July 19, 2011
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Are you going to get your groom to wear a bow tie on your wedding day? Tying a bow tie can be a tricky task to overcome, especially if you have never done it before! Once you have mastered it, however, not only will you look super fantastic, but you will feel as great about your own personal accomplishment. Follow the steps below, and let us know how it worked out!
STEP 1
Make a knot, as if you were about to tie your shoe laces. Instead of doing the “loops” fold back the bottom end and hold it in place, to be fastened.
STEP 2
Take the top end upwards, over the front of the “bow” to resemble the shape you’re trying to achieve.
STEP 3
Now take that end upwards, under and up, pushing it back through the knot. This gives it the “doubled-up” effect that looks so spectacular!
STEP 4
Pull the tie snug, but not too tight or you may damage the tie. (If you are renting it, this is not desirable). Plump up and fluff up the fabric until the bow tie looks even and symmetrical!
June 30, 2011
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We’ll be featuring some of our favourite items and details from our clients’ events in a series called A Few of Our Favourite Things. First up is one of the more practical elements of a wedding: chairs.
After completing a design scheme, choosing linens, selecting napkins, centrepieces and other décor elements, everything feels perfect to bring your dream wedding to life.
But there’s another thing to remember – chairs!
Andras Schram Photography
Chairs might seem like a frivolous design element, but they serve many purposes. First, they’ll be photographed along with your reception décor and part of your memories for years to come.
Your chair selection can help coordinate other design and décor elements – Jennifer and Cam’s wedding at the Fairmont Palliser incorporated touches of gold, including table numbers, chargers, centrepieces – and chairs.
You’ll also spend hours sitting in said chairs, enjoying dinner and speeches – so you want to ensure your chairs are beautiful and comfortable!
One of our favourite chairs is the classic Chiavari. Originating from the town of Chiavari along the Mediterranean coast of Italy, these chairs are constructed of wood, and come in a milieu of colours and chair cushion options.
Andras Schram Photography
For Janet and Jeff’s Lake Louise wedding, we adorned each Chiavari with an organza tie and hung florals on each chair at the head table.
Alan Maudie Photography
We’re always looking for ways to add more colour, texture and florals to an event – so we’ll often tuck a bloom into a chair wrap for an extra special touch.
Alan Maudie Photography
One of the quickest ways to transform a banquet chair found at all venues is to use wraps – which come in a range of fabrics and colours – so you can use the existing chairs in your venue and incorporate to your décor design. We used chocolate brown and cream wraps for Shawnette and Will’s Silvertip Resort Wedding to tie in with their scheme of chocolate, blush and celadon.
Orange Girl Photographs
Chiavari chairs continue to be a popular choice with the influx of new colors all the time. This chocolate color is popular with many of our mountain weddings because of its rustic charm. We embellished this aisle chairs by tying a simple nosegay of orchids here.
Orange Girl Photographs
The below photo is of a ruffled chair scarf on a Chameleon Chair. Only the chairs at the head table of this fantastic fairy tale wedding had the exclusive ruffle décor, to show a different style than the rest of the overall reception tables. Chameleon chairs are very versatile because they can be dressed in so many different ways hundreds of options exist in the marketplace… which is just how we like it!
Orange Girl Photographs
Finally, one of the hottest products on the market has to be the Louis Ghost chair – featured in some of the most trendy hotels and homes, this chair has been seen at weddings and social events for the last couple of years and continues to be a sting choice of clients. We used the iconic chair and incorporated a monogrammed decal for a client’s 25th birthday party.
Alan Maudie Photography
Alan Maudie Photography
Whatever your preference or scheme, chairs make a lasting impact on your wedding memories for years to come.
June 25, 2011
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Our Vendor Love series features some of our favourite wedding vendors – and today we’re profiling Alan Maudie of Alan Maudie Photography, who has been part of some of the most incredible LFW weddings. Check out his site for his stunning weddings, couples and landscape photography.
Alan Maudie Photography
What’s your top tip for couples looking for a wedding photographer?
Shop with your heart. When initially viewing a photographers work if you aren’t moved emotionally by their images move on to another photographer. Hire the photographer who’s work you see as the best visual description of what you want to see in your own wedding photos. Don’t fall into the trap of hiring the photographer who’s offering you the most stuff (albums, prints, etc…) at the lowest price. What’s the point of having an album full of images you don’t like, or a disk with thousands of photos on them that don’t reflect the things about your relationship and wedding that are most important to you.
