Posts Tagged ‘wedding’

Sany and Travis. 4.30.11 @ Nactional 27.

It’s always hard to choose an image for our ads from the weddings we shoot.

This year we chose Lorien and Chad. See their story below.

Fig clients Chad and Lorien gave up their 4th row tickets for game one- to get married. The wedding had already been planned. Not to fear, fig photogs (Brian Carey and James Gustin) had the bright idea to take the wedding party to United Center to take some photos. Even if they could not go to the game- why not take advantage of the timing?

What happened next was unexpected. The couple has been interviewed by several news stations and today a story ran on them in the Chicago Sun-Times. Quoted all over Chicago as the couple that just “wants the Blackhawks to win The Stanely cup, as a wedding gift.” And they got it! Congrats to the Hawks and to our couple.

Suntimes Article BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter

Diehard Blackhawks fans Chad and Lorien Yonker had to give up their fourth-row tickets to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals because of a slightly more important commitment: The game fell on the same day as their wedding. But that didn’t stop the South Loop couple from showing up at the United Center right after the wedding to pose for pictures with amused fans.”All we want for a wedding present is the Stanley Cup,” said Lorien Yonker, whose lace strapless gown stood out among the red Blackhawks jerseys and caps.

Check out our priceless photos and read the full article here.

Images by figphoto.net

photographers: Brian Carey and James Gustin

by: annie

Ever wonder why the little things are incorporated into a wedding?  Sometimes the smallest details, such as the bouquet or bride’s garter, create an immense amount of joy.  These items have always been a part of the wedding tradition, but why?

Vintage Brooch Bouquet

Photo courtesy of Studio del Fiore in Portland OR

The Bouquet

Woman began carry bouquets with them down the aisle, however instead of using flowers, they used strong herbs such as garlic.  These herbs were supposed to frighten away evil spirits, bad luck, and ill health from coming into the marriage.  Dill was used often because it was thought to have promote desire.  Also, they were a great air freshener for those who hadn’t bathed in a while.

Flowers represent new life, purity, and everlasting love; this is why they are still used today in wedding ceremonies.

The Bridesmaids

A Roman tradition had bridesmaids dress similar to the bride to confuse the evil spirits that would try to enter the bride’s soul.  Being costumed like a bride, the bridesmaids fooled evil wishers from trying to demolish the idea of living happily ever after.

The bridesmaids in today’s world are known to be there for the bride, supporting her and defending her.  Bridesmaids are friends of the bride’s who have been a part of her life before marriage, and will be a part of her life after.

The Garter

Before the bouquet throwing, the bride’s garter was thrown.   The garter was known to hold good fortune.  Eventually the brides  tired of the drunken men who would try to remove the garter themselves so they used the bouquet instead.  They then moved on to throwing the bouquet.

Back in England, they would “fling the stocking” which seems to be a very strange tradition.  On the night of a bride and groom’s wedding, the guests would return to the bedroom with the couple.  After getting undressed, and the guests would steal the garter and their stockings to fling at the couple.  Whoever hit the bride or groom’s head first was to be married next.

Although the stories remain the same, the games have changed.  At many weddings now there is a removal of the garter ceremony.  The groom must removed his bride’s garter with his teeth.  Typically a lot of laughter ensues.

Couples nowadays enjoy expressing their individuality.  Although these traditions have not died out completely, they are fading fast.  The bouquet throwing and removal of the garter often are not done at wedding receptions, yet people are creating their own personalized and fun activities for themselves and their ceremony guests.

Isn’t it neat to hear about how the simplest details of a wedding have been around for … well, forever? Think about the history and how special a wedding really is!  Just don’t try the old garter game, it’s a bit creepy.

References: www.offbeatbride.com

http://www.weddingyellowpages.net/articles/wedding_traditions_customs.php

http://www.GAgirl.com/wedding/wedding4.html

Often times, films portray weddings to be perfect: romantic, elegant, and flawless.  No wedding is perfect. Something will go wrong – and that is the best part. Funny stories come out of the crazy things that happen on your wedding day. Prepare yourself by watching our staff picks of these classic wedding movie scenes. There are so many, so we just picked a few.

Wedding Crashers

Wedding Crashers, an incredibly popular film that was released in 2005, brought an exaggerated idea to romantic comedies and wedding films.  Funny men, Vince Vaughn (Old School) and Owen Wilson (The Royal Tenenbaums), team up to portray self-declared Casanovas, Jeremy Grey and John Beckwith, who attend several weddings under false names and personalities. Toward the end of wedding season, John is ready to take a break from the wedding crashing until Jeremy mentions the ceremony of all ceremonies: The Treasury Secretary, William Cleary’s (Christopher Walken), daughter is getting married.  Knowing that this event will be beyond phenomenal, John and Jeremy act as two brothers who are connected to the Cleary family.  At the ceremony, Jeremy gets close with a young red-head, Gloria, played by Isla Fisher, who is another daughter of Secretary Cleary’s.  John falls for another daughter, Claire Cleary, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook).  After building a quick relationship with Gloria, Jeremy and John are invited to stay at the Cleary family estate where John begins to build his relationship with Claire, who gets engaged to another man whom treats her terribly.  The Cleary family soon learns the boys’ true identities and kicks them out.  John loses Claire, while Jeremy and Gloria keep dating.  They both gain a lesson in love.

