Why We Need to Support Marriage

I love wedding day toasts. Typically, by the time the wedding day rolls around, I've gotten to know my couple fairly well, but listening in to toasts by the father of the bride, best man, and maid of honor always leave me with an expanded perspective of who a couple really is. 

One of my favorite toasts ever was given by a father of the bride at one of my weddings a few years ago. He talked a lot about the couple, about their relationship together, about his love for his daughter - and then he took a spin on the typical "father of the bride" speech and started talking directly to the people in the room. He challenged them to love on this couple long after the wedding day. To check in on them, and to find ways to support them in their marriage. He noted something in that moment that everyone already knew, but that he said anyways: marriage is tough. And often times, even in marriage, it feels as though we're living in isolation. We unintentionally isolate ourselves from other people and try to fix the broken pieces of ourselves all on our own, but in reality, we need to be supporting and uplifting each other, not just on the wedding day, but years and years after.

So today, I want to put a little challenge out on this little corner of the web: send a married friend a little love today. Write them a note. Or send them a message. Or show up in their lives somehow - today, tomorrow, next week - and show your support of their marriage. We have enough marriage-bashing jokes going around. What if we started to change our perceptions and words towards marriage to reflect the good instead of the bad?

5 Ways to Pamper Yourself for Your Engagement Photos

In a world of intense wedding planning, your engagement session is the perfect time to do a little bit of self-care. Below are a few of my favorite suggestions for brides who want to pamper themselves before their engagement session.

1. Have your nails done

Show off your new ring with confidence – typically, during engagement photos, I like to photograph the ring up close on the bride’s hand. Having well groomed nails can make a big difference in those close up ring shots! 

2. Have makeup done

Not many brides consider having their makeup done for their engagement session, but doing so is a great way to pamper yourself! If you are planning on having your makeup done for your wedding, ask your artist if you can schedule your wedding day makeup trial for the day of your engagement session. Typically, a pre-trial is included in your wedding makeup package, so most of the time it won’t even cost you an extra penny!

3. Treat yourself to buying (or renting) a new dress or outfit

This might be my favorite tip of them all! The right outfit makes a HUGE difference in the outcome of the photos. A fun way to treat yourself for your engagement photos could be by buying a new outfit, or by renting one. I recently learned about Rent the Runway and I’m OBSESSED! Rent the Runway has a huge variety of expensive clothing, allowing you to rent for a small fraction of the original price. Lyndsay, my soon-to-be-bride in the photo below, opted for a gorgeous floor length red dress that made her session come together perfectly. And the best part was, she didn’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to look fabulous!

4. Plan to go out to dinner together afterwards

One of my favorite things my husband and I did after our engagement session was to plan to grab a bite to eat after our session ended. Planning to go out to dinner gives you and your soon-to-be-husband something else to look forward to afterwards, and makes the whole evening feel like a date!

By using one (or all) of these tips, you’re sure to have a relaxing, pampered engagement experience!

Newly Engaged? Here’s the Best Advice I Received as a Bride (From a Wedding Photographer)

The day Nick asked me to marry him (one of my favorite days, ever!), I started receiving a lot of advice about wedding planning. Don’t get me wrong, I had never actually been a bride before, so I was desperately in need of some guidance (and genuinely appreciate the wisdom of brides who had gone before me), but if you’re anything like me, too much of anything can be a little bit overwhelming! During the 15 months of wedding planning, there were two pieces of advice that stuck out to me and rose above the rest – two things I still tell brides I work with over a year after my wedding! So, if you’re newly engaged, here are my top two favorite pieces of advice:

1.     Take time to soak it in.

The first piece of advice I received as an engaged 22 year old came from my very own mom. The day after I said “I will,” me, my mom, and my fiancé (now husband, Nick) started talking about all of the details that would need to get done over the next couple of months. In true Jenna fashion, I started to feel REALLY overwhelmed, and because my mom knows me so well, she immediately noticed and said, “You know, you don’t have to start actually doing any of this right now. You don’t even need to think about it. Just take the next month to enjoy being engaged without worrying about the wedding that needs planned.” Wow. Talk about some serious mom-wisdom! Now… I didn’t make it a month – I think I made it two weeks before I jumped into serious planning, but you know what? Those two weeks of just being engaged, minus the wedding planning, made me even more excited to start planning my wedding to marry my absolute best friend! The initial stress I had felt only a day after getting engaged slowly melted away as I started enjoying (and soaking in) the season I was in. It was like magic.

