Banish the Wedding Worries

Banish the Wedding Worries

From asking your very best friends to be your bridesmaids to finding the perfect lakefront location for your sunset ceremony, how much of yourself have you already invested in planning your wedding? Every bride we’ve ever met has put her heart and soul into coordinating the details of the perfect day she’s been dreaming about since the day she got engaged—or maybe even longer.

 

And that’s not the only investment you’ve made. On average, couples who were married in 2019 spent around $34,000 on a wedding. Hosting a wedding may be the biggest expense you’ve ever taken on.

 

We’re wedding professionals who love what we do. Beyond capturing your long-awaited day in stunning photos, we want you to benefit from our wedding wisdom. In the 30-plus years that we’ve been photographing weddings, we’ve seen thousands of perfect weddings. But we’ve also seen a few unexpected calamities. That’s why we recommend adding one more line item to your wedding budget: wedding insurance.

 

You may have had nightmares about something going wrong at your wedding. You spill coffee on your wedding dress. The preacher doesn’t show up. Your parents, who live out of town, miss their flight due to bad weather. Hosting a successful wedding involves dozens of details coming together and a whole bunch of professionals working in lockstep. You may have paid some of your wedding vendors in advance. For example, it’s likely you’ve put down a hefty deposit to reserve your reception site. You’ve planned for the best but it makes sense to prepare for the worst.  The best wedding insurance policies anticipate many wedding pitfalls and provide protection should something go wrong on your special day.

 

There are two primary categories of wedding insurance you should consider. The first is liability insurance. If you own a car or a home, you’re probably familiar with how liability coverage works. If someone is hurt or if some property is damaged during your wedding, liability insurance kicks in and pays for the damages. Let’s say that beautiful ice sculpture you commissioned for your buffet leaves a puddle of water on the floor. A dear friend slips and breaks a leg. Your wedding liability policy would cover the medical cost of getting her back on her feet. If the tent you rent for your backyard wedding is ripped during your reception, wedding insurance will pay to repair or replace it.

 

Weddings are celebratory events and celebrating often involves having a drink or two. But some people can’t resist the lure of the open bar and drink more than is wise. Alcohol is one of the leading causes of accidents and some can be quite tragic. That’s why one of the most important wedding insurance options you can choose is host liquor liability insurance. Juries routinely award six-figure and higher verdicts in drunk driving lawsuits. That’s the last financial burden you’d want to take on at any time in your life, but especially when you’re a newlywed.

 

Before you purchase wedding liability insurance, it makes sense to see whether your wedding vendors carry coverage of their own. Many reception halls do have their own policies in place, while some insist you purchase your own. If you are a homeowner, you might also want to consult with your insurance agent. Some homeowners’ policies do cover events you hold outside your home. No one needs the extra expense of duplicate coverage. Just be sure you are protected one way or another.

 

The second kind of wedding insurance you may want to carry is cancellation coverage. Remember all those intertwined details and expenses we talked about earlier? If something unexpected happens and you’re forced you to postpone or cancel your wedding, cancellation coverage can at least help soften the financial blow. Many states envy Florida’s beautiful weather, but it can also be unpredictable. Natural disasters like hurricanes and flooding are among the events that cancellation policies cover. If your maid-of-honor falls ill and you just can’t see getting married without her by your side, you can postpone your wedding and your policy will reimburse you for any non-refundable costs you’ve incurred.

 

Many wedding insurance companies allow you to customize your policy. You can elect coverage for your rehearsal dinner, your honeymoon, your wedding dress, and that table full of gifts you’re bound to receive. Specialized coverage for destination weddings, which can be even more complicated than local weddings, is also available.

 

It probably seems like all we’ve been sharing with you is bad wedding news. But we have some good news for you, too. Wedding insurance, particularly when seen as a percentage of your entire wedding investment, is very affordable. First of all, it’s a one-time premium. You pay it, and with any luck, you can just forget it. Depending on the coverage limits you select (and they typically range from $500,000 to $5,000,000), you can purchase liability insurance for as little as $100. Cancellation coverage runs higher and you can expect to pay $400 and up, depending on how comprehensive a plan you select.

 

One thing we know about wedding insurance: it will certainly help you rest easy during the hectic weeks leading up to your wedding day. And need we mention that all brides need their beauty sleep?