Why we love it: This movie takes all the stereotypes of weddings and mashes them together with great writing. We are a big fan of montages- and think that the Shout Montage in this movie rocks. Some of our staff has worked over 200 weddings alone- multiply that by 11 staff members- that’s a lot of weddings. We started to notice these montage worthy similarities years ago and was glad to see them worked into a film.

The Wedding Singer

Released, in 1998, this film takes us back to the mid-1980′s, when the new wave of dance pop ruled the country. Robbie, played by Adam Sandler, was the must have singer to have at your wedding. This was until his own fiance left him at the alter. Robbie’s wedding singing career took a dramatic turn after leashing out at clients and their guests, along with only listening to The Cure for a while. Things began to change after meeting waitress, Julia, played by Drew Barrymore. Julia is a genuine, sweet girl who is engaged to the wrong man, Glenn Gulia, played by Matthew Glave. After falling in love, Robbie chases her down before she becomes Julia Gulia.

Robbie happens to catch her on a plane that Glenn and Julia are taking to Vegas for a brief, immediate wedding ceremony. With Billy Idol’s help, Robbie wins the girl. Of course, Steve Buscemi makes his classic appearance in this work of Sandler’s.

Why we love it: Who doesn’t love getting serenaded by Adam Sandler! The band auditions crack us up- having seen the good bad and the ugly in real life- we can relate.

My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding

Toula Portokalos, played by Nia Vardalos (My Life in Ruins), a 30 year-old who works in her family’s Greek restaurant has never had any luck when it came to finding love.  Her overbearing father, Gus, is desperate for her to get married and start a life with another Greek man.  The role of Gus was taken on by Michael Constantine (In The Mood), a renowned American-Greek actor.  Toula cleans her life up and decides to not to depend on her family so much.  Just as she does, Toula meets high school teacher, Ian, played by John Corbett (Sex and The City 2).  The immense amount of people in Toula’s quirky family must accept her choice of husband not being Greek, while Toula must accept her heritage.

This scene illustrates the wedding between Toula and Ian.  Each character seems to share a brief, comedic moment with another, not to mention the ridiculous dresses Toula and the bridesmaids are wearing.

Why we love it: The families! All families have quirks regardless of where they come from. Weddings bring out all the personalities and eccentricities. Our wedding films focus on families and relationships, so we pick up on these subtle things in our work . And even though this was shot in Toronto and was supposed to be Chicago- we forgive you filmmakers… it is really funny. Next time though, you should shoot your film here- it is a great place

The Princess Bride

This classic film, released in 1987, is a timeless, comedic story engraved in our hearts for years.  The film begins with a grandfather reading his favorite book to his grandson.  The story is a typical medieval love story filled with incredibly quirky characters and mishaps.  The lovely Buttercup, Robin Wright, is kidnapped the night of her wedding to Prince Humperdink, Chris Sarandon, despite her longing for her first love, Westley, played by Cary Elwes.  Westley, of course, returns to save the day but does not expect all the action that comes upon him.

Why we love it: Probably one of the best marriage scenes in the movies comes from The Princess Bride. Despite the speech impediment the priest has, none of the wedding company seems to crack a smile, but the word “mawwage” definitely made audience belt out laughing.

We have seen our share of interesting officiants- and this one takes the cake.

Father of the Bride

In this remake of the Spencer Tracy classic, George and Nina Banks are the      parents of young soon-to-be-wed Annie. George is a nervous father unready to face the fact that his little girl is now a woman. The preparations for the extravagant wedding provide additional comic moments. Written by Reid Gagle, George Banks is an ordinary, middle-class man whose 21 year-old daughter Annie has decided to marry a man from an upper-class family, but George can’t think of what life would be like without his daughter. He becomes slightly insane, but his wife tries to make him happy for Annie, but when the wedding takes place at their home and a foreign wedding planner  takes over the ceremony, George must try to handle the fact that people grow up. Written by MikeAce9@aol.com

Why we love it: Because Hafeez our DJ says so. Just kidding. (He really likes this movie) We feel for you dads. George Banks gets caught up in all the hoopla that is wedding planning, the cost of everything and learning to letting go of kids. We are so glad someone wrote a film to recognized your role. Plus Steve Martin. ‘nuf said.

by: annie