Ever wonder why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding? Seems a bit odd doesn’t it? I mean you’ve just forked out a small fortune to host this spectacular wedding reception to celebrate your marriage, why should you spend any more on gifts? Surely the $100 per head 3 course dinner you’ve provided for them is enough, right? Well in my research of wedding traditions, the answer lies in what people believed to help with the vitality of the party.
bomboniere ideas
Why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding
The origin of the tradition dates back to the 1600s when French aristocrats used to give out jeweled boxes full of sugar coated almonds as a means to increase vitality in the party. A gift of a bonbonnière was a symbol of care extended to all guests. Sugared almonds carried additional significance at weddings, as the bitterness of the almonds and the sweetness of the sugar was thought to symbolise the bitter-sweetness of marriage. The practice spread across Europe where the Italians, Greeks and Spanish also thought the sugar on almonds gave health giving properties. As the price of sugar fell, more and more people were able to copy society’s elite much in the same way white wedding gowns became the norm in the 1800s. The shape and colour of the almonds also mimicked eggs, a symbol of fertility.
While the opulent, jeweled boxes have fallen to the wayside in favour of cheaper options, such as paper bags in modern times; those sugar coated almonds remain. Love them or hate them, they are a staple at weddings and you’ll find them in almost every wedding. They are cheap, small and easy to give out, but these days people often opt for more substantial gifts to compliment them. From photo frames to lego minifigs right through to bottles of liquor and pieces of jewellery, modern bomboniere can be very diverse.
Lego
bomboniere ideas
The reason why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding all stems from the tradition of the French of getting a sugar high from eating too much sugar. Who knew? 🙂
I’m pleased to present the wedding of Jess and Jake which took place in the Port Elliot Memorial Gardens during a very busy weekend during October! I say very busy as SvenStudios managed to cover 3 weddings this weekend, with the wedding of Jess and Jake here photographed by Ross Daly, and editing done by yours truly.
Preparation
Jess and Jake were being prepared at McCracken Country club which boasts a magnificent view overlooking the golf fairway and a lovely intimate reception center. Ross was caught up with preparations on the day so saw himself walking in between rooms, taking photos of both Jess and Jake in turn.
Bride
Wedding dress
Wedding shoes
Smiling bride
Engagement ring
Bride and maid of honour
Back of wedding dress
Makeup
Best Man
Best Man
Watch
Groom
Groom and Best Man
Port Elliot Memorial Gardens wedding ceremony
During World War 1, Port Elliot was a place of recreation for soldiers on leave. The gardens were originally established as a community project for soldiers, and then officially dedicated as a Soldier’s memorial after the planting of the memorial trees lining the park. The trees were planted in a tribute to the local soldier’s contribution and includes a tree planted to fallen New Zealand soldiers. The Park also now includes trees planted in commemoration of Australian soldiers involved in other conflicts as well, with 24 bronze plaques dedicated in May 2012.
Groom looking nervous
Blushing Bride
Holding wedding ring
Port Elliot Memorial Gardens wedding
Holding Hands
Maid of Honour
Wedding Certificate kiss
Glamour Photos
After the wedding ceremony, Ross, along with Jess and Jake’s videographers led the couple around the Port Elliot Memorial Gardens for some glamour shots. The gardens provide for a wide range of different backdrops, including weaving paths through flowerbeds, huge lining trees and even a beach scene.
Going for a walk
Walking in the garden
Sitting on a bench
Sitting on a bench
Kissing amongst the roses
All smiles
Looking out the trees
Walking in the garden
McCracken Country Club wedding reception
The McCracken Country Club always puts on a good fare at a wedding. Their function room overlooks the country club’s fairway and is spacious enough to host a decent sized wedding party without feeling too cavernous. I hadn’t been back to McCracken since I was the wedding photographer at a wedding last new year’s eve, so I was a little envious of Ross!
Vanessa and Justin’s wedding took place at the historic St Andrew’s Church in Walkerville, north east of the city. The church provided some beautiful surrounds to what was obviously a love filled ceremony to celebrate two wonderful families coming together. I started the day at St Andrew’s Church for the ceremony, and saw us venture into Port Adelaide for some industrial-themed glamour shots and then to the Royal Australian Yacht Squadron for Vanessa & Justin’s reception. vanessa and Justin opted to take advantage of my flexible hourly package for 4 hours. The weather on the day was absolutely stunning which enabled some amazing photos to be taken. Enjoy!
