Brook Farm Cuffley Wedding Photography: how do we create a buzz that lasts?
There are times when I leave a job, usually, an hour or so after a first dance (if there is one), where I think to myself, I must be one of the luckiest person out there. I am just buzzing. Yes I am exhausted. Totally spent. But I am buzzing.
What is it that actually creates that buzz? And I don’t just meant the buzz YOU feel as a bride and groom, or even the ones you guests feel… nah, that buzz is almost automatic… I am talking about the buzz that suppliers like me feel… from a wedding that was full of massively positive energy and an incredible life force.
I have thought long and hard over the years about what creates this buzz… the extra gigantic feeling of “yeah, that’s pretty cool”, even from a total stranger, like me. I have thought about it and I think I have come up with conclusions. Mainly 3.
1.The bridal party lets go.
What I mean by that is that all the planning is over and what is, is. Bride, groom, MOB, MOG, FOB, FOG, in-laws, step-kids, bridesmaids, groomsmen… they all surrender and they surrender to the moment. They don’t care if the weather isn’t great, they don’t care if the flowers look slightly different to what they expected, they don’t care, really, if the little things go wrong. And this means, their attention is on the “right now”, they are totally grateful for what is happening, right now. And I reckon that when we let go, we surrender and we live in the moment and we are grateful, an amazing energy is created… one that all the guests and suppliers feed on and is multiplied tenfold.
Yes that buzz that lasts.
2. Authenticity
I fully expect a “yawn” at the mention of this over-used word that nowadays means so little. But I guarantee you that after working with over 100 clients, authenticity, if it is there, can totally overwhelm you. Authenticity: basically actions that are aligned with what we say. It’s that simple. So if you are planning your wedding and you realise that there are so many traditions that don’t align with your personality, you ditch them… and you hang on to the ones that mean something to you. Here Charlotte and Aaron loved “About time”, the film… so they walked down the aisle to “Il Mondo”… and that moment, as unorthodox as it was, it will stay in all their guests’s memories (and mine) for a very long time.
Yes that buzz that lasts.
3. Meaningful interactions and conversations
Whether you have promised to talk to every single guests you have invited, even if it is 150, or whether it is through the speeches or the way you interact with your suppliers (yes, like me), have meaningful interactions. Say exactly what you mean, be kind, celebrate your guests as much as they are celebrating you (relationships are a two-way thing, right?), tell that friend you haven’t seen in 10 years how much you care about them, hug your aunt like you’ve never hugged her before, thank whichever role model you were lucky to have in your life… do all these things… because a) it may be your only opportunity but b) because these small touches will stay with people for a very long time.
Yes that buzz that lasts.
So here I leave you with a wedding of which “that buzz” is still with me, months after I have shot it. I still remember some of the guests’ names, I remember the groom’s father not being there and how tough it was for him, I remember the bride and her sister’s complicity. I remember an incredible life force…
Yes that buzz that lasts.
Let me capture “that buzz” for you.
