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“Make me look skinny”. I hear that all the time at all types of photo shoots. I hear it from brides at their weddings, from girls doing a boudoir session and even during family picture sessions from grandma. Yes, I even say it when my husband takes snapshots of me. Of course we all want to look our best. Photographs are reflections of us and are meant for others to see.
So, here are some tips and tricks to make sure you look like your best (and skinniest) self in snapshots.
1. Watch your posture. Whether you are standing or sitting you should straighten up a bit. Try it right now while reading this, sit up taller, don’t you feel more slender? Just remember to relax your shoulders; you don’t want to appear tense.
2. Turn a little bit. Don’t face the camera straight on. It isn’t very flattering. In fact, that’s why designers like such thin runway models. They are photographed straight on and need to appear thin at that angle. The rest of us have the luxury of turning a little bit. A 45-degree angle is just about perfect.
3. Find the light source. If the light is coming from a flash on the camera there isn’t much you can do. However, if you are outdoors or somewhere where a flash isn’t needed find where the main light source is coming from and turn toward it. Photographers call this “short lighting”. It’s the most flattering and will make your face appear narrower. The broad side of your face that is toward the camera (remember we turned you 45 degrees) will be in shadow and the front of your face will be lighter. It’s an optical illusion.
4. Put your weight on your back foot. If you are standing shift so your weight is on your back foot and bend the knee of your front foot slightly. It will slim your hips and make your legs appear longer. In fact, do this if you ever have to stand in front of other people. Miss America contestants do it.
5. Smile convincingly. Real smiles look differently than fake ones. If possible, have the person taking the picture count down before they shoot and smile just before they do. Smiles fade and start looking more fake the longer they are held.
6. Position yourself below the camera. It is best if the camera is just above eye level. This is the most flattering angle. You will be looking up just slightly which will improve your neckline and make your eyes more open.
7. Relax! We are the most critical of ourselves. No one is going to see the little flaws you may think you have. I remember seeing a picture of myself with a bunch of friends that I felt I looked horrible in. I mentioned this to one of my friends and she said, “I don’t remember what you looked like in it, I was concentrating on how bad I thought I looked”. And come to think of it, I couldn’t remember how she looked… See, we were both too busy over analyzing ourselves when no one else cared.
by Shauna Lund
The Gathering Place at Gardner Village
I received a call from a “Maid of Honor” last week to set up an appointment for a tour of The Gathering Place at Gardner Village. I was impressed by her eagerness to help her bride. As they arrived for the tour, she pulled out a checklist and began to ask important questions about availability, parking, ceremonies, wedding luncheons and reception information. She also inquired about details such as linens, centerpieces, décor, food options and favors. She was well prepared with her questions and wrote notes to refer to once they had completed their tour of wedding sites. She was definitely going above and beyond the call of duty. How lucky that bride was to have such a well-organized and helpful friend in planning that very important day!
As you choose attendants who will assist you on your wedding day, I recommend choosing someone who has a pleasing personality, is organized and will be a calming influence even if something goes wrong. Here is a list of additional things you may want to consider.
• Make it a bonding time for you and your attendants. Outline what you expect from each of them over a nice lunch, followed by a shopping excursion to look at dresses for the wedding. A lot of our brides take advantage of the wonderful Cottage Retreat Day Spa here at Gardner Village, going for massages, pedicures and hair-dos on the day of the wedding.
• Give each bridesmaid a list of things she is in charge of on the wedding day. For example, putting on chair covers and sashes, setting up a display table or centerpieces. One of our cutest brides, who just happened to be an interior designer, had designed the most amazing centerpieces! She knew she would not have time on her wedding day to assemble them. So she took pictures as she created them, and placed the pieces into a box. Each table was to be unique. Each box was labeled and the picture added to the box. The night of the wedding, her attendants took their boxes complete with the picture of how each was to look and reconstructed the centerpieces on the tables. It was fabulous!
• Many hands make light work. Use your attendants to help lift the stress of your wedding day, so you feel relaxed and confident and can enjoy your guests and the memories you’re creating.
For an ideal venue for your special day, visit The Gathering Place at Gardner Village. We are located at 1100 West 7800 South in West Jordan. 801.566.0917, www.gardnervillage.com.
The key to choosing an invitation that you will love, just like Whitnee and Nick, is to pick an invitation that reflects your personality as a couple in the colors, fonts and style you select. Whitnee and Nick really love the outdoors and they knew right away that they wanted a photo invitation. Their wedding colors which they wanted incorporated into their invitation are red, black and white. Read more…
Music and dancing are so central to our sense of festivity that it is difficult to really consider an event or celebration without their presence. And this is ever so true for a wedding reception. There are many choices facing today’s bride when it comes to choosing music — and performers of almost any genre imaginable are available in most areas. The first and largest step, however, comes down to a single decision: live band or DJ?
Live Music
Budget considerations aside, live acts are generally the preferred way to entertain guests because of the special status that a band imbues to an event. “Live music just adds beauty, elegance and, frankly, class,” says the renowned classical guitarist Michael Lucarelli. “I can’t tell you how many times Read more…
It happened. I knew it would eventually, but it has finally happened. Sadly, it happened to a good friend of my wife’s family. The bride went about her routine finding the best wedding dress, the best flowers and the best reception venue. Then it came time to decide on the photography.
As a family friend I offered my services. The bride, feeling that she could get a “better deal” opted for a less expensive photographer.
After her engagement portrait session I reviewed the pictures. Immediately, I saw that the pictures were out of focus. I told the bride of my concerns about the quality of the photography. The bride asked the photographer about it and the response was that it was for “creativity.” The bride decided to give her photographer another chance and had her do her bridals. Again, the pictures came back out of focus, poorly composed Read more…
Just a reminder to scale your bouquets to match not only your style, dress, and waist size, but also the size of your hands!
Compare these examples of larger mannish-looking fingers holding oversized bouquets…
…to some examples of some more delicate bouquets that match the sassy sexy brides that hold them! Read more…
With the return of leggings, Ray Bans, and blue eyeshadow, I feel a sense of comfort knowing that the 80’s have made another appearance in fashion. (Yes, I once wore peg-legged jeans.) It’s amazing to see the way that trends swing back and forth in so many areas of our lives! Car bodies are looking boxy again. Yes, that All American Rejects song is probably a remake. And even wedding styles have a way of making the old seem new again. Keep an eye on the runways this fall and you’ll notice that shiny-satin jewel-toned bridesmaids are back, asymmetrical styles and single-strapped gowns get a nod, and a wave of mermaids have come ashore!
Flowers too have a way of riding that pendulum of style, swinging back and forth from small and simple to Read more…
A common question from brides at their consultation is about the difference between Buttercream and Fondant icings, both in taste and cost. Both are used extensively for wedding cakes. A wedding cake professional should help a bride find an option that will work with the bride’s budget and make the cake beautiful. The best way to do this is a personal consultation. Cakes can be made in so many different sizes that almost any price range can be met Read more…
If you are planning to get married, STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN. If you and your partner have not thoroughly discussed your financial future by now, you may be setting yourself up for money difficulty or even worse, a failed marriage. In a study commissioned by SmartMoney Magazine and Redbook in 2004, 70% of couples talk about money on a weekly basis but numerous studies show that finances are the No. 1 reason why couples argue.
Nearly 80% site financial problems as the leading cause of divorce. And since one out of every two marriage ends in divorce these days, it’s clear that Read more…