Alan Maudie Photography
Do you ever have any “wow” moments in your job?
Quite a bit actually. I was the photographer for the events that LFW has recently won big awards for, so I definitely said wow a lot while shooting on those days. Those are the obvious “wows” though. The ones I like best are the surprises, like the father of the bride who doesn’t seem like the type that will cry but ends up cracking during the father daughter dance. I guess the emotional “wows” are my favourite.
Alan Maudie Photography
What style do you like to shoot in – formal, posed, spontaneous, journalistic? -
My approach is to be as discreet and subtle as possible so that I can create and capture images that look like the couple or subject weren’t aware they were being photographed. I really, really wish I could be invisible. Most of my favourite photos are taken when the subject is either unaware of the camera, or they are so comfortable or caught up in the moment they have forgotten about being photographed. Obviously it isn’t possible to be completely invisible, but my personal experience with using a second photographer or even sometimes an assistant is that its much harder to go unnoticed and everyone at the wedding is much more aware of the camera. For the portrait session, even though I am technically “posing” couples, my goal is to get them into a starting position and then let them relax into an expression that is true to them. Sometimes I just say something to get them to laugh or I’ll just leave them alone for a while and they find their true expression. If you need a label for that I guess you can call it the “Alan Maudie Style.”
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
What trends are you seeing in the photography industry that apply to weddings?
My personal opinion is that wedding photography is a bit too influenced by trends. A couple years ago “texturing” images in post production became really popular. If I got married in 2008 and my album was full of photos that look like someone smeared mud all over them (texture), I’m not sure how thrilled I would be about that look now in 2011. I’m all for developing new finishes and experimenting with post production, but I think when you are working on a real wedding photographers should be thinking in terms of longevity. Sorry for the rant, I haven’t really addressed your question yet. The one thing (not really a trend I hope) I see in photography and film that is refreshing is more and more reality. Major ad campaigns being shot with natural lighting (or expensive lighting set ups that strive to look like natural light). This is a sign to me that consumers are connecting more with imagery that looks real. Maybe as viewers we have matured and the digital post production gimmicks aren’t as appealing any more.
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
How did you know you wanted to be a wedding photographer? Do you do any other styles of shooting – family, maternity, fashion, stock, commercial? If so, how does this influence how you shoot a wedding?
I was never struck by lightning, so to speak. I love all types of photography and capturing people is one aspect of photography that is particularly appealing to me. My approach to photographing weddings from the start was to record them the exact same way I would want my own wedding photographed (if I could do it again). People really connected with that and when I would sit down with them they would go out of their way to try and describe to me why they liked my wedding photography. It was probably this feedback that encouraged me to dedicate a greater percentage of my time to photographing weddings.
I don’t consider myself a “wedding photographer”, I’m a photographer who photographs weddings and lots of other things. Basically, I’ll photograph anything that interests and challenges me. When weddings are no longer interesting to a photographer, that photographer really owes it to couples to stop photographing weddings. To photograph weddings properly your heart has to be leading you.
When doing a commercial shoot you have to identify who the audience is. What are you trying to sell with the photographs? Once you have these two things identified you can create a much stronger more valuable set of images for the client. When photographing a wedding I always keep in mind that the couple that hired me is the audience and that I’m trying to create images that will impress them and that they will love forever. Sometimes that means focusing less on all the tools and techniques at my disposal, and more on the couples relationship. Less tech, more love.
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
Many couples are uncomfortable with being in front of a camera – how do you work to create the ease and beauty that shows through in your photos?
Honestly, I have no real idea. I never thought about it or came up with a strategy to make people comfortable. I’m a slow runner, have a pretty bad memory for things like phone numbers, I can only draw stick men, I can’t dance,… etc., but apparently people feel comfortable when I photograph them. Play on your strengths I guess.
Thank you Alan, for sharing your insight and thoughts on the LFW Blog!
