Guest Post: Howard's Guide to the Perfect Shoot

Have I got something special for you today, gang. My super creative friend, Howard Leu has taken some time out of his cray cray schedule to pen a little ditty for us. So, I'll get out of the way and, Howard, it's your dice!

 For Wedding Couples: How to Have a Perfect Wedding Shoot

 Like many wedding photographers, I started out shooting weddings for friends and family. I fell in love with wedding photography from those experiences and also from seeing just how creative wedding photography can really be. I love weddings, and I love capturing people’s candid emotions. It still seems like magic to me that we have this technology that can freeze a moment in time and preserve it for our enjoyment. Sure, I enjoy taking pictures of foliage or things that catch my eyes but being able to capture moments of a celebration where two people commence their union and commitment to one another, there’s nothing like it. And each wedding is unique. That makes shooting weddings challenging and exciting. My own wedding is in April of 2012. And believe me, I would shoot my own wedding if I can find a way to do it. But I can’t.

What I can do is help you get the most out of your wedding photographer and help them in ensuring a perfect wedding shoot. Here are some tips:


Hire the one you trust. I like to think that a wedding photographer is so much more than just that person with the camera taking photos at a wedding, but most of the time it is just that. The only time that it’s not just that is during the formal portraits and wedding party photos. That’s when the photographer is also the stage director, the timekeeper, and the person who tells people what to do. And since this is a person you are hiring to provide a service, why not make sure that they can do more than snap photos. The photographer will be concerned around two things at the wedding party shoot: 1. Getting great photos within the given amount of time, and 2. Making sure that the photo shoot doesn’t delay your arrival to the reception because the angry guests will surely not blame the couple (yep, you guessed right. They’ll blame the photographer). Hire someone you feel like you can trust and work out their duties during the wedding before hand. Then on your wedding day, let go of responsibilities and stress, and enjoy!

A walk with your photographer photographer. When you have your pre-wedding consultation with the photographer, you should do a walkthrough of the whole day as well as the different shoot locations. It can be either a verbal one or if it satisfies you, an actual walkthrough at the locations. A well-trained and experienced photographer should be able to shoot in any conditions and environment, and will most likely go visit the locations by themselves in the morning of the wedding or the day before. The walkthrough is for you the couple to communicate with the photographer what you like about the locations you’ve chosen for the shoots and what kind of shots you have in mind. Also, if you’re the kind of person who communicates better with pictures, don’t be afraid to ask the photographer if it’s okay to show them some wedding photos you like that you collected from magazines and websites. Try using photos that will show what you want and not the photos that you actually want.

Designate an organizer. Perhaps you already have a wedding planner or someone designated to be the point person to make sure things go smoothly on your wedding day. Then you can understand how having a go-to person during a photo shoot can help it go smoothly and efficiently. It could be someone in the wedding party or someone who knows most of the family and friends at the portrait shoots. This helps the photographer focus on what’s being captured behind the lens and ensure the time is well used. It also helps to have the organizer and photographer to be on the same page so that one can round up people needed for the shot while the other is setting up the shoot.


Breathe in, breathe out, relax. When you’re standing there posing and feeling self-conscious about how unnatural you might look, do this: take a deep breath, roll your shoulders back, breathe out, and relax your body. Try to have one foot in front of the other and offset the even height of your shoulders. If you’re naturally camera shy, instead of looking into the camera lens look over it. Stiff in the face? If you just can’t seem to find that natural smile to match the joy in your heart then divert your attention to your spankin’ new husband/wife. Give them a little nudge or just simply look at them and remember what this day is about. Engage them in an affectionate glance, or whisper something tender or funny in their ear to get their attention. Those small moments always make photos that are full of magic.

You’re the Star! The most important thing you can remember about standing there for the photo shoot is that no matter how much you want to look good for the camera it really comes down to how you feel inside. Even if it is a posed photo, what’s really being captured, besides how fabulous you look, is what you express from within. Let the photographer worry about how the photos look. Just focus on all the attention from the cameras and friends and family on your wedding day.

