Best Winter Wedding Favors for your Indiana Wedding

It can be hard to pick the perfect wedding favors for your guests. If you’ve never been married before this might be the first time you have thought about wedding favors. But as a proud hoosier you don’t take the easy way out, you want your guests to be talking about your wedding for years to come. The most popular wedding favors are 3 things, Memorable, Personal, and Seasonal. With a winter wedding here in Indiana you have a lot of options for wedding favors but here are my 5 favorite winter wedding favors.

1.Handmade Soap

Homemade soap is a great gift! It’s so much better than the soap you can buy in the store, they last longer, smell better, are not full of chemicals, and go to help out someone local creating a product they believe in! Give your guests something they would only find in a boutique resort to remember your wedding by. And with scents like honey pine, every time they smell pine for years to come they will think of your wedding day. Fragrant Blossom Soaps in Noblesville has a ton of incredible scents for your wedding day!

2.Booze

Winter is the perfect time to warm up with a little booze. From mini bottles of your favorite whiskey to your own home brewed oatmeal stout and even personal sized bottles of your favorite warm red wine your guests are sure to appreciate the added warmth for your chilly winter wedding! And if you want to make your own wine but don’t own a winery, no worries! Harmony Winery in Fishers offers personalized wines you can make for all your guests in a fun class!

3. Personalized Artisan Coffee

What’s better on a cold winter morning than waking up with a warm cup of coffee. We all know the big brand coffee you buy at the store is essentially ground up dirty cardboard. Buying a few pounds of ground coffee from a local roaster is a cheap and delicious way for your guests to remember the morning after the wedding after they had 1 to many Hot Toddy’s or Old Fashions the night before! You can also do hot coco for the kids!

Check out Bee Coffee Roasters downtown Indianapolis who makes some of my favorite local coffee!

4. Custom Cookies!

Growing up every year our family would spend one weekend over winter break to make more cookies than there were humans within a 20 mile radius. When it comes to winter and holidays cookies are essential! Head over to Rene’s Bakery on the northside of Indianapolis and try out some baked goods if they don’t have what you’re looking for on the menu they specialize in custom orders for your wedding day!

5.POPCORN!

How could I have list of Indiana wedding favors without popcorn?! Just Pop In is new to Indy and it’s a hit! They have half a dozen flavors to bag up as great favors for your wedding guests. On top of the classics like cheese and caramel they even have unique flavors like Blueberry and Strawberry and they can put on a custom sticker with your wedding date on each and every bag! It’s sure to not only please the adults but also keep the kids busy while you’re busy dancing with all of your sorority sisters on the dance floor!

See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!

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3 Styles Of Wedding Photography And What They Mean For Your Wedding Day

There is a LOT of different styles of wedding photography out there. You’ve probably seen a lot of them yourself! Every wedding photographer has a different approach and process that's going to affect your experience and the end product.

Fun Fact: I originally went to film school to become a Cinematographer for movies before I discovered the creative freedom photography gave me! The way I do things differs because I don’t show up at your wedding with a shot list. I was trained to focus on emotion and storytelling through creative light and composition. I don’t want to take the same photos at your wedding as I would at every other wedding I shoot. Your relationship is unique and your wedding photos should be unique too!

Today let’s talk about the 3 main styles of photography you will find when looking for a wedding photographer.

#1: Natural Light Photographer

Natural Light photography can produce beautiful soft photos in the right conditions, but struggle in low light most common during receptions on the dancefloor like the first dance. Natural light photography would be better suited for an early outdoor reception. In summary Natural light photography is more about the way the photo is captured with the camera rather than the story the photographer is trying to tell.

As much as I love using my flash and getting creative, you can’t deny that sometimes natural light is the best choice.

#2: Commercial Wedding Photography

Highly styled photos where every detail of the day will be staged to create beautiful images, however it does require a larger block of time to capture portraits and the most interaction with you and the photographer on your wedding day. Sometimes upwards of 2-3 hours. In summary with Commercial Wedding Photography, most shots are arranged or posed with very few candids to maximize image quality over everything else.

The multi light set up took some preparation while the couple were inside dancing during their reception

#3: Documentary Wedding Photography

This typically means the day will be captured mostly as it happened in front of the camera in the effort to tell the story of your wedding day. The emphasis of the photography will be artistic composition and lighting. Documentary photography is mostly candid and lets you spend more time AT your wedding instead of ON your wedding. In summary, Documentary Wedding Photography requires the least interaction with the photographer as they try to capture the most natural beauty.

Documentary photography is trying to anticipate the action and create beautiful images with the availible surroundings.

