What’s Original, Anyway?
By Never teh BrideTrue originality is difficult to achieve when it comes to weddings because if you can think of it, there’s a good chance that ‘it’ has been done before. The best most brides and grooms can hope for is to put their own spin on established nuptial norms. Take bridal portraits, for instance…
Before the wedding ceremony starts, most wedding photographers will take a series of photos of the bride putting on her wedding gown, the bride having her hair done, the bride applying her makeup, and so on. Then there’s the old standard, the bride in front of a mirror, and when I say old, I mean it. Photographers in 1905 were already snapping pics of brides standing in front of their own reflections, and they’re still doing it today!
That said, I would hope that the majority of brides-to-be spend little to no time worrying about whether their weddings will be original. The photo on the right is no less lovely for being partly the product of photographic tradition. While originality is certainly a positive quality, brides and grooms should really focus on planning a wedding they’ll remember forever, even if that means everything down to the last detail has been done before by other brides and grooms. In the end, all that matters is that the two people getting married love the venue, the clothes, the cake, and all the other stuff associated with the modern day Western wedding.
The image on the right comes from Lynn Michelle photography and Unveiled Bridal Designs
March 11th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Besides, the originality tends to come from those spontaneous moments that arise due to the personalities of the bride and groom. Those are what make your wedding different and memorable. With regards to the photographs, very few posed photographs CAN be original, and if you try too hard, then it just looks silly. If you want original photographs, then just be yourselves and let the photographer capture that.
One of my fave photos, which I think was fairly original, was when the photographer had us posing in front of the Nuts 4 Nuts in Central Park, and I jokingly reached over and patted my new husband on his…well…you get the idea. The photographer didn’t get a picture of that, but he did get a picture of the two of us laughing hysterically immediately after, me leaning forward on my husband’s shoulder because I was so weak from laughing. There might be a couple out there somewhere who has the same photo, but they might not have the same backstory behind it. So to me, what is “original” is the meaning behind the moments.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Great point, La Petite Acadienne! All of my favorite ceremony and reception photos from my own nuptials are the ones that look natural and capture people doing things (as opposed to people just staring into the lens of the camera). Real spontaneous laughter really does make for some wonderful snapshots!