February 2nd, 2012

Press Release : Prepare To Wed Provides Online Planning Tools, Resources and Inspiration

Prepare To Wed Provides Online Planning Tools, Resources and Inspiration

Prepare to Wed Offers a One-stop Destination to Connect with Wedding Vendors, Manage Details, Find Inspiration and Store It All in One Central location

Portland, Maine (PRWEB) January 23, 2012

Prepare To Wed, an online wedding planning site started by nationally recognized wedding planner Kate Parker in 2010, re-launches today, serving as a free, comprehensive, easy-to- navigate tool for brides and grooms to organize the massive details surrounding their special day. Guided by the couple’s unique style preferences and budget, choices in venue, catering, photography and other vendors are tailored to the bride and groom, making Prepare to Wed a first-of-its-kind offering. With the re-launch of the site, a new team is in place developing new tools to consistently improve the planning process for brides and grooms. A free Prepare to Wed iPhone and iPad app providing couples with on-the-go access to all their wedding details will be available in early-February.

Easy to navigate, the Prepare To Wed profile replaces bulky wedding planning binders and scraps of scribbled notes.  With tabs such as profile, budget, to do list, vendors, expert advice, and inspiration, every facet of wedding planning is just a click away.  Prepare To Wed enables brides to filter vendors by budget, eliminating some of the back-and-forth communication and allowing couples to focus on the vendors within their price range. Inspiration, tools and a chat blog serve as a support network to the engaged couple.

More than 250 local wedding vendors have signed on, centralized in New England, DC Metro, Chicago, Atlanta, Texas, California and New York.  The vendor list is extensive; from accommodations to florists to cigar rollers to name changing services.  By highlighting vendors that are appropriate and personalized for each individual couple, the heartbreak of falling in love with an out of reach venue or budget-breaking caterer is avoided.

“Prepare to Wed is designed for the modern bride who is unwilling to sacrifice on quality, but also places a premium on her time and budget,” said J Sandifer, CEO of Prepare to Wed.  “Utilizing our database of top vendors and tools for inspiration, couples will find ease and relief in their planning. Planning a wedding is one of the most stressful and expensive experiences for a couple to endure. Our new team is devoted to making Prepare To Wed an always dependable wedding planner to help couples not only efficiently, but enjoyably, create the day of their dreams.”

Newly engaged couples who are interested in getting started can visit http://www.preparetowed.com to sign up for a free account and delve into wedding planning bliss.

Prepare To Wed iPhone App

Quote start“Prepare to Wed is designed for the modern bride who is unwilling to sacrifice on quality, but also places a premium on her time and budget,” said J Sandifer. “Utilizing our database of top vendors and tools, couples will find ease in their planning.”Quote end

About Prepare To Wed
Prepare to Wed is an online resource for all wedding planning needs.  Created to educate engaged couples, Prepare to Wed shares tips and articles, walks couples through to-do lists and assists with budgeting.  Better yet, Prepare to Wed is full of beautiful wedding inspiration boards, real weddings, and thousands of images that can be filtered by wedding colors, season, and style. The first wedding resource to be developed with the couples’ preferences in mind, Prepare to Wed guides couples through the process, keeps them on task and budget, and inspires them to plan a unique and personalized wedding.  For more information, please visit http://www.preparetowed.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Posted by PTW Media at 7:33 am 0 Comments
Labels: Advice

January 31st, 2012

Top Nine Tweets Of January

Posted by PTW Media at 12:01 am 0 Comments
Labels: Advice

January 9th, 2012

Expert Advice : Top 10 Tips For Wedding Photography Formals

Modern brides should no longer have to choose between having great candids (wedding photojournalism/reportage) and having stunning portraits (fine art portraiture/traditional).  Today’s best wedding photographers will be trained in, and offer both.  Once you have found a quality photographer for your day, based on portfolio, price/service, philosophy, and compatibility, here are the top 10 ways to make the most of your wedding day formal portraits:

1. Take advantage of engagement sessions.  Win-win in many ways: practice being romantic in public for the big day, professional portraits of you as an engaged couple, build rapport with your shooter, use for guest books/websites/save the dates, see how gorgeous you really are! J
2. Leave room in your day, but not too much, for the formals.  Work closely with your photographer and planner to ensure that there is enough time, without rushing or lollygagging, for great portrait sessions throughout the day.
3.  Space formals throughout the day: each phase of wedding day presents unique portrait opportunities.  I like to do several 15-minute “mini” sessions as day unfolds to capture real time emotion and joy and to avoid “photo-fatigue” of long sets.
4.  Don’t do formals before the ceremony…unless you want to! Experienced photographers will honor that once in a lifetime “threshold” moment when the groom sees you at the ceremony for the first time and work closely on your timeline to ensure amazing portraits before AND after the ceremony.
5. Create a shot list…or don’t: great photographers will get the job done either way!  Each couple has different priorities, and photography is a service that should cater to your heart’s desire…you can’t give an experienced photographer too little or too much information.
6. Sit back and enjoy your day: allow planners, assistants, or designated party to coordinate formals.  Photographers will have worked this out weeks before the wedding so that you don’t have to!
7. Keep family portraits to immediate family only when pressed for time.  Extended family shots, that may not even make the final album, can quickly eat up all your time allotted for the more important portraits of bride and groom and bridal party.  Remember, you are the center of attention for this one day!
8. Do family portraits right away at ceremony site, bridal party at reception site. This allows family to depart for cocktail hour to act as “hosts,” makes the best use of time, and keeps visual interest by changing backgrounds.
9. You chose this location…now make the most of it!  Creative photographers take advantage of every nook and cranny at your location…of course, it’s fun to go to a special spot like the beach or a lighthouse, just allow for the special transportation and extra time.
10. Be spontaneous, be romantic, be goofy, PDA all the way!  This is truly a once in a lifetime day…have a glass of champagne and ham it up! Turns the photo session into a fun part of your day.  Hold hands, pucker up, jump up and down, run barefoot on the beach…relax and be marry!

Expert Advice from Geneve Hoffman Photography

Posted by PTW Media at 6:13 pm 0 Comments
Labels: Expert Advice

June 30th, 2011

Stepping Up to the Plate | Douglas Levy Photography

Before coming into the photography world a little over 5 years ago, Douglas Levy spent years umpiring professional baseball.  Cool job, right?  So what made for a change?  Well, after getting struck in the face by a bat (ouch!!), Doug decided to rethink things a bit.  Well, we’re glad he joined us because it’s certainly the perfect fit for him and he agrees!

Number of Years in Business: After graduating from Syracuse University in 2003, I proceeded to spend the next six years umpiring professional baseball before an injury (getting hit in the face with a bat) which made me rethink things.

In June of 2006, three years into my career as a professional umpire, baseball and the umpires union had a labor dispute, resulting in us missing the first half of the season. During the strike baseball had threatened to cut off our health insurance, so I started saving. When things were resolved three days before we were to be uninsured, I had some spare money in the bank.  So I did the smart thing and spent it all on a camera.

A little over a year later I assisted good friend Rob Brown at a wedding on Cape Cod and was forever hooked. I started shooting on my own not long after, at the time shooting anything and everything. High school hockey for local newspapers? Family portraits? Boston skyline sunrises? I was your guy.

My photography began to evolve and eventually became my offseason source of income when I wasn’t on the road with baseball. While umpiring in Harrisburg in June of 2009, the batter hit a ground ball to third base and as I got in position to see if the ball was going to stay fair, the batter tossed his bat behind him and it struck me in the side of the face fracturing my cheek.

I spent the next 6 weeks at home recovering, really not missing the game (or the 210+ annual days on the road that went with it). When my final evaluation for the year was that I was going to be promoted to AAA (one level below the major leagues), and wasn’t excited at all.  I knew it was time to move on.

Pricing Information: Weddings start at $3,450 for 2011, and I’m happy to work with my couples to customize their photography experience.

What makes you stand out? I think it’s silly when photographers separate their “personal” and “professional” work.  All of my work is my personal work.

What’s the favorite part of your work? The first dance. I enjoy the entire wedding day, but the first dance, the it’s just a great window to who the couple is. If I were to pick one image to tell the story from a wedding, 9 out of 10 times it would be a first dance photo. Is the couple funny? Goofy? Head over heels in love? Watch the first dance and you’ll always be able to tell. Even grooms who’ll warn me “I hate having my photo taken” will forget about the photos during their dance, and you get this great, genuine three-minute window to make images.

*previously posted on 1/27/2011

Posted by PTW Media at 9:00 am 1 Comment
Labels: Vendor Interviews, Wedding Budgets 25-50k

November 3rd, 2010

Ring Shot ♥ | Douglas Levy Photography

Ok, I’m just posting this photo because I LOVE it!  The ring shot has been popular for some time now, but this makes me want to go through the dictionary for more inspiration!  So who took it?  Well, Douglas Levy Photography of course!  He’s just starting his vendor directory on Prepare to Wed so be sure to check him out!

Posted by PTW Media at 3:05 pm 1 Comment
Labels: Inspirations, my Kate Parker Wedding