You’ve booked your venue and confirmed your wedding date… now what? If you’re like the majority of my brides, you grab your phone and commit to your favorite photographer! I’m usually on board with my clients very early in their planning stages, and since my brides are drawn to my sense of style, they want my input—from the perspective of a new friend, as well as from a professional photographer.

We all need inspiration, and I love keeping up with current wedding trends and creative ways to breathe new life into vintage and traditional themes. I’m sure you’ve been overwhelmed by all the magazines, blogs, Instagram feeds, and Pinterest boards, and you want to see how a wedding carries an aesthetic from getting ready to the last dance.

These are my favorite wedding blogs and magazines. Sure, they feature my work, so I’m a bit biased… but each provides fantastic coverage of complete weddings, and multiple ideas for single concepts. Plus, I’ve added a few search tips for easing social media overload!

Style Me Pretty (www.stylemepretty.com)

Style Me Pretty showcased one of my favorite Cape May weddings; I can take credit for the photography, but my clients Joe and Carissa, and Willow Creek Winery, gave me a lot to work with. Look closely and take note of the flowers, the dress, and the intimacy and warmth.

When asked for input, Carissa had solid advice for future brides. My favorite takeaway? Her thoughts on staying in the moment and taking it all in: “When your big day finally arrives, take a moment throughout your celebration and have your husband or bridesmaids ask you these three questions. What do you feel? What do you see? What do you smell?”

Explore the blog, read their insightful articles, and visit the vendors who helped create their featured weddings.

Martha Stewart Weddings (www.marthastewartweddings.com)

Martha’s been inspiring brides for more than 40 years, and she’s still coming up with fresh inspiration. I love this one on non-alcoholic hydration stations. Summer weddings can get pretty warm—okay, maybe that’s an understatement—and refreshing, self-serve alternatives to alcoholic beverages keep your guests (and their kids) on their feet. Many brides overlook alcohol-free drinks, or ask their guests to line up at the bar for a soda or bottled water, thus discouraging them from staying hydrated.

From the photographer’s point of view, these stations help reduce or eliminate the number of unsightly water bottles that really, really detract from carefully-set tables and decor. Here’s our contribution to Martha Stewart’s slideshow: A photo of a down-home lemonade stand!

Green Wedding Shoes (www.greenweddingshoes.com)

All my couples infuse their weddings with their own style and imagination. Here, a Magdalena bride used comfy but classic furniture to encourage guests to interact, catch up, or just relax. Her color palette tied together her warm and eclectic Boho theme, gracefully creating a formal look with a casual feel. Green Wedding Shoes is the perfect name for this treasure trove of off-the-beaten-aisle wedding ideas.

Wedding Chicks (www.weddingchicks.com)

Here’s a site that covers all the bases with great articles and free and useful planning downloads. One thing I love about the site? The photos, of course! They don’t hold back on featured weddings, like this one I shot for Casey and Colin. Casey and I both share our thoughts about budgeting (or lack thereof), all-inclusive venues, and putting this wedding together. Casey has a fantastic way with words and analogies, and she can turn any uh oh into an oh, yeah!

Bridal Musings (www.bridalmusings.com)

Ahh… a clean, organized, easy-to-navigate blog with (relatively) few pop-ups! Bridal Musings’ layouts and gracious, large-format galleries have a way of making even the most low-key weddings look and feel like high-end luxury. Of course, great wedding photography is an essential of the appeal, and I’m honored to be a contributor. It’s the perfect site to really soak in a wedding story… or, as with Coline and Mathieu’s Corsican wedding, to feel like you’re soaking up the Mediterranean sunshine.

Social media and Google searches

I know… you’re rolling your eyes right now. After all, you’ve been brainstorming for months, if not your entire life. But I do have a few tips that might be new to you.

• Browse locations and your venue’s tagged photos for inspiration that is super relevant to your day and style.
• Really browse through your Google search results. You can refine with specific key words and search terms like “Congress Hall Cape May wedding in the summer.”
• Use hashtags when you’re searching on Google to go straight to Instagram and Pinterest suggestions, and to the leading blogs and articles.
• Be specific with your search keywords! You can include hashtags in your search or directly on your favorite social media platform: #Bohofloral, #capemaywedding, #newjerseyweddingvenue, #willowcreekwinery, #wildflowerbouquet.
• Use Google’s Images tab for a visual search.

Venues themselves typically (and sadly) have limited online galleries. They tend to choose photos that focus more on their amenities, rather than bride-oriented details and photo stories. Use Google Earth to find out the property’s orientation as it relates to north, south, east, and west if you can’t get sense of natural light as it relates to the venue.

We’re a great resource, too!

If you love my galleries, then we’ve already clicked on at least one level. How about my blog? I love to ask my clients to share their wedding planning experiences and post-wedding wisdom. The Magdalena Studios Journal is full of recent client projects, advice, inspiration, and—to borrow from the last blog I shared in this post—musings. Plus, you can search my site and blog by your favorite keyword, location or venue to narrow down your results.

Don’t be afraid to reach out if you have a question just for me. Maybe you fell in love with a bride’s shoes, and want me to find out where to get them, or you want to know my thoughts on a particular venue before you book it. Or perhaps you want to know if I’m willing to travel (I am!) or if I’m available on your date.

By the way, Magdalena Studios isn’t just about me (Magi). I have a fantastic team at your disposal; if I don’t know the answer to your wedding planning question, somebody here will. That’s how we work around here, and how we can be there for you!

All images from a boho, tropical Tulum wedding featured on Style Me Pretty.