One of my favorite details I’ve seen at weddings is the table filled with wedding photos from parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents of the bride and groom. It’s so awesome to honor your family heritage and the people who paved the way before you on such a special occasion. I love looking at the old style portraits, and it’s easy to see common themes from weddings in the ’30s, ’50s, ’70s, etc.
Wedding portraits have long been an important part of preserving family history, and capturing the happy couple on their special day. This hasn’t changed over time. It has, however, evolved into a much more creative process (which makes people like me really, really excited).
I always tell my couples that some of the most important images on their wedding day will be the photos of the two of them together — after all, that’s what every wedding guest will be excited to see and what your family members for generations will look at… and set out on their wedding day picture table! :)
When it comes time to think about your bride and groom portraits, it’s important to really think about where and when we can capture the essence of who you are as a couple! I will always take some more traditional photos of the bride and groom in the church (moms love these), but putting a creative twist on your photos or (even better!) choosing an off-site location for the creative portraits is one way to personalize your big day!
The photos below, which I’ve chosen to include in our “best of 2008” voting were taken at all different locations, some with extended portrait sessions and some with 10-minute outdoor sessions at a reception site. The point is, we get to customize your photos to your wedding day, your personality and your love for each other! I chose all of these because they’re not posed-fake-smiling-staring-right-at-me types of photos. They’re interactive, and show off the relationship. They were also all done at outdoor locations in between the ceremony and reception — some required more of a trip and pre-planning, and others were very quick sessions that made all the difference in the style and options for bride and groom portraits!
#1 – Serena and Steve. This was taken in front of the old doors at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The museum was in between their ceremony church and reception venue, so we stopped there for a quick session in between.
#2 – Terah and Chris. This was taken in a gazebo right outside their reception venue, Heritage Hall in Topeka.
#3 – Meryl and Greg. Their creative session was taken on the rooftop of their ceremony and reception site, Club 1000, in downtown Kansas City. This was a very quick session in between the ceremony and reception while the staff flipped the room from one layout to another for the reception!
#4 – Jayme and Tim. This “corn field” was actually a very small patch at their reception location, Mahaffie Farms, in Olathe, Kansas. It totally fit with their personalities, style and theme of their whole day. Thankfully, they were up for climbing into the field for me. :)
#5 – Janae and Travis. We rode a “party bus” with their whole wedding party to Lake Jacomo, near Blue Springs, Missouri, for a portrait session in between the ceremony and reception. It wasn’t on the way to the reception site, but they had time and had planned to hang out in between, so we took advantage of the great photo opportunity!
Do you have a favorite? Want to know more about what we can do during these sessions? Leave a comment (just click on the “Comments” link at the lower right). But first… on to the voting! :)
ericamay photography blog: thought studio. 
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