St Andrew’s Church Wedding Ceremony
I arrived around an hour early to the wedding which enabled me to float about capturing Justin and his entourage putting the final touches on their suits and adjusting their hair. Justin was all smiles which just a touch of nervousness sneaking in, but he hid it well 🙂
Groom smiling
Groom smiling
St Andrew’s Church is a historic church being built in 1848 on land enthusiastically donated by a local brewer. It’s claim to fame are its magnificently preserved stained glass windows, the majority of which are from the British Company of James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars. The insides of the church provide a wonderfully dimly-lit atmosphere perfect for a sacred ceremony such as marriage, plus it’s cavernous ceilings give great opportunities for epic photographs.
St Andrew’s Church
Groom smiling at bride
Bride walking down aisle
signing registry
Inside the church
Bride and groom
Lighting candle together
Bride and Groom at altar
First kiss
Bride and Groom at altar
Inside the church
Priest
Glamour photos
Wedding rings
In front of the church
In front of the church
In front of the church
After the ceremony and group photos out the front of the church, we headed down to a very popular wedding photography spot in Port Adelaide. So popular in fact that we had no less than 3 different weddings there at one point! While we waited for the other weddings to leave at the Port Adelaide Wool Sheds, I suggested we head around the corner to a more quiet location with wonderfully industrial walls to use as a backdrop.
Bridal party with wedding car
Brick walls
Port Adelaide Wool Sheds wedding
Wedding car
Wedding car
Port Adelaide Wool Sheds wedding
After the other weddings had left, we had the roads in front of the famous Port Adelaide Wool Sheds all to ourselves, and the sun was fantastic! I used the sun’s flares to great effect behind Vanessa and Justin to create a beautifully lit, dreamy backdrop. I had loads of fun 🙂
Port Adelaide wool sheds wedding
Wedding shadows
Flower girl eating berries
Sun backdrop
Bridal party on brick wall
Bridal party
Port Adelaide wool sheds wedding
Groomsmen
Before the reception started at the Royal Yacht Squadron, we had a few minutes to utilise the stunning backdrop of the marina for a few more photos. This was mainly due to having tried Semaphore beach for some shots with the jetty, but not finding a park.
Groom and his Groomsmen
Lovey Dovey
Royal South Australian Yacht Club wedding
Royal South Australian Yacht Club wedding
Royal South Australian Yacht Club wedding
Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron Wedding Reception
I’ve been down to the Yacht Squadron quite a few times now for different weddings and receptions. It’s become quite a popular venue due to its neat backdrop of million dollar yachts and close proximity to beaches like Semaphore. The clubhouses have been upgraded to have a modern, clean feel overlooking the marina and the staff couldn’t be nicer.
Bride and Groom laughing with guests
Bride and Groom laughing with guests
Bridal entrance
Cutting the wedding cake
Kids being kids
Gifts
Wedding cake
I’d like to thank Vanessa and Justin for having me be their wedding photographer on their wedding day, and I hope they enjoy their photos!
How to include guests who can’t attend your wedding
More often than not, when organising your guest list for your wedding, you’ll find out that some guests you have a deep connection with cannot make it due to any number of reasons. These guests are people who perhaps are too old and frail to venture out to your wedding venue, or perhaps they are living overseas. I thought I might make a bit of a list of ideas I’ve seen when covering weddings as a wedding photographer of how to include guests who can’t attend your wedding.
Ideas for how to include guests who can’t attend your wedding
Mobile phone
Live stream your ceremony
Providing of course that your wedding venue has good mobile phone coverage, you could opt to live stream your wedding ceremony via your mobile device. Modern smartphones with cameras all have this ability whereby you can set up a face to face call with the guest that could not make it and instead of facing the camera towards yourself, simply turn it around so that it’s facing the altar. In this way your guest can participate in the wedding ceremony in real time.
If you’re a little more tech minded one could also set up a live streaming event with a service such as livestream, where you’re able to hook up a camera with a PC with an internet connection. Using this kind of service more than just one guest could watch the stream at once.
Since writing this article in 2016, I have started offering not only live streaming services, but also Virtual reality recording services so let me know if you’d like to make use of what I offer! 🙂
Record a video message to play at your reception
One wedding that I fondly remember was the wedding of Michaela & Paddy at the SC Pannell Winery where the reception featured a video of well wishes from guests all around the world who could not make it. The reactions from Michaela seeing the faces of loved ones talking to her via video was a beautiful addition to the day.