My process: Well through my training in film and tv shows my style of wedding photography is 80% Documentary 20% Commercial. I know that family and friends may have traveled long distances to be at your wedding and you want to spend time with them and celebrate. So I love the documentary approach to capture the genuine interactions you have with each other and your guests. At the same time, I love creating beautiful pieces of art that require a bit more time and effort to put together. I know you and your parents will want a beautifully framed photo of you two and the whole family. When it comes to portraits of you two my love of both styles really shines. Instead of posing you two in awkward positions I give you two prompts and games to create genuine and meaningful interactions.

When you work with me, you work with just me. No assistant answering my emails, no staff to hand you off to, no associate photographers, no shot lists. You’ve put your trust in me so I take care of you 100% of the way! I’ll offer my advice and expertise freely and use my creativity to tailor photos you wouldn’t even think possible. I’m not just a photographer, I’m a resource for you throughout your wedding journey!

See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!

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6 Things You Need To Do Right After You Get Engaged

You just said yes! Your life is about to change forever and the next 12-18 months are going to get crazy! There is so much to do, where do you start? Well here are the 6 things you need to do right after getting engaged!

1: Let Those Closest To You Know

This is big news and a major event in your life! Be the one who tells the people you love. Don’t let them find out when you update your Facebook status. You don’t have to tell everyone you know but letting your closest family and friends who will be in your bridal party know will go along way with them.

2: Get a Manicure

Everyone is going to be looking at that new ring on your hand for the next few weeks. Getting a manicure will ensure you are looking your best and will give you some time to relax and soak it all in!

3: Get Your Ring Sized

As a guy I can tell you I didn’t even know rings had sizes. I’m sure your love picked out a ring they thought long and hard about even if it wasn’t the right size. It’s hard to discreetly ask what your ring size is without giving away our plans. So now get it sized correctly so that you don’t lose it in the shower, washing your hands, doing some gardening, driving a car, walking around, or sleeping. Also, while you’re at it, get it insured through your insurance company. It is only a few dollars per year and will give you piece of mind.

4: Think About a Date

In my experience I’d say the average engagement is 12-18 months, so look at that time frame and pick a date that’s right for you. In the beginning you don’t have to pick THE date but come up with a season at least until you circle a date on the calendar. It will be the foundation for the wedding and knowing it is pretty much a prerequisite before booking any wedding vendor. If you are wondering How To Pick A Wedding Date around the unpredictable Indiana weather read my blog post!

5: Take Some Time To Enjoy Being Engaged

Don’t rush into wedding planning right away. Take time to reflect on what makes your relationship unique and how your perfect wedding day would go before jumping in and booking the first vendors you find. They may not be the right choice for you. Take 3 weeks to a month to fully enjoy this part of your life before putting pen to paper on the wedding plans.

6: Get Inspired

There are so many great wedding blogs that cater to all types of weddings. Small and intimate, offbeat, diy, large and fashionable, ect, so look around and get a feel of how you two want your wedding day to feel. Save some photos for inspiration to give to vendors when interviewing them to ensure they can deliver what you are looking for.

Your engagement should be fun and a period of your life where you look back and smile, not grit your teeth and just wish the wedding was over already. I hope these few tips helped let you take a deep breath and focus on what's most important to you!

See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!

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Can Take Care of These 5 Wedding Stressers Now

When you think about your wedding day, it’s this magical event where you are surrounded by friends, family, love, and everything goes perfect. But let’s face it, it’s a long road there. Planning your wedding can be more stressful than we would like to admit. But it’s all about keeping a level head and reminding yourself that at the end of the day, as long as you say “I do” everything else is extra. And extra shouldn't be stressful. It should be fun. Do these 5 things to prepare and exactly 87.6% of your wedding stress will be immediately eliminated.

1: Exercise

I don’t know about you but I always feel like I’m too busy to go to the gym, however when I leave the gym I am more calm and can think much clearer about tough decisions. Like choosing between Wedding Cake or Wedding Pies. On top of being able to make decisions earlier you will also feel more comfortable and confident on your wedding day from sweating out the stress!

2: Don’t Invite People You Don’t Like

Don’t invite people you are just cordial to. Don’t invite people you haven’t talked to in a while. Even if you want to reconnect with someone you haven’t talked to in a while, a wedding is not the place to do that where they will only see you for a few minutes and have to spend the rest of their time with strangers. Plus on average, here in Indiana each additional guest will cost you $137. Cut just 10 people off your list and you just paid for all of those delicious tropical drinks on your honeymoon!

3: Understand Something Will Go Wrong

It’s inevitable. No matter how much planning you do, someone will get lost, or forget the custom dress hanger, or buy coors lite instead of some delicious sun king or upland beers. The sooner you realize that the small details, in the whole scope of things will not change your wedding day the easier it will be for you to enjoy your wedding day.

