Some of the cutest decorations I have seen have been used to decorate the aisle. Some brides put cute bouquets at the end of a row of a row of chairs or next to each bench down the aisle. These cute details end up being my favorite pictures! Other brides have flower girls throw peddles down the aisle before her or coats the aisle with beautiful rose petals that provide a splash of color that can bring out the undertone of your dress or your bridesmaid’s dresses. I honestly love how the flowers give the bride a romantic sweet and colorful entrance.

Here are some tips to help you decide what to do for your wedding!

1) Keep with the theme of your wedding! 

Even though you absolutely LOVE those bright red roses, if your bridesmaid’s are wearing lilac dresses the red roses are just not going to look as great as you think! Keep the bouquets or props in line with the overall theme of your wedding. One bride put horseshoes on the end of her aisle because she loved horses and worked on a horse farm. They matched beautifully with her wedding because it was a spring wedding and the horseshoes were a neutral color and very personal to her.

 2)Don’t break the bank on elaborate detailing! 

You don’t have to have decorations on the aisle. If you don’t want them, you don’t need them! Sometimes the simple details like a basket of baby’s breath, lilac, or simple peddles can be gorgeous! At the same time you don’t have to have baskets of flowers on every row of chairs. Put flowers at the last 3 rows (that way they show up in the pictures as you walk down the aisle, or on every other row (so they line the aisle). I still love the classic flower petals on the aisle. So keep in mind you can choose only petals and go the classy beauty route!

 3) Keep it fun! 

Lots of bride’s forget that this is all about them! This is their day (not your mothers, your mother-in-law, or your sisters!). Make sure you love the details! In the end you only get to do this once, so LOVE IT!

If you love the pictures remember to Pin them or share them on Facebook or Google + so you remember! Have tips of your own to help other brides? Give them! Are you planning your wedding and need ideas? Leave a suggestion in the comments and we’ll blog about it!

As any bride would know, planning a wedding is some fun and yet hard stuff! So I’m here to help with yet one more tip. The details of a wedding can sometimes make the wedding! A low budget wedding can be absolutely gorgeous with the right decorations and visa-versa! I have been to several weddings where the decorations absolutely made the wedding! They can be sweet, personalized to you and your husband, or simply beautiful, adding to the elegance and ambiance of your wedding.

To help you gather some ideas about the detail of your wedding I have some pictures!

This wedding was so beautiful and so elegant.  I love how the bride chose such classic colors and flowers to give it a light and classic look.  And the details such as the coffee bags and starbucks coffee barista after the dinner was a beautiful touch since they met at Starbucks.  And the sweetest was the the story board that outlined each memorable date on their dating calendar.  Each detail you can tell was chosen carefully.  The sun set streaming in through the windows added to the romantic feel of the evening.  The bride couldn’t have looked more beautiful or more happy.  And the groom as equally handsome.  Proud parents and family looking on and adding to the overall happiness of the day couldn’t be overlooked.  It was truly a joy to behold and this photographer was thrilled to be there!

Vanessa is just as beautiful inside as out. She is soft spoken and elegant in the way she presents herself. She has a heart of gold which was so evident in the way her friends helped and fawned over her during her session. Mom was there too as proud as a mother should be during such an exciting time. We went all over the gardens. Even though this was taken in March before the grass had even come in we were able to find some great locations so she could still have that beautiful environmental portrait most brides love. And what a dress! I loved how the train laid. No matter what we did it was so flattering. It was a great bridal session and Vanessa did GREAT!!! Enjoy!

Are you currently engaged to a military man?! Lucky you! I absolutely love military weddings! They can be so beautiful and the men are always handsome! I have shot a couple military weddings so I’m gonna share some pictures with you!

When your future husband and groomsmen are from the military, instead of wearing boutonnieres they wear their embellishments that they’ve been awarded throughout their service.

When planning the exit of your reception, remember that you can have an archway of swords. I always thought this tradition was so beautiful. Members of the navy and coast guard use swords while members of the Army and Marine Corps have sabers.

