The Best and Worst of the Internet

I cannot imagine planning a wedding without the wonderful series of tubes that is the internet. It has been an indispensable tool for finding vendors, estimating costs, and purchasing various bits on the cheap. However, it hasn't all been icanhascheezeburger and woot... there's been a good amount of hosanna1 in there as well. It's a minefield out there, and no one gives you a map! In that spirit, I present to you the best and worst of the wedding internet.





WEDDING PLANNING WEBSITES
Best - weddingwire.com. Budget tool? Check. To Do list? Check? Seating Map? Check. iPhone App? Check. Good stuff here. The build-your-own wedding website offered here even coordinates with our invites... as in, they were made to match each other. Nice. Honorable mention goes to theknot.com, which fell short of many of the categories listed above... but is filled with great ideas and articles.

Worst - weddingabc.net. Here, you can "make you own wedding place card". Also, don't miss this poorly written guide to wedding photographs, complete with the gem: "Another thing that you would need properly done would be the make-up of the bride and the bridesmaids. As a matter of fact, even grooms today wear a bit of make-up so that would look great in the photographs."

PHOTOGRAPHER WEBSITES
Best - www.genevievenisly.com. Has lots of beautiful examples of photos that stand on their own as works of art, and best of all... no annoying soundtrack. It can be done! Too bad she is waaaaay out of our price range.

Worst - (not safe for work) livingstonephotography.com. Wins mostly for the "boudoir" section. I understand the idea behind wedding boudoir photos... as a loving gift to your groom-to-be. However, they have to be done in a very classy manner and these, well, are not. Watch the slideshow for a good laugh! Some of my favorite moments: a bouquet covering the lady business, really bad tan lines, and (I am not kidding) an engagement ring around a nipple.

DISC JOCKEY WEBSITES
Best - selectivesound.com. Proves you can have a nice website without music or videos all over the place. Love the searchable song list! Yes, Laura, they have Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart!

Worst - arizonadjmusic.com. This lady can be your DJ, your band, your officiant, hell... she'll even marry the groom herself if that's what it takes to be your DJ/Band/Officiant. You can even listen to her sing a duet of "I got you, Babe" with herself, you know... just in case you were worried your wedding day would be about you and not her.

HEADPIECE WEBSITES
Best - wedding-veil.com. To be fair, I haven't received my shipment yet, so I can't speak to their customer service, but I must say I was very impressed by the variety, customization, and especially the prices of this website.

Worst - mariaelenaheadpieces.com. I'm not sure what's worse, the looping soundtrack or the complete lack of information. Maybe it's the ethereal way the ladies are photographed, making it impossible to see any detail in the items. Maybe it's the fact that their items seem to only be worn by redheads.

ACCESSORY WEBSITES
Best - zappos.com. I cannot say enough good things about zappos. Shoes are easy to find, and shipping is free and speedy. Best of all, if you need to return shoes (like the beautiful yet painful ones), it's also free shipping.

Worst - catanfashions.com. I really disliked these guys. They were rude, unhelpful, and seemed to not have time for me once they realized I wasn't going to spend $5000 on a dress. So, tell me, if you want to be such a high-class place, Catans, why the ugly and not helpful website? Why?

Well, there you have it! I hope this little guide has been useful! And remember, the internet is a terrible place.

The Top 5 Wedding Photography Blunders

Looking over photographer's websites to screen possibilities was an amusing project. Some pictures made me laugh out loud, some made me gasp in horror, still others left me totally speechless. It took quite a bit of hemming and, indeed, hawing to make a choice... but the winner was a company called Z-media. Particularly because of the photographer's easy-going attitude, the fact that we get a CD with the rights to the pictures, and the fact that they seemed to understand what it was we wanted. Or, more accurately, what it was we didn't want. That brings me to the aforementioned amusement. In that spirit, I give you...

The Top 5 Wedding Photography Blunders

5) Ridiculously posed still-lifes
I understand arranging detail shots to have a nicely composed still life. However, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far. I have seen shoes hanging from a chandelier, boutonnieres balanced precariously on the rims of champagne glasses, and (as you can see here) a crab ring bearer. If you have to harass wildlife, leave it out of my wedding, please.



4) Aggressively tiled angles
Look out! It's a "Titanic" wedding! If your photo is not interesting enough when viewed at a normal angle, perhaps you should re-frame it, as opposed to tilting your camera 45 degrees. Alfred HItchcock used this gimmick fewer times in the film Vertigo.





3) Weird picture superimposition
Um, did the bride and groom die at the end of the ceremony and are now perpetually forced to hover over their wedding as ghosts? Did they eat themselves? Get tiny wedding action figurines (collect the whole set!) in their likeness? What is the point of this?









2) Poorly composed shots (with BONUS! Bad Vignette fade!)
Good photographs are not just a snapshot of events, but they should also follow the same rules as all forms of art. That is: balance and composition. A good idea (say, the feet of a child dancing on those of an adult) needs good composition (say, being able to see both legs of said child).




1) Extreme color retouching
I'm just going to let this picture of a bride and groom on the onset of armageddon speak for itself.