We are SO excited to start a new series on the blog . . . and also let’s be real, we are excited to BLOG more in general!
SO to jump start our
“Seattle Wedding Friendor Spotlight” series . . .
we spoke with one of our favorite Seattle Wedding Photographers . . . Brittany (and Joe!) from Blue Rose Photography!
They have been a favorite photography duo of ours for years, AND great friends. They have photographed so many of our life’s milestones, including ALL 3 maternity sessions, a birth, family photos, showers, etc etc. We’ve done many weddings with them over the years, and some killer styled shoots too! They are such a fun, sweet, and TALENTED power couple, and we are so excited to share a little more about them, as well as some helpful tips for our couples and their wedding!
Here we go:
What are your top 5 venues in our area to shoot at?
- The Admirals House: The historic charm, the view, the outdoor reception area, its all so special and unique. I think it would be hard to take a bad photo here.
- The Golf Club at Newcastle: The sunset here is incredible! If you love golden hour photos then this is your venue. Also their tent for ceremonies has better light than any other tent I’ve shot in.
- Woodinville Lavender Farm: If your getting married in July or early August when lavender is in bloom you can’t beat this venue. It’s all outdoors, and offers a stunning backdrop for photos. Your photos will be filled with color and light. Plus Woodinville just has such a great vibe. Perfect place for wine lovers to wed.
- The Corson Building: For a small intimate ceremony (wedding guest count under 20) this place is so charming! Nestled away in downtown Seattle, stepping into this place is like taking a flight to Europe. If you want a romantic garden setting with amazing food then this is your venue.
- Mountain Springs Lodge in Leavenworth: If you want to have a large wedding and spend the entire weekend with your guests, you can rent out this property and all of it’s luxurious cabins in Leavenworth! It has birch trees, a pond, horses, trails, indoor or outdoor options for both ceremony and reception, as well as on-site catering. Mountains surround it and it’s almost always sunny there. You can’t take a bad photo here. It would also be the most magical winter snow wedding location!
What do you do on a wedding day morning to get into the “zone”?
OOH I like this question, as I haven’t been asked this before!
The morning of a wedding we are usually just as nervous as the bride and groom. Even after 11 years of shooting weddings, each one still makes us nervous. Why? because we care so much. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make sure we get it right and nail it. We want to create magic for each one of our couples. We know there are no do overs. So this can make anyone nervous.
But the best way to make sure you don’t make mistakes is to practice. Prepping for a wedding starts the day before when we lay out all of our equipment, we empty our bags and refill them with everything we need, batteries, extra batteries, film, lenses, wall hooks, styling boards, close up filters, flashes, light stands, soft boxes, video lights, and on and on. You never know what you may need. We print out the questionnaire and family photo list that we ask our couples for. We print out a timeline (one for Joe and one for me). We memorize that timeline. We go over the engagement session gallery looking at what photos looked the best, what angels were the most flattering for our couples, what moments during the engagement shoot made them laugh and smile naturally the most. We use what we learned about photographing them during the engagement shoot at the wedding.
Ok so now morning of the wedding. We drink coffee, lots but not too much. Then I like to close my eyes and play out the day completely in my head. I visualize walking in to the bridal suite. I envision how I will shoot everything. I envision beautiful light falling in all the right places, I envision my couple being happy and laughing. I really believe in the power of the mind and thinking things into reality. So once I have envisioned going through the entire day and it was a success, I can walk into the day feeling fully prepared and confident.
What is one thing that you wish couples didn’t worry about on their wedding day?
Getting dirty!
I hear it so often, “I don’t want to walk in grass, don’t want the bottom of my dress to get to wet, don’t want my hair to be blown by the wind”.
Trust me when I say “Let it go” (anyone else have the frozen song stuck in their head now?). Let your dress get a little wet (we won’t let you get totally ruined before the ceremony) but you bought this amazing dress and you should let your photographers capture stunning photos of you in it without having to tip toe around getting it a little dirty.
1. You will never wear it again 2. You will most likely get it dry cleaned after the wedding 3. When you’re walking down the aisle no one will be able to take their eyes off your beautiful face and no one will see underneath the train of your dress where there might be some water or dirt from your epic first look and photos.
Also wind, wind is your friend!
It’s beautiful in photos! Let it blow your hair around, don’t make a frowny face when it happens, just keep smiling and trust that if you look silly your photographer will direct you into a better position. We are always giving constant direction during photos because it helps our couples to feel less nervous. When we help walk you through your photos it’s less about you performing and more about us working together to bring the best out of you.
What’s your #1 advice for timeline planning when it comes to photos and their wedding day?
Cushion Time!
If you try to rush any part of the day (especially photos) you could end up looking rushed, and stressed in the photos. We want you to be able to really relax and let go and be yourself. Its so much easier to do when your not worried about being on time or rushing to make it to the next part of the day.
So work with your planner and photographer to make sure you have more than enough time for each part of the day. You will have such a better experience! Also magical photos don’t happen in 15 minutes, it takes time for you to get comfortable and it takes time to create those beautiful photos you want so badly. So make sure you have more than enough time. A good amount of time to set aside for a first look followed by bride and groom portraits is minimum 45 minutes. If you have to cut time down from any photo part of the day, I’d say bridal party formals can be done in 25 minutes or less and normally we are given much more time than needed for that. Other reasons you may need to use that cushion time, hair and makeup runs late (it happens a lot), traffic from one venue to another (this is Seattle after all) , someone runs late. You will be able to not stress about these things happening if you know you planned cushion time between different parts of the day 🙂
After a long wedding day I go home and I . . .
Take a hot bath and count the film
Let’s face it, our bodies are pretty beat up after giving it our all for 8-10 hours. I fell 10000% better the next day if I sit in super hot water before bed 🙂
I also can’t sleep until I have counted the rolls of film, making sure they are all there, and placed them in a baggy in a safe place. The next morning they get packaged up and mailed out.
THANK YOU Brittany and Joe, we love Blue Rose Photography.
Hey if you are looking for a SUPER talented, laid back, editorial/fine art photography duo in Seattle, you should for sure check them out.
~Tamara Nicole
