My Friend Has a Camera, He Can Do My Photos. Right?

Professional photographers are very passionate about insisting that you shouldn't ask just any friend with a camera to take your wedding photos. But aren't they just out to make some money? They are running a business after all. What's the real difference between a professional with a fancy Canon camera and your friend with one?

Seattle Bride set out to answer that question and the results are quite fascinating. They asked Cody Ellerd, a professional travel writer with a Nikon D60 to tag along with Joey Hong of John & Joseph Photography at the wedding of Vicky Wu and Chris Nicoll. Cody Ellerd has had a few of her shots make the covers and pages of magazines so she definitely has an eye for photography! To quote her "If you didn’t budget for a professional photographer at your wedding, I’m the friend you might call to take pictures."

After her experience with John Hong, Cody has changed her mind about hiring a friend for her own wedding which she is in the midst of planning. To quote her: "I now disagree more than ever with the digital-age adage that “now everyone is a photographer.” Tens of thousands of dollars in education, equipment and experience separate me from the pros. Professional photographers, like any other artists or business owners, need to spend money to make money. When you hire them, you’re helping them pay for their investments."

An example of Cody's shot:

And John's:

You can see the rest of the photos and read the full article on Seattle Bride's website.

There are so many reasons why I would be scared to ask a friend or family member to photography my wedding. Do they have a contract? What happens if their camera or lens breaks? How will they handle the posing of group photos? What if their landscape or portrait photography skills don't translate well for the varied circumstances of a wedding day?

Are you having a friend or family member (non wedding photographer) photograph your wedding? Or how are you making room in your budget for a professional?

Sistacado Got Married!

I have never felt so grateful to have one sibling in my entire life, because marrying off a family member is exhausting! I am sure it was much more so for my mother who outdid herself on the DIY details of this wedding. But Sistacado looked beautiful, and they both were so happy, and that is all I have ever wished for her.

I know it's a bit unusual for someone to "recap" the weddings of their sibling, but I think you're going to agree that it would be a good idea in this case because of the amount of unbelievably awesome DIY details my mom and sister came up with! I have a few iphone shots I took throughout the day to act as teasers for right now, and when Kelli Nicole (yes, Sisatacado loved Mrs. Avo's photos so much that she used the same photographer!) gives the photos back I'll see if I can get my hands on them to share some of the inspirational details with all of you.

A bridesmaid with no updo experience did her hair (after a failed attempt to do her own) and she altered a strapless dress to make it temple ready. Can you believe those sleeves are built on to what was once a strapless dress? The pleats on the bottom and at the sleeves were her own design.

The veil was fashioned by Mamacado and the flower comb purchased at a boutique in Utah.

Oh those shoes. To die for!

She had my grandma crochet her a garter with a blue ribbon running through it.

She was married in the Columbia River temple in Kennewick, WA.

Similarities to my wedding included gold ties for the fathers and groomsmen and suitcases in the group and family photos. We used the suitcases again in the photos to add a cohesive look to the pictures from our weddings, that way my mom can create a photo wall of family photos with an element that brings them together (and the same style shots since it is the same photographer!) They were also one boutonnière short so they gave the one my dad wore to my wedding to one of the groomsmen instead of trying to make a new one on the fly!

The bridesmaids wore black birdcage veils with fascinators (those who read my recaps will remember I had my maids do something similar). Of course these were created by my mom.

They ran out of black netting so I wore a cream birdcage, made of the same netting as the bride's birdcage! My pearl earrings are by Emily Walter Ryan (find them here) and my bolero is by Mary and Angelika.

Feathery centerpieces? Made by Mamacado of course! I've heard rumor that they are going to try to sell them, so if you're interested in picking them up from SLC please message me and let me know!

The cake topper was DIY (of course) and made from a candle that Mamacado picked up somehwere. They covered the top with moss and pearls and feathers and it looked darling!

Cake buffet. Yet another duplicate detail from my wedding, and quite possibly the best idea ever.

I love that our weddings were so similar, and yet so different AND, the best part, there was never any competition between us. We got married in different seasons in different places surrounded by different people to very different men. No we'll live different lives, but I think they'll both be happy ones.

Did you have a sibling get married around the same time you did? How were your weddings similar or different?

The Newlywed 10... wait, ummm 15

In 17 days, my little sister and I will be switching roles from the ones we had last October. I'll be the MOH and she'll be the bride! LDS girls tend to have short engagements (mine was quite long at 7 months), and she's pulling this thing together in just over two months.

I'm so happy for her, and I'm very excited to be wearing the black dress and new nude heels seen below (please try to pretend I'm wearing make-up and did my hair), but I've been feeling a little soft around the edges lately after gaining a total of 15 LBS since my wedding day in October.

I worked hard to look and feel confident on my wedding day, and I swore that I wouldn't let myself slide back into bad habits once the honeymoon was over. Unfortunately the call of our new Kitchenaid mixer and the row of pretty new cookbooks were too much for me to handle and I started baking and cooking with a focus on taste, not on health. I made my first chocolate cake, used phyllo dough for the first time, and went through multiple sticks of butter. And, worst of all, I started dishing out equal portions for both of us. He would eat half the pizza, and I would eat the other half.

Mr. Avocado has been supportive and wonderful, both telling me he loves the way I look, and encouraging me in my efforts to lose weight when I ask him for help. I lost about 50 lbs a few years ago by tracking my calories using Fitday (I use the desktop version) and decided to start weighing and measuring my meals once again, but Suavacado suggested adding a second element to my routine to help with the fitness and activity side of things. I would start tracking both my calories in, and my calories out in a very controlled manner.

You may have seen this black armband on The Biggest Loser contestants before? It's called the Bodybugg, and it tracks calorie output. It measures how fast your body is moving, the amount of heat your body is giving off, the electrical conductivity of your skin, and skin temperature. Yeah, I have no idea what that means, but it's supposed to be really accurate!

It's not the most fashionable thing I've ever worn, so I try to convince myself I look really tough and cool whenever I wear it. :)

I also bought a digital display, which gives me the chance to see how I'm doing in real time. 2291 calories burned is still not quite what I need to lose weight as fast as I would like, but that's actually a really good number for me. Yesterday I burned a pitiful 1747, and only walked 1901 steps. I don't have to wonder why I'm gaining weight anymore, I'm realizing that I'm very, very inactive!

I'm grateful that my Mr. Avo was willing to splurge on this for me, because it has made a huge difference in my motivation to be active. I'm getting a lot more workouts in than I normally do because I want to see my number of calories burned be as high as possible.

That being said, in the end it's just a fancy "toy" that tells me I need to get up and start moving around a lot more. Something I actually already knew! This was definitely a pricey investment for us, and knowing how much money we put into it makes me want to use it as much as possible (similar to the way entering into a contract with a personal trainer makes you workout more often). If you can budget the money for it, I think it's a great investment (as long as you don't mind wearing the big black band on your arm all the time!)

But if you can't afford it, I think that's okay too. The overall message for me was to get outside and get moving, and I've started doing that, even in this unbearable Dallas heat. If you're trying to lose like I am I believe you can do it!

What kind of activities do you participate in to get yourself moving during the heat of the summer?