In this case, I was pointed in the direction of an article at Jezebel about a wedding missing an important person and how the family dealt with it in the photos.

You see, the groom’s father (at least I’m assuming it’s the groom’s father since they look a lot alike and it’s the groom’s sister who did the alterations to the pics) fell ill and wound up being in the hospital on the wedding day. The wedding went ahead as scheduled, but of course everyone missed the missing father, as you do.

So the groom’s sister sat down with the wedding pics and Photoshopped him into a selection.

How do I feel about this one? Well, if whoever is ill is going to be fine, and if it’s done in this entirely tongue-in-cheek way of adding completely ridiculous images, and if it’s just a few pics mostly for the family… then I kind of LOVE it. Otherwise I think I might HATE it.

But right now I’m finding myself thinking of asking Photoshop wiz Mr. Twistie to take my fave shot of my mother living it up at the Renaissance Fair and digitally adding it to one of our wedding photos. I know she would have had just that great a time at our wedding, had she lived to see the day.

So what do all of you think?

One of these stories is that of Todd Remis and his attempt to sue the living daylights out of his wedding photographer.

It seems that when Mr. Remis married his blushing bride in 2003, the photographer on the scene from H&H photography studio failed to capture the final fifteen minutes of the reception, including the bouquet toss and the last dance. Mr. Remis was also disappointed to find that the videotape of the six-hour event was only two hours long.

Okay, missing the bouquet toss – while it probably wouldn’t make me lose eight years of sleep – was a mistake. But the last dance is hardly an iconic wedding moment in most peoples’ lives, and believe me, six hours of every sneeze and electric slide is more than the most hardy of home movie viewers usually wants to see of even their own wedding. I would have advised Mr. Remis to tell all his friends he didn’t think H&H did a good job and leave it alone after that.

But Mr. Remis seems ill-acquainted with the art of Letting Stuff Go. He’s demanding that H&H restage his entire wedding at a cost of some $48,000 and bring all the principals together again so that they can capture those precious fifteen minutes… never mind that the marriage ended in divorce in 2009. Incidentally, that’s also the year he got around to filing his lawsuit citing among other things ‘infliction of emotional distress.’ He also claims that the photographs were ‘unacceptable’ in terms of lighting, color, poses, and – I don’t know – flavor?

Among the many fine reasons this seems unlikely to be a practical plan is the fact that Mr. Remis’ ex-wife has apparently returned to her native Latvia leaving no forwarding address.

The judge in the case – Justice Doris Ling-Cohan of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan – is allowing the breach of contract part of the lawsuit to go forward, but has dismissed much of the rest of it, including the emotional distress claim. She even went so far as to quote the title song from the film The Way We Were in mentioning her suspicion that Mr. Remis’ motives may have more to do with his ‘misty water-colored memories’ of his erstwhile marriage than his satisfaction or lack thereof with the services of H&H photography studio.

Mr. Remis, please. Your marriage is over. Your wife left the country. For the sake of your own sanity, if no other reason, just drop it.

The best way to look at an unexpected bit of precipitation on your wedding day is as a great opportunity to get some truly spectacular photos that will stand out from other wedding albums.

(via Andre Duerinckx)
The thing I love about this photo is how the umbrella co-ordinates with the wedding colors… though I can’t help thinking how hard it is on those bridesmaids to stand there in the cold in those little sundresses.

(via Tom Philo Photography)
Of course, if you’re holding an outdoor ceremony in Oregon, chances are you have more umbrellas handy.
(via Ravenburg Photography)
I adore these photos, especially the one on the left. The casual sweetness of the jacket thrown over her shoulders utterly delights me. Do be sure to go check out the whole album. There are some great shots in it!
(via Say Anything)
The lovely lady who posted this photo of her wedding was hoping to win a new set of wedding photos because of her disastrous day… but I have to say I would never have guessed without reading her story, because this picture of the bride and her maids protecting their wedding finery with garbage bag ponchos strikes me as the most fabulous example of making lemonade I’ve seen in yonks.

Whatever happened with the contest she entered, I sincerely hope she’s come to appreciate what an awesome image that really is.
(via Love Olio)
Or you can always do what this delightful couple did and ignore the weather. After all, they have their love to keep them warm.

When I was asked to write about my five favorite wedding photos, my brain went nuts. It did not narrow the field to five. My brain was not helpful.

Upon further contemplation, I decided that this could be a great learning experience! Really thinking about what I like and why I like it. And maybe it will help some future brides decide what they like… guiding them to make a great choice of a photographer? I hope so!

Without further ado, in no particular order…

Number one comes from a recent wedding:

By Todd Pellowe Weddings

By Choco Studio

By True Love Photo

By Luster Studios

By Cheyenne Shultz Photography

By Erin Langford Photography

By Ryan Brenizer

Love it? Hate it? Think it’s slightly ridiculous but overall okay because, hey, no one’s getting hurt? (That’s my take.)

