Are you planning on getting married in the Sterling, VA or Northern Virginia area? As a portrait photography studio with years of experience shooting events, including weddings, we can offer you some of our favorite ideas on how to make your wedding unique and totally “you”! You can design your wedding so that it’s an unforgettable experience for you and your guests.

Why is having a unique wedding such a big deal?

We don’t believe ANYBODY’S wedding should be “cookie-cutter.” We’ve never met a bride who told us they want their wedding to be like everyone else’s! Your wedding is YOUR day, and it should feel like it’s a unique combination your personalities from start to finish.

What we know after seeing or working with hundreds of brides on their wedding day is that there is ONE thing which makes a wedding unique – and that’s you, the bride and groom! Before you say how obvious that is as an idea, you’d be surprised how many couples don’t consider this when planning their wedding.

What is the ONE thing that is totally original about any wedding day, that no other wedding day has ever seen or done before?

YOU: the bride and groom!

Your guests have never seen the two of you together in a wedding designed entirely around you. They have never been at a party celebrating YOUR love and relationship with your fiancé, now husband. They’ve never seen YOU in that gorgeous gown, walking down the aisle, partying on the dance floor.

The secret to having a beautiful and unique wedding that leaves a lasting impression is weaving as much of your personalities as possible into your wedding events. Your guests attend your wedding to honor and celebrate the two of you, your nuptials, and your future life together. Including special aspects and details your personalities and experiences, as well as the things you love, make everyone at the wedding feel special and included. It draws your guests into the meaning of the event. It is how guests will feel connected to you and your beautiful wedding event.

We’ve done so many weddings, engagement portraits (and family portraits) throughout the years that we’ve learned a lot about how to include unique touches in your wedding event.

Here are 14 ideas to making your wedding unique

1) Naming Your Tables

Don’t just use traditional table numbers. Name your tables after a particular interest or hobby that you share, such as favorite athletes, cities you have visited together, or types of wine you enjoy.
 

2) Newlywed Trivia

A great icebreaker for the reception is newlywed trivia! Create a list of fun questions about you and your fiancé for your guests to answer. Want to make it even more fun? Make it into a table competition and give the winning table something special.

3) Personalized Favors

Let your wedding favors reflect the wedding couple. Do you collect something or love something? We know one couple who gave Pez dispensers because the bride was a collector. Another gave bottles of
mead (honey wine) they had made themselves.

4) Share Your Childhood Photos

Make a collage of photos of the two of you either growing up or your time together as a couple and display them on the gift table or as a slideshow during your reception.

5) Display Your Parents’ and Grandparents’ Wedding Photos

A beautiful and romantic way to honor your family is to share their portraits – especially wedding photos of your parents and grandparents.

6) Love Letters

While a bit personal, and you may want to edit what you share, you can put together a scrapbook of letters you and your fiancé sent to each other.

7) A Groom’s Cake

Surprise your new hubby by having a specially designed Groom’s Cake honoring him or a hobby of his. Imagine having a fire truck cake for your fireman!
 

8) Personalize Your Vows

One of the most popular ways to personalize your wedding is to write your vows. Take it a step further by adding personal details like, “I promise to bake cookies with you” or “I vow to watch the game with you on Superbowl Sunday” to let your guests glimpse more of your relationship.

9) Tell Your Love Story

Share your love story! You can do it as part of your vows, through your officiant, or during your reception.

10) A Photo Montage

Play a montage of photos from your Engagement Session set to music during cocktails before the reception begins.

11) Invite Your Guests To Perform

Include friends or relatives who are musicians or dancers by asking them to perform at your ceremony or reception. (Just make sure they will still enjoy themselves and that they won’t feel put out by being asked to perform!)

12) Make Memories With Music

Don’t forget to personalize your music. Play your favorite songs and artists during your ceremony and, of course, reception. Include a few songs you know are special to close relatives or friends! They will feel included in the wedding and appreciate the thought.

13) Dedicate a Song

Another way to use music to personalize your event is to include a song that reminds you of one of your loved ones. You can have your entertainer dedicate it to them. It can be serious, sentimental, or silly.

14) Thank Your Guests

Lastly, never forget to take a moment around the cake cutting or just before the end of the evening to thank your guests! You can invite them to the dance floor to form a big circle and dance together to a song like “That’s What Friends Are For” or “Friends In Low Places.”
 

How to Find Your Unique Touches

Make a List

Make a list of all of your favorite hobbies, interests, and quirks both as individuals and as a couple.

