We’ve been hard at work these past few months preparing for the 2014 Best of the Best Wedding Photo Contest. We couldn’t be more thrilled and excited with what will surely be a successful contest year. Why? A few things: 1. There’s been a ton of phenomenal photography this year, and we can’t wait to see what else you’ve all been up to. 2. We have a four downright phenomenal judges that we’ve been dying to tell everyone about! Susan Stripling, Jeff Newsom, and Cole Roberts & Jakob Granqvist of Nordica Photography will be sitting on our judging panel this year. We are over the moon to have these four extremely talented and successful individuals as judges for the 2014 Best of the Best Wedding Photo Contest. The contest is open for submissions on NOVEMBER 3RD, so, stay tuned! In the meantime, please enjoy a few of our favorites from past collections in anticipation for the gorgeous imagery that’s sure to come for the 2014 Best of the Best Wedding Collection.
These images show that wedding photography has come along way since 2008. It was so fun picking two from each year and looking back at all of the wonderful moments, enjoy!
We can’t wait to see what all of you have been up to for the past year! Also– stay tuned for a special judges’ interview this Wednesday over on Photobug! They can’t wait to share their tips, advice, and excitement for this years’ contest. See you Wednesday!
When newlyweds Jess and Irish began their wedding planning process, they knew more than anything that they wanted to have fun on their big day! With guests flying in from all over the world, the couple created a lively and intimate atmosphere, completed to perfection with an awesome wedding cake covered in rainbow sprinkles – and Kye Norton Photography captured it all!
The Goals: We love attending and hosting parties with family and friends, and we knew our main focus for the wedding would be about getting our favourite people together, to enjoy great food, great music, and great drinks, in a great venue. We wanted our wedding to feel lively, fun, intimate and relaxed all at once. We chose to invite 55 of the most important people to us, and were so honoured by the lengths that people travelled from all over the world to share in our day.
Our wedding was a blend of all the traditions that meant something to us, with the flexibility to create some new ones of our own. We chose not to have a bridal party, and instead invited our loved ones at different times to play special roles. Both our older brothers stood by our sides during the ceremony, and said the only speeches at the reception. Both my older and younger brother walked down the aisle before me. My older brother even held my flowers while we said our vows! He was fondly nicknamed my ‘bride’s mate’ from there on in. Our mum’s signed our registry, and our wonderful friends got ready with us in the morning.
The Design: We didn’t have colour or style themes. Instead, we chose bold colours, especially for the flowers, and surrounded the room with our favourite things from home. We didn’t go overboard with decorations, but instead I designed a few key pieces, like the wedding programs which we designed to look like newspapers, and the ‘love is in the air’ framed poster as a special touch and thank you to all our guests who flew in from around the world to be with us. The reception venue didn’t need any more decorations because it’s fantastic as it is, which meant we were both very relaxed in the week leading up to the wedding, and got to just enjoy being in the moment together, which I’m so grateful for.
The Look: Choosing a wedding dress for me was easy, all I wanted was an Anna Campbell dress. I didn’t try anything else on, I just flew to Melbourne and found my dream dress. I was star struck when Anna Campbell herself met me for my appointment. She helped me select the perfect dress, and Olivia, her brilliant store manager took over from there, helping me to accessorise it in the fittings afterward. I wore Samantha Wills earrings and had local jewellery designer Paula Hallmake me a beautiful cuff.
The Moments: My little brother is Autistic, and felt very responsible and proud to be given the special job of walking down the aisle and being our ring bearer. He has always loved Irish like a brother, and when he entered the church and looked up to see Irish at the other end, he got a big grin on his face and started waving excitedly, and Irish then gave him a big thumbs up in return. This was the start of lots of laughing and crying for the guests throughout our little ceremony, and meant so much to me to see my husband being so loving towards my little brother.
One of my favourite moments was entering the church with my Dad, to see all of our guests smiling back, then up to the end to see Irish waiting. When I got to the end, I noticed the three men (our best man, bride’s mate and groom) wiping tears from their eyes. It was such a special moment, and one I will never forget.
