Not only does J. Crew have great everyday wear, they also have great wedding attire. They’ve always got a large selection of fabrics, styles and colors for the ladies in the wedding. Find below, some of my favorites, all of which are fun ways to dress the girls up without having to shop at David’s Bridal. Images from J. Crew.
Effective May 12, USPS prices will increase. This is very important for those of you who are expecting response cards back after that time. Visit the USPS website for more detailed information.
Make sure prior to mailing out invitations, that you have taken a fully assembled invitation to the post office to weigh as well as a separate, fully assembled response card. (You’d be surprised at how much a square invitation and inner envelope will cost you extra. ) You do not want any invitations coming back to you, or response cards to guests, because you did not provide enough postage. Not to mention, each one will have “insufficient postage” stamped on it, possibly over the calligrapher’s work!
In March, I attended a great little event hosted by Macy’s in Tyson’s Corner. Featured guests were Darcy Miller, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, and Wendy Kromer, Co-Author of the book, Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes. Darcy gave some great tips on planning and how to make the wedding personal and Wendy discussed the cakes she created for the book. Design Cuisine provided hors d’oeuvres and lemonade while guests browsed the store shopping the latest of the Martha Stewart Collection. Check back in a few weeks as I do a giveaway of the book, signed by both Darcy and Wendy! Images: Darcy and I, latest from the Martha Stewart Collection.
The winner of Preston Bailey’s signed Fantasy Weddings, is Lindsay Meidenbauer-congratulations! For those of you who did not win or missed the deadline, please check back often as we continue to do more contests! (Hint-I’ll be mentioning a new one next week.) Image from Amazon.
I had the opportunity to interview Trista Lerit, of Trista Lerit Photography based in Orange County, California. Though she is located on the West coast, Trista does travel and would love to come and photograph a DC wedding! If her name sounds familiar, you may have already seen some of her photos in my ceremony space post. Visit her website to see more of her incredible work! Enjoy!
How did Trista Lerit Photography come about? Goodness..where do I begin with this? To make a very long story short, I graduated from college with a B.A. in Psychology years ago and had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation. I dabbled in a couple of different careers in Real Estate and Sales and was miserable with both of my jobs. I eventually quit my sales job because I was so unhappy and knew at that point that I needed to seriously think about what I was going to do with the rest of my life. During this time, I had also gotten engaged and was planning my wedding. The planning process was such a welcomed distraction for me since I could happily plan my wedding and not have to think about my career (or lack there of). Somewhere along the planning process and me actually getting married, I rediscovered my love of photography. When I was younger, my dad was always taking pictures of me, landscapes, etc. He was a serious hobbyist and his work was just beautiful. I was inspired at a young age and had always thought that I would take up photography as a hobby one day…never ever considering it as a career. Then it hit me..why hadn’t I ever considered it before? I loved weddings, loved photography, it became so obvious at that point for me to at least attempt photography and see if it was something I was good at and move on from there. So I enrolled in a photography course, shot my first wedding a few months later, and the rest is history.
What was your first year of business like? Crazy! I NEVER expected it to happen as quickly as it did. I was living in New York at the time when I shot my first wedding. My husband and I knew we were moving to CA in a couple of months and I thought that I would be lucky enough if I could just get a job assisting an established wedding photographer here and hopefully building my own business slowly. However, the bride from the first wedding I shot ended up going on the local CA “Knot” boards and just raved about me to everyone. From there, I started getting inquiries and just started booking. Before I knew it, I had my “own” business! I can’t express enough how lucky I’ve been with everything that has happened in my career!
How does Trista Lerit Photography differ from other photographers? Oh goodness gracious! I don’t like talking about myself, especially in “that” way, so the only thing that I’m going to say is that I love my client’s, love what I do, and genuinely want all of my couples to be IN LOVE with their pictures. I’m always trying to better myself and my photography because I KNOW how important these memories are to my client’s. It’s a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly and I hope that my client’s can see that.
What is the creative process like? Editing photos is one of the things I LOVE about photography. There is nothing better to see an image transform before my eyes into a work of art. I carry many different lenses during all of my shoots because the lens plays an important role in the final look of my image. My favorite lenses without a doubt are the Canon 85mm 1.8 and the Canon 17-40mm.