Howard is an architect and freelance photographer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He restores and writes about the wonderful historic fabric that is the old buildings in Milwaukee when he’s not pointing his camera at people. You can find his photography works at howardleuphotography.com.

Guest Post: Tips for a Successful Kids' Party

Hey-Oh!


I have a super special treat for you today, y'all.  Lauren Bonk, (yes, that Lauren Bonk) is on hand to give us a little heads up on planning a stress-free kids' party. 

As we do more and more of them, I have become more acutely aware of how much I don't know about kids (You mean, they can't have mimosas?!  Like, ever?!).  I kid, I kid...sort of (seriously, no mimosas?!)


And, because I totally sure I'm not the only fab, pre-baby gal out there with the questions, I thought we all might benefit from the knowledge of one of Goldiluxe's most favorite Mamas. 


Take it away, Lauren!

Oh, and P.S., would you look at that face?!  Crazy lovely, right?!  Well, if you like what you see here, I suggest you get your fab little behinds over to her equally lovely blog.  It's pretty great, y'all.




I'll be honest, the words 'kids' and 'parties,' when spoken in the same sentence, almost immediately give me a migraine.

My son, Charlie, is getting bigger, though, and that means it's going to be harder for me to be such a mommy-hermit. He's going to start caring if other people celebrate his birthday or not, and he's going to start caring if he gets invited by someone else.

Kids need to interact with each other...who'd have thought?

So this is where I admit that I haven't actually had to tow Charlie to another child's birthday party yet...and at first, I thought that may pose a problem when Erin asked me to write about parties involving gaggles of ankle-biters. (These, of course, are my words...not Erin's :)

Now, I may not be a kid-party expert, but I'd like to say that I'm becoming quite experienced in the actual having-a-kid department...and I've learned a few social cues from Charlie that I plan to use when planning future birthday parties.

A toy is usually boring until someone else wants it.

Here's my main suggestion: If you're going to present toys to play with, make sure they're plentiful and alike. Let me use the example of sand-toys here. When I bring buckets and shovels to the park, Charlie could not care less about them until some other kids start playing with them. He then uses his super-speedy-toy-swiping skills to steal his favorite bucket right from the cute little hands of an 11 month old with a planet-sized flower balancing on her headband.

She cries. Charlie looks triumphant. I give him a time out.

All of this could have been avoided if I had brought 4 identical buckets. The same applies for your party. Have a few choices of toys and games, but make sure there are plenty of identical toys for everyone to play with.

Plan for contained chaos.

This is a gathering made up of children. They are bursting with energy and at the mercy of their emotions. This party will not be perfect. It will, however, help to find an area that has plenty of room, but also comes with effective methods of containment.

If you're going to the trouble to put together a kid-friendly party, chances are you'll go the extra mile to find an appropriate space.

A big, empty room (like a rented library room, church fellowship hall, or big basement) that you can fill with toys, tables, and games will be perfect. Kids like to run around and chase each other...parents are usually cool with watching them. Make sure you can close a door or put up a gate so that moms and dads can easily keep eyes on their kids.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret:

Big, safe room + toys + kids = Glorious sit-and-chat-and-watch time for parents.

Plan for crazy hippies.

I'm not trying to be offensive here...I'm the crazy hippie you've got to watch out for. We chose not to give Charlie any processed sugar for a really long time. We still don't give him a whole lot. For his 1st birthday, we found a great recipe for a naturally sweetened carrot cake. It was pretty tasty, even for everyone else.

The result of this is that Charlie would much prefer a bowl of yogurt and cheerios over (are you ready for this?) a Krispy Kreme donut. For real. He took one bite of a heavenly sugar ring a couple days ago and immediately lost interest.

This last Easter, my wonderful sister-in-law brought graham cracker bunnies and natural fruit roll-ups to put in the plastic eggs that Charlie found. I was so grateful that Charlie was able to sit and eat his spoils with the rest of his cousins...I totally owe her one.

What I'm trying to say is that people will appreciate it if you provide a few different snack options. Apple slices and flavored yogurt as well as big, fabulous slices of cake will help to keep everyone happy.

That's not so much a social cue as a parental preference...but hey, I think it's important.

