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Wedding ring photography

The beginning of my day covering a wedding as a wedding photographer usually sees me at the location where the groom and his grooms men are being prepared and getting dressed in order to get the wedding ceremony. As a result I’m usually asking for the wedding ring to do a bit of wedding ring photography. Doing the wedding ring photography and other product shots affects such as the shoes, or any jewellery like cuff links, and wearables like ties and suit jackets I like to treat as a bit of a warm up for the day for both myself and for the boys, who may not be overly comfortable with a photographer constantly taking photos of them during the day.

It’s usually the case that this sort of photogrpahy requires specialised lenses and photographic equipment that may or may not be common place in a wedding photographer’s kit – but to do the best work, you need the best camera and lenses for product photography.

Wedding ring photography

The goal is really to show any details of the ring or rings while having some sort of a background that speaks to the type of person the groom is. It’s traditional at a wedding for the groom and his best man to look after the rings so I feel having something like his tie, or cuff links, even the flowers he’s wearing on the day as a background really helps portray this personal aspect of the wedding rings.

Wedding rings
Wedding rings
wedding rings
Wedding rings
Wedding Rings
Wedding Rings
Wedding rings

It is however coming more and more popular for the bride and her entourage to look after the rings, I’m thinking trust is the defining factor here? 🙂 When this is the case, the rings are often placed nearby flowers, or clothing such as the wedding dress. This is again to show a bit of personality behind the photograph. It’s also quite common to find them tied onto the page boy’s cushion, ready to be presented during the wedding ceremony.

Wedding rings
Wedding rings
Adelaide wedding photographer
Wedding rings
Wedding rings
wedding rings
Wedding Rings

This being said however, wedding rings are usually very personal items to begin with, so there is a certain charm to wedding ring photography where the background is as plain as possible. I usually try to find a nice clean hardwood surface to produce these types of photos, as the grain fades away in the natural bokeh of my lens in a very satisfying way.

Wedding rings
Wedding rings
Wedding rings
Wedding rings

Wedding ring photography, I feel is one of the important photographs I must capture on a wedding day as they signify the never ending union of the wedded couple, and as I’m there to capture all the emotion and joy on this most special of days, I figure the wedding rings should also play a major role in those memories! 🙂

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Bomboniere ideas for your wedding

Bomboniere gifts, or ‘favours’ to your guests on a wedding day have become quite common place over the years, however it’s usually a bit of a task to find bomboniere ideas that really speak about who you are as a couple and that your guests might actually want. As a wedding photographer I’m in a great position to get to experience weddings of all sorts, of couples of all different personalities, so I get to see a whole heap of different bomboniere ideas. I thought it might be helpful if I gave you a bit of a list of the more unique, or practical I’ve seen.

bomboniere ideas

What is a Bomboniere?

But first, a bit of history behind the idea of bomboniere gifts. The practice of giving bomboniere dates right back to 14th century Italy, when the families of engaged couples swapped small packages filled with sweets as a sign of good fortune. Over time, those horrible sugar-coated almonds became the preferred choice of sweets and are pretty much now the staple of Australian bomboniere gifts… unfortunately. Hopefully this list will give you other ideas! 🙂

Bomboniere ideas

Lolly Bar

This idea I’ve seen a few times at weddings I’ve covered. The idea is that your guests are given a small bag or basket of some description in order to fill up themselves with a selection of sweets. It’s also there to augment your menu during the reception of course 🙂

bomboniere bar

Bridal party deck of cards

This one can be fun, how about printing off a deck of cards featuring an image of the bride and groom, along with their entourage as King, queen, Jack, etc? Doing this is surprisingly cost effective when done on the scale needed for wedding favours, and you can literally personalise it with yourself!

Home made sauce or Jam

I often mention this to new wedding photography clients as an idea to get the older members of your family involved in your wedding day. It’s common to have members of the family who might want to be involved with your wedding, but cant for whatever reason. Why not let them sort out your bomboniere gifts with their cooking skills? This is right up there with the lolly bar in terms of how often I see this at weddings.