What do you enjoy most about shooting weddings and couples? I’ve always loved weddings and probably always will. I love everything from the dress, shoes, flowers, lighting, cake….I love it all! It’s a visual fantasyland for me and I just love showing up to a wedding and seeing how my client’s have personalized their weddings and make it unique to them. Being such a big part of my client’s wedding day is an amazing feeling. Seeing two people pledge their love for each other in front of all of their loved one’s is really special. It just reminds me of what’s REALLY important in life…and what’s important to me. I always think about my own wedding and my husband when I’m shooting a wedding. LOL..I’ve actually teared up during a reception because they were playing “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire which was also played during our own reception. Which would totally be normal if it was a slow song about love, etc. but it’s actually a dance song!
What is something you always hear from client after shooting their wedding or engagement photos? Well aside from “we love our photos” and you’re the coolest photographer ever (I’m kidding people!), I would say the comment I tend to get most is how I was able to capture “them” as a couple. I think it’s so important to preserve who my client’s really are and I’m glad my photos reflect that!
What are your goals moving forward? To just continue what I love doing! It took me so long to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and now that I’ve finally figured it out, I couldn’t ask for anything more! Everything that happens after this is just icing on the cake.
This is the inspiration for one of my client’s weddings that will be held in their backyard under a tent. We are replicating this almost exactly-instead of martini glasses we are using red tinted goblets and there will not be as many flowers. Instead, we’ll be using low rectangular vases packed tight with red flowers that just come up to the edge. All rentals are coming from Party Rental and she is purchasing the lanterns from Luna Bazaar. Image from Martha Stewart.
Today is Earth Day and it’s celebrated around the world to help promote awareness of environmental issues. These are ways in which Bash is making our carbon footprint smaller and helping the environment:
-we have minimal paper in the office-I no longer keep or even ask for collateral from vendors, except one business card for my folio. I refer clients to their website for more information and I keep all contracts and notes on computer hard drives.
-recycle-we recycle everything. If paper needs to be used to print out something for an event, we reuse the back of it for quick, handwritten notes.
-lighting-all lighting in the office is powered by energy efficient light bulbs.
-gas-we carpool to every event. Also, if we need to meet with multiple vendors or clients in a week, we try to pack them into as few days as possible.
I’m sure there have been a number of times when you contacted vendors to get a proposal, check on availability, or get revised pricing and they took forever to get back to you. I know that this is extremely frustrating, especially when they NEVER return your phone calls or emails. I know, because this works both ways.
While I don’t sit around waiting for potential clients to contact me after we’ve initially met, I do expect some sort of communication letting me know which direction they went. The reason why (besides being respectful), is because too often I have brides tell me they are interviewing a few other planners and they’ll get back to me. After a follow-up email or phone call on my behalf, I still haven’t heard from them and I can only assume they went with someone else. In the mean time, I have another bride wanting to sign a contract with me for the same date. (Since I don’t hold dates until a contract is signed, I have no other option but to contract with the bride that I’m a good match with and who wants to work with me.) THEN, I finally hear from the first bride who says she does in fact want to work with me and is sorry she took so long to get back in touch. I’m very sorry too, because since I never heard from her, I am no longer available.
The moral of the story is to treat people the way you want to be treated. Everyone communicates differently. Some vendors are poor communicators all around, some may have been out of town or tending to a family emergency when you contacted them, and some may just not care for your business. No matter what the situation, make sure you follow-up with vendors. A simple email just stating you went another direction is greatly appreciated. You don’t have to feel bad or go into any detail-we get it! That short note will let us know you won’t be working with us, and you don’t have to find out later that a vendor you really wanted to work with is no longer available.
I love a good martini. Especially one as fresh and light as this which is perfect for the warmer days. This is a great recipe to use as a signature cocktail at your bar or to be passed by wait staff wearing bright orange ties flecked with fuchsia flowers. Image from Epicurious.
Stirrings Tangerini Mixer
Hangar One Mandarin Blossom Vodka
1 Blood Orange
Mix the juice and pulp of one Blood Orange with 3 oz of Tangerini mixer in a shaker. Add Hangar One Mandrin Blossom Vodka (or other top shelf orange vodka). Shake and pour into 8oz+ martini glass.
I absolutely love when clients get married at venues other than churches. Mostly because they are more free to have the ceremony performed as they wish, and the decor possibilities are endless. These photos prove that you don’t have to have your ceremony in a church or have an arch as your focal point, in order to have a beautiful ceremony space. Images from Trista Lerit.