I know these tips won't solve all your child-party problems, but hopefully they'll solve enough to provide a fairly stress-free experience.

What about you guys? Do you have any great kid-party tips?

Guest Who?

Hello there, dumplings!

Yours truly is guest posting over at Lauren's blog today.  She's a brilliant blogger friend of mine.  Seriously, y'all.  After you check out my post, you really ought to stick around and see what you can see.  It's totally worth it.

Tiki Weekend: Tiki Lantern Tutorial

Hello cupcakes!
The response to Tiki Weekend has been overwhelming!  You've been messaging me and e-mailing to demand more photos.  Trust me, you'll get them this week.  
Our tiki votives were a huge hit with y'all, so I thought to tide you over,  you might enjoy a tutorial...authored by my friend and frequent collaborator: Allison Beilke.  Enjoy!

Hello lovely Goldiblog readers! I like to consider myself Erin’s silent design partner in crime, but today it’s my turn to guest post. With hopefully more posts to come! As you know, Erin is a very crafty lady and together we crafted many decorations for our summer, retro-fabulous Tiki party. We were inspired by many great decoration tutorials we found on various blogs, but we also came up with our own original.

With that I give to you… DIY Tiki Lanterns! It’s really quite easy (and cheap!) and you can customize it for virtually any event or holiday of your choosing. You could even give them away as party favors.

You will need:

Plain, GLASS juice glasses (no plastic since they’re for burning candles)

Mod Podge

Paintbrushes or sponge brushes

Solid color tissue paper

Contact paper

Exacto knife

Pen or pencil

Carbon transfer paper (optional)

Acrylic paint

Acrylic gloss or matte medium

First, pick up a couple inexpensive plain, glass juice glasses. We found some that were 5” tall, but you could certainly use small shot glasses too. Tissue paper is next. This will serve as the first layer so think about what colors you want to glow through when the candles are lit. Lie the glass on the tissue paper to measure a strip that will cover the whole glass and cut it out.

Paint on Mod Podge and carefully apply the tissue paper to the glass. (It’s ok if this doesn’t turn out perfect because it gets covered up and sometimes texture makes for interesting results!) Let this dry for a few hours. I would recommend coming back and putting on an outer coat of Mod Podge, then let it dry overnight.

Now you’re ready for the fun part! Decide what design you’d like to show through when lit. I drew some tiki faces that were pretty basic shapes and printed from my computer. You can download the template here for your own tropically-themed party. Transfer the designs onto contact paper either using carbon paper or a pencil to shade the back of the paper with the design on it and trace onto contact paper. Next cut out the shapes from the contact paper with an exacto knife and apply to your tissue paper lined glasses.

Get out your acrylic paint (we used burnt sienna) and mix a small amount with the acrylic medium. You want a consistency that has a nice amount of color for coverage, but the medium will give is some transparency for the light to come through. Paint over the entire glass, including the contact paper. Let dry overnight. The next day is REALLY the fun part. Peel back the contact paper shapes, drop in some tea lights and prepare to be amazed!  

They really added to the whimsical ambiance of our party.  We had a blast making them and we hope you do too!

Guest Postin' Gal!

Check me out, y'all!  I am guest posting over at Sun's awesome blog, Eat. Host. Run. Style.  As usual, I have some things to say about parties!  I have been following Sun's blog for awhile now, and have been super inspired by her breezy, positive approach to fitness.  I'm even working to get back into running by following some of her handy tips!

I'm super excited to be featured!

Follow me to the fun!

Guest Post: Looking – and Feeling – Your Best on the Big Day

Hello, Darlings!  What a week I'm having...

Today I have a brilliant guest post from Sun Torke.  Miss Sun is the mastermind behind the healthy living blog, Eat. Host. Run. Style.  I love reading Sun's blog for it's upbeat tone, creative cooking tips and inspirational exercise advice.  Mostly, I really appreciate Sun's body-positive approach to fitness.  


I thought, that here in the height of summer and the wedding season, Sun would have some really great advice to share with us about looking your best on the big day...and I was right.


So, without further adieu...Miss Sun Torke!