4: Consider A Day Of Coordinator to Fight the Fires

Like if the Caterer ends up not bringing enough food to feed your guests or if the Cake Bakery calls and says they didn't realize that your reception is just out of their delivery zone and they can't deliver the cake so someone else needs to come and get it, only to find out they won't release the cake because the person you sent didn't have the receipt. These things, you dont need to worry about on your wedding day and can easily be handled by someone else.

5: Buy Your Dress One Size Larger

We all have plans to get in shape for the big day but some of us like myself are stress eaters. And planning a wedding is stressful. There will be several late night taco bell runs while deciding on a venue or working pizza lunches while you run around town picking out the right flowers or getting your marriage certificate. And while you don’t plan on needing a larger dress, they can always be pulled in to size!

That’s it! Ultimately your wedding day is about your relationship and not anyone else’s. So lead with your heart (I originally wrote gut but for some reason it looked to clinical on the screen but you get the point). If you are feeling pressure to make a decision, take a day to think on it and make the decision.

See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!

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5 Surprising Wedding Traditions We Still Follow Today

Your wedding should be a reflection of you and your fiance's personalities and unique relationship. Since there is a good chance you have never been married you may be persuaded into doing some of these wedding traditions I’ve listed below just because. I wrote this blog to help you decided what is right for your wedding and help you in planning a more intimate and personal day, not convince you to give up the wedding traditions on this list. But no one wants to do something in front of a few hundred people without knowing why you are doing them.

1: Not Seeing Each Other Before the Ceremony

Back when marriages were arranged with the point of growing your families status, workforce, or wealth you may have been partnered up with someone you were not attracted to. If that were the case you might... run. BUT if you didn't see who you were marrying until they walked down the aisle you might feel pressured to not run away. But this still didn’t work 100% So many grooms to be still ran away as their soon to be brides were walking down the aisle that we now have the wedding vial. This prevented the groom from seeing the bride until the moment before they sealed it with a kiss. It had nothing to do with bad luck. But I guessing you two have seen each other before though, so…. Many couples still chose to wait to build excitement and that is perfectly understandable! Just don’t feel pressured.

2: Groomsmen and Bridesmaids

The thought of a wedding without the support of bridesmaids or groomsmen may seem weird, I agree. It’s fun to be around your closest friends, sorority sisters, or siblings. The tradition behind this one thought is the grossest out of all the traditions. The job of the best man was not to plan a bachelor party or run damage control and make sure your fiance does not have too much to drink and be hungover on the wedding day, the best man's job was simply to step in as groom should the original groom to be run off and he would have to marry the jilted bride to be. I know right? But what about the bridesmaids? Well they are not off the hook. It was so common that a bride may be kidnaped by an ex SO she would enlist the help of her friends to dress up just like her in the days leading up to the wedding so if there was a kidnap attempt the real bride would be safe. Do you have an ex crazy enough to attempt to kidnap you before your wedding? Gross.

3: The Garter Toss

Along with the not seeing each other before the ceremony, this is the tradition I see getting the axe the most. This tradition started when it was customary for newly married couples to consummate the marriage immediately following the "I Do's". No need to wait until you get back to your hotel room. While the newly married couple became… better acquainted, their guest would wait… outside their window. The garter would then be thrown out the window to the guests below, signifying that their marriage was... official

4: The First Kiss

Along with having bridesmaids and groomsmen I think this one is pretty much written in ink but I thought the story behind the first kiss was interesting so I included it. The first kiss is a tradition that comes from when the priest would kiss the groom as the ceremony started with the "Kiss of Peace" which supposedly came from above to calm him down. Is it just me or are you also sensing that grooms back in the day must have been pretty on edge. Anyway at the end of the ceremony the priest would have the groom kiss the bride to pass on the kiss from the priest. That's kinda weird. I can see why we got rid of the whole priest kisses thing though.

5: Carrying the Bride Across the Threshold

Carrying the bride across the threshold is in like every movie where a couple gets married where for one reason or another something goes wrong and they fall or something. But the gesture is looked at as quite romantic. I actually found 2 explanations for this one. The first being, People were really scared of spirits in the old days. They believed that evil spirits lived under the floor so to protect the new bride the groom would carry her across the threshold to keep her elevated above the spirits. He would then put her down on the floor where she was totally susceptible to spirits again. And the second reason is that for a bride it was unladylike to want to leave the home and protection of her father so the groom had to kidnap her and take her to her new home. Sorry pops.

In the past few year's I have seen couples foregoing several of the “wedding traditions” on this list because they add no significance to their wedding day. Ultimately it's up to you and what you want for your wedding day.

See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!

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