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Serendipity Media Fashion Tips and Advice
Have you given thought to you choice of car? The car you choose to transport yourself and your bridal party to and from the ceremony makes a definitive statement about you and the wedding you want to have. Do you want a demure, classical wedding with elegant cars from yesteryear, or a shining limo or stretch hummer if you want to indulge in a little show-offery.
Older cars were made as a prestige item containing interesting surfaces and textures with romantic lines and curves that appeal at a distance. Detail and textures that appeal when closer. They were designed to be a beautiful moving sculpture that was born out love for beautiful objects, not wind-tunnel testing.
A classic car can add glamour and romantic mystique, which will delight your guests and your photographer with the ease at which he can work with the grace and elegance of the cars lines.
The opposite is a limousine, which is hard to photograph for many reasons. The length and lack of maneuverability of a limo makes it hard to reach out of the way location shots.
It's probably easier in a wedding to choose a smaller car, or even hire a limo for fun and a smaller, special vehicle that makes a statement.
The hard lines and stark colors of a limo also present a problem when intimate and frank action shots.
Black is usually best because a brides dress contrasts against it and we can work with the reflections off back. A black matte finish helps highlight the brides facial features, hands and dress.
From a photographers point of view, the best cars were made between 30s and 50s, with flowing lines which were born from a designers pencil, rather than a utilitarian profit-centred approach. Cars were made to be aesthetically pleasing to enhance the buyers prestige and comfort.
One of the exciting things about being a bride is the chance to wear a veil. Veils can be both beautiful and fun, and create a sense of delicious drama and femininity.
Photographers love veils - at Serendipity Media we use veils in imaginative ways to create exciting and beautiful bridal photos: Picture yourself in the dress of your dreams, with your veil flying up into a blue sky, or draped softly, setting off your face and flowing and creating a slender silhouette.
It’s great to have a veil to make you feel beautiful, and to enhance your look on your special day. So what makes a good veil? The four things to consider are length, lightness, hairstyle and detailing.
At Serendipity Image we suggest that brides consider a longer veil. When brides are lit up from behind they create a glowing hallo, and when they drape they emphasise the vertical lines of your body, creating a long and elegant silhouette. If you choose a shorter veil, you might like to consider having a longer detachable piece of tulle for the photo shoot.
Choose a tulle that is crisp enough to hold interesting folds, but is floaty enough to create flowing lines. Some brides choose the lightest of veils that soar and float.
The veil needs to work well with your hair on the day. If your hair is out, you will find the veil grips better when worn a little higher on your head. If your hair is up, the veil can be worn below. If you have a consultation with a hairdresser, you may want to consider taking your veil so it can be worked in as part of your look.
Finally, there are many exciting ways to add detail to a veil: pearls, beading, or even a piece of antique lace. However simple is often best. The veil is there to enhance your dress, and to make you feel special.
Enjoy wearing this lovely accessory, and have a wonderful time!
Portraiture and Photography
Sally Newell of Serendipity Media Melbourne gives advice about looking great in your portrait photos.
Bridal Portraiture could be said perhaps to said to be the most important part of wedding photography! It is the moment where the photographer and the bride work together with the colours, lights and tones of the venue and environment to create and intimate and lasting memento of the happiest day of your life.
Most brides feel on the day that they shoudl be natural and spontaneous and that weddings should be easy but wouldn't it be good to stand out and look very extra special? Why is it that some people seem to have that wow star quality? Is it innate or is it something that we can learn? I remember walking in to a room and seeing Susan Renouf just in the crowd but she shone out like a beacon - not just blonde hair, but a powerful sense of presence. When flipping through a friend's wedding album, you may be surprised by the seemingly magical glow of radiant serenity that the bride embodies. A beautiful bridal portrait is, of course, not magic, but a careful collaboration between a photographer and the bride.
If you have six months to reprare regardless of how much time there are things you can do to have that extra sense of confidence and look wonderful. Try dance and gym classes to loosen up your body and add a bit of extra energy. If you have more time maybe even sign up for a model preparation course with a good agency for a bit of professional polish. Something really easy is to observe yourself and change the way you stand or move and see what looks great.
You should like the makeup you see in the mirror. The old style of heavy stage makeup allowed photographers to use especially soft film and still emphasize the features with much skin detail. Now, skilled photoshop usage allows softer yet still natural skin, while the features become more expressive or glamourous. Therefore bridal makeup now often is more like slightly defined day make with more coverage. Even with more personalized natural or expressive or glamour makeup looks what holds is what you see is what you get, although many photographers can change tone and contrast and coloration in a range of photographic looks in wedding album post production.
One of the hidden features of makeup is contouring or face shaping, which emphasizes your best features, and allows your personality and natural beauty to be projected rather than a mere painted on face. Slight shading under the tip of the nose nose reduces its length, similarly a little shading on the sides of the nose reduces its width, helpful for those of us who are worried about a wider nose. The same applies to your chin or forehead. The smile is the most important part of a portrait.. no just that also a happy glow.