During a recent trip to the gym, I overheard a bride-to-be announce she’s sticking with an all chicken diet in an attempt to starve her way into her dream dress. As she talked about her diet, I noticed she looked slightly crazed and as though she might pass out or chew her arm off in hunger.

This type of extreme behavior is not only unhealthy; it also sucks the enjoyment out of one of the happiest occasions in life. Fortunately, there are ways to look your best without limiting your diet to a single food group. The trick is to take a balanced approach to diet and exercise.

These strategies can help you look – and feel – your best at your wedding:

Eat 4-6 small meals each day. If you’re trying to lose a few pounds, this may be the easiest way to do it. By spacing several meals throughout the day, you’ll avoid getting too hungry, which can lead to overeating. Try keeping these meals between 200-300 calories, depending on how many meals you eat each day.


Makeover your favorite high-calorie foods. For example, if you love pizza, make a lighter version. Try topping a Flatout flatbread with pizza sauce, 2 percent mozzarella cheese, 8 slices turkey pepperoni and your favorite veggies. Craving fries? Slice a medium sweet potato into wedges, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until edges are slightly browned.
 
Make time for exercise. I know you’re busy, but making time to exercise is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Try to get at least five 30-minute sessions each week. If you have trouble squeezing your workouts in before or after work, try doing them over your lunch break. Or, combine exercising with socializing. For example, instead of catching up with friends over brunch, consider meeting for a morning hike or a cardio class at the gym instead.


Don’t forget about strength training. Whether you’re interested in toned thighs, lean arms or a flat midsection, strength training is one of the best ways to achieve your goals. If you aren’t sure where to start, pick up a fitness magazine or download a fitness mobile app for ideas. You might also consider hiring a personal trainer for a session or two to get started and make sure you’re using proper form while doing the exercises.


Have a happy – and healthy – wedding!
- ST

You Asked For It: The Perfect Fit{ting}

Hey there...
I love your blog.  Could use more pictures of your work though.  And if I remember correctly, you promised us baby shower pics, yes?  You should get on that.  So, I am about to go for my first fitting...any tips on making it perfect?

Well, hello Darlin'!
Believe you me, the photos they are a comin'.  I am so shamefully behind.  Ugh.

On to your question...(of course I have an opinion about fittings...I have an opinion about everything!) How 'bout I whip up a quick list?

6 Fitting Tips I Wish Someone Would Have Mentioned to Me

1. Make sure the salon's alteration policy is made crystal clear.  This is a big one, kids.  I don't care if you have to ask the same question 100 times, you and your alteration team need to be on the same page.  A dress is just fabric without the perfect fit.

2.  Most retailers will have alterations departments and are responsible for providing you with the proper fit.   If you are unsure, check with the salon first.  A well placed call can save a lot of gas and frustration.

3.  Do not panic if the dress doesn't fit properly when it comes in!  In most cases, you were likely measured four to six months before, when you placed the order.  Even slight changes in your physique can affect the fit.

4.  Be sure to wear your wedding day shoes to every fitting.  This will ensure consistent height.  Also, it's an easy way to help break in your shoes.  

5.  Wear your wedding day underpinnings to every fitting.  Again, this is a big one.  Everything you put on your body will affect the fit.  Wearing the same foundation and underpinnings will help eliminate the element of surprise on the big day and will make your alteration team's job that much easier.

6.  Relax, enjoy the process and trust in your alteration team.  You're getting married!  That and all the happy feelings associated should be your main focus.  You shouldn't be stressing out about the dress.  Besides, hovering over your alteration team won't get the job done any faster.

And a bonus tip from me:

7.  You are absolutely perfect, just as you are.  The dress doesn't make you beautiful.  Neither does the shoes, the veil, the fake tan, the makeup, the jewelry nor any of the other trappings of a wedding.  You make you beautiful.  Don't waste your time chasing the idea of "The Perfect Bride".  Believe me, if you are confident in yourself and the beauty that only you can possess, you will see The Perfect Bride.  You will see her each and every time you look in the mirror.

Good luck, my dove.  I'm rooting for you!