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LMP Wedding Planning Timeline (Part 2 of 5)

Six to Nine Months Before Your Wedding

Plan an engagement session with your photographer.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Create and send out Save the Date cards. Many brides and grooms choose to use one of their engagement photos for this, so it’s important to communicate with your photographer and give yourselves plenty of time for the shoot, photo editing, printing, and mailing.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Find and order bridesmaid dresses. Just like the wedding gown, your bridesmaids will need time to get alterations completed.

Order invitations and develop a wedding website. This ensures that your guests will have all of the pertinent information, including location, attire, accommodations, and more.

Begin planning the honeymoon! You’ll want to make sure your passports are up to date and flights and accommodations are all booked.

If you wish, begin taking dance lessons. You’ll need the time to get smooth on your feet!

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Three to Six Months Before Your Wedding

Find a rehearsal dinner venue. Depending on how many people are coming, you may want to give yourself plenty of time to find the right place.

Begin confirming with all of your vendors. It’s never a bad idea to touch base and make sure that everyone is on the same page, from florists, to photographers, bands, DJs, caterers, and more.

Shop for men’s formalwear.

Find and hire wedding day transportation—limousines, trolleys, etc.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Attend your wedding shower—usually planned by your close friends and family.

About three months ahead of time, order your wedding cake.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Two to three months out, have a deep-cleanse facial. (You never want to do this too close to your wedding—a deep cleanse can bring out toxins and make your skin look a little worse before it looks better.)

LMP Wedding Planning Timeline (Part 1 of 5)

We all know that after the engagement glow is over and the wedding planning begins, everything can seem a little daunting. With over 25 years of experience working with brides and grooms as they make their way toward their wedding days and down the aisle, I have plenty of advice to give to make sure that you get through it all.

One Year or More Out

First things first: find a venue site.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Most vendors will not book a wedding couple unless they have a venue chosen and committed. The reason is that without a venue, there could still be a change in the date—we need to know that we’re 100% committing to a certain day to ensure we are available on your wedding day.

 

Ask friends and relatives to be in the wedding party.

Begin looking for a photographer. You’ll want to find someone who matches your personality, style, and price range. This will involve meeting with photographers, reviewing portfolios, and then the planning. (More on the photographer in a later post!)

Nine Months to a Year

Pick a theme. Know the style of the wedding you want. This will help you when choosing the other key details of your wedding, from the gown to flowers to yes, even the right photographer.

Hire an Officiant.

Start looking for the right wedding gown. With the time it can take to find the “right one” to the time needed for alterations, you don’t want to wait too long.

Begin a proper hair, nails, skin care, and exercise routine. Brides and grooms want to look their best on their wedding day, and that means getting yourself started early on. Do you want your hair grown out for your wedding? Make sure you give it enough time!

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Find the right hair stylist and makeup artist—vendors book up early, especially if your wedding date falls during the busy wedding season (May to October).

Research and find florists, bands, DJs, caterer (if not included in venue), and more. Again, vendors will book up quickly! You do not want to wait too long. Remember to consider your ceremony and cocktail hour as well—do you want someone playing during that time? They’ll need to know.

Your venue may take care of tents, linens, tables, etc. for you, but make sure that’s the case. If not, or if you’re doing this yourself at home, you’ll want to reach out to rental companies early on.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

Have an engagement party—remember to register for gifts!

Research and reserve accommodations for out of town guests. Most hotels will book room blocks for your wedding at a special rate—make sure to contact them early to make sure they have the availability.

Fun Tip: A lot of brides and grooms seek inspiration from Pinterest—set up your boards early on and start pinning ideas that could bring your perfect day together.

A Great Review from a New Year’s Eve Wedding

I photographed Elise and Mike’s wedding on December 31, 2015, at the Peabody Essex Museum. As you can probably imagine, their New Year’s Eve wedding was great fun, and I was so happy to receive this glowing review from Elise on The Knot:

We had a fantastic time working with Louise for both our engagement photos as well as our wedding. Her and her assistant were great to work with – and fun. We were so happy with how everything worked out.”

And another on Facebook:

Louise and Mike are awesome!! So much fun to work with and the photos are incredible. A true professional, who we were so happy to have been a part of our wedding!

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A toast to the bride and groom! May their 2016 continue as wonderfully as it began.

A Kind Word

It is always so gratifying to receive wonderful feedback from a couple that we photographed. Liz and Jesse were a pleasure to work with. You can check out this past Facebook post for a little peak at what we did for them. This bouquet shot is still one of my favorite detail shots to date:

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

“This review is long overdue. My husband and I got married on June 27th, 2015. Louise was our photographer and she and her partner, Mike, did a phenomenal job. Our pictures are beautiful and they both did an amazing job capturing perfect candid moments as well as posed photos that came out beautifully and unforced. Louise was involved with our planning process, listened to what we wanted and did an incredible job making our “amateur” photo ideas come to life. Louise and Mike were also wonderful making everything happen the day of. My bridal party and I were running about an hour behind getting ready. Louise and Mike got everything done quickly and efficiently, without making us feel like we were out of time. I would recommend using Louise without reservation. The photography was beautiful and we will cherish the photos for the rest of our lives.”

Thank you, Liz and Jesse!

LMP on the Cover of the Hawthorne Hotel Wedding Brochure

The Hawthorne Hotel in Salem recently released a brand new wedding brochure highlighting what they do at the hotel. The brochure features photographs from their list of preferred vendors, and I was honored that my photographs were chosen for the front and back cover, as well as several of the pages inside.

Louise Michaud Photographer, Salem MA Wedding Photography, Boston Wedding Photography

The cover images are from a special shoot we did back in August highlighting some of the unique places within the Hawthorne to have photographs taken, particularly in their Grand Ballroom. I also have three more within the book itself, which is so exciting!

I love working at the Hawthorne. The staff is great to work with, and the venue itself is historic and full of beauty, from the large windows in the Ballroom to the original 1920s-style elevators, grandmother windows, and beautiful staircase (also featured in the brochure).

The Hawthorne is hosting a Wedding Open House on January 14, 2016, from 6PM to 8PM. I’ll be there if you are interested in stopping by to check out the venue and/or talk to me about photos for an upcoming wedding or event.

If you would like to check out the full brochure, you may view it here.
You may reserve your spot at the open house by visiting their EventBrite page.

I hope to see you there!

Louise