Second-marriage/ Late in Life Weddings

[monicagivens]

My mother in law is getting married...... (Boy, that sounds strange to say).

We are looking through websites and magazines to find some poses to include,

but I am having trouble. Most wedding albums have the beautiful young bride

and groom, in their "youthful, energetic, lovey" styles, but we need a

more "mature" love style. They are in their mid-50's and the wedding is a

semi-formal daytime event at a historical church. There will be Flower girls,

but not bridesmaids. (plus, I should mention that some members of the group

may be a bit, ummm, round-er in the waist).

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or website with some samples that you can

refer me to?

 

Thanks so much!

[picturesque]

I wouldn't worry about coming up with "creative" poses for older folks like the kind in magazines. Most of the time their patience for what they typically consider "silly" is short. Most people past the age of 40 are more interested in getting past the photo session to spend more time with their guests, especially if it is a second marriage. Plus, they usually aren't in any shape do the dips and twisty poses young people can do. Boring as it may seem, I would just do the natural looking "standard" poses and possibly some of the romantic ones that don't require athletic conditioning, and let it go at that. If some of the subjects have a little weight, then go for the usual poses that help take the weight off (high angle, etc.). Some of these folks won't even know what PJ wedding photography is, much less want any. This doesn't mean you do the corny poses, though.

[jeffreyc]

My uncle was recently married in November. It was his first marriage and a (very) non-traditional ceremony. We didn't do any portraits or posing (they did have a first dance) so I worked to capture what happened throughout the day. I printed the attached picture as a gift for Christmas. Hopefully it?ll help you find what you?re looking for.<div></div>

[stefanie1]

I just booked a second wedding BECAUSE I'm not run of the mill (actually at this point I have no wedding portfolio). She had been extremely disapointed with her pictures from her first wedding, which were stuffy posed formals and she specifically wanted fun creative portraits of her, her partner and their kids.

[think27]

Monica.. I was married 3 years ago and I'm 52 now.. Loved the emotion captured at my wedding... Loved seeing the PJ moments.. Hated and did not do traditional posed shots. My daughter was my "bridesmaid", ring bearer and maid of honor - the more pictures of her - the happier I was.

 

Expressions of my husband and myself during the ceremony, lots of intereactive shots of us "being" together. I must say I did dance in the field barefoot... Loved those shots...

 

Anyway - I think the point I'm trying to make is that there are no "absolutes" in any wedding for any age group. I've done weddings where the couple was in the 40's, 50's, 60's.. and full of life and fun and totally into doing fun shots and I've had 20 or 30 somethings that were stiff and traditional.....as well as the reverse.

 

As in any wedding - the process to understanding what the couple's vision of documentation is all important. I often get the idea of what the couple wants by the reactions to my work... but I also do give them a questionnaire which tells me what their priorities are and the vision of what they want from the imges of their day.

[think27]

Oh - and PS

 

This was my second wedding and my husband's third ;-) I was actually wanting something more creative for this wedding. Granted I'm a wedding photographer so maybe it figures == but I also did a wedding last summer for a 60 year old couple. I had done her son's wedding and she wanted my style for her wedding as well. We did some great shots on the dock on the Potomic - some posed and some ineractive and artsy.

 

Again - I think it is all about the personalities and tastes rather than age.

[kiva]

You can go with the conservative poses, that's safe.

 

But, are you sure they don't just want to break loose and have some fun and strike some of the energetic sexy poses. Let's face it ... life's not getting shorter and it could be a lot of fun.

 

Heck, break out and surprise them with a few bottles of soap bubbles.

 

Is there a playground nearby with one of those strong/safe swings and a see-saw.

 

Maybe, just Maybe, this is a great opportunity to celebrate and break out and have some fun.

 

Oh yeah, then there's always that overstuffed couch to sit on and look sedentary ... you can fall back on that at any time.

 

Idea: take an elegant empty frame with you. Take a photo of them holding it and arms around each other at same time. Now, unknown to them, you've scanned a couple photos of them when they were young: place those "young" photos into one image file and drop that photo into the frame they are holding. So, they're holding a framed image of their youths but it's now framed as if they've been together since youth: sometimes people go a lifetime to find the right person.

 

Idea: If there's a large mirror take a photo of them as they look into the mirror (you're seeing them from the back and off to the side). Now, take the scanned photos of them when they were young and place them into the mirror ... sorta' like they are seeing themselves as youngsters/teenagers.

 

Idea: how about a photo of one of them holding their cupped hand to the others ear as if they are whispering sweet messages to the other one.

