• Pip has posted a selection on facebook.
• The full gallery can be found here. You can download (at no cost) or print the photos you like by adding them to your cart.

Btw, with the downloads and prints we did on-site, Jilske Photography raised 160$ – just enough to help tip the total to over 20.000$. What a phenomenal job! Well done Pip and everyone who helped!!!

Do you also have your old wedding dress lying around? Are you inspired to get it out, dress up and have some fun? Contact me and we might come up with a few lovely ideas together! I could do with another sparkling pomegranate cocktail…

All our knicks and knacks were sourced locally, from absolutely delightful people who pride themselves on personal service. The kind of service I love! Thanks so much to:

• Florist: Robyn Anne
• Hair & Make-up: Rebecca Shelley
• Patisserie: Oaks Ave Patisserie and Fine Bakery
• Cake stand & Vases: Favourite Things

Meet Jess:

How adorable is she right!?! But I like my cute with a little bit of wicked. And so does Jess. Cue her dream. And what might that be you ask? Good question! Jess really really really (REALLY) hated her wedding dress. Don’t worry, she had two at her wedding. Lucky girl. But this one gave her so much headaches that after the event, she started having visions of tearing it to bits and pieces. Putting it on fire. Throwing it to the dogs. Incidentally, their dogs are way too tiny to eat wedding dresses, so it just took up closet space for two years. Precious closet space.

Since I love helping people make their dreams come true, we set a date to get together. Jess and Rob brought their hated wedding outfits, I brought the props. And then we all had some fun…

PS: Don’t worry, Rob never actually wore that suit at the ceremony. But I did joke he could call me anytime he wanted to schedule a Miami Vice shoot!

Furball alert! How cute are these little devils??? Fuzzy. Sleepy. And mostly blind. Which doesn’t make them the best hunters in the animal world. Understatement of the year. But they don’t really care. They have got at least half a sense of smell. And they will eat anything. Literally! Not just the meat, but also skin, hair, bones,… as if it were mashed potato!

So why are they called devils then? Well, let’s just say they get a bit carried away when they smell food…

Their wailing/barking is über-creepy. And I imagine pretty scary at night. But watching them chase each other around is hilarious! At one point, one of them even ran OVER the food on the ground to chase one of his friends. See, that’s why I said they only have HALF a sense of smell! Cute yes, but also a little bit stupid maybe

See, even Skippy thinks they’re funny!

Not sure if it made me feel alone, or if I wanted to be.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

- No man is an island
This I know
Maybe you were the ocean,
when I was just a stone -

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. What I love most about my job is the people I get to work with.  When I suggested to the ladies organizing Jolly Solo that we do a photobooth for their event, they ran with the idea and then some!

Leah, the designer behind the Golden Goose, immediately came up with suggestions for props and setup. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Mildly put. I only had a boring white background, so I started brainstorming about different things we could do. At one point I think live reindeer were mentioned. Luckily Janna, the other half of Jolly Solo, managed to keep us (somewhat) in check.

So I’m now a pretty proud owner of a brand-new, custom made, professional-looking, red & white backdrop, which I think will look perfect for other party booths too! Check it out, what do you think?

Btw, love the Rudolph noses Leah made! And Santa beard. And reindeer antlers. And speech bubbles.  And hats. And glasses. And and and…

Here are the masterminds behind the whole event, Janna and Leah.
Janna and Leah, thank you both so much. I feel lucky to have connected with you. I’m impressed by how you’ve built Jolly Solo from scratch by yourselves. Not only is your enthusiasm and work incredibly admirable, what amazed me on the evening itself is how you’ve attracted a group of like-minded people and offered them a chance to bond and become friends.

And last but not least, while I was editing these I had a little bit of fun with the outtakes . For more photos, visit Jolly Solo’s gallery on Facebook.
Here’s Chris, from Octoply:

Yakov “Mi! Mi!”, the camera loves him!

People loved the booth so much, they just had to drop by to have a looksee…

One of these pearls is Parvati. We met a year ago, in Nepal. She was sitting in a shop in an alleyway of the Boudha stupa. Something about her was so graceful, and I asked her if it was OK to make a photo. She smiled, shyly, and nodded yes. I gestured if another one was ok. We laughed and giggled as we played with the light. Each time I showed her the result on the back of the screen. She was mesmerized by the last one. Her portrait. I wanted to give something back for the time and patience she had shown me. I wanted to give her that picture. I knew how to say tomorrow in Nepali. So I pointed at the photo, then at me, then at her. I said tomorrow and again pointed from the photo to her. I then asked her where she’d be, pointing at her and said again tomorrow, questioning. She smiled and pointed to the shop. And her books. She gestured something which I took to mean she was there every morning. Studying and tending to her father’s shop.
So the next day I asked around and found a photo shop near the stupa. I rushed to Parvati with the prints. Her smile made me feel like the 10 rupee I spent was worth a million…

So much in the language of photography is based on ‘taking’:  to shoot, to capture, to snap. While it should be about giving. Some cultures believe a person’s image holds a piece of their soul. Literally. While I don’t want to take away a piece of someone, I do love the idea behind it. Figuratively speaking, I hope my photographs do show some of a person’s essence. And Parvati taught me the least I can do in exchange is give back that image to them.

