Take It From Us….What We Would Do Differently

Posted by (once like a spark) on Feb 8, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), From the Creative Director, OLAS loves, weddings | 3 comments

A long, long time ago (ok…. not that long ago), before (once like a spark) photography ever existed, we all got married. None of us were involved in the wedding industry at the time, and we all had vastly different weddings. Now that we all get to spend our days looking at photo after photo of the most amazing weddings we could ever imagine, we all spend a lot of time thinking about what we might have done differently if we knew then what we know now. Here are just a couple of the things we came up with…..

Leah Case – National Sales Director, Booking Wonder Woman

Hip, City Wedding and Reception in Atlanta, Georgia

• I would definitely try to come up with more creative, interesting things for the tables for my guests. We’ve seen SUCH cool ideas from our brides, and I wish I would have thought about it more!
• I should have eaten more than one bite of cake (the one my husband fed me!) I totally missed out….and I bet it was yummy.
• I never developed a family shot list for my photographer, so she didn’t know who in my family needed to be in specific photos. (Shameless plug for (once like a spark) – We walk you through this WHOLE process, and give you a suggested family shot list as a starting point!)
• I would have incorporated more meaningful, sentimental details into my wedding day (something of my mother’s, etc). We see some really powerful stuff that our couples come up with – it’s such a great reminder of meaningful people in your life!

 

 

Brittany Davis – National Director of Client Relations, Brides’ Bestie Forever

Church Wedding and Historic Venue Reception in Richmond, Virginia on Tobacco Row

• • • • • • I would have stopped worrying about trying to make everyone happy and compromise the things that were important to me.
          • I would have thought about how the weather would affect my hair - it was over 100 degrees outside…and I wore my hair down
          • I wish I would have added more creative details at my reception – I’m blown away by the creativity of our brides. The details they come up with never cease to amaze me.
          • I definitely would have gotten a photographer that didn’t use FILM!(Yes, you read this right….and I didn’t get married in 1975!!) Shameless plug for (once like a spark) photography: We definitely do not use film. HA!
          • I was so busy chatting at my reception, that I only ate a stuffed mushroom and some shrimp! I wish I would have taken some time to enjoy the food I worked so hard to select!

 

Emily Mayo – Art Director, Expert in All Things Pretty

Rustic Farm Wedding near Athens, Georgia

• I would have planned for some time with just my husband and I right after the ceremony to soak in the fact that we just got married….even 15 minutes to ourselves to enjoy our excitement and focus on each other before the party got started!
• My mom made some AMAZING white sangria for cocktail hour, and I only got 1/2 glass before it ran out! I wish I would have thought to have someone save a glass for myself and my hubby!
• I wish that we would have thought through some of the logistical details for our actual ceremony. For instance, we didn’t even think about the fact that our musicians may need to be mic’d so our guests could hear them!
• I wish we’d done a few more creative and personal things for the ceremony and/or reception – looking at how crazy creative our clients are has made me super aware of all the other things I could have incorporated (are you noticing a theme here?)

 

Ashley Steele –  (once like a spark) co-owner, Mama OLAS

Mountain Resort Ceremony and Reception (In Front of A Waterfall) in North Georgia

• • • • • • I wish that I had taken a quick second to walk through the reception area after it was all set-up. There were a couple of things I would have changed, but it was too late when I saw it for the first time – walking in with my new husband
          • I should have thought about some of the logistical details a bit more. I got married in front of a waterfall, and found a beautiful quartet of girls who sang an a cappella version of Canon in D (with their voices). The only problem is – no one could hear them over the waterfall! Sad!
          • I absolutely should have purchased an album from my photographer before my wedding….and this is not even a sales ploy. I always assumed I would make one afterwards…4 years later, I still have no album, and my mother sends inquiries through our website asking me to finally put one together!  HA! Shameless plug for (once like a spark) photography: We produce AMAZING albums for our couples and their parents using some super-creative, really unique materials. We always encourage our clients to think about these things before their wedding…so you don’t end up like me!

 

Amy Savage – Director of Finance, Controller of the Dolla Dolla Billz, Ya’ll

Elopement (Woohoo!) On a Tropical Beach with Just Her Husband!

• Even thought it was just my husband and I, I definitely wish I would have realized the importance of still expressing more of my own style at my wedding. I literally just took my dress, and got married.
• I didn’t do much planning (because there wasn’t anything much to plan!), but I wish I would have thought through some things a bit more. For instance, I got married on the beach….and didn’t put on sunscreen (oops!) Made for a painful few days.
• I wish I had gotten married sooner! My husband and I waited 8 years to finally tie the knot, but we both knew we were meant to be together from day one!
• I wish I had hired a good photographer. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I know literally have ONE (yes, one) photo that I am willing to share with others, and it’s still not very good. I wish I had better photos to share with my boys and everyone who wasn’t there with us. Shameless plug for (once like a spark) photography: I promise you’ll have more than 1 semi-OK photo. That can be guaranteed. You’ll end up with a collection of beautiful photographs you’ll be proud to share with generation after generation!