Introducing Wedding Wish Books

March 3, 2014 Steve Vansak

Page 1 and 2 from the Wedding Wish Book for guests to sign and write in.

I always tell my couples to be themselves for their engagement photos and to display them at the reception hall when guests arrive. Your family and friends are their to celebrate you, so show them who you are. I have a new way to display your engagement pictures and I'm excited to show it to you. I call it the Wedding Wish Book. It's awesome. Remind me to show it to you at our meeting.

I designed it so that a good amount of images fits into the 20 pages along with sections where guests can write their own messages. The pages above has space for Best Wishes with my clients Rachel and Dustin's Fall engagement photos on the opposite side. The image below is a two page spread with romantic engagement pictures on the bottom and an area for remembrances above.

Two page spread of wedding day remembrances.

The book is 12x12 in size and the pages comes uncoated so a ball point pen will not smear as family and friends write into it. I believe it's a fantastic keepsake to look back on in years to come and pass on to future generations.

Two page spread featuring a Favorite Memories section with engagement pictures on the opposite side.

The book just arrived last week so it's literally hot off the press. By the way, these Fall engagement photos were taken at Lemon Lake Park if you are looking for that Autumn, outdoor look. Any types of photos from a Chicago Session to a beach session can be featured.

Tips for falling love over and over again.

You have probably seen Wedding Guests Books that feature engagement photos and I have a book like that as well. It also is an uncoated, 20 page book with an area for attendees to your wedding to sign. It can act as a simple registry with 432 maximum signatures or 216 signatures with a message.

To celebrate the arrival of the Wedding Wish Book, both of these items are currently on sale in the Region Weddings store. If I already photographed your engagement session and you want to add this book to your wedding decorations on the big day, please order at least a month beforehand to give me time to put the book together and get it printed and bound. If we are doing your session later this year, definitely keep these books in mind. I think they are a great way to show yourselves off and your guests will surely enjoy contributing to your wedding day with their best wishes and advice.

What do you admire most about us as a couple?

Decorating Ideas for the Wedding Reception

December 26, 2013 Steve Vansak

A table of green apple martinis greet guests at a winter wedding reception at The Patrician in Schererville, Indiana.

I very often go back to the same Northwest Indiana and Illinois reception halls over and over again. People ask me if I get bored by visiting the same banquet halls. The answer is no. This is because every couple brings their own little bit of flavor to the mix. I'm always excited to see what my clients are going to do in terms of table decorations, cake toppers and more.

I could probably spotlight every wedding I've shot in 2013, but for space I will showcase three different weddings at two different halls. The prominent trends I saw throughout the year were candy buffets along with an emphasis on family photographs throughout the years. As I was photographing all this decor, I often found myself studying these snapshots and admiring the strong family ties that were now coming together on this big day.

Greg and Kristen recently had their reception at The Patrician in Schererville, Indiana. It was a rocking good time at the reception and a glorious ceremony that was recently feature here, so go check out that article too. When guests arrived at the hall, tables of decor that featured family photos greeted the guests. Among the usual guest book were wish cards to be filled out for the couple to read later. The inside was awash in the newlywed's colors of green, black and silver. The candy buffet from How Sweet It Is Events was a big hit and featured the initials of the couple in big, green candy coated letter blocks - very cool.

Green, silver and black wedding decorations at The Patrician banquet hall.

This past summer I photographed Evan and Stephanie's reception at Aberdeen Manor in Valparaiso, Indiana. They also had a candy buffet, but hot pink was the color of choice. I have featured their cake here a number of times as it looked fantastic set against the gorgeous uplighting of the room.

A gorgeous wedding cake with a pink topper sits inside the ballroom at Aberdeen Manor in Valparaiso, Indiana.

The couple adopted another popular trend I saw this year - the signature drink. Here is a great article with recipes for you to develop your very own drink that you can then ask your reception hall vendor to serve for you, complete with your own custom name of course. Cigars in decorative packaging were also spotted quite often this past year.

A collection of wedding reception decorations featuring the color pink.

Fall weddings often get extra emphasis on decor. One of the most impressive items on display at Ryan and Jamie's Fall wedding at The Patrician were the table cards made by the bride's father. The hand carved flat logs of tree bark were decorated with burnt orange with an attached guest name. It was very impressive and one of my favorites of the year. The retro film camera on every table is a classic and the owl kept an eye on guests as they filled out cards to attach to the wishing tree.

