September 3, 2018 by Stan Cheslock

Pick your Florida Wedding Photographers

Tips – How to pick your Florida Wedding Photographers

In Central Florida, and anywhere really, choosing your Florida Wedding Photographers can be a seriously daunting task. Modern technology has made it so easy to capture images these days on anything from a phone to a camera, that it seems everyone and their Uncle is a “photographer” . But that is really not the case. Many variables come into play when it comes to capturing your wedding in beautiful images. Here are 3 Tips On How to Pick your Florida Wedding Photographers , who will hopefully , successfully capture the drama, beauty, and emotions of your wedding day.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers -TIP #1

DO NOT CHOOSE YOUR ORLANDO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS BASED ON PRICE

Yes I know, we all have a budget to work with…ok most of us do. And we understand that money doesn’t grow on trees so you can’t just go spending recklessly, but this is very important advice. Why? Because your Florida Wedding Photographers should be chosen based on their reputation and experience, never ever on price. You’re going to find great “deals” out there, but remember there is a reason for that. Perhaps it’s a newly graduated student trying to drum up work, or simply an amateur who has a nice camera, shot a wedding once for a friend, and now they think that they are a wedding photographer. You don’t really want to end up crying over out of focus, crooked and boring pictures of your beautiful wedding day do you? All you have when the day is over are your pictures. When the music has stopped, your guests are gone, and you’re on your way home from your honeymoon the anticipation of viewing your photos should be an exciting feeling, not one of dread. Skimping on your photographer is simply not a good idea!

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers -TIP #2

DO NOT PICK YOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS WITHOUT GETTING A REFERRAL AND/OR CHECKING REVIEWS

This is a no brainer and a valuable time saver when planning your Orlando wedding. Most likely you have had a friend or relative get married. Reach out to them and ask if they were pleased with their Florida Wedding Photographers, and why? They have done the work for you and they have had the “one on one” experience with their Florida Wedding Photographers. Maybe they weren’t pleased, ask why? Take a look at their pictures and see for yourself if you like what you see or not. If they don’t seem interested in showing off their images then right away you know that they are not happy with them so ask another friend. These days you can go online and check reviews. Make sure that you dig a little. Great reviews tend to pop up quickly and are very visible. Bad reviews might take a little digging to find. DIG! Make sure that you’re finding more positive reviews than you are negative reviews.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers -TIP #3

INTERVIEW THE PHOTOGRAPHERS

3rd Tip on how to pick your Florida Wedding Photographers…Interview the photographer. Sure, we all shop on line and can see images and web sites and prices but the one thing you cannot do is have a face to face and get a feel for the temperament and personality of the photographer you’ll be getting up close and personal with for 6 or 8 hours. Are you going to get a surly chain smoking person, or a pleasant and well dressed photographer? Are you getting a slow, unenthusiastic photographer, or an energetic, lay on the ground, climb the walls to “get the shot” kinda photographer? A consultation prior to signing a contract will make sure you avoid an unpleasant surprise that might ruin your wedding day.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, we hope that some of the tips provided here can help you hire the very best Orlando Wedding Photographers for you.We wish you the very best on your very special wedding day. We are here eager to share our years of experience to give you added inspiration and ideas during the photo planning stages of your wedding to come. Every bride and groom deserve to have beautiful, timeless images that reflect the moment when they chose to pledge to love one another for forever. We at S & S Photography hope that our Wedding Photography Tips have given you a little something extra to think about and that your Orlando Wedding Photography is a huge success!

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August 1, 2018 by Stan Cheslock

