An album of wedding photographs has been returned after going missing for 17 years.
 
The images commemorating Nigel and Gillian Stewart’s marriage had been in their caravan which was stolen.

Following failed media appeals for its return, the wedding photo album was left outside their home in Gilford, County Down, inside a plastic bag on Tuesday afternoon, BBC News reports.

Gillian said: “I thought I was seeing things. I was absolutely stunned. Speechless… It’s lovely for the children - they only know their dad with grey hair.”

She called on the person who left the album to make themselves known even if they had stolen the caravan, adding: “You needn’t be a bit afraid to come forward to me, because I bear no grudges.

“The past is the past, the future’s the future. I would just love whoever it was to come forward, so I could thank them in person.”

Earlier this year, a wallet belonging to a 9-year-old boy was returned with its contents still present after he wrote a letter and put it up in the store it was taken from.

A woman also had her belongings returned with an apology letter after they were taken from her.

Published Thursday, Nov 10 2011, 1:53pm EST - By Mayer Nissim
Source: http://www.digitalspy.com/odd/news/a350263/stolen-wedding-photo-album-returned-after-17-years.html 

Here is another tragic story.  Make sure you take care of your wedding photos!
By Andrew Adams, Deseret News            
Published: Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 7:34 p.m. MST

BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — Pennsylvania newlyweds are out their wedding pictures and a Utah-based wedding photographer is missing his gear, after his truck was burglarized in the canyon.

Now, the couple is offering a $1,000 reward in hopes that their photos can still be recovered.

Photographer Sean Sullivan went fly-fishing in the canyon last week and was gone for just minutes. He said Friday the burglar or burglars broke through a window on the right side of his pickup and took his laptop, external drives, photography equipment and even his debit card.

“I guess we’ve got the memories, but we don’t have the visuals — we don’t have photos of my wife with her mother and her father in her dress,” Josh Smith said from Philadelphia. “We could not have asked for a better day. No complications. You put in all this work. Everything goes perfect. The last possible thing that you would think is that your wedding photography would be stolen.”

“My hope is that we can get these pictures out there and this person can return the stolen goods,” Sullivan said.

For complete story and additional photos see -
“Newlyweds hope reward helps them recover stolen wedding photos”
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705394637/Newlyweds-hope-reward-helps-them-recover-stolen-wedding-photos.html.

As social media becomes more and more a part of our lives, etiquette failures can occur when there are so few precedents. 

A wedding day is the perfect example of this. You want to share your special day with your social circle, especially those who can’t attend, but where do you draw the line? 

We’ve talked to experts in the wedding industry and a recent bride to try and establish the ground rules for tastefully using social media at your wedding. 

Check out their advice and let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. 

1. Pre-Wedding Preparations 

Introducing wedding attendees online before the big day can help you avoid any day-of awkwardness. This will give people the chance to break the ice and virtually get to know a little about everyone else. 

“Help your wedding guests mix, mingle and stay in the loop with a private social network created just for engaged couples, like OneWed’s Wedding Pre-Party,” suggests Azure Nelson, the marketing manager and editorial director of OneWed. 

“Wedding Pre-Party allows wedding guests to see who’s invited to the wedding (and lets the singles scope potential hotties before they meet face-to-face), interact and post comments on a wall, upload photos from pre-wedding parties and post-wedding, and much more.” 

If you’d like to skip the specialized sites route, you could also create a pre-party on Facebook using its “Groups” functionality. This can be a clever way to avoid cluttering the news feeds of folks not invited to the wedding, both before and after the event. 

2. Stay Offline During the Ceremony 

“We’ve all seen these goofballs that bring social media right to the forefront of their ‘I dos,’ and in my opinion, there’s nothing tasteful about this,” says Nelson. “Tastefully using social media at your wedding means incorporating it before and after the actual wedding. The wedding ceremony should be off limits.” 