2.     Three days before the wedding, if it hasn’t gotten done – don’t worry about it.

This SUPER solid piece of advice came from one of my husband’s volunteers (he’s a middle school youth director at our church). She might not even remember saying it to me, as she said it in passing during a quick conversation, but shout out to Sheryl Polite for one of the best pieces of advice I got! I was about two weeks out from the wedding trying to play it cool on the outside at church, but freaking out on the inside about everything that still needed to get done! Did we finish the seating chart? Did we forget anyone? Why doesn’t my baker remember the conversation we had about my wedding cake?! (True story – she totally lost the order! But the cake was delicious, so that made up for it ;) ).  While asking about how things were going with wedding planning, Sheryl said, “Listen. Whatever you haven’t gotten done three or four days before the wedding – just let it go! You deserve to enjoy your wedding day just as much as anyone else, even the days leading up to it.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but her words were the permission I needed to actually enjoy the days leading up to my wedding day! Were there still things that needed to be done in those last few days before the wedding? Of course! But there were so many little details I could’ve poured over and worried about and made myself crazy trying to pull together at the last second, but didn’t, because I finally realized that I deserved to enjoy my wedding day, too!

What’s the best advice you received while planning your own wedding? I’d love to hear - leave a comment below! 

Three Steps to a Fun and Stress Free Wedding Day from a Cranberry Wedding Photographer

There’s no doubt that your wedding day is one of the best days of your life (I can personally attest!). I remember hearing a lot of couples tell me this while I was planning my own wedding – and don’t get me wrong, while I loved crafting and planning the details of the day I married my best friend, I often felt flustered by the amount of time I was putting into making the wedding of my dreams, which lived in my head, a reality. I constantly worried that I would be running around like a maniac on the day of my wedding, ordering people around and trying to keep family, friends, and vendors on track. But boy, was I wrong. The day of my wedding, I felt relaxed and at ease, knowing that I had done everything I could’ve beforehand to help those involved know what was happening the day of (and more importantly, that it was all in God’s hands!). In lieu of this, here are my top three tips for having a fun and stress free wedding day:

1.     Be prepared.

Remember in high school (or college) when one of your classmates showed up to a big presentation without anything planned? Of course, they didn’t have to necessarily say they hadn’t prepared anything, but it was easy to tell from their body language, slow speech, and general lack of enthusiasm. The same is true for your wedding day. Showing up unprepared, i.e., without a pre-thought-out timeline, can make any wedding day more stressful. When friends, family members, and vendors don’t know where they’re supposed to be or what they’re supposed to be doing (except for a general ceremony/reception start/end time), things can get chaotic. Flowers arrive at the wrong location, limo drivers take the entire bridal party to the wrong church, the bride is late, and family members wander off before the photographer can snap family formals (yes, all of these have happened at weddings I’ve photographed!). It’s important to make sure everyone is on the same page (and timeline) for the day of the wedding so that the bride doesn’t have to be in charge, since all of the information is only in her head. Share the timeline love with those around you so they can help keep track of time and know what’s happening during the day, too!

2.     Leave a LOT of buffer time.

There’s a big difference between regular time and wedding time (something one of my favorite photographers, Mary Marantz, often says). Something will run behind on a wedding day. Someone will forget something, lose something, take longer to do something than expected and then the whole day falls behind schedule. It could be something as simple as bridesmaid forgetting her dress at the getting ready location to something as crazy as the limo driver taking the bridal party to the wrong church (I know I said this one before – I just can’t believe it actually happened!). There are a lot of events that happen during a wedding day that sometimes aren’t factored into the timeline, including bustling the dress, having a post-ceremony receiving line, and setting up the bridal party and family members for the grand entrance. In addition, did you know that limos and party buses have to drive a certain number of miles below the speed limit? Many large moving vehicles that carry people are restricted to certain routes, leaving them unable to travel on busy and bustling roadways, which can result in delays and slower travel times. So what’s the quick fix? Schedule a 5 or 10 minute buffer between every event happening at your wedding. Leave time for Great Aunt Sally to pull you aside for a picture, or for the cousins who you haven’t seen in years to give you hugs. Those are the moments that should happen on a wedding day, and it’s a shame to miss out on them because of a cramped timeline.

