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Nine years ago, I planned my wedding. I had a year or so to do it and the toughest part was trying to please everyone. Looking back, I cringe at the hairstyle I chose, the flowers I picked, the dress I wore…you get the idea. One day I’ll post a really long post with pictures from my wedding day. (My pictures were awesome though, cause I splurged and got a good photographer –and I’m not just saying that…seriously).

February’s SoCal Photog Shootout had been months in the making, but we only had about 3 weeks to plan. 3 weeks to plan a wedding (even if it’s a “faux” wedding) is ridiculous and I do not recommend it –even with an amazing event planner on your side. It was one of our biggest events yet. Tickets sold out in 2 minutes.

So many vendors helped us with this event and instead of listing them, I’m going to tell you if I had to plan my own wedding again, why I would use these people. So, brides, hope this is a helpful resource. And as always, organizing these shootouts leaves me no time to really shoot, so these were the few pictures I was able to get as an “11th shooter.” (Everyone was in groups of ten)

Event Coordinator: Amanda Auer, In the Now Weddings

It was Sunday, two and a half weeks before the event and I was panicking since the wedding planner I thought we had lined up was unable to help us. Monday, Amanda posted on her facebook that she wanted to do some styling for photo shoots. I contacted her. Tuesday, she said yes and I forwarded her the very few details I had. By Wednesday, she had emailed me a complete timeline and had 90% of the vendors lined up.

By the end of the following week, I hadn’t heard from her and started feeling my ulcer kicking in, when my intern emailed me and said, Amanda is sewing tutus for the flower girl. Can I get their sizes? All the little details you are about to see in the following pictures is the handiwork of the amazing Amanda.

If you don’t have an event coordinator for you wedding day, you should save yourself some stress and get one!

The Venue: “The Romanesque Room,”

The venue was completely appropriate for our “Romeo and Juliet” themed wedding. The high arched ceilings are unique and really beautiful. Thanks to Ron for allowing us to use your venue.

The Hair, Make-up and Stylist Team: Kacee Geoffroy, Alisha Baijournas and Michelle Cunningham

I walk in the bride’s room and it is a flurry of activity. Michelle (yes, she is a photographer, but she is great at styling models) had strips of fabric and she is tying lots of them around the minuscule waists of our “Bridesmaids.” Kacee is doing makeup for a model and also getting herself ready as she is pulling double duty and modeling as well. Alisha not only is doing the models’ hair, she stops and per my request, makes my hair “bigger.” And they laughed and had fun and there was no stress or high maintenance egos in that room.

The Videographer: Nick of Crafthouse Productions

We needed a videographer two days before the event and sent out a desperate plea on Twitter for anyone. Nick responded and one look at his work I knew we HAD TO have him. Not only does he do amazing work but h was so positive and easy to work with. I love vendors like that. He was happy and excited to be there and we were soooo excited to have him. The video will be posted on this blog as soon as it’s ready and I KNOW it’s gonna be awesome!

The Engagement Rotation: Special thanks to models, Sarah and Derek, who are actually photographers. They just happen to look hot, so I recruited them! And thanks to the Lead Photographers: Gavin and Erin Wade

The Details Rotation: Special thanks to Brian Khang for being the Lead Photographer.

The Linens and Furniture Rentals: Town and Country Rentals & Wildflower Linens & Classic Party Rentals

I never think much about decor and so when I saw the entire venue transformed into my vision but BETTER, using fabric and furniture, I was floored. There was a PINK chaise lounge (which should be a requirement for all weddings, in my opinion) and gold chairs and table. Fabric strips of lace, pinks and purples accented everything.

The Paper Details : Alli Wells Studios. An Amazingly talented girl. She even tea dyed these faux programs for the “ceremony.”

The Getting Ready Rotation: With our fabulous model Ashley and makeup artist Becca, lead by Matthew Saville. Dresses from Mariposa Bridal Boutique in Anaheim

The Bridal Portraits Rotation: Thanks to Jenn King, a model and a photographer and Wai Reyes for leading this group.

The Florist: Honey & Poppies

There was confusion and one of the models who was suppose to have a wrap took a bouquet instead, so we were short one bouquet. Megan of Honey and Poppies, said, “Oh no problem, I’ll just make another from the scraps of flowers and created an incredible bouquet.

