• He will offer you memories for a lifetime.
• If he is a good professional, he will know exactly when and how to take that photograph.
• He must be inspired and creative enough to build up a bouquet of images that are truly suggestive and rich.

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Sometimes however, it is quite difficult to know whether the person you are about to hire is a true professional or not. Follow the tips within this article to make sure you are going to hire only quality high-standard professionals.

Your first meeting

If you have already chosen the company or the freelance photographer, make sure to invite him for a face to face meeting. You should spend a couple of minutes talking, telling him about the theme of your wedding, and asking for recommendations. If the recommendations seem interesting enough to you, even out of the ordinary, this is most likely a pro you are dealing with. If you tell him that you are going to have a beach wedding, and he suggests taking photos on a rented boat with the groom and bride, or photos at sunset on horseback with the wavy ocean stretching in the background, it means he wants to build for you a most memorable wedding album. On the other hand, if he suggests nothing out of the ordinary, it means he is just another mainstream photographer.

Ask for his previous work (a wedding photo album he made) and look for the following:

• Did the photographer make use of different lights and shadows techniques? This is a good sign.
• Are there too many duplicates or too many similar photos that bear tiny differences? This is a bad sign.
• Search for variety- classic pictures of the bride and groom with the families, but also several “instants” including children, flowers, and happiness, champagne and dancing. You’ve got the picture, just look for diversity and color.
• After watching the entire album, you should have the sensation that you have just saw a movie of which you perfectly understand the underlying story. This is skillful photography, to make images speak and tell a story which has an introduction, middle and ending.
• Search for images and postures within that album that seem extraordinary to you, either because of the lighting used, or because there is a nice centerpiece put there which gives a special sparkle to the entire photo.

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The price you will pay for your memorable photos

Many people complain that hiring a wedding photographer is quite expensive. But think of this:

• The photographer is not having fun at your wedding, but working from early morning until well past midnight.
• His work truly begins when he leaves your wedding and heads towards his little “editing lab”.
• He is not only giving you a folder containing 200 random pictures, but he will set up an album for you in timeframes.
• If you truly feel that the person whose works you are viewing is a professional, there should be no reason for you to try and negotiate, because there is a lot of heavy work behind those wonderful captures.

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Wonderful Africa

This is the continent where weddings have a truly special meaning. Certainly Africa is a huge continent; therefore traditions also differ from one region to the other. A very common custom in Africa is that young brides must already be prepared to learn “secret languages” so that they can chit chat with other young wives without their husbands to understand. Then, here the wedding reception usually lasts up to 3 days or even more, and not only one single day as usual for western civilizations.

In certain regions it is a very important tradition that the groom needs to pay off the bride’s family for taking away the daughter that was a helping hand there. Men do not pay with money or gold, but with cattle instead (sometimes a bride will cost him even 50 cattle!).  Girls usually enter marriage at ages between 12 and 16, and divorce is not a widespread tradition here. Somalia makes a sort of exception from the traditional “two in a boat” rule, because men here are allowed to keep even up to 5 different wives, but he has to prove that he can afford to give housing and enough food to each of them.

Romantic Asia: India, Japan & China

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If you have seen even one Asian romantic movie (a Bollywood featured one in particular), you may have already got a glimpse of how colorful the weddings are in India. Here for several days before the actual wedding takes place, the bride and the groom live separately and they are not allowed to see each other (it is said to bring about bad luck!). A quite important wedding ritual is the washing of both the groom’s and the bride’s feet with milk and water, as a symbol for sending them into married life with a purified body and soul.

In another part of Asia, more specifically Japan, the brides wear their traditional “shiromku” which is a white kimono style dress, and the wedding ceremony takes place in a Shinto shrine. By visiting China, we can see that the brides there wear bright red dresses which are wonderfully embroidered with golden silk thread, and the ceremonies in China are rather small and without any dancing.

The Middle East: Israel & Yemen

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“Something old, something new, something borrowed something blue”- does it ring a bell? Well, the “blue” in the sentence originates from some very old Israeli traditions, according to which the bride must prove that she is going to be a faithful wife by wearing a tiny blue ribbon.  A traditional Jewish wedding cannot take place without the “mizinke” which is a joyful dance where the parents of the bride and groom are encircled by all the youngsters and are thrown colorful flowers at and they are sang songs of praise. The entire family is a very important focus point in the Israeli weddings, not only the bride and the groom.

In Yemen all the women of the family gather to bake the traditional sweets for their children’s wedding, and especially in countryside parts of Yemen it is not unusual to have entire villages participating at the joyful wedding reception.

Wedding Dress Accessories

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You have chosen your pure white wedding dress embedded with crystals, white satin ribbons, pearls and lace, but you need to create that special effect. You will definitely stand out from the mainstream brides’ collective, if you buy or rent a belle époque style white umbrella which will look stunning in those photos. This is an accessory which will perfectly match an elegant formal style wedding.

If you plan a less formal wedding, where fun and color predominate, you can think of a fairytale princess wedding gown that will definitely impress everybody. You do not have to copy Snow White, but choose accessories that seem to have come from a world of fantasy: a wonderful tiara (something today’s brides have forgotten about!), elbow length satin gloves and a pair of elegant shoes embedded with crystals (quite costly, but they will make all the difference).