There’s plenty of time during a wedding day to connect with the online world. Doing so during the ceremony is definitely not the right time for the principle players or even the guests. Mindy Howard of @TweetMyWedding has some advice for attendees: 

“Be polite. Don’t tweet when you should be participating and listening, specifically during the liturgy or the ceremony.” 

3. Appoint a Chief Tweeter 

If you want your wedding to be recorded for posterity in 140-character posts, then let people know and even encourage them to get involved by creating a hashtag. 

“Tell your bridal party it’s OK to tweet!” says Howard. “Create a hashtag for sharing your event. This will make all tweets from your day easy to find later on and helps to create a feeling of celebration for your guests. 

“Print up some tented cards on your menu or program with the hashtag for your event and encourage your guests to send you their well wishes, touching moments and snap shots. These are moments that otherwise would have been missed.” 

You can take this even further by appointing a “Chief Tweeter” — or several — to document the day. 

“Have an Official Tweeter and Well Wishing Station — have one or more ‘Tweets of Honor.’ Have some technologically obsessed friends? This is a great job for them! These folks can quietly tweet from a corner as not to be obtrusive or can come out of the shadows and provide you with a full on social media guest book station,” says Howard. 

And you can even incorporate social media into the more traditional parts of the day. In addition to reading cards and messages out loud from family and friends that couldn’t make it, why not read messages from Facebook and Twitter too? 

“Have your Tweet of Honor compile some well wishes that have been tweeted out and share them during the toasts. This can be a very fun twist on the traditional toasting time,” suggests Howard. 

4. Set Up a Social Media Station 

There’s a way to keep a traditional look and feel to a wedding celebration and still make room for social media. A “social media station” is a place where those who want to connect or comment online can do so, without forcing the issue onto the uninterested. 

“For the especially geeky — set up a station,” advises Howard. “Have a laptop, a projector and screen. Encourage guests to come by, tweet their well wishes and watch others’ tweets scroll over the screen.” 

This can also work for photos, as well as text-based communications. A live stream of photos from the event can be a fun way to engage people and encouraging sharing. 

“Ditch the tacky disposable cameras and set up a shared Flickr account so that guests can upload any photos they may take,” says Liene Stevens, former wedding planner and CEO of Splendid Communications. 

“This doesn’t replace hiring a professional photographer, of course, but it does allow you and your guests to share in their view of your wedding,” Stevens says. 

Jodie Welton, a founding partner of Connected PR who got married this summer, went down this route and had a huge projector showing images of the day for her evening reception, as well as a separate area for filming. 

“We thought it was important that the guests are absorbed in the wedding and that social media enhanced the experience, rather than distract from it. So, to keep it ‘away from the party’ we had a designated area for guests to be filmed,” explains Welton. 

“The DJ also took pictures and uploaded to Flickr there and then. As a nice touch, he then projected the Flickr stream across the walls so guests saw images of themselves. The DJ gave everyone the Flickr URL so all of the guests could view and add to it later.” 

5. Live Stream for Those Who Can’t Make It 

Thanks to the wonders of modern tech, nowadays you can share your special moments with people who can’t make it in person. Ustream is one such site that can help you share your ceremony with those well-wishing from afar. 

“Live weddings give our users an opportunity to experience Ustream in a completely new way. It’s very exciting to see our broadcasters offer unfiltered access to the best moments of their lives. That’s one of the many reasons we’re here,” says Ustream’s Tony Riggins. 

Howard notes it’s a particularly useful option for anyone getting married abroad or far from home. 

“The use of Ustream to share (publicly or privately) your day live online for friends and family that cannot make it to your ceremony is especially useful for those having destination weddings. If Great Grandmother cannot make it, she can still virtually attend and share in your joy,” Howard says. 

And don’t think this means you’re spilling private moments all over the web; there are ways to make this a private process, Stevens points out: 

“If you have loved ones who are unable to attend the wedding, collaborate with your videographer on showing a live feed of the ceremony via Ustream or another online video streaming service. You can make these password protected if you’d like, so that you can share your joy only with people you know and not random Internet strangers.” 