Central Florida Bella Collina Wedding

Esther and Kenso’s Bella Collina Wedding

Esther and Kenso fell in love with , and chose , the stunning Tuscany themed backdrop of Central Florida’s Bella Collina Wedding Venue for their Central Florida April wedding and what a wedding it was! How can you possibly go wrong with a gorgeous bride, a handsome groom, and a beautiful venue?? This beautiful Haitian couple chose a classic contemporary and elegant theme for their Central Florida wedding. We have such a history with Esther’s family ( We have already photographed 3 of her siblings weddings with 2 to go!) that Stan and I were really excited as well as nervous about capturing Esther and Kenso’s Bella Collina Wedding just perfectly. Everything went smoothly with the talented team of Lynn Stuckas of Your Events by L & L who was in charge of coordinating Esther and Kenso’s stunning Central Florida Bella Collina wedding. Esther’s flowers were just beautifully done by Weddings by Carly Anes, and complimented her stunning mermaid dress from Demetrios Bridal. Her off white mermaid dress was heavily beaded, with lots of sparkle to compliment the dress, while the form fitting skirt enhanced and complimented Esther’s perfect curves. The finishing touches were hair and makeup and beautifully done by LeJeune Artistry . The reception ballroom at Bella Collina was beautifully decorated with linens by Eli of Linen Creations, and D.J Geordany Jean Baptiste made sure that the music was a crowd pleaser, playing a well rounded selection of music from soca to hip hop to R & B. Of course we must include that Esther and Kenso’s stunning Bella Collina Wedding was captured by S & S Photography and their beautiful video captured by Kelvin Aultman .
A little history….Esther and Kenso’s families have known each other for over 14 years. “My siblings are best friends with Kenso’s only 2 sisters, not to mention our fathers who are both ministers and are also friends. My siblings and Kenso’s sisters arranged a meet for me and Kenso, planned a big party and everything. And of course, I was resistant …lol, they failed to recall that I dislike parties/crowds and believe it or not, I , most of the time, just like to keep to myself. But, after several tries, I agreed to meet with him, only to find out what a great human being this guy was. All I can say is that our love story has only just started, and I hope it NEVER ends.”

Memories of a Central Florida Bella Collina Wedding

Esther’s favorite memory of the day was when Kenso was saying his vows to her, and she says Kenso’s favorite wedding day moment was when Esther was walking down the aisle towards him. Her advice to new brides, “Start planning early and avoid the stress if you can!” I asked Esther if she would do her stunning Central Florida Bella Collina Wedding all again and she said ,” DEFINITELY!!”

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January 5, 2018January 8, 2018 by Stan Cheslock

The Ballroom at Church Street: Brandy and Dave’s Wedding

Ballroom at Church Street Wedding

Brandy and Dave met working aboard the Disney Fantasy Cruise ship in 2013. Brandy worked with the cruise staff team while Dave worked on the ship wide tech team. After nearly 4 years of sailing the seven seas with Mickey Mouse, the two lovebirds decided it was time to start a life together on land, in far away New Zealand. For Brandy’s 28th birthday Dave surprised her with a fantastic trip to the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga, the northern most point of New Zealand. It was here, overlooking the ocean, on the last day of their trip, that Dave got down on one knee and popped the question. Brandy of course said “yes!” and the excitement of planning their September 22 nd wedding began.

When planning their wedding Brandy and Dave wanted a theme that reflected their life together thus far. They loved traveling, and decided to go with a vintage travel theme to match the grandeur feeling of the Ballroom at Church Street Station in downtown Orlando. Each table was themed around a different city in the world that they had visited together and of course they had to incorporate , at the head table no less, the Disney Fantasy Ship where they met. A ” Where in the world are you sitting? ” map directed guests to which city in the world they would be sitting and dining at. Party favors included a delicious candy station which included many different treats from the U.S , the U.K and New Zealand. A nice personal touch were the added photographs of each of their grandparents, on their wedding days ,which added the perfect vintage touch to their Ballroom at Church Street Wedding.

Since Brandy and Dave are from two different countries the most important thing they wanted to make sure happened on their wedding day was getting their friends and families together, allowing everyone to get to know each other. Their guests came all the way to Orlando from Australia, the United Kingdom and Switzerland to celebrate with them, and celebrate they did with delicious food, lively dancing and drinking all night long until their fiery sparkler departure. Their Ballroom at Church Street Station Wedding was a huge success, that brought together 2 families, and 2 different cultures.

All wedding days are a blur but no one will forget the epic Maid of Honors ” rap speech ” nor the fun father/daughter mash up dance Brandy did with her dad. Dave’s fondest memory was the tender and sweet dance with his grandmother to her favorite song. Congratulations Brandy and Dave, your wedding was great fun and S&S wishes you both many many years of happiness together!!