The Photographer: Very early on in the wedding planning process we went to a wedding expo. We weren’t there to find a photographer, but an amazing piece of framed artwork took my eye, and I fell in love with it. It was more than just a wedding portrait. I had to have it! I chatted with the photographers Kye and Emma, and thought ‘these guys are great, they are so nice and like minded, we could totally have them at our wedding’. Kye’s photos were breathtaking, and we also really loved their wedding albums. We found out that Emma is a graphic designer, which gave their albums a big edge over everyone else. We didn’t tell them this, but we planned the entire wedding around the date they told us they would be available!
On the day, they had us feeling so relaxed that we never felt like we were posing, but rather like we were laughing and spending time with friends. Kye mentioned he likes the photojournalistic style, which ticked all our boxes as he took some amazing in-the-moment shots. Kye and Emma took photos throughout the reception and during the dancing too. We insisted on taking a ‘selfie’ with them in it, and this is one of our favourite photos.
The Advice: Financially, we wanted to put the wedding on ourselves, which meant we could be completely flexible with our plans. We were able to invite exactly who we wanted, and add or drop any traditions that we wanted. It meant that we never had drama with the guest list or table seating, and we were able to enjoy participating in our wedding without ever having to work the room. Dance if you want to dance! We’re also glad that we carefully selected all of our vendors to be people that we loved and got along well with. It meant that even those providing a service to us felt like special guests. Not having a bridal party meant that when it came time for photos, Irish and I got some special time together in the midst of a crazy day! Finally, the day goes so quickly, you won’t regret investing in good photography and having some friends film it on video so you can relive it all again and again.
Tanja and Markus are a beautiful couple who wanted a beautiful wedding. The pair describe themselves as not being especially fancy, and their casually romantic wedding reflects their laid-back personalities. For Tanja and Markus, forgoing the formal wedding meant focusing on their love and their loved ones. Tanja is such an effortless bride, in her breezy white gown and delicate crown of baby’s breath. The couple chose a photographer who would capture the moments they wanted to remember forever, just as beautifully as they happened, and Kevin Klein did an excellent job of exceeding their expectations.
The Inspiration: “We are not very fancy people so we wanted our wedding to be simple but beautiful. Many people came up to us and said that the decorations and the whole day did fit us both.”
The Moments: “It is really really hard to decide which was the best moment because the whole day was just wonderful! I think saying the vows was the most beautiful part, because it was so personal and it was just Markus and me declaring our love for each other and giving god the control for our future. Another favourite moment when I walked down the aisle and just realized that all these friends and family came here just to celebrate this special day with us. That it such a great feeling!”
Another great part was our photoshoot. We took 1.5 hours just for Markus and me. Our Photographer was amazing, because he made us just be ourselves. That made it one of the most fun and relaxing moments of the day!”
The Couple Recommends: “As I said our photographer did a really good job. He has a gift to catch the right moments. Markus and I wanted him to take photos at our wedding, because whenever I looked through his photos on his blog I felt like I got to know the couple a little bit, only through the pictures of their wedding day. We both LOVE our wedding photos, because they really tell the story of our wedding day.”
Tanja and Markus’ celebration is proof that less is more, and that selecting a photographer who can bring out the richness in your day is so important in collecting those memories. For more causal wedding inspiration, check out Ivana and Ivan’s casual Croation wedding by the sea.
Photo by Amelia Long
Photo by Christian Oth
photo by Caroline Tran
Photo by Bob & Dawn Davis
Photo by Ben Chrisman of Chrisman Studios
Photo by Magnus Bogucki
Photo by Jan Garcia
Photo by Jeff Newsom
Photo by Allison Callaway of Callaway Gable
Photo by Jerry Ghionis
Photo by Mauricio Arias of Chrisman Studios
Photo by Michael Greenberg of Phototerra
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