Choose your Ideas

Looking at your list of hobbies and interests, write down some ideasfor how you can work them into your favors, decor, or music.

Do Them!

Finally, and most importantly, pick out your favorite unique ideas and DO THEM!

If you’d like more cool ideas on how to incorporate special things into your wedding, check out the wedding ideas at Brides.com.

However you decide to personalize your event, the key is to have the event reflect you as the bride and groom. Make the event special by having it truly be about the two of you.

As a portrait photography studio in Sterling VA, the most memorable events we’ve seen, photographed or attended were those that most closely reflected the wedding couple.
 

Family Photographer, Portrait Photography Studio

Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Sterling, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
 
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
 
Best,
 
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
 
Professional Photographer

Without a doubt for us as a Northern Virginia area photographer, this couple’s choice of Washington, D.C. for their engagement portraits was the perfect choice! The monuments of D.C. hold a special place in the hearts of Shannon and Will. So this historical location was a fun and memorable portrait session for everyone.

On Location Sessions:

While we offer both a private outdoor portrait park and an indoor studio, we tell our clients that location shoots might be better for them especially if a place is important to them. That was the case for Shannon and Will’s engagement portraits. The results were powerful not just aesthetically for the viewer, but emotionally for this young couple.

Engagement Portraits:

For generations, engaged couples invested solely in wedding photography. But this generation knows better! They have grown up in the era of digital photography and smart phones. The selfie is a normal and regular occurrence. Documenting every aspect of their lives isn’t unusual for them, and they value the role of photography in their lives. In fact, it’s a regular part of their daily lives. Thus, turning to a portrait photography studio for professional engagement portraits isn’t unusual for them at all. It’s also an excellent introduction to what to expect for their wedding photography!

Client Wall Art Selection:

A Contemporary Steel Finish was perfect for a wall art collection of engagement portraits. It’s a clean, frameless look that fits well into any home’s design style. With young couples, who will likely move several times in their marriage, this is an ideal choice. There are no frames to worry about matching in the future! The result is poignant and something to be enjoyed for decades!

Whether you’re from Washington, D.C. or elsewhere in Northern Virginia and across the DMV, as an experienced and trusted photographer, we would be happy to do your on-location engagement portraits. What place is unique to your relationship or you as individuals? We’ll be glad to meet you there with equipment in tow!
 

Family Photographer, Photography

Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Northern Virginia, and serving Washington, D.C. and Maryland. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
 
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
 
Best,
 
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
 
Professional Photographer

Oh, the beauty of young love! Each client is special in their own way whether we are taking their family or engagement portraits here in Northern Virginia, near Arcola, VA. These two, however, are exceptionally special to us!

Griselda (Griz) was Joriana’s maid of honor! When it came time for her own engagement portraits, we were so excited to be asked to shoot their portraits. Christian and Griz are an adorable couple. Working with them wasn’t just near and dear to our hearts, it was a delight! They simply revel in each other’s company – something we think is apparent in their portraits!

Griz knows how much our work means to us and how much time and energy we put into every portrait session. She wanted an engagement and family photographer to take fine art portraits that would capture what was in her heart.

“I wanted an expert to help me get images that could be displayed in my home for years to come,” Griz said. “I knew I needed an expert to guide me.”

These engagement pictures were her first professional portraits and, while she was nervous, she knew she could trust us to have her best interests in mind. As we do for all clients, we offered feedback and guidance on outfits and makeup. We also answered all of Griz’s questions.

On the day of the session, we had beautiful weather with an equally stunning backdrop in our outdoor portrait park. Griz and Christian enjoyed their portrait session as much as we did!

At their preview session, they were thrilled with the results! We were as well – because if the client is happy, we are, too! We think their portraits perfectly capture the spirit of their fun and loving relationship.

Because Christian and Griz knew the value of having portraits printed, rather than simply on a CD or DVD, they decided to order a Portrait Box. An easel included with the Portrait Box will display one of the portraits, making it the perfect way to showcase a certain portrait. It’s a fun and easy way to show them and swap them out as you like.

Please visit Griz and Christian’s Gallery to see more of their beautiful engagement portraits!

If engagement portraits are on your horizon here in the Arcola, VA and Northern Virginia area, contact our studios to arrange your engagement portrait session. We are one of the leading fine art photographers in the area, having built our reputation on great photography as well as a superior client experience.
 

Family Photographer, Engagement Portraits

Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Arcola, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
 
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
 
Best,
 
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
 
Professional Photographer