You might Remember Angie Gaul of New York-based Milestone Images from her helpful wedding planning tips. She's back to tell us how she battles all your wedding insecurities about yourself and your guests to help you “get married and look super-fine.”
Every single one of the couples featured in these images felt incredibly self-conscious about being photographed. They ALL felt weird at first. One bride featured here even quoted Scrubs in her vows, saying, “The thing is, I always felt like I was so weird that I would end up all alone.”
Or maybe it's not themselves they're concerned about… some of couples are worried that flash would really bother the guests on the autism spectrum, or that their trans officiant will be mis-gendered, or that no one has ever taken a good photo of the groom's father who has Parkinson's. Some of my clients had friends shoot engagement pictures that they never wanted to show anyone, ever. I hear you, I am here for you, but here's the thing…
EVERYONE has something they're worried about. Everyone is either mourning the death of a parent, or managing divorced relatives, or grappling with body issues. So am I. We are all so blessedly, amazingly human, and I'm here to make you comfortable and document all the sweetness of your day. This is how I do it…
I’ve got your back [with or without a head]
Sometimes when I meet with a Offbeat Bride couple to talk about shooting their wedding and they tell me their vision for their event, it takes all I have not to wiggle around in my seat, waving my hand in the air, Hermione Granger-style, hooting, “Pick me! Ooh, pleeeease pick me!”
This was the case when I met with Jamie and Justin ten months ago and they told me all about their “getting married in Sleepy Hollow on Halloween” wedding. Right there, in that first meeting, I was like, “You know there’s a guy who has learned to ride a horse in a Headless Horseman costume who’s pretty famous locally. I wonder if we could take a picture with him somehow…” And then I became mildly obsessed, ahem, I mean, extremely committed to making this happen. (Including a dry run the day before to figure out parking and road closures — Halloween in Sleepy Hollow is INSANE.)
I will help you fight the day-of “Fuck-Its” that steal your energy and joy
I will communicate and get to know you well enough beforehand to know what matter to you most. I will help you with the timeline to help you get the best possible photos with all the right people with the minimum amount of stress. By the time the big day rolls around, all you have to do is get married and look super-fine.
What about nailing my focus, exposure, composition and getting the moments of happy tears and hilarious dance moves?
That goes without saying. With 15 years of weddings under my belt, I’ve got this. At the end of the day, my clients can count on getting truly artistic, creative portraiture that tells a love story; candid documentation of emotional moments, laughter and happy tears; flattering photos of your nearest and dearest taken in efficient, upbeat photo sessions; AND beautiful detail shots over all the DIY projects you poured your time and energy into throughout your planning process.
The number one thing I want people to know…
I'm on Team You. I’m all about meeting you where you are in terms of your vision for your wedding photography and budget. I have packages for everyone from “Destination Courthouse” for $500 to “Unicorns and Rainbows” for $7200!
Plus, Offbeat Bride readers always save 10% but you can save 15% AND lock in 2015 prices for one more month if you book me by January 30th!
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I’ve commented on Angie’s posts before, and I’ll keep on doing it! She photographed my wedding in August 2013 and was absolutely amazing. When we started our wedding planning we were unsure whether we should hire a photographer, since our budget was extremely limited. I am so glad that we did, and that we chose Milestone Images. The photos were beautiful and working with Angie was a real treat. She is an artist, a communicator par excellence, and someone you just want to move next door to and have afternoon coffee with.
As we were planning photography together long-distance, she had just the right balance of reminder emails that helped keep me on track, but where I never felt pressured.
On the wedding day, Angie was everywhere… so discretely. Looking at my pictures afterward I was amazed at the variety of photos she captured, without ever being in the way. When it came to posed family portraits and the Big Group Picture, she directed our crew with kindness and knew how to get good-looking faces out of all of us. We are a family of over-smilers, eye-closers, and weird eyebrow-raisers, so this was nothing short of miraculous. And she stood on a sloped roof to get the bird’s eye view!
We did an Offbeat Bride special with a day-after photoshoot that was so much fun, and again got gorgeous results. Angie had so many great ideas of places to pose and creative ways to use the beauty and natural light around us.
THEN she worked through an unholy hurricane and power outages to deliver on time!
Angie is a superwoman with a keen eye, a good heart, and a rare kind of friendly professionalism!
This is all true. Angie photographed my weddings in May and both families STILL cannot be more happy with her. I really wouldn’t be surprised if my husband’s family decided to make her the family wedding photographer.
The having your back part: she was the only wedding photographer that researched Cambodian weddings before talking to us, and then told us she knew monks in the area if we were still looking! She recommended the florist we ended up using during our Western wedding. On the days of, she knew when I was ready to strangle a family member and ran interference.
The day of “Fuck-Its” part: despite my husband and I living on the complete opposite side of the country from our wedding and Angie, she kept in touch with is for more than a year and made sure we all got to know each other. That was awesome. Also, I think people forget that for many fiance(e)s, this is their first time planning a wedding, and possibly something that’s on such a large scale. I had no idea how long anything would take, especially with two large families involved. Angie called and ran through everything with me, and we came up with a schedule that my mom and husband’s uncle referred to as “military precision but still relaxed.”
The focus, composition, exposure, etc. part: All true! Big group portraits are great to have, but looking through everything now, the candid shots are by far my favorite. She managed to capture moments that I missed (like my aunt hanging out with all the groomsmen…who she had just met!), the multitude of faces my husband and I make, and all of the emotions over both days. This unfortunately ended up being important about 5 months after the wedding when my father-in-law died. A lot of the pictures from the wedding that had him in it were used during the memorial slideshow, and it was so nice to have people remember him as happy, excited, and proud.
And yes, we all looked super fine 😀
Angie is all this and more. She’s funny and caring and dedicated and she will SHOW UP for your wedding. Five years out, I adore the photos she took for us now even more than when I first saw them.
Eeeek! My centerpiece! Oh wow, my husband is going to LOVE this!!!!!
I can’t say enough amazing things about Angie. I was a stressed-out MESS until she and I went over our timeline. After that conversation, I was able to relax for the first time in months! From the minute she walked in my door until the minute she went home at the end of our wedding day, she was incredible. There isn’t another person anywhere who can make me forget that I’m in front of a camera the way she can. My veil was blowing absolutely everywhere, my husband’s young niece and nephew had a meltdown (& that was just in 30 minutes before the ceremony)… I would have been a puddle of nerves without her support.
Oh, and the pictures were amazing! I love them all to pieces. Some of the funniest moments of the day happened out of our view, and some precious ones happened so quickly… I’m so glad Angie captured them for us, even if it means that my husband will always have proof that I put his ring on the wrong hand (oops).