Venue: The Ballroom Church Street Station

Hair : Primped Up Hair & Makeup

Make Up: https://www.beautespeciale.com/

Florist: Betty J’s Florist

DJ: Scott Messina Productions

Cake/Cupcakes: Party Flavors Custom Cakes

Event Coordinator: Purple Hype LLC – Sara King

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May 16, 2017 by Stan Cheslock

Mission Inn: Paige and Michael’s Wedding

Mission Inn Resort and Club Wedding

Paige and Mike are a very special couple that are so lucky to have found each other. They are both perfectly suited to each other and S & S Photography is so happy to have been chosen to photograph their beautiful Mission Inn Resort wedding this past February. Here is their story…

According to sweet Paige…,”Mike and I met on Match.com. I was at my cousin’s wedding in October 2012. I learned that my cousin met her husband on Match. I happened to have an account but was letting it run out because it had weirded me out. My mom said “let’s just look when we get back to the room.” We went online, searched around, and my mom pointed and said “what about him?” It was Mike. I messaged him, we spoke for about 2 weeks until we met up in person. The rest is history! We dated from November 2012 until he proposed in December 2015 (about 3 years). Mike proposed December 13, 2015 in Blue Ridge, Georgia. I graduated with my Master’s Degree on December 12, 2015 at the University of South Alabama. We had a plan after the graduation to drive to Georgia to visit my grandparents for a few days and spend time there with my parents as well. The day after my graduation, we all drove to my grandparents’ house from Alabama to Georgia. Once we arrived, we went out to lunch with my grandparents and then went back to their house to hang out (I thought after this that we would be going to a hotel to change and relax). My entire family was sitting on the couch and talking when my grandpa started talking about a road trip he took as a child. Mike then said to me, “speaking of road trips, we still have an hour drive to go.” I was so confused. He said he was taking me to the mountains as a graduation gift. I was actually sort of upset because I never get to see my grandparents and didn’t understand why he would take me away from them (LOL). We said our goodbyes and got in the car and drove north! About an hour later we arrived to a cabin in the mountains of Blue Ridge, GA. It was the cutest cabin! We walked inside, there was romantic music playing and a dozen roses and a box of chocolate on the kitchen counter. I went upstairs and there were rose petals all over the bedroom. I looked down from the second story and saw Mike on the balcony. I figured I should go out there to thank him. I went outside on the balcony. We hugged, I said thank you, and then he said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He got down on one knee and proposed! I had no idea! While I was looking around the cabin before the proposal, he had secretly set up a Go Pro on a bench of the balcony to capture it all. It was the best day! The next day we went back to my grandparents’ house and celebrated with them and my parents, we then went back to the cabin for a few days and enjoyed our engagement weekend!”

Now Mike had a plan all along and in the manner of a traditional , chivalrous gentleman, plotted to ask Paige’s father for her hand in marriage .He said , “I knew quite early on that I wanted to marry Paige. I finally decided on the timing of the proposal because Paige would be graduating from her master’s program and it just felt like the perfect moment. I am a fairly conservative and traditional person so asking for her father’s hand in marriage was something I felt I needed to do, out of respect for her family.On the day I decided to make the drive to her parents house everything lined up perfectly. Paige was working an extra shift at the hospital. I was scheduled to work my normal overnight shift starting at 5PM. My supervisor did not have any issues when I told him I was going to be coming in a little late that night. Once I knew Paige was at her job I hit the road. I had already coordinated with Paige’s brother, Matt, to make sure that her parents would be home that night. Matt did an awesome job of making sure they would be there without giving any hints of what was going on. In 3 shorts hours I was already at their house in the early evening. I rang the door bell and Paige’s mother answered and was surprised to see me but thought I might have been in the area since my father lived near there too. Paige’s father saw me and I knew that he knew exactly why I was there. I spoke quickly probably because I was nervous and just asked them right there in the entrance of the house. Of course they said yes and welcomed me to the family. I felt a huge relief and my nerves were quickly eased. I had a deadline to make it back to work in time. I was only able to stay for a few minutes so Paige’s mother packed me some food for the road and I was on my way. I was back to Orlando in 3 hours and Paige had no idea what had just happened. ”

Would you believe that Mike & Paige’s parents and brother kept this proposed proposal secret for 3 WEEKS!! How her Mom kept that from her is beyond me, I would have burst from excitement! Paige and Mike eventually chose the beautiful Mission Inn Resort for their Orlando wedding. The day was rainy but nothing could dampen Paige and Mike’s excitement! All the planning , all the details, all came together ( with considerable help from their talented planner Katie Jimenez, owner of Big Day Celebrations, Katie@BigDayCelebrations.com) and their Mission Inn Resort wedding was a true celebration of the joining of 2 lives and 2 families. Here we are 2 months later and these 2 wonderful people are now busy helping others. Paige is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Mike works in Law Enforcement protecting and serving the citizens of Orlando.