Welton streamed some of her special day to far-flung elderly relatives, and even got them involved in the speeches: 

“Some of my family in Italy couldn’t make it to our wedding and we wanted them to get a sense of our big day. Being able to stream live video and pictures meant they could get a more authentic sense of the atmosphere. Amazingly, they even broadcast a live message (they are in their 80s!) after the speeches.” 

6. Don’t Forget to Enjoy the Moment 

“Changing a Facebook status from engaged to married just after the vows is a growing trend, but don’t miss taking in those moments with the people actually there with you. Put down the phone and enjoy the company of those who came to celebrate with you,” says Stevens. 

You only get one wedding day — if things go as planned, anyway — so don’t waste any precious moments you could be interacting with real-life people. Rest assured anyone who is following your day online will certainly understand your priorities. 

“When you’re one of the major participants, you need to unplug for the day and focus on the people who are actually there with you. Weddings go by in a flash anyway, and you don’t want to sacrifice seeing your crazy Uncle Wally doing The Worm because you’re crafting some clever tweet. Leave that to your guests,” says Sally Kilbridge, BRIDES deputy editor. “In fact, part of the fun of weddings nowadays is seeing how fast they can make that video of Uncle Wally go viral.” 

That, of course, is a whole other story… 

From: http://mashable.com/2010/11/09/social-media-wedding-etiquette/
November 09, 2010 by Amy-Mae Elliott 39

2010 Photography and Videography Styles Brides Want Most

Recent results from a photography and videography survey show that 2010 brides and grooms most (57%) interested in black and white shots and least (2%) interested in trashing the dress.

Here is a list of photography and videography styles tracked in the survey from most intersested to least interested.

Sample size was 475 brides and grooms from all over the US to be married in 2010. Margin of error, 4.5%.

Source - Shane McMurray - http://www.TheWeddingReport.com

If you’re looking for ideas- here they are. Fifty different ideas in total- all divided into categories that you can pick from.   Seasonal/Holiday Favors 

• Candy canes 
  

• Mini Easter baskets filled with foil-wrapped chocolate eggs 
  

• Little plastic pumpkins filled with candy corn 
  

• Simple Christmas ornaments 
  

• Blow-up beach balls with your names and/or your wedding colors 
  

• Miniature heart-shaped boxes of Valentine’s chocolates 
  

• Miniature watering cans filled with spring blooms 
  

• Chocolate coins in gold foil 
  

• Sparklers 
  

• Easter eggs (that you’ve colored yourselves) 
  

• Miniature pots of clover (four-leaf?) for St. Patty’s Day 
  

Keepsake Favors 

• A copy of a memorable photo you have of you (or both of you) with each guest 
  

• A pretty picture frame  (more…)

There are some really great photographers and videographers out there- make sure you find them.  With how much money you’re likely to spend on your pictures and video it’s no wonder there are so many people in the photography/videography business. Unfortunately, more is not always better and it can be hard to find a good photographer or videographer. Lucky for you, here are some tips on how to find a good photographer and/or videographer.

First, you’ll want to talk to people and get some references. Did any of your friends or relatives get married recently? Ask them if they were pleased with the service they got. Another good source of referrals is your vendors. People in the wedding business are often intertwined with each other and so it is likely that even your caterer will have an idea of who is good and who isn’t. However, beware of commission referrals- since these wedding people have connections, they know you’re going to ask for referrals; hence, they will pay the referral-er to tell you who to use. You can simply ask the person who is referring you to someone if they get paid a commission- they should be honest about it. If they do get a commission, you can still check out that company, but be careful since the referral was biased.

The second best way to find a photographer or videographer is to look up companies in our web directory. You can get a price quote, or schedule an in-person meeting to discuss their work. Many times, couples can tell just by talking to a company on the phone if they will want to work with them or not. Keep in mind that you’ll need to be very relaxed around your photographer/videographer, so if you have even the slightest problem with them, you should keep looking.

