show up. The photographer
told the bride that she could sing for her while the second photographer
photographed the precessional. The singing photographer hiked it up four
flights of stairs and sang "The Rose" for the bridesmaids to walk
up to, then the photographer ran back down to finish her job. No one knew
that she was the one who sang - it all went like it had been planned that
way. Later it was discovered that the organist's contract said 6pm, not
1pm.
If it makes anyone feel better, this photographer
reports that she has never once personally witnessed a Bride or bridesmaid
trip and fall. Yet, they are all still worried that this will happen to
them. If you are at your reception and realize that something is missing,
or is not exactly what you wanted, remember that you can not change it at
that point, so focus on enjoying yourself rather than wasting precious reception
hours worrying over the things that went wrong. Just remember, "As
long as the groom shows up, everything else will be just fine!."
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