Home made jam

A scratchy lottery ticket

While perhaps not the most personal of bomboniere ideas, an instant win lottery ticket would be very cost effective (or expensive, depending on how much you want to spend) and can create a sense of excitement and even delirious joy in the off chance someone strikes it lucky! Could even double as a last minute gift for your guests to give back to you via your wishing well.

A picture frame

If you happen to have a photo booth at your wedding reception, and if it’s like the SvenStudios photo booth, that prints proper sizes prints for your guests to keep, why not keep them in style with their own photo frame?

photo frame

Polaroids

As a bit of a segway from the photo frames, perhaps have a few polaroid instant cameras floating about your reception? your guests can pick one up and create their own little keepsake from your wedding.

Individual caricatures

Or how about even having a cartoon artist wandering about drawing everyone? This bomboniere ideas as it always makes people smile and how awesome is having a piece of art to take home from your wedding?

Wedding Reception Keepsake SketchArtist

Lego minifigs or small toys

For the child in all of us, a recent wedding I was a photographer at had little bags of toys for every guest, and included were lego minifigs. Both young and old had a blast opening their little lego man and spending time building them while waiting for their entrée to arrive. By the end of the night, every table had a small army of little men running about. It was pretty awesome… Because everything is awesome.

Lego

Selecting the perfect bomboniere for your special occasion can be a daunting task, but with a little creativity and thoughtfulness, you can create a meaningful and memorable gift for your guests.

Whether you choose to go with a classic favor or a more personalized option, the key is to keep your guests in mind and choose something that reflects the overall theme and style of your event. With these bomboniere ideas and tips, you can make sure that your guests leave with a special token of appreciation that will be treasured for years to come.

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Bridal bouquet designs

Closeup of bridal bouquet

There is nothing more synonymous with weddings than the bridal bouquet. The bridal bouquet are the flowers the bride walks down the aisle with, to meet her groom. They are in nearly every photo taken on the day by their wedding photographer and they usually reflect some of the personality of the bride herself. Be it the colours, style, even what the flowers are made of, they all speak of the choices and effort the bride has put into planning the wedding day.

Some brides might follow trends in colours, such as the yearly fashionable pantone colour sets that are released each year. Or perhaps they will hop on pintrest to find the most unique style of bridal bouquet available. Perhaps still they might ask a florest for help. In any case, as a wedding photographer I have seen a vast array of different ideas and styles of bridal bouquet you may consider for your own wedding.

Bridal bouquet ideas

Origami paper flowers

Harry Potter Wedding Bouquet
Harry Potter bouquet

One common comment I hear on wedding days are how heavy bridal bouquets often are, they can get very heavy when using real flowers, as they can be quite large in size they hold a lot of water within their stems. It’s also a costly fact, as many brides opt for having a special ‘throwing’ bouquet made so they can throw it during their reception and not hurt anyone. One cunning solution to this I saw at Michaela and Paddy’s wedding where they had a bit of a Harry Potter theme going on, so she made her bridal bouquet out of pages from the Harry Potter books. This allowed for a very light, and easy to carry (and throw) bouquet.

Native flora

Bride with bridal bouquet
Bridal Party

Native Australian flora is not something many people think of when designing their bouquet. There’s not usually a lot of different colours, nor big bushy flowers to add, such as roses and more traditional flowers. But when designing a wedding around a more rustic theme, incorporating aspects such as heshen and more rustic decorations, native flora really works well. Tessa and Robbie’s wedding really put this together well.

Beads

Wedding
Bridal preparation

Having your bridal bouquet made out of anything other than flowers may seem a little odd until you see the effect it can have on your day. Bek’s bouquet was absolutely unique to her own personality and tastes. Made to compliment their wedding colours Bek’s hand-made creation gave a bit of sparkle and personality to what would otherwise be just another bunch of flowers held by a bride. The great thing about them are that they’d last forever! Very heavy though, so I wouldn’t recommend throwing one!

Draping flowers

Wedding bouquet
Bridal party

By ‘draping’ flowers I mean the bottom of the flower arrangement droops towards the ground, creating a rather nice train-like effect kind of mirroring what a bridal gown might do. Danielle’s bridal bouquet was carefully designed and colour selected to compliment both her own and her bridal party’s gowns. You can see the upside down tear drop of a shape the trailing flowers make towards the bottom of the arrangement. It’s all very elegant and works perfectly with a more traditional style wedding.