Wherever I go, I try as much as possible to print photos on the spot. No matter how shoddy the quality. Of course, in a village without electricity or printers, your options are limited. Either you take a mobile printing solution with you, e.g. the polaroid POGO printer. Or you can jot down the nearest city and the name of a contact. And hope the post pigeons get there somehow!

Today I go back to Burma. And one of the most important items in my luggage will be the prints below. At the same time I also finished and shipped prints to Mexico. Hope the cards and photos will bring a smile to their face! Really, who needs a lottery when you have a camera…

Friday June 3rd, 2011. I slowly open my eyes. The serenading traffic outside tells me I’m in Mexico. Funny how everything here has its own melody, from men to women to churches to lyrical cars. Mercedes and Pieter went to Mexico City last night to welcome their international guests. I decided to stay in Puebla to scout locations for tomorrow’s wedding. I slowly walk to my window, still a bit disoriented from the jet-lag. I look outside. WOW!!! Before me is the historical centre of Puebla. But that is not the thing that wakes me up. Behind the city lies Popocatépetl, also affectionately called ‘Popo’ by the locals. And just this morning, I watch him erupt with a vigor the locals haven’t seen in a long time. Mary assures me that evening it’s an auspicious sign. Nothing to worry about, tradition has it when Popo erupts, good things happen.

And so it goes. The next day a Mexican princess marries her Belgian prince. Their traditional ceremony, led by Meche’s adorable uncle, includes the giving of the ‘arras’ (coins) and being united by the ‘lazo’, a rosary in the figure eight to symbolize infinity.
Afterwards, everyone heads to the Hacienda where another joyful eruption takes place. Mexicans sure know how to party. And the Belgian family and friends from all over the world join in. La gran fiesta! The tequila flows freely, marimba is followed by salsa, disco and last but not least the Mariachi.

Meche told me her favorite picture is the one below.  The colors, the plants, the fountain and the hacienda remind her of her native country. And she’s happy that Pieter and herself look so elegant. Well, that’s because they are! 

As you can see Popo’s blessing even chased away the forecasted rain! I fell in love with the gorgeous sunlight in Mexico. Seriously. Hard not to make beautiful photos when you have a couple like this and light like that.
Here’s a small selection of my favorites, the hardest part was narrowing it down from over 500 photos.
I am really happy they opted to see each other before the ceremony, we had the hacienda all to ourselves. And I have to thank Paola, who was on dress watch, and Maria Fernanda for the behind the scenes photos. And both families for being so friendly all day, making me feel at home and making sure love was in the air.

A big shout-out to the following people who went above and beyond to ensure all went well:

• Hacienda San Agustin in Atlixco. Denisse and her family are amazing. No question is too much.
• Jose and Jael Cuautle from Floreria Tips for the truly beautiful flower arrangements.
• The handlers of the Templo (church) San Francisco Acatepec who showed me around and let me go up to the choir.

Curious to see how this will affect personal profiles and small businesses, I had a little sneak peek today and played around with the new changes. A short overview and some of my thoughts below. To see Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement à la Steve Jobs watch this keynote video.

Likes, Ticklers & Open Graph Apps
If you are a small business with a Facebook page – but no real interaction with your fans – your ‘likes’ will get lost in the fast-sliding roll cue that is the tickler. ‘Liking’ is just not going to create the same experience as the new Open Graph Apps will do. The next step is about listening and watching, and soon it will be any other interaction you can think of.

Timeline & Milestones
The other things that stand out are major events on a person’s timeline. Facebook has added ‘pre-defined’ events on the status update list, under:
- Work & Education (Job, Graduation, Military Service, other)
- Family & Relationships (Engagement, Marriage, Children, Pets, Death, other)
- Living (Moving, House, Roommates, Vehicles, other)
- Health & Wellness (Broke a bone, Surgery, Illness, other)
- Milestones & Experiences (Language, License, Travel, Achievement, Award, other)
I don’t think all of these will survive, but let’s have a look at adding a pet: If you are a lifestyle photographer, this is huge. This will show up on the person’s timeline as a major event, and your creative imagery could be attached to it. One weird design decision: the format. These photos (and also the new cover photos) are 851×513 pixels.