A collection of rustic wedding decorations in Autumn colors.

As you plan your 2014 and 2015 wedding, take some of these ideas with you and add your own flavor as well. I can't wait to see what you come up with so I can capture if forever with my camera. Have fun!!

Wedding cake decorated with Autumn leaves and and Fall colors.

Jaw Dropping Wedding Albums

December 16, 2013 Steve Vansak

Front cover design of a wedding album with blue background and white flowers.

If you landed upon my introduction page this website, you probably saw me brag a little about my "jaw dropping wedding album designs". I don't tend to boast, but I'm very proud of the wedding albums I put together for my clients. They are very unique and styled to the individuals I'm photographing. The images from this post are from actual client albums from this past year. While it's best to set up a meeting via my Contact Page to view these in person, let's take a look at a few pages now.

After the wedding, I schedule a Premiere Night with the bride and groom and they are welcome to bring their families along as well. We watch a highlight video of images from their big day and then we talk about the album. I want my couples to guide me by picking out the front and back cover images, the dominant colors they want throughout their book and if they are looking for a more simple layout or a busier one with more flourishes, etc.

The image above is Jeff and Kendelle's front cover with the back cover below. They asked for blue as their main color along with black pages. They had a large wedding and loved their photographs and asked that as many be included as possible.

The back cover for a wedding album with a blue and white flower design.

For the inside pages, a simple layout of black page with images cleanly placed dominated along with some designed pages such as the ones below. For these pages, I made a blue wash on top of the bride's solo photograph along with images of her with each of her bridesmaids. These two pages were right next to each other in the album.

Inside wedding album page a-washed in blue color.

Every wedding album page is printed on pearl photographic paper with a dirt and smudge resistant finish. While I consider myself a modern styled wedding photographer, I'm old school in the sense that I think every bride should have an album. All of my packages contain a wedding book. When you meet me you will discover that i love digital and I'm a gadget, techie sort of person, but images on a printed page have a magic quality about them. I can't wait to show you what I mean in person at our meeting.

A two page wedding album spread with a quote about compassion within a marriage.

Very often I will include a two page spread within the album of one image. Sometime there will be text of quotes included as well. One image enlarged across two pages can be very dramatic as one pages through a book. Certain wedding photos deserve to be large.

Below is an example of a couple who wanted purple as their main color. Their images on the inside were laid out against bright white.

The front cover of a wedding album adorned with purple flowers.

Please note that the Region Weddings website address is not on the final products delivered to clients. Also, there are two types of books available - coffee table style as well as flush mount. Please schedule a meeting today and I will have you visit me in my office to show you all of these books.

Happy wedding planning!!

The back cover of a wedding album featuring a bride and groom walking in a field at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point, Indiana.

A Free Honeymoon Registry

March 18, 2013 Steve Vansak

A newly married couple share a champagne toast as they dine outdoors in front of a summer sunset during their honeymoon.

Many brides and grooms already own the “traditional” wedding gifts for which young couples used to register. Do you really need another set of towels or a new toaster? Some couples would rather have cash for the honeymoon! Several honeymoon registries are available online but many of them charge fees. I just discovered Honey-fund - a completely free service, created by a real bride and groom who dreamed of a Fiji honeymoon but couldn’t afford one.

Honeymooners-to-be create a dream honeymoon wish list - airfare, margaritas by the pool, skydiving, whatever you want! Select items from a sample registry based on your honeymoon location or write up your own creative excursions. Your guests select which activity they want to help fund (in $20 increments). Honeyfund helps you spread the word with e-mail, web, and print announcements plus your own Honeyfund website address. You can also link to your traditional registries so guests have a choice.

Your gift givers are instructed to pay you directly by cash or check, either by mail or presented at a shower or at the wedding, along with a printable Honeyfund gift certificate. Sure, it’s essentially the same as putting money in a card but your guests will have fun reading about how you plan to spend their gift during your honeymoon.

Guests may also pay by credit card or PayPal. They’ll have to pay the fees charged by those companies (up to 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction) but this might be an easy, attractive option for out-of-towners who won’t be able to attend your wedding.

The site contains comments from several couples, explaining why they used a honeymoon registry and describing how their guests reacted. Check out Honey-fund and let me know what you think.