3.     Let other people help you.

 It’s no secret that wedding planning is not for the faint of heart. From keeping track of deposits to crafting the perfect centerpieces, there are so many details that go into a single wedding day – which is why you absolutely cannot try to plan alone. I made this mistake early on in the wedding planning process. Even though my husband, bridal party, and parents were more than willing to help me with contacting vendors, organizing lists, and creating a timelines, I often felt the need to take the reigns in order to “release them” of responsibility. I felt guilty for asking for their help, since I knew they were all busy as it was. But here’s the thing: they wanted to help, and who was I to deny them? Who was I to tell them what they could or couldn’t fit into their schedules? We make time for the things we love and for the things we want to do. Don’t be silly like me - if you have an army of people willing to help you, let them help you. Because if the roles were reversed, I’m sure you would do the same exact thing for them. And if no one has offered to help, don’t be afraid to ask. Many people are just waiting for an opportunity!

In addition to letting those close to you help you, don’t forget to let your vendors help you! Many vendors have years of experience and have seen what does and doesn’t work on a wedding day. Never hesitate to reach out to your DJ, photographer, florist, makeup artist, or caterer with a question. Take it from me – they want to help. As a photographer, I LOVE when brides ask me to help them make the perfect timeline, because usually it means they really truly care about taking the time to create awesome photos on their wedding day, which REALLY gets me pumped up! I’m sure the same is true for all of the other vendors, too. Many of us got into weddings because we love what we do, and we want to help you get the most out of whatever product or service we’re offering.

Have a tip of your own for navigating towards a stress-free wedding day? Leave it in the comments section below, I’d love to hear! And happy wedding planning!

Creating Memories: A Look at Walt Disney from a Cranberry Photographer

"That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up." - Walt Disney

For those of you who don't know me very well, I'm a huge Disney fan - not just of the cartoon movies, the theme parks (check out the photo to the right of my husband and I on one of our favorite Disney rides on our honeymoon this past August!), or the magic (though all of that is great too) - but of the man himself, Walt Disney. I admire his optimism, willingness to be flexible and think of the impossible in the midst of uncertainty, along with his desire to improve the lives of his family, his friends, and his world. In Walt's day, theme parks were dirty, unsafe, and not very entertaining for parents carting their children from one ride to the next. One day while he was sitting on a bench inside one of those filthy amusement parks, he began dreaming of a place where children and parents alike could enjoy a day of fun together in a clean, safe environment. A super amusement park, if you will - something that had never been done before in his time. Sure enough, his vision quickly caught fire with the opening of his first theme park, "Walt Disney Land" in California, and later with "Walt Disney World" in Florida.

We believe that family photos can, and should be fun. 

Gone are the days of dressing your family in white polos and khakis, driving to the nearest studio and holding awkward positions under studio lights, while your kids fidget and cry for it to be over. Family photos are an experience, and much like Disney with his theme parks, we want to create a safe place where your family can create memories. After all, we're not just in the business of capturing memories - we're in the business of creating them. Whether it's tickling your kids while they squirm in your arms, going for a walk, blowing bubbles or splashing around in a fountain - we're in pursuit of fun. And I'm sure that those we've photographed will agree - the unposed, unexpected, not-so-perfect photos that are full of emotion and life are just as, if not more precious than the perfectly posed ones. 

Why You Should Have a Killer LinkedIn Headshot (And How to Get One)

We live in a #selfienation where #phonepics reign supreme. Sure, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter might be okay for posting the occasional selfie, but what about professional websites, like LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is for connecting with professionals, and if you’re trying to land a job, a selfie as your profile pic just won’t cut it. Because LinkedIn is often times an employer’s first impression of a potential job candidate, it’s important to have a well composed, well lit, professional photo to help you stand out above the sea of poorly lit, blurry headshots. This is especially important for upper level college students who are trying to land an internship or job - I would argue that a college "senior session" is potentially more important than the classic high school "senior session." While high school senior photos are mainly for Mom, Dad, and Grandma to hang around their house, a college "senior session" gives you a photo to use to promote yourself and jumpstart your career.

So how do you go about getting a great LinkedIn headshot that will help you get hired? Here are some of my top tips:

1. Pick a Good Photographer (Who You Like)

Pick someone who is current, who will know how to represent you in the best light. A good photographer will know how to pull the best out of you for a great photo. It’s also important to hire someone you like. Yes, it might seem like a strange requirement, but getting your photo taken is a very personal thing, and the more you like your photographer, the easier it will be for you to be yourself in front of his/her camera.