How do models look good in front of a camera? They practise. Learn to feel comfortable, be aware of the best tilt for your head, and of poses to suit a range of moods. Twine your fingers in your hair in front of the mirror and observe or use a fan or your veil; partially cover your face and move it slowly and gracefully away. Consider what do you do with your hands - as hands hanging down limply are not the thing. Look through magazines and photographs of people you admire for inspiration. Practise, emulate, or hold onto that bouquet!
Work with your dress. Try bending moving, tilting the hips and shoulders in opposite directions, and then a swirls.. see if t you can make the dress spin out while you go round and round, then stop, and again in front of a full length mirror, pick up the dress behind the side seam at a bit below knee level and try and throw it forward ... The dress is more than just something to stand still and be pretty in, it should move and glide with you to create wonderful glorious images of you.
Bridal Flowers and Photography from Serendipity Image in Malvern, Melbourne
Every bride wants to shine, and flowers are a perfect medium for adding extra glamour and style. Sally Newell, co-founder of Serendipity Media Melbourne, a boutique Melbourne wedding photography company for Melbourne brides, gives advice regarding photography and bridal flowers for creating stunning wedding images, and answers your questions regarding flower size, shape, colour and holding the bouquet in relation to to your theme, mood and figure.
Flower choice... Fresh flowers are the best, they look better and last better so choose flowers that are in season for the most beautiful look in the photos and the lowest impact on your budget. Out of season flowers may not stand up well to the climate or time on your day.
Most brides use flowers to complement rather than overpower the dress and decorations. At Serendipity Image we find that is easy to make beautiful photographs from bouquets with either a single flower type with a softness to the rhythm of the flowers or subtly toning colours or textures, rather than harsh contrast of, say, white and red roses jam-packed in one posy.
Bouquet types... Most brides carry some variation of the posy, often larger and softer than the traditional Victorian version, graduating up to the larger teardrop, trail and cascade bouquets, with origins in the shower bouquet (complete with trailing flowers on lovers knots) of the 1920's and 30's. It is good to complement your dress and figure: a larger bouquet may overpower a more modest dress or petite bride, but be fantastic for larger figures; you can hold the bouquet across the neckline or over the shoulder to enhance bridal close-ups, or hug the figure at the waistline for three-quarter portraits.
Colour and mood... A question to consider when you are choosing a bouquet, is when your family and guests see you, will they first up see mainly the bouquet or rather your face. The bouquet should enhance your own skin and dress tones. The more dramatic rich flower colours suiting darker skins would swamp my Celtic looks, for instance, which are better with toning pastel roses and orchids. Some brides choose a theme with brighter colours or a stronger, more exotic look and that mood should carry into the bouquet and floral accessories.
Holding the bouquet... The short answer is any way you like! Swing it, trail it, by your waist or side or under your chin... Flowers can really enhance bridal portraiture. At Serendipity Image, we create beautiful bridal portraits, using the flowers to softly frame the face, or the bottom of the photograph, even shooting past several bridesmaids bouquets held close to the camera, so the bride can be surrounded by a sea of flowers. Alternatively, the bouquet can be placed on the table, nestling in the veil perhaps with jewelry, and photographed with softly rounded backlight, or, for those who want something sharper and crisper, flowers could become an abstract shape on a glass surface.
Timing.... A good time for all your flowers to arrive is around two hours before you leave (drive time, plus ten minutes extra to cater for chats with neighbours, last minutes checks and special moments with family) so that you can have beautiful photos with your flowers where you are getting ready and the flowers will be as fresh as possible.
Flowers on location... For wedding photography in Melbourne, we all have to consider the weather! Four seasons in one day, or straight sun/ no clouds - equally bad for photographing weddings where you would generally prefer the soft light of a balmy spring day with a light dusting of clouds. At Serendipity we conserve the condition of your flowers on very hot days - by choosing shady or interior locations, more flattering for faces as well, or suggesting a water spray or even cradling your flowers in an esky when driving. Of course it is important for you to have asked your florist to prepare the flowers for maximum freshness, a service offered by any reputable florist.
At the reception... Ask your photographer to place the bridal bouquet next to the centre table flower arrangement and then shoot between them for a nicely framed couple portrait at the bridal table. We gather plenty of views of the table, cake and other details of the room with using your flowers for that extra touch of glamour; for instance holding a bridesmaids bouquet next to a mirror frame for a view of the room with a glint of gold through the edge of the bouquet; or having flowers at the top of the shot of the place names. For the photos of throwing the bouquet, take your time, throw with a slow up sweep and rush over to congratulate the winner for lovely candid shots.
In your album... Bridal flowers in all their variety of shapes and sizes, with the changing rhythms of both fine and larger details can form beautiful backgrounds in contemporary digital wedding albums. Backgrounds can very very subtle or form an inherent part of the image mix. Flowers can offer shape, line and texture to your album images - imagine the intricate patterns of orchids or the long sinuous lines of lilies in your page mix. Perhaps you prefer the classic shapes of rose petals as a contrast to your jewelry or dress fabric.
For more information :
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Make-Up
Hair & Accessories
The Groom
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On The Day
Don't Forget