Our Aruba Wedding

I mentioned in our previous post that one of the things we LOVED about our wedding photos and our photographers, was that they captured how young and adventurous we FEEL. The pics are fresh and funky. Here are a couple of our favorites from the wedding day itself. We have plenty of photos that aren’t loaded with attitude and featuring sunglasses, but they seem to be our favorites! (Thanks for indulging me!)

How cool is this!?! This totally says “Married in Aruba!”

My sister-in-law described this photo the best: “Mission Accomplished!”

Somehow we really don’t care about ’sunset photos’, but love this one!

And I just LOVE these shots — the “Moody Guy Shots”. Maybe this
one would  be better titled “Mission Accomplished”. He’ll probably say
more like “I’m in charge now” but we both know better. =)

Here’s a nice Trash the Dress photo I just ran across on ProjectWedding.com

Ok, we’re doin’ it! Trashing my dress. At least I hope I have the guts to do it. So, instead of going to my fiancé’s tonight (dad seems to have come down with the flu so he wants me to stay away tonight), I’m looking for inspiration. I’ll share some of my favorites here in this post.

• Here are some really beautiful images taken in Aruba by Jennifer Leatherwood. (Sorry, she lives in Rhode Island, not Aruba.)  Tracey (pictured left), Jay & Jodie’s Wedding Day, Jay & Jodie (post-wedding / TTD)
• JParker: Lily & Lars Bucuti Wedding & Trash the Dress shoot includes some cool underwater photos
• Neil van Niekerk photographed Desha & Kyle in Aruba. There are a couple cool cool desert photos.
• Photos from a couple of Renaissance Island Weddings: Chris & Jess’ May Wedding, another May Renaissance Island Wedding and Alicia and Rob on Ren Island in July (teal seems to be a really popular color for weddings on this private island!)
• Another May Wedding! Jamison Wexler photographs Kelli & Chris’ at the Hyatt Regency Aruba Part 1, Parts 2
• Really cool water photo taken by Dreamtime Images (don’t think its taken in Aruba but its awesome and could be replicated! Wonder kind of lens is used?)
• Scott Hayne’s blog has a fun Trash the Dress post featuring Brian & Rachel (I found this post cool even though its not in Aruba – the photos are cute and kind of different.)

I just want to share with you another set of links to some STUNNING photos taken in Aruba. Please know I have not met or hired this photographer – that this is just a link another bride shared with me. These are pictures of “Khoi and Kristine” taken by Scott Hayne Photography. (Again – this is a photographer from the states. If you have seen online examples of photos like this taken by someone in Aruba, please share!) Here’s the pre-wedding shots at the ruins, some photos from their Bucuti wedding, and the slideshow (WOW!) Congratulations to “K&K” and thanks for sharing your beautiful and inspiring photos.

Thank you so much to the wonderful bride that resent the ‘Ruins’ photo link I love so much. These photos are so gorgeous! The album of “Joel & Katrin” is featured in the SOTA Dzine / SOTA Weddings portfolio. Here is the album: “Aruba Wedding Photos” Here are two entries from their blog: one and two. Unfortunately, these brilliant young edgy photographers are not located in Aruba – they live here in the USA. I have not yet found an online Aruban portfolio in this sort of style. If you do know of an Aruban photographer that showcases photos like this, please let us know! Congratulations to this beautiful couple and thank you for sharing your stunning photos.

Several weeks ago, someone sent me an email that included a link to a photographers blog that featured a trash the dress shoot done in Aruba. It was amazing and I cannot find the link! There were some really cool pictures done at a site with some ruins. If you sent that link, could you please please share again!?!

When I first heard about these Trash the Dress shoots, I thought the idea sounded absurd. Why would you buy a dress that might cost thousands of dollars and then trash it? Is it supposed to be symbolic – a symbol of giving up the bride and becoming the married woman? Or is it a ‘release’ after spending months consumed by the wedding planning? Or is it just fun?

For beach weddings, the trash the dress shoot often shows the couple in the water. And I realized its not uncommon to have a second, inexpensive dress for this. (I can’t imagine trashing my Romona Keveza Couture gown!)

Anyway, the albums are often stunning! I think they are often done a day after the wedding. The couples are relaxed and just playing… the wedding is done and now its time to just have some fun! I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to regret the fact that we have not arranged one of these shoots. We have photography only for the wedding day. I’m wondering what it would take to hire someone for that shoot as well as possibly an hour or two at the welcome party? And I’m a little bummed out I won’t have great photos of getting my henna done (that will be done the night before the party). So here I am, only a few weeks left wondering if I want another photographer. Even if there is someone available, I’m wondering if I’m asking for trouble if I bring it up.

So just this morning I was exchanging an email with one of my favorite fellow brides. One of the topics was photography. Then right after that, I get yet another email asking about photographers. While I didn’t want to review specific vendors until after our wedding is done, I know it can be hard to secure the best photographer. Since I get so many emails on this, I will share with you who I think is the best photographer – In my opinion, hands down, its Victor Winklaar. First, his website is beautiful and his photo gallery is top notch. Even the “Ring Photo”, shown left, is so much more interesting than the ‘rings set on top of the bouquet’ photos we’ve seen so many times (though he has some of those too). I am super super fussy when it comes to photography. One of my best friends happens to be a brilliant fine art photographer. Having had the opportunity to kind of see the world through her eyes, I would never be able to settle for a typical, traditional wedding album I won’t want to open.

I appreciate the fact that Victor creates interest with clean composition and perfectly exposed photos, and does not rely on Photoshop effects. Given I’ve worked in Photoshop for over 10 years and still maintain my membership with the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, I feel like I can spot mediocre Photoshop work in a second and shudder at the sight of it. (Of course that helps explain why I am among other things a “Mac snob”.) I think Victor avoids the temptations and traps that less experienced photographers often fall into. So, before assuming Victor will be out of your budget, give him a shout. While for us, video was an afterthought, high quality photos were at the top of our list.

One interesting note – while you’ll find plenty of rave reviews through the Aruba.com forum, I’ve noticed that Victor is one of the photographers that does not participate in or market himself through the forum. Some photographers are fairly aggressive in their marketing and there are others that are more subtle, acting more as just part of the community offering help on all sorts of topics. I’m a fan of the ‘not marketing’ or very indirect marketing over those that try so hard. (By the way – my wedding planner also does not market herself through the forum.) You shouldn’t have to tell people how good you think you are. If you’re great at what you do I think the referrals should speak for themselves. For me, self-promotion in the forum is a real turn-off… While they aren’t allowed to blatantly self promote, at least one is clever at bending the rules.

Bryan Morris of Bryan Morris Photography has posted some gorgeous Aruba City Hall photos on his blog. These are these best pictures I have found so far. They really show hall’s charm. And, in my opinion, Bryan is one of the best photographers Aruba has to offer.