a shout out from (and to) "A Practical Wedding"

It's been fun getting to know Meg over at the blog "A Practical Wedding", so I loved getting a little shout-out from her for my recent same sex wedding photography (I'm also happy to be listed on her "wedding sites that (probably) won't make you cry" sidebar.) I enjoy reading her blog for its humor, warmth and rationality. Although of course I love photographing big fancy weddings with lots of trimmings, I know it's not for everyone (it wasn't for me!). I think it all depends on your ability and desire to deal with the lots of little party-planning and emotional stressers that can come up... and I knew mine wouldn't be so great. There are a lot of things that involve me thriving under pressure, by they mostly involve being behind a camera... so we were married at City Hall and threw a mellow BBQ months later. I often dream of a big, fabulous 10 year anniversary party, but luckily that is still 7.5 years away.

If we had, however, thrown a "real" wedding, I would've loved to have had Meg's advice, rants and ideas. She is most definitely throwing a "real" wedding with many trimmings (although I'm sure she'd be the first to tell you that any marriage ceremony is real!), but is keeping the planning and herself sane by planning far in advance; using Miss Manners as her modern day etiquette guide when dealing with troublemakers; looking for people she wants to work with and calling them "wedding elves" because "vendors" seems too cold; and keeping her and her partner's style and personality in mind without getting swept up into the madness of the Wedding Industrial Complex. And she does it while having a lovely blog filled with pizazz and pretty pictures (ahem, if I do say so myself)!

Anyway, check her out if you're planning a wedding for a nice big breath of fresh air.

If you're looking for something equally personal, but more gossipy and from the an entirely different p.o.v., I'd recommend checking out Claire Lewis' "Exposed: Confessions of a Wedding Photographer". Written by a friend of a friend, "Exposed" is a fun read (though stressful at times if you're in the business) all about worst-case clients scenarios and wedding day (and film) nightmares. I came out of it feeling really lucky that my clients are so damn fabulous and great to work with (and knocking wood); and thanking goodness that I don't shoot film anymore! It's a quick, silly read, and I wouldn't say it accurately reflects the wedding photographer's reality (being mostly from the extreme side of things - when good weddings go bad, etc), but it is a very different perspective than you'll get from The Knot.