Stan and I wish Paige and Mike a long, happy and healthy life together. These are 2 people that are thoughtful, kind, smart, gorgeous, and just plain NICE…good people as they say, with wonderful families supporting them. Lots of love to them!!

Vendors:

DJ/Lighting: White Rose Entertainment

Hair/Makeup: About Face

Ceremony Music: Catherine Way-Harpist

Wedding Cake: Party Flavors

Videographer: Lucid Productions

Florist: Flowers by Lesley

Favors: Sweets by Holly

Wedding Planner: Katie Jimenez

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April 6, 2017April 6, 2017 by Stan Cheslock

Mystic Dunes: Brittany and Tyler’s Wedding

Mystic Dunes Resort Wedding

Brittany and Tyler met while studying to be Chiropractors at the College of Chiropractic in Port Orange and it wasn’t long before they started dating, albeit accidentally, due to the scheming of their best friend Taylor. Taylor brought Brittany and Tyler to the beach to ” hang out” only to run away, leaving Tyler and Brittany alone to get to know one another. How cute is that! That same beach is where Tyler decided to propose just over a year later, on August 9th 2015. At sunrise they , ” watched dolphins in the water, seagulls flying above, jumping fish and little crabs in the sand, which was really neat and beautiful to see. No one else was on the beach, just he and I and all of the animals-it could not have been planned better. He got on one knee, spoke so eloquently and asked me to be his wife. It was the best moment and is ours forever”
Well, perfect is what they are together and perfect was what their Central Florida Mystic Dunes wedding was. I personally cannot tell you enough nice things about the involvement of Brittany’s parents in the wedding plans…everything was done for Brittany with so much love , and with only HER wants and desires in mind. Nancy and Louie you are an amazing team and together you pulled off two things…creating a sensitive, considerate, smart and kind daughter, and a wonderfully perfect wedding for her! Mom did the flowers, yes ALL of the bouquets were made by Brittany’s Mom and were beautifully done with no prior experience, wow!! Mrs Anastasio also did all of the decorations and all night long kept flitting around their Mystic Dunes reception to make sure that everything was just perfect for her beautiful daughter. Some tasks did have to be handled by others….Hair was done by Lloyd Scott who works at Hair Mania. Melody Griffin, the owner of Hair Mania, also assisted with the bridesmaids hair and eyelashes. Makeover Station worked with a few of the girls and also assisted with hair and makeup. The delicious cake was made by Chelsea Sexton with Sweetpea’s Sucre Sweets and the dance floor kept popping all night to the tunes of DJ Chris Casella

I asked Brittany what the most memorable part of her Mystic Dunes Resort Wedding was and she said that it “was walking down the aisle to Tyler. Literally, everything outside of my focus on him blurred away and all I could see was Tyler standing at the alter. I was walking towards my future in Christ, with my dad who has always been by my side, to my soon to be husband, best friend and love of my life.” And Ty’s? ” My favorite moment was when Britt and I were able to hold each other’s hands behind the archway right before we got married. It was the start of when my life would change in an amazing way. That moment made the day, our wedding day, feel real. I am glad we didn’t see each other before she walked down the aisle, holding her hand was an incredible moment I’ll never forget.” Feeling brave I asked Brittany and Ty what working with S& S was like? She replied… ”You both are absolutely amazing. We enjoyed every minute of working with you. From the time my parents met with you and knew for sure you were going to photograph the wedding, to the first time we met and talked and shared at Dunkin Donuts, we knew that you were amazing people who would not only be a joy to work with but the perfect pair to capture the moments of the day. It was a ton of fun taking the photos and you both were beyond organized. We had many compliments from our wedding party on working with you as well, which is always so nice to hear! Now that we have seen the proofs, so many friends and family members have expressed how great and talented you are and they love the photos! Thank you so much for capturing such an important start to our journey, we love you and will cherish these memories forever.”
We love you too Brittany and Ty and thank you for allowing us the honor of capturing your beautiful wedding!! I asked where they go to from here and they responded,” We want to serve. We want to volunteer as much as we can. The way we feel we have been chosen to serve is through opening our chiropractic office and bringing hope to people for their health. We also want to start a family of our own and grow with the Central Florida communities. Dance and soccer are also very important to us, so we will see how we can fuel those passions in our family as well. We love being here in central Florida, enjoying all the area has to offer, and we will continue to give back as much as we can and in every capacity that we can.” These two are special, in every way, and a testament to how amazing BOTH sets of parents are because they sure did raise two excellent human beings!!

Venue Coordinator: Rick Martin

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