Photos You Will Want to Capture at Your Wedding: Portrait Shots

Our anniversary is in six days!! Holy cow! And today is Wedding Wednesday, it is going to be a great day! So far in this little mini series I have shared with you photos you should make sure your photographer gets during getting ready and ceremony! Now onto the portraits portion!

Photos You Will Want to Capture at Your Wedding: Getting Ready Shots

Happy first day of November and happy anniversary month to my hubby and I! I miss Wedding Wednesday so much and I can't believe we are almost at the 2 year mark! Where the heck did time go? Awhile back I found this list of  120 Wedding Photos you'll cherish forever and thought every Wednesday this month I would share with you my top 5 from our wedding from each category!

{ #TatumTakeover } Erin + Jay's Wedding

This past weekend one of my best friends got married! This was the first wedding I was a bridesmaid in and it was so much fun getting to experience all the fun moments with Erin on her wedding weekend and throughout the entire wedding planning process!!

Etsy Shop { The Tattoo Boutique }

SHOP //  INSTAGRAM

Stephenson Wedding {Bridesmaid Photos}

After last week's  Wedding Wednesday of the final  Bride & Groom photos, you all saw a peak of the girls from behind with my sweet groom and I in the background. Now today is all about the special  ladies in my life!

Stephenson Wedding {Bridesmaid Chalkboards}

As soon as I got engaged I began roaming the wonderful world of  Pinterest for ideas! One of the first ideas I saw and wanted to do was to have the girls write on a Chalkboard when/how we met. Well I got busy with other stuff and almost forget to get the girls chalkboards and almost completely forgot to do this, but low and behold about a month before the wedding I got about 4 texts messages all from different people sending me the same picture of some bridesmaids and brides with chalkboards! Thank goodness for these ladies because it was one of the things I really wanted to capture! I loved the idea and my girls loved it and now I can share it with yall for  Wedding Wednesday!

Stephenson Wedding {Bridesmaid Luncheon}

It is Wednesday again so it means another wedding post. The second item on our events for the day before the wedding was the Bridesmaid Luncheon at Carolina Country Club! Some lovely ladies that are friends of my Grandmother hosted this lovely party honoring my Bridesmaids! The Bridesmaid Luncheon was at Carolina Country Club, which is a beautiful location for anything! The room they rented our was beautifully decorated with flowers and a warm fire! 

6 Tips for Being the Perfect Bridesmaid

Hello Girl Talk readers! I am so excited to be here today while Ashley is away busy with all things wedding! I'm Laura and I blog over at Life with Lolo. It's a lifestyle blog with all the usual musings of a 20 something, with everything from bachelorette parties to pupcakes!

Since I have yet to be a bride, I thought I'd enlighten you with guidance on something I have done - been a bridesmaid!  I'm well on my way to 27 dresses (kidding I'm only at 3 so far) so I like to think I'm an expert when it comes to standing beside your bride on her big day. Since it is one of your best friend's, best days ever, it's important for you to be the perfect bridesmaid. Ok, no one is perfect, but here are my tips for being as close to it as possible. One | Don't mess with the dress. You've all heard it before "it's the bride's day so you should wear what she wants you to wear." ABSOLUTELY. The last thing the bride should ever have to worry about on her big day is whether or not you like your bridesmaid dress. So if you don't like it, keep your mouth shut! Most brides are very gracious and ask for your opinions when she picks them out. This is your chance to give your input, but by no means shut down her ideas. This is her day, and her vision for her maids. Respect that and you will have a happy bride.

Tight, satin dresses on a day it's 107 degrees? Yes, because it's her day!

Two | Be there. Be present. Be timely. It's your responsibility as a bridesmaid to attend all of the bridal activities. Yes, I understand there are miles, and finances and emergencies that can get in the way. Bottom line though, you were THAT important to her to be a bridesmaid so these events should be THAT important to you. Don't treat these events as a "have to" though, be present and enjoy the moments with your bride. Put your phone away (other than pictures) and enjoy these once in a lifetime moments with your friend. Lastly be on time. I can not stress this enough especially on the big day! Being late to anything, in my opinion, is rude but to a wedding you are in? About the worst thing I can think of. Keep your stress and the bride's stress low that day (and during other events) by showing up on time, or better yet, early!

Three | Help a sister out. On the big day the best thing to be is helpful. There are a million and one things to be done and if that means you as a bridesmaid have to help, so be it. You are there for the bride and want to make her day perfect, so make it about her and do everything possible to put her at ease. I've done things like styled other bridesmaid's hair, helped the florist get arrangements in the refrigerator, and my favorite "coordinated" the ceremony. Whatever needs to be done! 

Four | Make it meaningful. I know more than anyone being a bridesmaid can get spendy. However, it is very important that you give a meaningful gift to the bride and groom. Yes, the costs add up - shower, bachelorette, dress, accessories... but your gift doesn't have to be expensive, it has to be meaningful. She thought you were special enough to be part of her big day, so do something special and unique for her. I typically do not buy off a registry, I put together my own gift, not only to save on costs, but to make it personal. My favorites have been this custom cutting board and the Moscow Mule Kit (similar) I created for the couple that met in Moscow.

Five | Be grateful. It is a great honor and privilege to be a part of someones big day. Thank your bride. Thank your groom. Thank their families! Every one of my brides have given such sweet gifts and been so appreciative. It's important to reciprocate that. All it takes is a hug and a "thank you." Tell her how important she is to you and how happy you were to be there for her.

Six | Have fun! Do I really need to elaborate on this one? A wedding is a celebration, make the most of it (within reason) and have a blast with some of your favorite people!

Have you been a bridesmaid? Anything you would add? Congratulations Ashley! Thanks so much for having me! Want more Lolo? Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Facebook

Bachelorette Photo Shoot

If you are going to a bachelorette party sometime soon I would highly suggest hiring a photographer to get some pictures of all the girls. When we started planning my Bachelorette Party I knew before anything was planned I wanted to have a photographer come one day and take photos of my girls and I! As you may know, if you read my #TheChaseIsOver112115 post, we went to Savannah over Labor Day weekend...I love Savannah and thought it was a gorgeous place to have a photo shoot done. So I booked it, planned it and they turned out great! It was tough to find a photographer in a place knew nothing about and on a holiday weekend, but The Knot came in handy and I found Heather from Heather Kline Photography and she was amazing!! She knew the spots to go and knew we didn't have much time so she squeezed as much as she could in 30 minutes! If you ever need a photographer in Savannah, she is the one to go to! Now...get ready for a whole bunch of photos!!

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