Lara Swanson Photo » Nontraditional, Offbeat and Alternative Photographer

When your wedding is set at a summer camp, you’re guaranteed some nontraditional wedding details. From the forest to the lake, from the pool to the cabins, we were able to find some awesome spots to accentuate exactly where this beautiful wedding took place. That, and more of their gorgeous wedding details below! (Don’t forget to check out their teaser here!)

Natalie’s dress:

Terissa took these from outside the cabin where Justin got ready. Clearly it had been a fun morning:

Brad took these, a view of the ceremony from the beginning of the zip line. A nice metaphor, don’t you think?

More from the ceremony site, of the chuppah:

Their beautiful wedding programs (including the monogram designed by Creative Montage!):

More Jewish wedding ceremony details:

Now, you know me, and how much I love ring shots. Check out these gorgeous ones from Jamie:

More of Terissa’s shots from the camp:

Natalie’s bouquet, and the flowers for the table centerpieces:

Table seating/place cards:

I wish I knew the story behind these toppers. I love that they went with cupcakes (and they were DELICIOUS). Here’s also a table centerpiece:

This was in the slideshow, but I loved it so much I wanted to post it again. A beautiful, mossy ring shot:

I don’t know, if you’re a cool enough couple, this might be a WIN. From The Fail Blog.

Should you give disposable cameras to your wedding guests?

When I first came across one article of this series, it was in a sort of spammy website, so I followed through to figure out where it was originally posted. Unfortunately, I soon realized that the actual website seems to also be a relatively spammy website, so oh well. I still think this is a good topic to discuss. See the articles here.

To me, the cons outweigh the pros of including disposable cameras in your reception for your guests to use. As I see it, the main pro is that the guests have the opportunity to capture lots of things that the photographer will not be able to. Another pro is that there is a better chance all guests will be photographed.

Now, whether or not these things happen remain to be seen. If you had disposable cameras for your guests, and you got them back and were able to develop the film, were special moments captured? Were all your guests photographed (or more than would have been without the disposable cameras)?

I’ve read articles from brides on the cons of disposable cameras – things like how much money it cost to process, how few good shots they got out of it, how many guests went home with the cameras instead of giving the pictures to the couple. Lots of times the cameras don’t even get used because guests don’t realize what they’re supposed to do with them. Other times, kids get ahold of them, and you’re left with some not-so-great shots (although I’ve seen some incredible kid photographers!).

These things, plus the fact that there is a lot of packaging waste that goes into disposable cameras, would outweigh the good that may come of including disposable cameras for me. I’d love to hear from you if you’re a person who included disposable cameras at your wedding and had a good experience!

Wedding rings made out of your family’s old jewelry

In the article “Wedding Rings: ‘Something Old’ Becomes Something New”, “Ecological jeweler greenKarat (http://www.greenKarat.com) is using old family jewelry to make personalized wedding bands.” How cool is this? Essentially couples create a registry to collect their family members’ unwanted jewelry, then new rings are made out of that jewelry. As the greenKarat president said, “Recycling those pieces for a betrothed couple is romantic, eco-friendly, and financially savvy.” I just think the sentiment behind it is wonderful, and you’re doing something good for the earth as well.

First, read this article. It is driving me absolutely bananas.

Is anti-wedding industry equivalent to bouquets of dead leaves? Why can’t anti-industry be separating ourselves from the whole traditional process altogether? Why does the anti-wedding have to be made up of negative associations with traditions, instead of just throwing the traditions out altogether?

One of my favorite papers I ever wrote was in the Latin American thought class I took. It stuck with me through the rest of philosophy classes – that white/male/economically stable/etc. individuals in the center, and everybody else is Other. Most Other define themselves as not-center, or with not-center-attributes (I am not white, I am not Christian, I am not in the Western World, etc.). Those who are marginalized can be diagrammed in concentric circles out from the center – those who are closer to center label themselves with more positive attributes (I am African, I am female) and those who are on the outer edges, the more marginalized, have very few ways to positively attribute themselves (mostly nots).

Anyway, that’s how I feel about this article – that instead of REALLY breaking the rules and just throwing everything out the window, they’re stuck with “nots”. I don’t think you can break the cycle by continuing to include pigeons instead of doves (not-doves), because you’re still not breaking down the reasons behind why we include traditions at all.

I don’t think we can get anywhere with the wedding industry until we demonstrate new kinds of weddings with ONLY positive terms. The government wouldn’t let the couple in this article marry anywhere because it had a certain idea in mind of what a wedding was like – the planners write, “We deny we will have any of it, but no one believes us.” It’s time to redefine weddings by setting examples of what weddings can be like, not set up a bunch of “not”s that just remind us of what a wedding is traditionally defined as.

This is what I love, though, about the couples I work with – that some define themselves as nontraditional even though they’re doing everything traditional except, say, a garter toss. The way to break the wedding industry is not to be anti-wedding, or anti-bride, but to demonstrate that a wedding is just not one way; it can be defined in a multitude of ways. It’s “alternative”, not “anti”.

This planner sums it up: “Clearly, the only difference between 40 people visiting a site for 15 minutes and 40 people visiting a site for a 15-minute wedding is the weight of the word ‘wedding’”. Uh, yeah. So let’s redefine, shall we, instead of being so ridiculous?

Ethical fashion

“[T]here is such a thing as wild silk – the caterpillars lead completely natural lives. The cocoons are then collected once the moth has fluttered away to freedom”

Same-sex wedding cards

“The language inside the cards is neutral, with no mention of wedding or marriage, making them also suitable for a commitment ceremony. Hallmark says the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.”

“Dream” wedding game is more like a nightmare

“The gist of it: You’re a wedding planner and you have to help a couple prepare for “the big day.” The game consists of searching for concealed items; as you click them, they get crossed off a list. Every few levels, you solve puzzles… I played a version of this game for five minutes and wanted to claw my eyes out.”

Eric spent his last few weeks of summer vacation turning his wedding photos into two gorgeous videos for all to see. Unfortunately I can’t post the videos here (they run on Blogger) but I thought this was the coolest idea for those who are opting out of hiring a videographer and still want “moving pictures” of their wedding! Check out the videos here. Notes from Eric:

[T]he fact that it ISN’T a video makes it tremendously more satisfying and entertaining to watch. When I was putting it together, I loved the flexibility that the photographs gave me. I loved that I could zip from right in front of Hannah, Shade, and me to a wide shot of the whole chapel. I loved the ability to hone in on a single gesture or moment–being able to zoom in on Hannah’s admiring gaze during her dad’s reading, or on the eye contact between me and my mom during hers. In a true video, these moments would have zipped by without anyone even noticing. With pictures, I was able to milk them.

I’m proud of the offbeat and alternative wedding photos, and I’m so glad that they offered Eric this flexibility. It’s so good to know what people do with our wedding photos later – work like Eric did makes me feel so good, almost as if we’ve collaborated on a whole new beautiful product! My photographers and I are so purposeful about capturing emotions (the composition of Hannah and her father during his reading, for example) that it’s great to hear it can translate to our clients and the ways they’ll continue to look at and use the photos. All of the background info and explanation of how he did it can be found in his blog post.

Woods + wedding = LSP heaven. When Jamie and I first met Natalie and Justin we fell instantly in love with them – and it wasn’t just the romantic music played by the senior jazz players in the back of the coffee shop. :D This wedding was filled with joy and sunshine, and we were so happy to be a part of it. Enjoy the slideshow!