Bridal Expo Survival Tips

Whether you’re a first-timer or a third-time veteran, Bridal Expos can be a tad overwhelming. Here’s some tips to get you through the event with your sanity in-tact!

• Bring a sister, mom, or bridesmaid to help you collect information, carry the massive quantities of paperwork and goodies you’ll receive, keep you calm and hydrated, and help you stay on track.
• Bring plenty of water
• Wear comfy shoes
• Make a list of vendors you want to find and what you want to accomplish
• Try to find out which vendors you’re interested in will be at the show
• Make a list of your questions for them so you have it right in front of you to reference while you’re talking to them… you don’t want to realize on your way out the door that you forgot to ask them x, y, and z!
• After each potential vendor, take a few minutes to jot down some notes on what you discussed and your thoughts before heading on to the next booth. You might think you’ll remember, but after talking to so many people you most likely won’t 🙂
• Come up with a game plan so you’re not wandering aimlessly around collecting goodies (unless you have all of your planning done and vendors secured, and then by all means, wander and collect to your heart’s content)
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions… including, ‘What sets your services apart from other caterers/photographers/DJs/etc?’
• Relax and have FUN!

Hawaii’s Bridal Expo is coming up on July 25th-27th at the Blaisdell… Don’t miss it!! Visit me at Booth 411 — I’ll have several special promotions being unveiled at the show but here’s a sneak peek: my first two lucky couples to book a package will receive 25% off!

Bridal Expos… To Go or Not To Go?

Easy answer: Go.

To some brides, the idea of heading to a bridal expo is thrilling. To others, terrifying. But regardless of which end of the spectrum you fall on, should you (and every other bride you know) be there? Absolutely!! Just think about this: Where else will you have the opportunity to compare the best vendors in your area side-by-side, meet them all face to face and get your questions answered (and see whether they’re as nice in person as they seem on their website or… you know… a little weird), and secure every vendor needed for your big day — all within a few hours and one room — AND score awesome goodies, discounts, and special offers in the meantime?

When you look at it like that it sounds too awesome to be true, right? Sure, maybe it’s a little intimidating but hey — you’re planning an entire wedding! You can definitely handle it.

Whether you’re engaged, soon to be engaged, hope to be engaged, or know someone who is engaged and want to help them out, you need to be at the upcoming Brides Club expo at the Blaisdell center July 25th-27th. Tickets purchased before July 25th are only $8!

Below is a list of Undeniable-Facts-Proving-Every-Bride-Must-Go to help you make up your mind. You’re welcome.

 1. Free goodies. Let’s be real for a minute — we all like collecting free stuff. As much as possible. And Bridal Expos are the perfect venue for free goodie collecting. Every booth is guaranteed to have something for you, whether it’s a great deal, a pen, some candy, or a tote bag for you to haul all the rest of your goodies in.

2. They’re a one-stop-shop for all your wedding needs. Whether you’re nearing the end of your wedding planning or just beginning, an expo will have every vendor you could possibly need (unless you’re looking for something really, really obscure… and if you are, come find me. I’d like to know what you’re looking for that is so out-of-the-ordinary). Without having to visit countless websites, make hours of phone calls, or drive all over the island, you have the opportunity to actually meet vendors face to face, hear what they have to offer, and then step across the aisle to another booth to compare services, personalities, prices… and free goodies. If you wanted, it would be possible for you to arrive at the bridal show with zero vendors booked and leave with a check mark beside every single listing on your “Required Vendors” list. That would, obviously, eliminate a lot of your wedding planning stress.

3. It’s a fun activity to share with your fiancé, sister, mum, or bridesmaid(s). Bringing your fiancé along is a great way to help him get excited about and involved in certain aspects of the wedding that he may not be yet. It’s hard to not get excited about weddings when you see an entire, massive room full of everything wedding-related… music, food, and all. Speaking of food… if you have your guy with you, start at the catering booths. Bridal Expos also make a perfect “girls’ day,” whether it’s with your mum or your girlfriends — or all of the above.

4. Ideas and Inspiration Galore. Maybe you already have your storybook-perfect wedding already laid out in your head. But if not (or even if you do), bridal expos are an ideal place to gather ideas on style, colors, venues, unique food options, dresses, and heaps of other things. Vendors typically go all out in their booth preparations, so there will be a wealth of inspiration everywhere you look.

5. Up-Close and Personal. It’s one thing to see someone’s website or speak to them on the phone. But to actually meet them in person, see them in their “professional” element, and get a real-time view of their work and products is invaluable.

6. Save Yourself HOURS of Work. Unless you hire a planner to do all of the legwork for you, when you plan a wedding you’re going to spend countless hours searching for vendors, researching what they have to offer, comparing, trying to get in touch with them to get your questions answered, etc. At expos, that whole process is reversed. All of the legwork has been done for you (other than the act of walking from booth to booth… that’s all on you.) But all of the vendors are gathered in one place, on hand to answer questions, with all of their products and services out for easy display, searching for you. 

