Stessed Out From Your Wedding Planning?

From dresses and cakes, to flowers and food – wedding planning can seem like a ball. But many brides- and grooms-to-be hide emotional stress behind a façade of furious planning in preparation for their big day. Susan Wendelborg, a licensed clinical social worker, who counsels many brides, says the root cause of these feelings often come from unclear expectations and separation anxiety… (read more here)

Pets & Weddings

Every so often when I’m meeting with couples they tell me that they’ll be having their pet walk down the aisle along with the rest of the wedding party. Immediately visions of Mr. Jinx from the film “Meet the Parents” flash through my head.  So this time around I thought I would share an article addressing this by author Nola Sarkisian-Miller….

When wedding guests rise upon hearing the “Bridal Chorus” from Wagner’s Lohengrin opera, they don’t usually expect to see a canine trotting down the aisle.

Though not the norm, betrothed pet owners often want to include their pups in their special day, whether the tail-wagging creature is accompanying the bride on her march to the altar or looking spiffy in wedding day photos.   Click here for the rest of the story.

2009 – An Amazing Year!

For almost 16 years we have been photographing weddings, and with all the economic “doom and gloom” out there 2009 was our best year ever.  Thank you to all of our couples this year who were so wonderful to work with, I’ve enjoyed meeting you all!  My staff and I want to wish you all a happy New Year and success in your new marriages.

Mark Humpa – President

Follow Us…

Cornerstone Photography is now on Twitter!  Keep track of all our latest packages, specials, general news, and latest updates.  Here’s a hint…2010 is going to be our most amazing year since we started almost 16 years ago.  Don’t miss out on what ahead and it’s just around the corner!  To follow us just search for the name: WeddingInfo4u

Trash The Dress

If you ever wondered what is it or wanted to know more about it there was a recent story about “trash the dress” on the Today show.  The video below should help shed some light on this new style of photography.  Cornerstone Photography will be offering this service to brides starting next month:

Just For Fun…

Below is a clip from the film “I Love You Man” which gives a lighter side to the wedding photographer and the wedding party:

New Zealand Man’s Love Runs Deep in Search for Ring

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A New Zealand man has been dubbed the Lord of the Ring after he searched and found his wedding ring more than a year after it slipped off his finger and sank to the sea floor.

The ring was lost for 16 months in the harbor of the country’s capital city, Wellington, before Aleki Taumoepeau found it shining on the sea floor, the DominionPost newspaper reported on Thursday.

“The whole top surface of the ring was glowing,” Taumoepeau, an ecologist, said.

Taumoepeau had been married for just three months when he lost the wedding ring while conducting an environmental sweep of the harbor.

He roughly marked the spot where the ring had flown from his finger, but was unable to find it despite returning to the area many times.

Taumoepeau’s wife offered to buy another ring, but he refused, pledging to find the ring.

But, equipped with new global satellite based coordinates and offering up a quick prayer, he found the ring after an hour’s search.

“I couldn’t believe that I could see the ring so perfectly,” Taumoepeau said.

He said those with him on the boat at the time the ring flew off his finger had likened it to a similar, slow motion shot from The Lord of the Rings, much of which was filmed in Wellington by local director Peter Jackson.

(Reporting by Michael Dickison; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

The ‘Truth’ Behind Traditions

The origin of numerous wedding traditions just might be a little less romantic than you think…

By Anna Sachse
CTW Features

Far from happily ever after, the stories behind the origins of many commonplace wedding traditions read more like an original Grimm’s fairytale, which were actually rather… grim.

“In days past, the act of getting married had peculiar, almost sinister connotations related to superstitions and a fear of bad luck,” says Elise Mac Adam, author of “Something New: Wedding Etiquette for Rule Breakers, Traditionalists, and Everyone In Between” (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2008). “It was more of a gauntlet that simply had to be gotten through in order to get to the real goal, which was having children – an absolute necessity in agrarian cultures.” Forget “Cinderella” – here are a few examples of wedding tradition origins that could come straight out of “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.”  (Click here for the rest of the story)

What Do You Think?

A great way to find out how well the photography studio of your choice ranks it to find feedback from past clients.  WeddingWire.com has created a platform where wedding couples rate the services of their photography after the wedding.  I’ll often read reviews on other large wedding sites and find the feedback from couples of their photographer  is made before they have actually had their wedding photographed!  Those kind of reviews mean very little if the final product you receive after your wedding day is nothing like you were promised.  What’s also great about WeddingWire.com is that they have couples rate all of their vendors, not just photographers.  From a studio owner’s point of view, I take these feedbacks very seriously.  They not only tell me what we are doing well, but also what we can improve.  Click here to view our reviews on WeddingWire.com.  Take a look for yourself and I think you’ll find real truth in reviews from this site.

Mark Humpa – President