The importance of being photographed.

Dear early-2000's Janessa:

Why in the name of all that's holy did you NOT get photographs of the flowers for the weddings you did back in the day? Hmmmm?

If I knew then what I know now, I would have ALWAYS made sure I snapped great photos of each and every flower arrangement I made! Because back in the day (think, before the iPhone came out, with its super-cool picture-taking widgets that make everyone into a photographer... and even before people carried cell phones everywhere with them!) I was lucky enough to design flowers for some pretty amazing weddings.

Take, for example, this one:

You can click to enlarge the photo, but really it won't help you much...

Why? Because these photos were all taken in a frantic last-minute craze by me, with a flippy cell phone that came from the Days of Yore. But they were such gorgeous flowers! Callas, hydrangeas, huge Casablanca lilies, orchids and roses and pale lavendar iris! The centerpieces were huge fishbowls with floating dahlias and gerberas and submerged callas... and I have nary a photo of them! They exist now only in my memory.

And then there was this wedding:

Again, you could click to enlarge, but the photos will still be blurry!

This wedding was a sort of Rockabilly affair, with the most heavily-tattooed bridal party I've ever seen! Red, black and white. Feathers and netting. It was such fun -- the centerpieces were rich clusters of Black Magic and Black Beauty roses and red dahlias, tucked inside raw silk wrapped vases (red, of course). The bouquets involved feathers and ornate antique brooches. It was different than anything I'd ever done, and these photos are all I have! Sigh...

So brides, I urge you to hire the best photographer you can find. The memories will last you a lifetime. Your daughter (if you have a daughter!) will curl up with your album when she's old enough, oohing and aahing over her mother's special day, all the while dreaming of her own special day to come! (It's true. You know it is! If you're a girl, chances are you did this too!)

The moral of the story? If you're planning a wedding, think carefully about your photographer! Need a tip? For those in the Chicago area (or even beyond -- they'll travel!) I cannot recommend ImaginativeStudios enough. They're friendly, fun and wildly talented. (Ah, if only they'd been around with me for those weddings years ago.) Check 'em out -- if for no other reason, the pictures are so much fun to flip through!