 

Otherwise you've always got all the classic type of shots to take. I'd at least challenge them or surprise them with something youthful. If one of them was/is a fireman then get them on a fire truck ... that would just be fun! If ...

 

If ...

If ...

 

ok, i'll go away and be quiet and sedentary......................

[picturesque]

I get the feeling people thought my post was bashing PJ and advocating just taking traditional poses--far from it. First of all, I think Monica has already done the fact finding regarding the determination of what the couple wants--as she describes, a "mature" love style. And the word "pose" seems to carry a lot of unspoken baggage. To me, any time you direct a scene (even semi-direct), you are posing people. A pose does not have to be the stuffy traditional ones mentioned above.

 

Second, to clarify my post, I was just pointing out that most older brides and grooms, especially for second marriages, tend not to want to spend a lot of time on photography (time that takes them away from their guests), whatever the style. So unless your style is to not take any directed images of the couple at all, I was saying that the best use of what time you do get for directed photography is to get the standard images of the couple together, hopefully looking natural and happy and let it go at that. Simple dignity is the phrase I'd use to describe the feel of the shots. If you have the time, take some romantic shots--as Mary says, interactive shots where you semi-direct. As for the rest of it, get all the emotion and energy to be had at the event, using whatever style you have, whether it be traditional or PJ.

 

The kind of pose I was referring to that an older couple might find silly are the overly dramatic, fashion-style ones. I can't imagine, for instance, trying to get the average, non-model-looking older bride to look all moody in the foreground while the older groom pouts in the background, or having the groom dip the bride when he or she is "round-er in the waist".

 

I have had some older grooms cut the photo session short after a few shots, and more than a few couples who just want a good shot of them together looking happy and that's it--everything else they want as candids/PJ. Usually at the stage in life of older couples, the love story aspect is not as "precious" as it may be for younger couples. And some of them do not know anything about the PJ trend, and would look at an intentionally blurred artsy image as a mistake, for instance. Anyway, that's been my experience.

[phil vaughan - yorkshire u]

Don't worry too much about looking for images of older / larger brides in online portfolios. We shoot older people all the time, but unfortunately a web gallery is a shopfront and beauty sells. If you have concerns that it needs to be done a certain way, go speak to a photographer, ask that they show you some 'older' brides. I'm sure they'll be glad to. Take a look around several, you'll soon realise it's not a unique experience for us.

[monicagivens]

Nadine,

 

"or having the groom dip the bride when he or she is "round-er in the waist".

 

That is exactly the thing I am talking about! This is my MIL's first "Wedding" so she is wanting some of the more traditional shots, but I haven't recieve her list yet. I do have her making one up so we can be sure to have the people she wants in them.

 

I know most of the shots will be candids and that is why she asked me to take them (I did a 50th Anniversary party she really liked). I was just hoping to find a few nice shots that would be a "semi-planned" shot, just to spice it up a bit.

 

 

 

William,

 

"But, are you sure they don't just want to break loose and have some fun and strike some of the energetic sexy poses. Let's face it ... life's not getting shorter and it could be a lot of fun. "

 

I don't thing they are quite the type, but the ideas you gave were awesome! I am going to be putting together an album for them once I return home, and the ideas of scanning in the childhood photos are great!

 

 

 

I have the benefit that I know the church VERY well since it is the one I was married in and I grew up taking field trips to. I know a few nice spots I can put them into to take photos of the wedding party and as a couple. Unfortunately, the spots are few since the park area is a bit sandy and greenery includes mostly palmetto bushes. I will be down for several days before the ceremony, and plan on scoping out a few more areas. Plus I will be there for the rehersal and the rehersal dinner is on the Beach at sunset, so hoping to get some great shots there as well.

 

Thanks to everyone for helping....

[monicagivens]

Jeff, the photo of your uncle is great! That is definately the type of moment I try to catch!

[picturesque]

Monica, I'd do as I normally do--get natural looking standard shots and then give them a small script to fulfill while you shoot up a storm. The script could be, for instance, "Walk slowly down the path, talking to each other. Then stop and lean over and give each other a kiss, then walk to that point under that tree, grab her from behind, give her a kiss on the cheek, turn her around, talk to her, touch foreheads..." etc., etc. Just make up something that will provide "material" for your camera that will not have them just looking at the camera smiling. You can make the script according to the style and kind of images you want to get, and to fit the lighting present. As I said, though, make it efficient. I've learned to get a lot done in a short time when I photograph older couples.

[karl_borowski]

I agree that this should be no different than for any other couple, in that you should ask them

what they want, and you can't go wrong. Stereotyping by age (not that I'm saying anyone

here is doing that) is no better than stereotyping for race, sexual orientation, culture, or

climate IMO.