Your Special Wedding Cake

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If your wedding is planned during the winter holidays, you should choose a French style wedding cake, which resembles a Christmas tree in structure. These are called “croquembouche” cakes; why not bring a little bit of European tradition into your wedding. Just make sure to have it decorated with white and red marzipan roses. Everybody will be amazed by the delicious pastry tower.

If you do not want too many decorations and color, a simple white wedding cake decorated with fresh flowers is also something both trendy and special. Choose a beautiful and symbolic topper, which goes in tone with the theme of your wedding. For beach side weddings choose a starfish topper, for a very formal and simple wedding put a crystal heart topper on your cake. This is how simplicity can be turned into glamour and elegance.

Destination: Yet Unknown

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After a special wedding, you should also spend a special time on your honeymoon. Here are some honeymoon destinations that are out of the ordinary, but that’s why they can offer mesmerizing experiences:

• “P.S I Love You”- didn’t you just love the movie? Then what would you say of a honeymoon spent in the countryside of Ireland. Here you will have plenty of things to do and see: wonderful castles, fresh air, nice little traditional cottages, pubs with amazing live music…just something different.
• Jumping to the other side of the world – Africa- not a common honeymoon destination, but certainly a most magnificent experience. While others spend honeymoons on beach sides, you could be riding camels in the desert, or take in adventure and go on an original safari tour.
• Backpacker’s honeymoons- because not everything has to be just comfort and luxury, you could try the fun and adventure with a backpacker’s honeymoon. Book a destination of your choice and off you go! You should enjoy this kind of freedom now, because after your children will arrive, you will not be able to unveil your spirit for adventure in this way for a good period of time.

Invitations for a tropical beachside wedding

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This will be a less formal invitation, with an overall fresh and colorful tone; after all you have chosen a breezy and tropical destination for your wedding. You could think of wrapping your pure white invitation with a silvery ribbon upon which you are going to glue a starfish. You can find many places online that sell white starfish for example, and the price is less than $1 apiece. The more you actually order, the bigger the discounts you can get.

Another trend nowadays is to make scented invitations. For a beach party wedding, a coconut or a sea-breeze scent would be perfect. Such tiny details will make even the plainest invitation very special. Make sure that your invitations match in theme and motifs the table cards, the thank you cards, or your reply cards.

For a touch of sparkle, don’t forget to sprinkle some glitter all over the inner side of your invitation. This is how you can personalize your pure white and simple wedding invitation, upon which you have selected text written with beautiful calligraphy!

Invitations for a flowery spring wedding

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If your wedding is in spring, just when nature starts to come to life with wonderful green colors and red and yellow flowers all over, your invitation should carry the spring motif on it. Keep in mind that you should never use as decorations on your invitation anything made from plastic because that will give it a cheap tone. Instead, inspire yourself from nature; order a few plain invitations with the text already embedded and bring it to life with wonderful décor:

• You can add little bows made of raphia
• On the envelope you could glue a tiny colorful dried flower
• If your wedding is a very formal one, on your invitation cover you should use as motifs the white rose or the “stephanotis” (the Madagascar Jasmine flower) which actually symbolizes purity and bountifulness in marriage. If, on the other hand you are going to have a less formal wedding, you should go for a colorful bouquet of spring flowers.

Winter season wedding Invitations

If you plan your wedding around Christmas, you should definitely personalize your invitation accordingly. Add onto it beautiful white and silver snowflakes, and add to it a tiny little silver bell. You could also choose an invitation in the shape of a silver bell, and tie around it a wonderful cherry red satin ribbon. A simple and very elegant winter season invitation! The colors you should use include silver and blue, red and golden, red and white, and so on. Always make sure to use two, maximum three colors within your invitation, for a touch of class and elegance.

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First impression always matters

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You should never book a DJ online from a company, without actually meeting him in person. There are many companies that promise you a highly entertaining show with the best DJ in town, and then on your reception day you will realize that you don’t like the music, you don’t like the DJ himself, and all your efforts might be in vain because of the unpleasant atmosphere at your wedding.

Therefore, make a list with a few companies, and ask to meet the DJ in person. Watch his character, the way he speaks, because such little things will make you understand a great deal about the person and whether he is professional or not.

The conversation should flow smoothly and should be an indicative of the type of person you are dealing with

Ask a few things to get an idea whether he is the perfect entertainer:

• How is he going to be dressed at the wedding? Most of the professional DJ’s will wear elegant tuxedos, after all a wedding is a truly special occasion and not a rap concert.
• Will they put at your disposal music lists, so that you can choose what you would like to hear on your special day, and of course what you wouldn’t like to hear at all. A badly chosen song, which for you brings about painful memories, could ruin your good disposition, so you need to keep in mind this aspect too.
• Ask him if he can provide you with a short video to see how the announcements are made- there should be a nicely formulated and voiced announcement before each of the following events: the grand entrance, cutting of your wedding cake, the toasts, and so on. If you don’t like what you see or hear on the video material provided, it is probably time to skip to your next choice on the list. Also, keep an eye on the announcements made for dedication requests and any other special announcements during the wedding.
• Do they have included in the price any specials? Such as lighting shows, Karaoke Shows, different games to entertain the guests, extra surprises such as a bubble machine, etc. All these little things will make your wedding grand!

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Summing it up

• The DJ should come up with interesting recommendations during your conversation. He has seen and heard many things (if he is a professional!), so he can make your wedding even more special.
• He should be a pleasant personality, listening to your wishes, and actively taking part in your conversation. If he is interested in offering you the best, he will at least ask you what the theme of your wedding is.

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