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
ALAN MAUDIE PHOTOGRAPHY
March 23, 2011
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Whew! It’s been a crazy couple of months for Lynn Fletcher Weddings – wedding season is fully underway as we have just wrapped up five weddings in March. Before we get back to our regularly scheduled posting, here are a few of the things we have been up to …
The Wedding Fair Calgary
We hosted the first ever Lynn Fletcher Weddings booth at the Calgary Wedding Fair!
Lynn Fletcher Weddings
Twenty LFW staff volunteered their time to string together 500 tissue paper flowers – made from six thousand of sheets of paper – to create a stunning cloud canopy for our booth.
Lynn Fletcher Weddings
Lynn Fletcher Weddings
The booth was a combination of all things vintage, textural and pretty – a few of our favourite things! One of the special touches were the table’s favour boxes – wrapped with vintage fabric from the 1920s that Lynn had saved for years.
Lynn Fletcher Weddings
Thanks again to Kathy James from the Wedding Fair, and our LFW staff – we were thrilled to have won Best Booth by an Event Planner for the 2011 show!
2011 Gala Awards – The Special Event Show
Following the Wedding Fair, Lynn traveled to Phoenix for the 2011 Special Event Show, presented by the International Special Events Society. In addition to a week of inspiring sessions, spectacular presentations and networking with event pros from around the world, LFW was nominated for two Gala Awards – Best Floral Design and Best Private Event.
The Special Event Show 2011
We were THRILLED to announce that LFW won their first-ever Gala Award, for Best Event Produced for an Individual – Budget $1000+ per guest. Our award was in celebration of the 25th birthday party celebration we produced in March 2010 for one of our very special clients, Michelle.
Alan Maudie Photography
Canadian Special Events Society – Star Awards
Finally, Lynn is off to Toronto this week to attend the Canadian Special Event Society conference – LFW is nominated again for Michelle’s 25th birthday party – this time for Best Table Centre! We will let you know on Friday whether we win our first Star Award!
Alan Maudie Photography
We cannot wait to share more with you about the terrific weddings and events we have been coordinating over the last few months. Stay tuned for more!
December 31, 2010
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Alan Maudie Photography
Whether you’re celebrating at a big bash, enjoying dinner out with friends or snuggling with your sweetie at home, we at Lynn Fletcher Weddings wish you a Happy New Year. The LFW crew is in Lake Louise producing the wedding of our clients tying the knot tonight!
Stay safe and enjoy yourselves – we’ll be back in the new year with more real weddings, tips and advice!
Love,
Lynn Fletcher Weddings
December 23, 2010
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One of the most thrilling parts of planning an event with our clients is the creative process – dreaming up a spectacular décor plan that brings their visions to reality.
Alan Maudie Photography
Often we find a venue that’s perfect in many ways – food, budget, availability, capacity – but there are design challenges to the space to make it work with a client’s desired look and feel. Draping is one of the best ways to make an ordinary space extraordinary – and one of our favourite examples of draping was for a birthday party we coordinated at Silvertip Resort in Canmore.
Michelle’s family are frequent golfers at Silvertip – and their two eldest daughters were both married at the venue. So when it came time for Michelle and her family to plan her 25th birthday party, Silvertip was the natural choice.
Silvertip Resort
The venue is nestled at the footsteps of the Rocky Mountains with spectacular views surrounding the area and offers exceptional service, food and experiences for guests. The one challenge with the venue was the rustic design of the space was at odds with the Cinderella princess party theme designed for Michelle’s party.One of the key transformative elements was draping. The room was lined with 15’ pipe and draping panels – soft white chiffon that billowed along the perimeter of the space. The material instantly softened the room’s rustic design, and tied the decorate elements together for a cohesive look.
Alan Maudie Photography
The material itself is just part of the transformation – the draping was then lit by one of our favourite vendors – Stardust Event Group. Bill and Bert lit the panels so the room was lit with all shades of pink, ranging from blush, fuchsia, crimson, magenta and soft lavender. They also lit the hallway leading to the event space – so the moment guests entered the venue, they were transported to Cinderella’s castle lit and lined with draping, crystals, trees and votives.
Alan Maudie Photography
Draping provided an instant alteration to the space – and helped take the décor over the top! The evening was a magical feast for the senses for Michelle and her family and friends celebrating with her.Tell us: what’s the most unbelievable room transformation you’ve seen for an event?