The Ceremony: Thanks to models – Kacee, Erik,Joanna, Shane, Mike, Tim, Sam and Mackenzie. Lead Photographer: Garrett Davis

Thanks to Justin Element for the next shot which I LOVE:

The Romantics: Models: Ashley and Sean, Lead Photographer: Cean One

Ashley and Sean never had wedding photos, now they have hundreds!

The Reception:

The Caterer: Not only is their food deliciously yummy, but Jay’s Catering has reasonable prices and a venue concierge service that places events in the perfect venues. Thanks to Mary Lallande, for finding the perfect venue for us.

The Cake: Fancy That! Cupcakes (909)524-1864 are so good that for the second time I found myself snatching the last half of one out of Garrett Davis’ hand –for the second shootout in a row!

The DJ: First Choice Entertainment

I hurriedly told DJ Marcel what I wanted, kind of. I really just told him “First dance, father daughter dance, cake cutting, bouquet toss and dancing –take care of it.” And he did. He took over hosting the show while I led my discussion and he even made me cry for the father daughter dance–as I always do.

After dinner, we had lighting workshops surrounding the traditional wedding reception events–first dance, cake cutting, etc. and also Round Table Discussions about branding and posing and even a critiquing station where photographers receieved feedback on their images of the day. (I led the branding discussion so I had to borrow a few images from people who were there. Thanks: Adrienne Fox, Steve Chua, Michael Boardman).

Thanks to my intern Kristin and her boyfriend for modeling.

From the Advanced Lighting Workshop led by Stephen Knuth

To see images from our attendees, go to our page: www.photogshootout.com/socal

Let me explain. One of the catalysts of starting the Shootout group was my need to practice various techniques I’d heard or read about. I wasn’t going to jump in and try wireless flash at a wedding reception during an actual wedding without actually knowing how to use it–call me crazy or a control freak…or both.

So instead of being a constant talking head for my groups, I encouraged them to take the lead, practice something they wanted to practice and ask questions as needed. Which made for a pretty silent group I’ll tell ya. Even though silence is uncomfortable at times, you’ve gotta accept that sometimes silence is okay.

The event was held at the San Dieguito Heritage Museum and it had an old gas station used for movie sets, a general store, a hut and my station –which was a fence and a motor home. Yup. I’m NOT joking. More details below. It was an awesome location (despite the motor home) and the San Diego Bosses, Yvonne LeBrun & Stephen Knuth planned a fabulous event!

I was honored to work beside the following amazing leaders in the industry:

Jeff and Betsey McCue, Garrett Delph, Evan Bishop, Scott Anderson, and Lawrence Chan (our speaker).

My models, Devon and Taj were hot and laughed at my jokes cause I’m funny. Seriously, I am.

One of the biggest challanges for my first groups was the harsh sun, but we worked with and around it!

Here is one of my groups getting the shot below.Check out the awesome motor home.

One of the fun things about a shootout is trying new things. I don’t do a lot of post processing when I am working for a client, but for shootouts, I get to play.

I snuck in a shot of models from another group. They were too cute for words.

FAVORITE!

During the free for all, I caught a few shots of my model with someone else’s model.

And my friend Jen Johnson and I figured we could totally do the modeling thing.

If you are new to my blog, you may have no idea what the PhotogShootout actually is. I encourage you to go to the top search bar and type in “photogshootout” and familiarize yourself with our events. If you are interested in getting to know your camera better, learn from photography leaders, meet people, build your portfolio, etc. my group, the SoCal PhotogShootout can be found on Facebook.

Out next event is this week. February 11th and the event sold out in 2 minutes. If you didn’t get a ticket and you want one, well, you’ve come to the right place. FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS ALERT(Click HERE if you have no idea what that means): I am giving away ONE ticket for Thursday’s event. But I need to see how BADLY you want it and I’m gonna make you work for it this time. In the comment box below, you need to write a poem or song that includes the words: SoCal PhotogShootout, Hanssie, Matt and photography. I will pick my favorite (with some help from Matt, my husband and my 5 year old probably) and the winner will be announced Tuesday AM.

And to ensure a spot to all of 2010’s SoCal PhotogShootout events, go to http://thirstrelief.shootq.com/
I’ll be blogging more about that next week.

Happy poem/song writing!