Your wedding album as a coffee table book
Artist Group Photography has partnered with award-winning graphic designers to create a custom-made, high-quality wedding book of up to 200 pages. For $1,800, brides and grooms not only receive a bound copy (which, in addition to photos can feature elements like the first song, love notes, and menus), but a set of two books for parents, and another four for grandparents. Miniature versions can be ordered as gifts for members of the wedding party.
“The end result of fashion photography is always beauty,” says Rowe. “Photojournalism, on the other hand, is about capturing a story.” Add to the mix an innovative use of black-and-white photography interspersed with color and you have a luxurious and attractive keepsake of your big day. artistgroup.net
A Wisconsin wedding for actress Kristin Bauer When HBO’s “True Blood” actress Kristin Bauer married South African musician Abri van Straten on Aug. 1, she wasn’t aiming for a glamorous Hollywood wedding. In fact, she wanted the opposite—a small, Wisconsin, family affair in her hometown of Racine.
“I wanted a wedding that wasn’t stressful for anyone,” Bauer says. Because she lives in Los Angeles and doesn’t see her family much, she only invited immediate members to the Bauer-van Straten wedding in the mowed meadow on Bauer’s mother’s farm.
“Many of my aunts and uncles are in their 80s,” she says. “And I wanted to be able to connect with each and every person. It would not have been possible if there had been more people.”
The theme of the wedding might as well have been Bauer’s love for her home state. Instead of a wedding cake, she wanted Wisconsin pie. For her wedding bouquet, she picked Wisconsin wildflowers. For her wedding services, she used only local businesses. Luckily, van Straten, who is the singer for The Lemmings pop-rock band, also fell in love with the Badger State, and now the couple talks about buying a house here someday.
The newlyweds honeymooned with Bauer’s family, at Ross’ Teal Lake Lodge in Hayward. Bauer turns lyrical when talking about their stay in northern Wisconsin. “It was the most perfect place for a honeymoon,” she says. “The food was incredible, and there was so much to do.”
Next summer the couple will host a small reception for van Straten’s family in his hometown in South Africa.
Perfecting your wedding-day style
“When people look good, they feel good. And getting people to look and feel good is the overall goal of my business,” says Jordan Dechambre-Childers, owner of Elements of Style, a personal shopping consulting firm that counts bridal attire coordination among its specialties. After a free one-hour consultation discussing things like clothes, themes, ideas and visions, Dechambre-Childers and her client go dress shopping. “Everybody should look amazing at a wedding,” she says, “but no one should look better than the bride.” This is where the coordinator comes in. Dechambre-Childers highlights the bride, making sure the rest of the wedding-party attire is planned around her. “My job is to help find the subtle motif that carries through the entire wedding, creating an amazing flow,” she says. She also helps style brides on the big day, making sure, for example, that the jewelry fits right, that the shoes indeed match the dress, and that there are no unpleasant accessory surprises.