2. Know Your Photographer’s Work

Make sure you are familiar with your photographer’s work. If they’re a natural light photographer but you want a classic studio-lit headshot, you might be disappointed with your results. Make sure you’ve talked with your photographer about the kind of work they not only can produce, but also about what kind of work they enjoy producing. This will give you an idea of where their creative strengths lie. In addition, be sure to look up their website or ask for samples of work similar to what you’re looking for. It’s important to fully trust whomever you hire to take your headshot.

3. Dress for the Part

Once you’ve picked your photographer and are familiar with the work they produce, it’s time to pick an outfit. Whatever your industry is, make sure you dress the part. If you’re trying to land a job in accounting, dress in professional attire. If you’re a part of a more creative industry (blogging, photography, design, etc.) dress professional, but bring your own personal style to the table as well.

Even though it’s important to look professional, it’s almost equally important for whatever outfit you pick to be comfortable. If you’re uncomfortable in what you’re wearing, it’s likely to show in your photos (through your facial features and/or your body language).

4. Relax!

This part might feel counterintuitive, especially since so many people hate being in front of the camera. It will be much easier for your photographer to capture a natural-looking portrait of you if you’re calm, cool, and collected. If it helps, listen to some of your favorite music on the way to the shoot to get yourself pumped up, or plan something fun with a group of friends directly after so you have something else to focus on (rather than the camera).

Follow these four tips, and you’re sure to have a LinkedIn headshot that stands out from the #selfie crowd!

Jenna Hidinger Photography specializes in weddings, senior portraits, family portraits, and is based in Zelienople, PA.

New Etsy Shop!

I'm excited to announce the grand opening of my new Etsy shop! The shop features some photos from a trip I recently took to Ireland, which are available for purchase in 8 x 10", 11 x 14", and 16 x 20". I'd be honored if you took a few minutes of your day to check it out. Click here to view!

Christmas

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?” - Bob Hope “Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ” - Mary Ellen Chase

A few shots from Christmas day. Merry (belated) Christmas!

One of the jolliest men I've ever met. Great Grandma T.I., 95 years old.

Photographing People with a Purpose

I love photographing people. With it comes countless stories and connections. Sometimes, when I strike up a conversation with a stranger in Starbucks or at the Y, I find myself thinking "I would love to shoot a portrait of this person!" As odd as that might seem, I feel like it's part of what aids me in my love of photographing people. Everyone has a story, and everyone deserves to tell said story. And while lots of people love novels with page upon page of neverending text (don't get me wrong - I love them too!), I enjoy a book with a few photos thrown into the mix. It helps give whatever you're reading about a face (so to speak), and sometimes speaks more to what the author is trying to convey than an endless arrangement of carefully written text. As they say - a picture is worth a thousand words. So without further ado, meet a wonderful lady named Dot (who just so happens to be my boyfriend's grandma). Dot loves peanut butter cups and a good old cup of coffee. And for all the food she eats (once I saw her eat 6 cupcakes in one sitting), she somehow manages to stay petite! Here's a little bit of her story: A wedding photo. An old yearbook. A little glare on the glasses, but her look - priceless.

Adventure is Necessary | Ireland

“Adventure is a need.” – Toba Beta A week ago today I returned from one of the greatest adventures of my life – a two-week trip through the beautiful country of Ireland.

And I hardly know where to begin.

Let me first start off by saying that I have never been a person who liked change. I have been known to be the type of person who craves a life of routine and stability, opposed to a life of uncertainty and adventure. (Lame, I know). Though I had been abroad once before (to Kenya), this was the first time I would be traveling outside of the country with a group of people I barely knew. And, to be honest – I was a little nervous. But after only a few days into the trip I knew that I had no reason to be. To be honest (again), I couldn’t have asked for a more awesome group of people to experience Ireland with. I love hanging out with people who have the same passion for photography as I do, and who inspire me to keep on shooting day after day. This trip has shown me that change is, in fact, not just good, but necessary. Change (and adventure, for that matter) gives life a bit of a new perspective, and helps us see things in a different light, or through a different lens, if you will. As Miriam Beard once said, “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

A few of my favorite moments:

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