When I meet with prospective clients for the first time, most seem to have the same thought:

They want a classy and memorable affair, but they also want to include creativity and originality.

Here are some ways you can do just that:  

Favors
I’m seeing more creativity, and social awareness, in table favors lately. Recent favors included donation cards at each place setting for a cause close to a bride’s heart – breast cancer, for example. A monetary donation was made in each guest’s name and their favor was a personalized donation card.  

At another wedding that 3 Chicks photographed, the wedding favors were chocolate bars with personalized wrappers. The bride and groom's last name? Hirschey.

A wedding with a beach theme offered tiny wooden beach chairs at each setting, with a 1" square photo frame built into it.

At my wedding, a friend made handmade chocolate truffles and each place setting had an elegant white box with 2 truffles. Budget friendly and very popular, there weren't any left on the tables.

Even more budget friendly were lottery tickets for each guest.
 
Wedding Theme/Centerpieces
At my own wedding, the theme was travel, something my fiancé and I both love to do. The guests name cards were laminated luggage tags, the programs were customized passports, and the table centerpieces were framed photos of places we’d been, instead of flowers. The name of each table was a country we’d visited. Our cake was a “suitcase” layer, a “beach with palm trees” layer, and a large “chocolate” airplane on top, with a Just Married flag. We received so many compliments from guests who were able to see a little of Belize, Iceland, Peru, Tanzania, and Panama.
 
Destination Weddings
Many brides dream of sunset weddings on the beach of a tropical island. While it’s a beautiful, romantic vision, the reality is that sunset in the tropics is when the bugs come out! 3 Chicks That Click shot a sunset wedding in Honduras, and just before the ceremony, the bride had to be sprayed with Deep Woods Off!  Destination weddings are beautiful and unique, but in unfamiliar settings be prepared for anything.  
 
Ceremony Sites
For our wedding, my fiancé and I wanted to have the ceremony and reception in a place that had meaning to us, not just another restaurant or banquet facility. We also wanted to be on the waterfront, and during Labor Day weekend near the beach, this would have been cost prohibitive if we could have even found a place on short notice.
 
We spend our summers at a marina where we dock our sailboat. The marina had a large clubhouse that members could rent, and it included a kitchen. They were able to provide tables and chairs, but nothing else. EVERYTHING had to be rented/bought by us to make this work, including a dance floor, a bar, china, glassware, tablecloths, napkins….every detail down to the salt and pepper and sugar packets on the tables, and toothpicks for the bar service. We hired the servers, caterers, and bartenders, and the list of items that one takes for granted at a full service banquet facility filled a spreadsheet. But we got the beautiful location we wanted on the date we wanted by putting more effort into the planning. And since our friends helped us set up and decorate, we really felt emotionally connected to the whole experience. And our sailboat was in the background of our outdoor photos!
 
Transportation
Instead of cramming the bridal party into a stretch limo or Hummer, hire a party bus! This is not your day camp bus – this is decked out like a limo but much more comfortable and roomy.
 
Invitations
One couple we photographed had a beach themed wedding. The invitations were little glass bottles with sand in them, and a rolled parchment invitation. The tables had shells and beach glass on them, and the wedding cake was a giant sand castle with brown sugar “sand”.

Alyse Liebowitz is CEO and founding member of 3 Chicks That Click Photography. Alyse made the leap from the corporate world and turned her lifelong passion for photography into a full-time career to fill the void of female photographers in the wedding industry. She understands that most brides feel more comfortable with a female photographer, and she’s glad to fill this role.

Alyse and her fellow Chicks bring more than 40 years of combined experience to clients in the New York/New Jersey metro area. Her style encompasses traditional, photojournalistic, and candid images. Alyse is a mobile photographer and will travel just about anywhere for an assignment. A recent wedding brought her all the way to Honduras. For more information, please visit www.3chicksthatclick.com or call (732) 670-6996.

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