5 Orlando Wedding Day Tips

In Orlando, Florida, and anywhere really, there are many variables that need

to come together to have a wonderful wedding ceremony. Unfortunately many

of our couples are overwhelmed with all of the decisions and choices they have

to make . Stan and I have put together a list of 5 Orlando Wedding Day Tips to

help our new clients prioritize what is and what is not important for their wedding.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers –

Tip #1

Make your wedding your own

Wedding magazines and blogs, along with bridal shows and social media,
can be overwhelming to a newly engaged couple. There are so many different
opinions on what they should or should not do, what’s right, what’s wrong,
what’s in and what’s out. These wedding day tips can push a couple into
doing something they normally would not be comfortable doing. Our No. 1
Orlando Wedding Day Tip to all of our couples is …there is no right or
wrong, it’s YOUR day, so make it your own and do what makes YOU happy.
Step back, gather your thoughts, put together a list of what you like
and what you don’t like, and build on that. On your wedding day do what
makes you both happy and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t or should
not…if you like it is hot, if you don’t, it’s not.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers –

TIP #2

HIRE A REPUTABLE PLANNER

A good wedding day planner will quickly pay for herself. The last thing
that a couple needs on their wedding day is the stress of making phone calls
to the florist because the flowers have not been delivered, or the bakery to
find out where the cake is. A good planner will eliminate the stress of your
event by handling everything well in advance of the big day and will make
sure those phone calls, if needed, are not being done by the bride and
groom. This Orlando Wedding Day Tip also allows for us, as photographers, to
be a little less stressed ourselves. Our photography timeline will run a lot
smoother and stay on track when we don’t actually have to stop taking
pictures to go looking for missing people. Having help getting family and
friends where they need to be, and on time, is a huge plus for us!

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers –

TIP #3

HAVE A HAIR & MAKEUP TRIAL RUN

Do NOT do your own hair and makeup!! Don’t do it!! Can you hear me screaming at
you?? This is a huge Orlando Wedding Day Tip that rivals No. 1. PLEASE let a
professional hairstylist and makeup artist do this for you, well in advance
of your big day. And when they do, take a picture and look at yourself. Now
is your chance to make changes. A good makeup artist knows that 1) Digital
photography is unforgiving and will pick up every flaw and wash you out so
your makeup needs to be applied a little heavier than normal and 2) glowing,
youthful, shiny makeup reflects the flash and instead of making you look
glowy and youthful you’ll end up looking shiny, hot and sweaty. Matte makeup
ladies!!! As for your hair…set up a trial run and take pictures so you can
decide whether it’s a “keeper” or a “do over”. This is one of Charlene’s
favorite Orlando Wedding Day Tips. ” I had a wonderful Orlando photographer
take my bridal portraits well in advance of our 8/8/1992 wedding in
Trinidad. I absolutely HATED how I looked! They did an updo…I never wear
my hair up, but it was the thing to do, have your hair up. YUCK!! I hated
how I looked! The makeup was unnatural and the hair style simply not me.
Makeup and hair were changed and I was not only happier but felt and looked
a lot more like ME on our wedding day”

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers –

Tip # 4

EAT AND HYDRATE ON YOUR WEDDING DAY

This might seem somewhat trivial but it’s a very important Orlando
Wedding Day Tip. Charlene often jokes with her brides that if they don’t eat
they might end up fainting with the excitement of the day and if they start
falling Charlene might be too busy ” getting the shot ” to catch the bride!
Both Stan and Charlene have caught brides, fanned brides and rushed to bring
them food and water or orange juice to get their blood sugar levels back up
to normal. Brides aren’t the only ones susceptible to fainting on the
wedding day. Grooms, Mothers, bridesmaids…it happens to the best of them.
The excitement, emotions, drama of a wedding day can be overwhelming, so
give your body a great foundation for the day and eat well and drink lots
and lots of water.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers –

Tip # 5

DO NOT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Orlando Wedding day Tip Number 5 is as important as No. 1. It’s OK if
the flowers are not the perfect shade of pink. There will be imperfections.
There will be mistakes. There will be emergencies. Someone will be late.
Someone will be missing. Someone will forget to bring something. That’s ok!!
Remember what it all comes down to, what it’s all about, is that you are
marrying the love of your life. That is ALL that matters! Let those details
go, let it go! Do not obsess! Look at the face of your partner and relish in
that moment you pledge your lives to each other because that’s what your
wedding day is all about, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

FINAL THOUGHTS

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers - 2We hope that these 5 Orlando Wedding Day Tips from Charlene & Stan of S
& S Photography have helped you and made you aware of some things that you
would not have thought of before. Make your wedding your own, hire a
reputable planner, have a hair and makeup trail run, eat and hydrate on your
wedding day, do not sweat the small stuff and we promise that you too will
have a memorable ( in a good way ) fantastic and wonderful wedding day.

