Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Wedding Photos

Every city has its' iconic location where couples like to have wedding photos taken. Here in DC it is either down at the national mall in front of the capitol building or with the cherry blossoms in front of the Jefferson Memorial (season permitting), Chicago has Buckingham fountain and Paris has....the Eiffel Tower!
What do you think of this? I tend to think these photo op moments are maybe a bit cliche (especially when you throw in the rolls royce above!) but do they speak of where the couple was married and therefore have more meaning (good taste be damned). What do you think - tacky or appropriate?

16 comments:

Larry Davis said...

One might think that this is trite but it depends upon where the couple is from.

I can see the Eiffel Tower from my window, so at sunset you can imagine the skyline. After 11 years of this view it can feel a little like "just another beautiful sunset" one could tend to trivialize it. But for those that can't see it everyday it is magic. The same magic exists on the Pont Alexander III.

The most important question to ask is how the people having their picture taken feel about it. Are they uplifted by the experience, and the memory held in the photo? These can be transcendent experiences for a once in a life time event

DHD Design Studio said...

By way of my answer to the question you posed, please see http://diamondsandrhubarb.blogspot.com/ scroll down to lot number 1197 view from the Pont Alexander III, rendered in gold, silk, and diamonds. It is not a Cliché to commemorate an event.

Blue said...

So, was it you that got married? I think the tackier the better - why not? I reminds me a a time when a co-worker went to India and when I viewed the photos of the trip there she was standing in front of every monument, palace and tomb, virtually obliterating it from the photo.

ArchitectDesign™ said...

Did not mean to sound cruel or suggest this was 'tacky'. I just think it's an interesting phenomenon that each city has it's wedding picture destination.
Still,Debra, I would hardly compare that incredibly beautiful painted fan to a wedding photo, but I understand your sentiment!

Alex said...

I think if the spot holds something special for the couple, then it's appropriate. My first birthday after moving to DC, Oliver got me up early and took me to the marine basin to paddle. We were the only people on the lake. And now every cherry blossom, we get up before dawn and walk the whole circle. It's become a location of traditions for us, and so more meaningful than just a "pretty spot".

Aaron said...

I agree with Alex "I think if the spot holds something special for the couple, then it's appropriate." we once had a couple who wanted to be photographed on a pig farm as pig farming was the family business.....

(IN)DECOROUS TASTE said...

Hahaha, the Rolls Royce really puts it over the top, I think!

It's not so much the act of commemorating an event that makes it tacky, as the way it's DONE. As for wedding photos, something about some of them seems so...unnatural... that I think it can push them towards the tacky.

But hey, it all amounts to how you'd like to remember the moment, and if its next to a Rolls Royce (or hell, even ON the Rolls Royce), then you're right, "good" taste be damned!!

Lauren

Lauren said...

wedding photos are so tough!! I agree with a couple of the commenters above that it makes sense if the place is particularly special or beautiful to you...

sometimes i love me some cliche though!! i had plans on the day of our wedding to go to dumbarton oaks to have pics of Dave & I taken there... would have been SO cliche but oh so special to me.. haha anyway, it ended up pouring rain and we got some of the best wedding pics from us just having fun under the umbrella in the rain... (no dumbarton oaks for me..)

But I do totally understand what you're asking and it's a good question. When browsing wedding photographers in DC for our wedding, so many weddings had shots with the mounuments in the background... when you see SO many, it does make it feel a bit "forced." .... again, that being said, if it's special to the couple, then i think it works.

sorry so long-winded!!!ps- i just posted on our wedding a couple of weeks ago- oct 8! :)

ArchitectDesign™ said...

Lauren, I saw your photos and they were beautiful! probably one of the thing that had this in my mind (as well as a few friends who are recently engaged). I have to agree with you - just always go with what is special and meaningful!

Anonymous said...

I think having your wedding photos taken in front of a special location is expected. I know if I had been married in Paris I would certainly want that special remembrance picture.

What I think is dumb, and sorry to all those who have done this, but using a prop like a rented Rolls Royce is what is tacky. If it is your own car, well, OK, but rented status symbols don't go over with me.
Colleen

Terry said...

I consider it a great privilege to stumble onto a wedding photo session which I did last week in front of a nice church. When I got married (1000's of years ago), we were paying. All we wanted was to get the wedding over with and you know...

This was a few months ago, a couple in front of some graffiti "Isadora's Doodles."

Larry Davis said...

If a "special location" is expected why is a Rolls or Stretch limo "not expected" as well?

We organize photos in Paris with a horse and carriage so what's the difference?

columnist said...

All I want to know is why is the groom wearing white?

pve design said...

Love posts that cause one to pause, to reflect and to remember. When I was married, my dear brother had a client who lent us "one" of their Rolls convertible and I can tell you that Automobile was "classy" the red interior - and then one of my husband's groomsman, passed a mobile phone to my hubby and it was his childhood friend, a prince of a guy. Plus the cd "Cats" was playing...I loved that B'way show.
So, to me, there was n'er a thought of trying to be tacky, just trying to create and inspire an artful day and a life. I guess I was not even aware that I had a penchant for that back then, and still do.
pve

Chic Coles said...

not tacky. In years to come if they move they will always have the memories. I also I love seeing the wedding gowns.

Thomas said...

i think it all depends on the couple...to me.