The fun part of the wedding will be the cake cutting! Guess what?! YOU CAN USE THE SWORD/SABER!!!!

Just remember to have fun at your wedding. If you are getting married and you want to remember these pictures be sure to pin them! Be sure to add us on Facebook and Google + to see more pictures!

Its become a new fashion trend for country girls to have cute country weddings! This means cowboy boots, white lace, lots of flowers, and of course horses! I have had the pleasure of being the photographer for a couple country weddings and they are by far some of the cutest! SO I’m going to share some inspiration to future country brides!

1) Cowboy Boots! 

A cute pair of cowboy boots always looks wonderfully with a beautiful white dress! They also look great with the beautiful bouquet of this young bride! The colors are such a pretty purple and match so well with her gorgeous dress!!!

2) LACE! 

Doesn’t every woman love LACE! This bride has paired up some beautiful lace with a lovely lilac color. I absolutely love how she decorated the tables with the white lace over the purple table cloth.  This bride even had it on her gorgeous wedding dress! Inspirational? Pin it!

3) CUTE WEDDING TOPPER

The third thing you need to have a classic country wedding is a cute wedding cake top that matches your personality! This wedding had this top!

Already had your wedding but love this idea? Why not have a Celebrate the Dress Portrait!? (By the way, that’s a link!)

Be sure to add our Facebook here and our google+ here!

Trash the Dress is a growing trend in the Wedding photography industry, but what exactly is Trash the Dress. First of all, Trash the Dress should be called Celebrate the Dress (and so this is what I’m calling it!). It is a session where the bride can break loose and take all those wonderfully adventurous photos that they could not take during their Bridal Shoot in fear of getting their wedding dress dirty. Celebrate the Dress is a separate photo shoot where you, as the bride in her gorgeous dress, can sit on the rocks by a waterfall or frolic in the flowers! It’s a moment where you can CELEBRATE how BEAUTIFUL you look in your dress! The reason this shoot was nicknamed trash the dress was because some brides wanted to be adventurous! They wanted to go to the beach and lay on the sand, play in the waves, or in some cases that I’ve heard of throw paint!

These shoots do not have to be just the bride! Mr. and Mrs. Shoot transforms the Celebrate the Dress shoot into cute after wedding photos of the bride and the groom all dress up in great scenery like The Duke Gardens or around town. These pictures often become my favorite because the Bride and the Groom get to be together and they are relaxed because the stresses that come with their wedding are long gone! These photos can always be added to the wedding album, used as portraits to be framed around your house, used as the image on thank you cards, or even as your holiday card.

Don’t let the nickname fool you! This is a photo-shoot dedicated to celebrating your dress and your wedding! Be sure to pin the photos and ideas you like! If you want to hear more from us, add us on Facebook here or google + here.

This wedding is long over due!  Shot back in December I loved the lighting this venue created.  I just love all the color! And could the bride be any prettier?  She definitely has her own style and I love that she created the wedding that she wanted.  And as a photographer you just can’t get any more fun lighting to work with on any shoot!  My sweet moment of the day was when the groom hugged his Mom and my immediate reaction was to say “Te Dulci” as I shot the picture.  He looked back over his shoulder and said “Now that’s cool”.  Of course what would have been REALLY cool was if my spanish was a little better! ha ha!  But his family was so awesome to despite how I butchered it.  ;  )

Enjoy!

I wanted to introduce Liz, one of our lead photographers.  Liz is so much fun, talented and absolutely LOVES her job. She takes any opportunity to shoot a wedding whether for herself or as a 2nd shooter. She has shot probably close to 100 weddings. She just loves weddings. Like me she can’t wait to get home and look at her images. I am thrilled to announce her as Lead Photographer with over 3 years of experience. We have her portfolio on line and will be posting her bio soon. But I think when you see her work and meet her you will have no doubts that she is the one you will want to photograph your wedding. She not only has the skill (critical asset) and the talent she knows how to make it fun and enjoy every moment. Enjoy her beautiful portfolio and feel free to set up a consult to meet with her. Just email us at info@dianemckinney.com.

Enjoy!