I love photographing weddings.  I have been at it since 2002, and every couple is so unique and different.  Every time I show up, I am thrilled to see how the entire day unfolds.  It has been so fun to see how each couple incorporates his and her style into the day making it completely their own.  So what makes it your own?  How do you create a day to be solely yours?

Going through my archives helped me to narrow this down and hopefully helpful if you are in the process of planning a wedding!

Family Traditions. No matter how you slice it, your family is involved.  You can choose to integrate your traditions a lot, or just a bit.

Vineet and Jackie chose to incorporate Vineet’s Hindu traditions into their wedding day.

Dan and Allison chose to use Dan’s father’s collector car as their get-away vehicle

Annnika’s mother collected antique cake platters, the couple chose to use these to hold their centerpieces.

Luda and Jon celebrated Luda’s Russian heritage by including a giant fur hat for Jon and a fur coat for Luda.

Home Made. These items are so much fun to photograph because they are completely unique to the couple.

Sam and Josiah’s weding was held in a small town in southern Minnesota.  On the farm roads, they used this sign to direct guests on where to go.

Dan and Mary wanted to use a photo to thank guests for coming to their wedding.  A hand painted sign was used for photos.

Mary and Dan also decided they wanted to incorporate their guests by having them bring home made desserts to the reception.  Each family member brought a sweet treat to share and Mary labeled each with what it was and who brought it.

Historic. To incorporate family history or just plain history into your wedding is another way to make your day memorable.

Sarah and Chris decided to have a small intimate wedding for immediate family only.  The chose to rent out the William Statury Mansion in Stillwater.  Sarah used her grandmother’s beautiful coat to cover up from the January cold.

Anna loved the handkerchief that her grandmother had given to her, and used it as her something old.

Amanda chose to use her grandmother’s broach to decide on the color scheme of the day.  She used the broach on her flowers!

It fits the environment. There are so many seasons in Minnesota, and what can be used in spring, can’t necessarily be used in winter.  These details can help fashion the feel of a wedding day.

Jody and Cory were married in California.  We used a starfish to show off their wedding rings.

Karna and Joe were married in March.  Because Karna didn’t want her shoes to get muddy from the spring melting, she chose to wear Coach boots to do her outdoor photos.

Dan and Mary were married in a small quaint church.  Mary chose to use Kerr jars to hold the candles for the ceremony and dried hydrangea’s to line the pews of the old fashioned church.

Josiah and Samantha chose to make it simple and left punch and a bowl for beer tops out at their summer wedding.

Unique.  Not everyone would be up for doing the same thing, this using these details make it completely yours.

Keith and Candace decided they wanted guests to mingle while choosing their favors.  They chose to set up a candy bar with their wedding day colors to have guests bring home sweets.

Jody chose a necklace to brighten the look of her dress making it one of the coolest I have ever seen!

Those are just some of the ideas that came to my mind!  Happy Tuesday!