Vue Photography

Last year we started doing a little thing we liked to call a “Bride’s VUE”.  In June of last year, Julia sent us her questionnaire…needless to say time got the best of us so we’re trying to get back on track!  We’re hoping to be better about updates out our blog post more frequently this year!!  Even though, I never had the chance to meet Julia and Chris, I already know they are a couple after my own heart…that black ‘n gold terrible towel, steel city {Pittsburgh}, Steeler love!

{Speaking of Pittsbugh, I’m slightly..just slighty, jealous of all their snow days.  I’m not jealous of the cold…just that I can’t go out and play in the snow!  I mean who doesn’t enjoy a good snowball fight, having to hike up the hill after barreling down it in a sled, a snowman adorned with a carrot nose and scarf, and trying to make a snow angel without leaving your shoe print behind?!}

Julia + Chris | Blog Post

Bride’s Name: Julia
Groom’s Name: Christopher
Wedding Date: May 4, 2008
Wedding Location: Jupiter Beach, FL

What was your favorite wedding moment? This is a crazy question and I find it hard to believe that anyone chooses one moment but here are some of my fav’s:

1.  Walking out with my Dad and seeing Chris is without a doubt my favorite moment. My mom always tells me that your mind takes mental photographs that you’ll never forget and that was definitely one of them.
2. Getting announced at the reception and coming in to Here We Go Steelers and terrible towels waving. Chris and I are both such huge Steelers fans and I’m so happy we did that – he still tells everyone all about it!!
3.  Our impromptu Way You Make Me Feel dance. We’d joked all year that we were going to do a dance and when that song came on we just looked at each other and said “What the hell let’s do it!” and we totally rocked it!

Was there a particular wedding detail you obsessed over during the planning process? The only thing I obsessed over was the flower situation…and not until after our appointment when we were seeing the “sample centerpiece”.  Turns out the florist got our Do’s and Don’t lists confused and made the entire centerpiece of flowers we absolutely didn’t want and only after that did it become an obsession!  Our second appt didn’t go much better but they swore they’d be right the day of but that didn’t ease my concerns or stop my girlfriends from running around like crazy people and pulling out and then hiding, roses and “greenery” from me!

What attracted you to VUE photography? Chris and I had a pretty clear VUE (ha!) of the type of pictures we wanted for our wedding – fun, non-traditional, and utterly captivating and that’s exactly what Genya’s website promised us.  It just happened to work out that she’d be in Jacksonville for our engagement shoot and we were sold! Her energy and enthusiasm was intoxicating and it didn’t matter what it would take to get her!

What did you enjoy them capturing the most? I enjoyed shooting the whole way down the beach back to our reception but I liked the “dredge” photos the best – partly because I barely remember the ceremony let alone getting photographed and turning the horrible dredging situation into a hilariously gorgeous photo shoot was amazing.   I also love the pictures where you don’t realize that you are being photographed.  There’s a picture of my mom and me hugging on the beach that captures raw emotion and it’s just beautiful.

What was your first impression of Genya within the first few minutes when she began shooting your wedding? We had Genya shoot our engagement session and immediately we loved her! It’s actually pretty funny now but it was a stressful day and we almost called the shoot off b/c we’d gotten in a huge argument over the minister and weren’t feeling like being lovey towards each other at all! (So ridiculous now!) Anyway, she made us feel very comfortable and her energy and excitement was so contagious we just couldn’t help ourselves!

What would you suggest to other brides that would help them with their photography? I think the two most important things are you have to find a photographer who you feel comfortable with and one who understands what types of photos you want.  If you don’t you might end up with photos you don’t like and those are what you have to remember your day for the rest of your life! Never settle – the right photographer is out there! (Seems like my mom used to tell me that about boyfriends!) J

Also, make sure you get what you want! Chris and I forgot to ask for pictures of him getting ready with his Dad and I feel awful that we missed capturing that.

If there was one thing you could go back and change or do differently what would it be? Really the only thing I would change would have been to slow down and take everything in.  I had complete tunnel vision and only saw Chris during our ceremony (which was a pretty nice view!!) but it wasn’t until we got our pictures back from Genya that I saw how absolutely stunning everything was!

Did the bride and groom see each other before the wedding? Not exactly! Chris came up to my room for some photos of us standing on either side of a door and it took everything in my power not to jump to the other side and into his arms!

If you didn’t, do you wish you had? Why or why not? I’m so glad we didn’t although I’m sure if you would have asked me that day I would have wanted to see him – Chris would say absolutely not!  It was so strange to me to have this momentous day in my life but I wasn’t allowed to see the one person I wanted to be excited and jump up and down with and that was really hard.  I am glad we didn’t though – his face when I walked out to the beach was more than worth it!

What blogs did you stalk besides VUE photography’s? Trash the Dress, The Knot…fortunately for Chris we were moving before the wedding and cancelled our internet at the house so I could only do a limited amount of stalking!

Now that you have your M.R.S. Degree what’s one thing you have learned since? You absolutely have to have fun with each other and not take everything so seriously – especially your new families!  It’s a huge adjustment to incorporate new personalities and feelings into your lives and you have to take it all in stride – we’ve had a good laugh at both our families’ expense!

Okay, here are my 5 (maybe 6) favorite photos!

This photo makes me laugh every time I look at it! I wanted to take these door photos and I had no idea Genya told Chris to make and bring a sign. Everyone else in the room, girlfriends, parents, everyone was dying laughing and I had no idea why – hence the completely blank look on my face! (Close your mouth sweetie!) And leave it to my husband to come up with “Mail Order”…Classic!

Okay, so I know I’m supposed to choose my favorite picture (singular I know) but I don’t think anyone could understand the dredging, unless they were there, with one photo so here are a few. J Everyone always warns that there’s one thing that will go wrong and to prepare yourselves but we had no idea it would be something so huge as closing the beach we’re supposed to get married on due to dredging – and not tell us until the day before!!!  Thanks to my parents we were able to find an even prettier beach and it worked out better in the end.  You just have to not freak out (as hard as that was!), have a back up plan, and trust that things will work out. After all, the most important thing is getting married and who knows, you might get some awesome photos out of it!

Because we only had 48 guests and the majority of them were married we decided against tossing the bouquet and garter.  Instead I chose to give my bouquet to my Nanna and she couldn’t have been happier. She went around and showed everyone her flowers and never put them down.  This photo captured how happy she was and is something I will always hold on to.

This photo is one of Chris’s and my absolute favorites!  I ordered a Pittsburgh Steelers garter to surprise Chris and he’d hidden mini-footballs in his pockets to “pull out” from under my dress. (I told you…huge fans!)!  Trust me; nothing screwy is going on – hey now – although you wouldn’t know it from my face!!!

This photo was taken during our “Way You Make Me Feel” dance.  We both completely fell into character (Thank God we’re both 80’s junkies and have seen the music video!) and I still can’t believe we pulled it off – especially considering my husband’s natural lack of rhythm!!! J Chris’s fedora, the straw that is forever in his mouth and the attitude on my face – I just love it!!!!

My dad and I, of course, did the traditional Father Daughter dance and it was wonderful but the above photo, to me, was so much more special!! Ever since I can remember my dad and I have danced together (although I used to stand on his feet!) and The Twist was always my favorite which is exactly what we’re doing here.  The song came on, everyone else cleared out, and my dad and I went to town burnin’ up the dance floor!