 

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers Rainy Wedding Tips

5 Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers
Rainy Wedding Tips

In Orlando Florida, and Florida in general, weather is a very important factor to be seriously considered when planning your wedding day. Your Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers could be hugely impacted by the weather on your special day should it decide to rain. In order to ensure that the photos will be just as beautiful as the happy couple, here are a few Wedding Photography Tips from a couple of Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers that have firsthand experience in coping with this challenge.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers – TIP #1

CHOOSE A VENUE WITH A LOT OF WINDOWS AND BALCONIES

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers - 1Look at Your Venue. From an Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers perspective, ask yourself, is there a lot of light coming into the building from the outside? Are there lots of big windows to let that light in? Are there overhangs, balconies, outside areas that are sheltered? As Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers we love locations that have all of the above because we want your Wedding Photography to be a treasured keepsake of your wedding for years to come! If it is pouring rain, as Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers, we have experience taking photos inside, by a large window, still giving the photo a kiss of natural light making the shot much more flattering than those taken with a harsh direct flash alone.

The same technique can also apply to balconies. We can easily take wonderful available light pictures under a covered balcony and no one would know that it was pouring rain outside. Your photography should have natural light, and lots of it, because it’s far more flattering than flash photography.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers – TIP #2

AVOID A LATE AFTERNOON WEDDING DURING THE SUMMER

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers - 2Local Orlando Florida brides will likely already know this, but our destination wedding clients may not. There are many Wedding Photography Tips but this is a biggie! Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers know better than anyone that in the summer months from May to September your wedding photography can become more challenging as our Orlando afternoons are often peppered with violent thunderstorms. Rain with lightening, thunder, and even flooding is almost guaranteed on a daily basis, especially later in the afternoons. This can seriously hamper your Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers results.

Because you cannot avoid the weather, its best to just plan around it. If you do, your Wedding Photography will be much better for it. The more the heat builds up the greater the chance of thunderstorms. So, consider having your wedding start earlier in the day. The mornings are cooler and you increase your chances of avoiding the rain altogether. An added bonus to this is that your Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers often center your photos around beautiful lush landscapes and will appreciate shooting your photos with the softness of the early morning light.

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers – TIP #3

PLAN EXTRA TIME FOR GETTING TO THE CHURCH AND THE RECEPTION!

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers - 3We can’t stress this enough!! If you have a 20-minute drive from the hotel to the church, then give yourself twice that to be safe. If the weather is terrible, and the roads are flooded, which is quite possible in the summer, you will be late if you haven’t allowed yourself extra time. Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers don’t want you to be late because then they will have less time for your photography session. Of all our Wedding Photography Tips, this is one of the most important. Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers need time to take great photos. There is no harm in being early, and your stress levels will remain on an even keel. Starting late can have a domino effect on everything else planned for the remainder of the day and can really bring about additional stress. The last thing your Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers need is less time for your photography session. Florida Wedding Photography takes time and should not be rushed. The more time Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers have, the more poses we can do, the more fun we can have, the more locations we can visit, which all leads to better wedding pictures.

We want your Florida Wedding Photography to remind you of your beautiful rainy wedding day, and not a soggy, stressful disaster of a day!

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers – TIP #4

HAVE FUN WITH IT!!

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers - 4What does that mean? Well, if you are having an Orlando Florida Wedding in the summer and you know that you most likely will have to work around the rain, then get some fun umbrellas. As Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers, we know how to use the rain to keep it romantic and fun. An umbrella can quickly add some color, flair and uniqueness to your photos. It may be a good idea to at least have umbrellas available for each couple in your wedding party, and perhaps some extras for the parents, and of course for the bride and groom.

Order them in advance, maybe even in the color scheme of your wedding, or engraved with Mr. & Mrs., Maid of Honor or Best Man. The possibilities are endless and they will be fun props to use in your wedding pictures. With pop up showers always being a possibility in Orlando, you could even consider using umbrellas as wedding gifts for your guests. Now that’s a functional gift everyone can appreciate and the end result is that your photos will have a fun and unique look!

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers – TIP #5

PLAN A FIRST LOOK SESSION

Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers - 5Now not every bride is going to be okay with this suggestion but it really is a good idea. We love having 2 opportunities to photograph our Bride and Groom as it lets us get more pictures. So, let’s run this scenario by you. What happens if it is pouring rain after the ceremony during the time allotted for your wedding photos to be taken? To put it bluntly, you’re screwed. Not every venue will have what we talked about in Tip #1. Lots of light, overhangs, etc. Do you really want all of your wedding pictures to be taken in a dark dimly lit room? Your Wedding Photos will not be the memorable keepsake you had hoped they would be.

Florida is lush and green so your wedding photos should most certainly reflect that. If you have a “First Look” session before the ceremony starts, then we’ve got your shots done and there is nothing to worry about if it’s pouring rain when it’s time for the Bride and Groom pictures after the ceremony. It’s a huge plus for Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers to have this second window to take your pictures. It’s just one more opportunity, on a hectic and busy day, to ensure that your Wedding photos are everything you had hoped they would be and more. If it’s not raining, even better because now we can really have some fun. The pressure is off as we got what we needed earlier. Now we can take this opportunity to be creative and get those fun and romantic pictures that you see in the bridal magazines.
 