Videographer
Make use of a Videographer
As a wedding photographer, I’m often working alongside a videographer, and I will be soon expanding into this area as a new service. The best use of a wedding videographer is of course having a full video documenting your wedding day in ways that still photography cannot. A great idea for how to include guests who cannot attend your wedding is to hold a viewing party at some point after your wedding where you can take your video to the guests who couldn’t make it. You can also opt to send a copy of your video to guests abroad, or even use the internet.
Guests pictures
Represent guests not present with their photo
Having guests who could not make it represented by framed photos is a wonderful idea to remember those who could not make it for one reason or another. This idea is often used for those guests who would have loved to attend but who had passed on before the wedding date.
Many brides often have a family member that is so important that they carry a photo charm of them attached to their bridal bouquet – whch is a lovely gesture for guests who have touched the heart of the bride.
Grandpa ion bouquet
These are just some of the ideas I’ve picked up throughout the dozens of weddings I’ve covered. If you have another idea to perhaps add to this list I’d love to hear about it!
After the stress of planning your wedding, and your wedding day is a fond memory, there is a list of things to do after your wedding that not many people remember. Some of the things on the list can be as important as some of the things you planned for the wedding when you consider the fact that the entire reason why you spent so much energy planning your perfect day was not only for you, but also for your friends and family. It’s best to get these out of the way sooner rather than later too, as many of them require the memory of the day to remain fresh in your mind. So don’t forget about this list of things to do after your wedding, as in some cases you might set yourself up for disaster!
Kuitpo Forest wedding
List of things to do after your wedding
Send out your thankyou cards
One sure-fire way to have guests complaining about your wedding day is to not show gratitude for them making the effort for being there. They’d also probably left you a generous gift, in addition to possibly giving you a gift for your engagement and spending a small fortune to get to your wedding day – if they live some distance away. A small token in the form of a thankyou card goes a long way to make everyone feel loved. Often you can ask your wedding photographer to quickly edit up an image or two to use for this occasion. Particularly if you plan the shot and bring along a sign, or banner that says ‘thank you’ or something similar.
Change your name
For those brides out there that are planning on changing their name as per tradition, I hope you’re aware that it doesnt automatically change? You need to go through a bit of a process to have your name changed, and your marriage certificate is only the start of the process. You will need to visit your bank, insurance brokers, immigration office, etc in order to actually change it!
Choose your photos
Once your wedding photographer has completed editing your photos, nows the time to select those precious few to create a timeless piece of art from. As a photographer, there is nothing better than seeing beautiful imagery framed professionally and printed on beautiful paper stock or canvass. This would also be the best time to select a larger number for your wedding album, the book that will be within arms reach for years to come in order for you to reach over and reminisce about your big day. It’s no use keeping your images on the USB, or your computer’s hard drive where no one will appreciate them, please PLEASE invest in producing proper heirlooms from your photography. You won’t regret it.
Bride and groom on Glenelgs Jetty
The Legal stuff
Ok, this bit is boring, but you must, for your new family’s sake, visit a lawyer and make sure everything is in order. Consider your finances, are you going to combine incomes and bank accounts? Have your sorted out any life insurance and executors of estates? Definitely sort out a will, and if there are any children involved, ensure their future. Make sure you add any new items such as engagement rings, or expensive gifts to your insurance. Possibly also consider family health insurance to save money?
Review your wedding suppliers
Many wedding vendors are small businesses that rely heavily on your testimonials after the fact. As a wedding photographer most of my business comes from people surfing the internet or hearing about my work from friends. Many couples will read reviews I’ve received from previous clients to gain an insight on how good I am. Leaving a favourable review on places like Facebook, Google and ABIA go a long way in supporting the business that made your day so memorable and will help any new couples with selecting the very best.
Head to the dry cleaners
Of all the things on this list of things to do after your wedding, this one may well be one of the first you’ll do before heading out on that honeymoon. Go and get that expensive dress dry cleaned! Unless of course you’re planning on having a ‘destroy the dress’ photoshoot. Same goes for the men’s suits if you bought them and not rented.
Wedding dress
I’m sorry if you think I’ve just given you so much more to do on top of the stress of planning your perfect wedding, but going through this list is pretty important! Many newly weds forget about some of these and can be worse off for it. If you can think of any other items to add to this list of things to do after your wedding please feel free to comment below and I’ll add them!