Personally
I like the fact that this platform is becoming more story-oriented on their way to capture more meaningful content. But I’m a bit perplexed on how they will determine which events are big milestones vs which are mere blips in your history?
Personally, I like to keep my personal diary, well, personal (and offline). What happens if all your online data and interactions disappear? Where do you keep your stories? And what about our friends that aren’t on Facebook? Which are some of the reasons I still have a separate personal blog.

As far as my business goes, I have been contemplating whether or not I should setup a separate page, or publish my content on my personal profile. Clearly, with the profile now being a person’s life over time, a separate page would be better. But then, maybe I should go for an app instead? Where people could interact with the photos and music I produce? But then all that content lives in Facebook, and I’d much rather see it out on the global worldwide web. Though with the new ‘subscribers’ feature I guess anybody can access anything. As if one of the biggest online countries has finally opened its borders. But it’s still not a democracy so.

And there are probably a million ways to use these new features that I haven’t thought of yet.  What do you think? Am I wrong in thinking this will be a huge shift?

‘Wedding People’ aka the ‘industry’, who are the usual suspects?

Whether you’d like to get married swimming with seahorses or in the church where you were baptized, you will always find someone who can help supply it for you. Usually you’ll deal with one or more of the following:

• Event coordinators, planners, designers, stylists
• Location, venue, food and drinks
• Celebrants and masters of ceremony
• Hairdressers and make-up
• Photographers and videographers
• Invitations and other stationery
• Dresses and jewelry

So how do you find these people? Most wedding magazines and blogs have a supplier’s directory. Google. Ask friends & family, who would they recommend? But, I hear you say:

I don’t just want to find A or B, I want someone with the best service and quality for the lowest price.

Ha. And you thought this would be easy. How do you know the people you are dealing with are professionals? You don’t. Most of these things don’t require a certification. Plus, sometimes amateurs are more passionate about what they’re doing so. Start by asking yourselves what do you want and why? If you don’t care about having a video afterwards, then don’t. On the other hand, if you have a sick grandparent that you want to show something to, then maybe you’ll want it saved on video.

There’s only 3 steps to finding great people who will help you turn your day(s) into something you want:

• Shop around.
• Sample.
• Follow your gut.

As with any other thing you pay money for: shop around. Personally, I hate going shopping without knowing what I’m looking for. I’ll just be stuck for ages without making a decision, which brings me to the next point…

What matters to you?

What’s your style? And don’t worry if you can’t answer straight away. Think of the things you enjoy doing together. What kind of movies do you find romantic? Do you like lots of little frills or less is more? Do you prefer brighter colors? Or more pastel? Or darks? Or heck, different shades of gray? How would you describe each other? Quirky? Traditional? Bold? Modern? Quiet? etc.

And if that doesn’t help, start with what doesn’t matter. What you don’t like. What turns your stomach. Allergic to pink roses? Then don’t buy them. Never planned an event before and you are dreading the thought? Hire a planner!

And finally, why are you getting married? This, more than anything, will point you in the right direction. E.g. you come from different locations but want to have a fun party with all your friends -> maybe you’ll want to think about a destination wedding.

Specific tips

• Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do something.
• Meet with people. At least once. With technology these days (hello Skype!) being remote is no longer an excuse. Make sure you get along, this is at least 50% of getting it right. Equally as important as what they do, is how they do it and does that suit your style or not.
• The more you tell them about yourself, the more they know what you like and the more they’ll care about getting it right.
• Sign contracts. I’m not saying this to make sure vendors get their money. But to make sure that if something happens, their insurance will cover YOU.
• Plan buffers around everything. Things WILL happen that you haven’t foreseen. If all else fails, you can use this time to have a moment between just the 2 of you to soak it all in. Highly recommended to have at least one of those!
• If you don’t hire a coordinator, assign someone who will do it for you and knows the planning by heart. Someone who you can trust to be responsible and make a decision when needed. That way on the day itself people should bother that person with questions and you can focus on enjoying yourselves.
• Keep a diary of your preps, if anything, it’ll make you laugh later, promise!
• A personal pet peeve of mine: no, Uncle Bob with a fancy-looking camera does not a wedding photographer make. Uncle Bob just wants to sit down after the ceremony and have his whiskey. Yes he’s cheap. So are all the other photos that your friends will take with their mobile phones and post on Facebook.
• Similarly, not all that glitters is gold. Just because some service costs a lot of money, doesn’t mean it’s good quality.
• Again, it all comes down to what you want in the end. Realize what your options are (i.e. shop around), sample (taste, take test photos, trial hairdo,…) and when you evaluate your options, follow your gut!
• No, eloping is not the answer.

More resources

The Knot. Aka the online wedding bible.
Polka Dot Bride. One of my favorite Australian wedding blogs.
A little book of useful checklists. If you like planning and lists, this might be the thing for you.

What do you think? If you have a question, please leave a comment below. We’ll be checking those regularly. Also past brides and grooms, feel free to leave your number 1 tip or help out the starters with their questions!