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, we hope that some if not all of the tips provided here can help bring out the very best in your Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers photo shoot and to our clients, we wish you all the absolute best on your very special 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 Wedding Photography is a huge success!
Orlando Florida Wedding Photographers Rainy Wedding Tips

Be sure to check out some of S&S Photography’s work on FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM!

Town Manor: Allard and Rachael’s Wedding

Town Manor on the Lake Wedding

 Rachael and Allard met in their second year of law school in Syracuse, New York in 2013 through a mutual friend. They never knew each other from any classes, but one evening Allard was having a get together at his house before all of their friends went out that night…and that’s pretty much how everything started. Since that one evening, they were always spending their time together. They dated for almost two years, took many trips together, graduated school and moved down to Florida to pursue their careers. On Rachael’s 27th Birthday, Allard surprised her with a visit to an elephant sanctuary in Gainesville, Florida (she has a passion for the environment and animals, especially elephants). After many personal encounters with the elephants, one particular elephant named Patti had an envelope in her trunk and walked up to Rachael and Allard who were both standing in a nearby field. Patti dropped the envelope into Rachael’s hand and in it was a letter from Allard. All of a sudden, Allard got down on one knee and proposed! Then a little over a year later, they were married at Town Manor on the Lake B&B in Auburndale, Florida. Allard’s favorite memory from the Town Manor on the lake wedding was probably their first kiss as a married couple. Rachael’s favorite memory from the lake wedding was walking down the aisle and seeing Allard for the first time surrounded by friends and family. The red velvet cake was a close second. In the future, they plan on enjoying everything out of life together as a married couple and pursuing their careers.

Vendors:

Venue:Town Manor on the Lake

Dress:Modern Bridal Shop

Designer: Essense Of Australia

Flowers:Paula Jeans Garden

Hair & Makeup: Laura Reynolds Artistry

 

 

 

 

 

Orlando Science Center: Jillian & Daniel’s Wedding

Orlando Science Center Wedding

  Congratulations go out to Jillian Treffeisen and Daniel Hamm on their November 4 th Orlando Science Center Wedding !! Their love story is sweet but also a sign of the times. Ladies, don’t be afraid to go after that very special man that catches your eye. Too many gentlemen are somewhat intimidated by a gorgeous and strong woman, so it just might be up to YOU to make that first move….exactly what Jillian did, and look where it led. They both worked at Publix, mopping and sweeping floors together, then hung out after work at his parents house playing video games. Jillian says that she was doing homework one day and decided to ask Dan out. Obviously he said yes because here they are, 7 years later, happily married newlyweds!At the time they both attended BCC. Dan then moved on to Orlando to study at UCF where they endured a long distance relationship. Jillian later joined him at UCF . Dan now has a Masters Degree in Industrial Psychology from UCF and Jillian is finishing up her Masters Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis at FIT ( where both Stan and I received our B.S Degrees in Photographic Technology!)

  “We knew early on that we were going to get married but with both of us being in school it was not a good time” They traveled a lot together over the years, focusing on school and enjoying life. Then, on a trip to Colorado, celebrating the coming in of 2015, Dan proposed! “On January 1st Dan wanted to take me to Pike’s Peak but a bad snow storm closed the mountain. So instead he took me to a beautiful park, Garden of the Gods. It was here that he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was obviously so happy ( and so very cold) and I said YES!”

  Jillian’s fondest memory of her Orlando Science Center Wedding …” When I was walking down the aisle with my Mom and Dad. It was such a good feeling to look up and see everything I loved, there to support us. There will never be another moment like that in my life”

  Dan’s fondest memory of their wedding day…” When I first saw our wedding cake. Jillian surprised me with a custom cake topper of us fashioned to look like the couple from the movie “UP.” It’s always been one of our favorite movies to watch together . The topper was a really thoughtful thing to do and it’s something I will always cherish”

  Advice from the happy couple…” Always think about why your partner may be acting the way they are, whether they be happy, sad, mad,anxious etc. We find that this brings us peace and helps us to react in an appropriate way. We also encourage couples to ” not sweat the small stuff” . Is it really worth your energy to bring up that annoying thing that happened last week ; the answer is usually no. When there are big issues, talk about them and again, think about why your partner is acting the way they are. If you know what may be causing them their sadness, anger, anxiousness only then can you move in a direction towards happiness! Great words of wisdom Mr & Mrs. Hamm!

Vendors:

DJ: Junction 88 Productions  

Venue: Orlando Science Center

Coordinator: Andrea Dimayo

Makeup: Erin Frame

Wedding Gown: LA Bridal