Once you have narrowed down a list of photographers/videographers to meet in person, you’ll want to schedule those meetings all within one or two weeks so that you have a fresh mind for comparison. When you go in to meet them, make sure you view some of their work. Make sure you look at a couple different examples so that you get a better perspective of their style and ability. If all of the samples that you see are not the type of style that you want, keep looking because it means that they are not skilled in that style, or specialize in other styles.

When you finally choose the company you will be working with, make sure you read the contract really well. There are two main clauses that you should watch out for: 1- exclusive right to photography/videography (none of your guests can take pictures) and 2- random staff selection (you may not get the person you’ve been talking to/dealing with). Unless you are completely okay with these clauses, you’ll either want to renegotiate the contract or find a different company to work with.

When all is said and done, you should have a great photographer/videographer that you will be happy to work with on your wedding day.

Engagement pictures, though not a vital part of the wedding, are an important part of a memorable wedding. Many people choose to get engagement pictures for several reasons- here are a few:
 
Engagement Announcements- This can be either an ad in a newspaper, an announcement sent to friends and family, or an invitation to an engagement party. It is nice to have a picture for these things so that friends and family can see what your fiancé looks like (if they haven’t met him) and visa versa for his family. Plus, you can show off how extremely happy you two are together.

Wedding Scrapbook- Some brides decide to document the wedding from the engagement to the honeymoon in a scrapbook. It is a very fun idea, and can be used as an activity at the bridal shower (decorating pages). Of course, pictures are a necessity for scrapbooks, so an engagement picture is a must.Personal Use- If you had a short relationship, or just didn’t ever get around to taking pictures together, an engagement photo is a great time to do it. It’s nice to be able to have a picture in your wallet to show people when you talk about your fiancé and subsequent marriage.

Wedding Invitations- Some couples actually choose to incorporate an engagement picture into their invitations. This is done either by putting a picture in with the invitation (with a layer of tissue paper to protect it), or actually printing the picture on the invitation/ printing the invitation on a picture. Even though it is uncommon, it is easy enough and adds a fun element to your invitations that guests love.

If you are not sure about getting engagement photos, see if your photographer has a wedding package deal that comes with them, or see if the package you chose has engagement pictures available at a cheaper rate. It may just tip the scale enough to finalize your decision to get them or not.

For those of you who are new to the wedding mumbo-jumbo, a bridal portrait session is done with only the bride (all dressed up). Usually these pictures are taken at least a month before the wedding, so that they can be displayed at the wedding. However, some brides choose to do theirs after the wedding, or even on the wedding day.
One of the best things about the bridal portrait is that it is a great way to make sure what you want will really look good. Since you are completely made-up for your picture including dress, veil, jewelry, bouquet, etc., you will be able to see exactly what you love and what you don’t. If you decide the necklace doesn’t look that great in the pictures, you can find a different one for the wedding day. No one will know the difference if you change anything (unless it’s the dress, of course!).
Many brides cherish their bridal portraits because it is a true picture of their wedding day beauty, without the stress of the actual wedding day. It is so good to know that you can just work with the photographer to get the best pictures, without worrying about getting to the reception on time or making sure you talk to everyone. Bridal portraits are often considered much better than their wedding day counterparts, simply because the bride is relaxed and happy.
Usually the bridal portraits are taken at a different location from your reception. Some brides choose to have the portraits taken at the same location as their engagement pictures. Others decide to take them at their reception location. Sometimes you have to pay a fee to get your pictures taken somewhere. If so, make sure you plan this into your budget so that you don’t go over. Make sure you pick a location that will show off your personal style as well as the wedding style.
Often the cost of bridal portraits will be included in the photography package that you have chosen for the reception. If bridal portraits aren’t included, ask your photographer if you have a discounted price to add it to the package. If you can’t get a good price from your photographer, don’t hesitate to find a different photographer to just take care of your bridal portraits. Just make sure you do just as much research finding a bridal portrait photographer as you did for your wedding day photographer.