7. Networking. Bridal expos feature an incredible array of wedding experts… and wedding experts are a wealth of information on other wedding experts, and things and ideas that you may not be able to find or hear about on your own. Remember — this is maybe your first and only time planning a wedding, but this is their daily life.

8. Get on the same page with your fiancé. Sure, you’ve discussed your upcoming wedding with your fiancé. But attending a bridal expo together is a great way to see those ideas laid out and to learn more about each other and what you are hoping or envisioning for with regards to your wedding… and how it might differ.  He probably doesn’t spend as many hours on wedding websites as you do, so this is a great way for you to get some insight into what he likes — and doesn’t like. If he’s unsure about going, refer him to reason #1 and be sure to specifically mention all of the catering booths.

9. $$ Matters. Weddings are expensive. As a bride, you are probably out to find the best deals possible while still wanting to have the fairy tale day you’ve always dreamed of. Bridal Expos are great because you can compare various vendor’s prices right there, and sometimes, vendors are offering special promotions to couples who book at or soon after the event. The minimal price of your ticket (the Hawaii Bridal Expo’s tickets are only $8 through July 24th) will be paid back many times over. Guaranteed.

10. Fun!! Bridal Expos are fun. Yes, there’s a lot of people, a lot of noise, a lot of chaos, and a lot of information, and all of that may be a bit overwhelming at moments but at the end of the day, it’s heaps of fun for the reasons above and ever so many more.

And in case the above wasn’t enough to convince you to go, how about this… Selador Images will be there! Come visit me at Booth #411. I’m offering 25% off to the first two lucky couples to book packages and will have a huge display of gorgeous canvases, books, metal prints, and more… as well as copious amounts of chocolate 🙂 See you there!

Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Graner!

It was a perfect Independence Day weekend in Honolulu, topped off by the ceremony of this beautiful couple in a lovely garden at the foot of Diamondhead. One of the most fun parts of being ‘new’ to a place is getting to discover it, and I’m always excited to shoot at a new wedding venue. Anela Garden and Chapel is an incredibly gorgeous wedding destination, and I look forward to capturing more weddings here in the future!

       

Thank you for choosing Selador Images to be your Oahu wedding photographer!

A Little Peek at Embrace Boudoir

Since moving to Hawaii, I’ve branched into the beautiful, simplistically elegant world of boudoir photography. I’ve had the privilege of working with so many women these past few months who are absolutely stunning inside and out, and I love every minute of it. My heart is to help women see their own beauty and worth, perhaps in a way they haven’t before. It takes some serious guts to show up to a boudoir shoot, and to be entrusted with the gift of capturing beauty and soul in such a vulnerable, intimate way is an honor. I always love hearing peoples’ stories and hearts, but especially with my boudoir clients, I am consistently amazed by the strength residing in woman in our culture (and everywhere!) Just to live and thrive in a healthy, positive way in a society that is so disempowering to and demanding of women takes a tremendous amount of strength and resilience.

I’ve been thinking about the subject a lot these past few months, and realized one day that out of all of the women I know all over the world, I can’t think of a single one (myself included) who I know looks into the mirror and honestly and wholeheartedly likes, accepts, and embraces every single aspect of the body staring back at her.

As someone who struggled with eating disorders throughout adolescence and young adulthood, I am intimately acquainted with the life-consuming battle. To hear women talk down about themselves and their bodies and to know that hating or being critical of your body is the social “norm” in the western world  — and how much time, energy, emotional anguish, and even lives get poured out in sacrifice to an unattainable ideal — breaks my heart.  If you’re a woman reading this, imagine what your life would be like if a negative thought or belief about yourself was never allowed access into your mind. That, I think, would be literally life changing.

I have hope that one day things will change; that one day the idea that women have to match a certain, unrealistic physical “ideal” to have beauty or value will not be the message bombarding us everywhere we look. That the deepset knowledge that your value and beauty are not determined by your skin, weight, or whether or not there’s a gap between your thighs becomes the norm, rather than the oh-so-difficult to believe.

We all have a part to play in getting us there. By lifting each other up, as women, rather than tearing each other down. By celebrating our individual uniqueness, as well as our unity with every other woman on the planet. By embracing every aspect of femininity. By letting love in because we know that we’re worth it… not because we’re special, or better than… but just because we are. By letting go of the lies we’ve been told by others and ourselves to make room for truth. By turning the page on our pasts, our failures, our broken hearts, and the voices in our head that would tell us anything that doesn’t empower us.

To be able to use my camera to help people see themselves, others, or the world differently takes my work from just “a job” to so much more. Thank you for allowing me to capture your beauty. You are, truly, such a delight to get to know during the brief time we have together. You are brave. You are inspiring. You are strong. And you are so, so beautiful, from your tippity toes all the way to the deepest parts of your soul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats, Lei and Kamai!

I went to visit the location of this wedding, Foster Botanical Garden, a couple weeks ago to familiarize myself with the area… and ended up spending almost two hours! What an amazing place! If you live on Oahu and haven’t been, you need to go… and if you don’t live on Oahu, you need to book a flight over here ASAP to check it out! (don’t forget to book a portrait session while you’re here!)