Artificial with jewels

Bride and groom under gum tree
Bridal bouquet

The great advantage of having artificial flowers in your bridal bouquet is that you’re able to decorate them however you’d like! As was the case at Monika & Craig’s wedding, where Monkia had her bouquet studded with little gems at the centre of each artificial flower. She was also able to have her flower arrangement small and easy to carry around with her all day as they were as light as a feather.

Local Wildflowers

Engagement ring
Bridal party

As with the Native fauna idea above, the local windflowers in display at Belinda and Jono’s wedding really made their native glamour photos stand out, and add a bit of natural green to their overall wedding theme. I like to think that Jono ran about in the early hours of the morning to pick them all for the girls, but I’m sure that diddn’t happen 😀

There are plenty of other ideas out there for your bridal bouquets, I just figured I’d put together some of the more novel designs I’ve come across in my years as a professional Adelaide wedding photographer!

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How to save on your Wedding Dress

Bride and groom at sunset, nature backdrop, wedding day love.

How to save on your Wedding Dress

Are you an Adelaide bride-to-be dreaming of a stunning wedding dress without breaking the bank? You’re not alone! I recently documented a wedding where the bride astoundingly snagged her dress for just $50. It was far from a fashion disaster – instead, it was a gorgeous, well-crafted gown. What’s more, she bought three dresses at this price by taking advantage of a closing-down sale at a local bridal shop.

As a seasoned wedding photographer in Adelaide, I’ve witnessed numerous weddings and have gathered invaluable tips on how to save on your wedding dress without overspending.

Wedding dress hanging at Al-Ru Wedding

Tips on how to save on your Wedding Dress

 

1. Prioritize Local Shops Over Online Stores

While online shopping offers affordability and variety, the risks can be high. Imagine the disappointment of receiving a dress that’s completely different from what you ordered. By choosing local bridal shops, you support our community and avoid last-minute dress disasters and exorbitant shipping costs.

Expectations vs reality
Expectations vs reality

2. Know your price range before you shop

Buying a wedding dress is often a highly emotional affair, which vendors can pick up on and cause you to start spending over and above what you expected, or budgeted to pay. If you’re familiar with the TV show Family Guy (s10e21), there is a scene about this exact scenario. The dress was out of their budget, but the salesman talked them into buying it all the same because he picked up on the bride’s emotions. Try to only try on dressed that you know you can afford, do not get tempted by that more expensive dress as you know once you put it on you’ll have to cut back on more important things, like a few extra nights on your honeymoon.

Family Guy Wedding Dress

3. Check out ‘Trunk Shows’

Trunk shows are fantastic for viewing new bridal designs and snagging previous collections at a discount, sometimes up to 50% off. Adelaide frequently hosts bridal fairs at venues like the Adelaide Showground and the Convention Centre, offering prime opportunities for deals.

4. Get lucky with sales and changing stock

Many brides have found their dream dresses at a fraction of the cost by purchasing floor samples or taking advantage of sales. Adelaide bridal stores often reduce prices on these items, making it a perfect opportunity to find a high-quality gown at a lower price.

sale

5. Plan way ahead of your wedding

Planning months in advance of your wedding will save you money in a number of ways, first you know what you want, you have a reasonable budget and you can take your time choosing and hoping for that amazing bargain. Second if you leave it too late you may have to spring for huge express shipping fees just to make sure your gown is with you on time.

6. Use your credit card

When buying your dress, consider using a credit card that offers rewards, like frequent flyer points. This strategy can help extend your honeymoon or provide additional benefits for your wedding expenses.

Credit Cards

Understanding how to save on your wedding dress is key to achieving your dream wedding in Adelaide without overspending. By focusing on local shopping experiences, setting a realistic budget, taking advantage of trunk shows, scouting for sales and floor samples, planning ahead, and making smart use of credit card rewards, you can find a beautiful gown that meets both your style and budgetary needs.

Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to looking stunning on your big day while keeping your finances in check. Remember, a savvy approach to wedding dress shopping doesn’t just save money—it also paves the way for a more enjoyable and stress-free wedding planning experience.