Ah, the classic wedding ring photo...

Oh my, Wedding Photography Week II is winding down. And that means getting down to the nitty gritty – wedding ring photography. Love it or hate it, it’s one of those things I suggest letting your wedding photographer take since it’s a five second process and you may end up liking them. That said, I found a great set of wedding ring photography tips in a wedding photography guide for brides and grooms written by wedding photographer Glen Johnson. Here’s a taste:

This is one of the most difficult shots to get for a wedding photographer. Most couples are not aware of the fact that they are blocking it either with their hand positions or with their bodies. To turn this moment into a great photo opportunity, all you need to remember is that as you are putting the ring on, position your fingers on the top and bottom instead of on the sides of the ring.

One more tip is to avoid extending your free hand out to grab your partner’s wrist so that you can push that ring on there better. If you feel it is necessary to do this, try putting your hand UNDER your partner’s hand and grabbing on from below. This approach prevents your wrist from blocking the shot. Practice this couple of times, and you will see that it is possible to put the rings on while keeping your ring visible from your guests’ view, and photo capture.

Do you plan on taking wedding ring photos? Would you be terribly disappointed if your ‘slipping the ring on his/her finger’ shots didn’t come out?

So let’s say, apropos of yesterday’s post about wedding photos making you nervous, you’re feeling a bit or maybe a lot squeamish about having a wedding photographer all up in your business during your ceremony and reception. Now besides the fact that you can specifically ask your wedding photographer not to be so in your face – which many aren’t to begin with – you can also take some of the pressure to look good off your mind by making wedding photography FUN.

Would you rather write a thousand vows than take one wedding photo?

How? By thinking up some fun action shots and other poses that you can suggest to your photographer or ask her or him to do.

If you read that and thought to yourself “I’m not that creative,” say hello to my best friend, the Internet. And if searching through thousands of wedding photos for some creative inspiration doesn’t sound like fun – !!! – then I let me recommend David Pearce’s Wedding Photography: A Guide to Posing. It’s a wee book meant primarily for wedding photographers, but it can be a great inspirational guide for couples, too. It has 525 full color images of brides and grooms being photographed in various ways to give you all kinds of cool and doable ideas about body positioning, location, lighting, and more.

Should you try to be in complete control of your wedding photos from the processional to the last dance? No way – you’re hiring a professional wedding photographer for a reason, so let them do what they do best. But by learning a bit about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to wedding photos, you’ll be more confident about being the star of your wedding album, and you’ll be much better able to communicate the kinds of wedding photos that you want to your photographer so you can relax and have fun with it.

Confidence? Knowing what you want? Fun? Sounds like you just conquered those wedding photo nerves!

By Chris Hanley Photography

For some, the answer is to grin and bear it. For others, it’s to duck their photographer for as much of the wedding as possible. Others try to pose every time they see the photographer’s lens and end up looking awkward as a result. And still others do nothing, but spend what seems like the rest of their lives groaning over wedding photos they feel do not do them justice. (I was in the latter two camps, but I later assembled a wonderful album full of truly candid shots and reconciled myself to the fact that this is just what I look like.) With all this in mind, I’m curious to know what you’re doing or what you did to prepare for your wedding photos and whether you’re feeling nervous about your wedding photos in general.

Oh, other things I want to know: Do you like how you look in most photos? (I sure don’t like how I photograph!) Did you choose your wedding photographer based on her or his ability to make regular folks look amazing? (I sure wish I had!)

To kick off the second week of all wedding photos, all the time – and don’t forget, you’re welcome to send in your wedding photos whether you’re a bride, groom, or photog – I wanted to talk a little bit about wedding photo TMIs. I’m not so much referring to sassy boudoir photography in the bridal chamber, but more to pictures like this:

Photo by Stacey Kane

And these two:

Wish I had a source for this one!

By Kathryn Brittain

Lest you think brides are having all the wedding photo TMI, grooms and their groomsmen sometimes get in on the action:

By Tim McPain

Whether or not you decide to let your wedding photographer take any TMI wedding photos is up to you – maybe you say no way, maybe you have some taken and keep them in a non-public album, or maybe you proudly show off your bride on the toilet pics and don’t care who sees them. Whatever the case, make sure your wedding photographer knows your preferences with regard to these kinds of photos AHEAD OF TIME. It’s totally normal and okay to say things like “Please don’t shoot until I’m dressed” and “Please don’t follow us into the bathroom” and “I’d rather none of my wedding photos be embarrassing so keep it clean there, dogg.”

Have you given your photog any particularly restrictions (or did you, once upon a time, for our post-wedding readership)?

Nice pair, er, pears!

The other assumption that I would charitably make is that the couple in question was the sort that would be okay with having a snap in their wedding album that was a play on the whole perfect pear thing. Perfect pear, perfect pair. You see? Or maybe it was just an accident? What do you think of cutesy wedding photos that are vaguely naughty?