LADIES! The newest trend of wedding cup-CAKE took Ogden by storm. Independently owned and operated Vintage Cupcakes opens at 10 am and can't keep enough cakes in stock to get through half the work day.

"WOW.... What a BUSY day, we have sold out of cupcakes at our main store. Please come visit us at the NEWGATE mall location...... thanks"

was their Facebook status at 3 in the afternoon!

Cupcakes took over as the popular wedding dessert a few years back, but a vintage inspired cupcakery/boutique put the elegance and glam back into this childish dessert.

My favorite flavors include chocolate mint, pumpkin pie, and mocha. But Vintage Cupcakes can whip up any flavor and design to fit your fancy. Do you love butterfinger? How about Red Velvet cake? The girls at Vintage Cupcakes will deliver treats so delectable even Audrey Hepburn wouldn't turn them down.

If you still decide to go with the traditional full tiered cake, Vintage Cupcakes offers a secret corner for you and your bridesmaids to steal a moment of girl time before the whirlwind of planning sets in again. Singles start at $2.50 a cake and you can treat yourself and five others for $14.00. Pricing is set for small purchases, but Vintage Cupcakes can and should cater your event.

" I love all things vintage...to take something old and cast away and give it new life," says Michelle of Vintage Cupcakes.

What better way to give life to your party than by tossing the crusty old wedding cake and treating with decadent tiny packages of yum?

Five Mistakes NOT To Make

Having worked in the wedding and entertainment industry, I thought I had a good idea of what to do in a photo shoot. I’m so glad my photographer Jenny told me otherwise. She stopped every two minutes to readjust my head or tell me where to look. She saved my fiancé from making simple mistakes that no amount of Photoshop could save. Your pictures are the prize of your wedding. They capture a moment in your memory and hold it. Forever.

The following common mistakes you don’t want held in your happily ever after.

5 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make:
■ Not trusting your photographer – “My clients get great shots because they just let me do my thing,” says Jenny Hansen of Jenfolio.com. “They trust my eye, and my edgy ideas. Those shots always turn out the best photos.” You are not the professional. Your photographer is. Trust them.
■ Not hiring a professional photographer—“This day will only happen once,” says Terra Cooper of Magnifique Photography. “Make sure you hire someone to capture all the memories in the most beautiful way possible.”
■ Staring into the lens—“Make sure to have a little emotion in your eyes,” says Becky Reed of Ravenburg Photography. “No matter the photo, the eyes are the focus. Pretend that you're still looking into your groom’s eyes and not the camera's lens.”
■ Forgetting to tell your story—Let your photos tell your story. “My favorite weddings have concentrated on details that tell a story about the couple,” says Reed. “Too often brides focus too much on their hair and dress and forget to think about these.”
■ Not asking enough questions – “Make sure you know what is included in your package,” says Cooper. “Check on prices of albums, invitations, and prints to make sure it fits your budget. Find out if high resolution digital negatives are included in the cost.”

....

After our shoot,the squish from Jenny’s rain boots tickled the grass and weeds as we left the deserted riverbed and crossed the field back to reality.

“That was a great shoot you two!” she said as she struggled to pull a suction cupped boot off her foot.
“Ug,” she said pulling on her boot. “I can’t wait to get the proofs up on my website.”
Struggling.
“How does tonight sound?”
More struggling. The boot would not budge.
Brett and I looked at each other.

“Sure Jenny, but what about your boots? It looks like you are having a bit of trouble.”

“Oh this… this is nothing.”
Still more struggling followed by a gigantic pop and a boot launched high into the air.
“Ahhh. There we go. You just got to keep at it. It all works out if you just keep at it.”

Truer words never spoken.

The last piece of advice is not a NOT to do, but a DEFINITE TO DO. And it comes from me, not as a wedding planner, but as a bride. Make sure you photographer is persistent. If your photographer doesn’t have a huge portfolio—he/she soon will. If your photographer doesn’t know the exact place to shoot—it will come as he/she begins to shoot with you. Equipment and novelty backdrops help, but if I could choose any trait for my photographer, I want my photographer to remain persistent. Don’t give up on that perfect shot. It’s out there. Go find it.

Saving Your Photography Budget

My wedding photographer shot with gusto. She and her retro plastic rain boots waded into the middle of a pond to get the right angle for my shots. Her gutsy shots proved fantastic, but getting me out of a canoe in heels is much easier said than done. With one heel on a muddy incline and another in the wobbly canoe, I started to slip, sending me on my way to becoming one muddy, soaked bride for the rest of my photo shoot. But I was saved. The second half of my dry and non-muddy photo shoot, I tribute Jenny and her rain boots. Just as I began to slip, Jenny jumped back in to the pond and stopped the canoe from tipping over. I fell into the boat instead of into the pond.

Our budgets can sometimes follow a similar path. We think everything is under control and that we are getting really great products for our money. And then SLIP! We somehow lose control and our budget ends up soaked and muddy and useless.

But not you. Because you read this article.

My photographer saved me on my photo shoot day, and these next five tips can help you save your budget.

Less is More--Five tips to keep to a budget:
 Decide what’s important – Is having the right venue or quality photography more important? Put your money where your heart is. And remember… a good photographer can make any venue look good.
 Printing – Print the pictures yourself. Ask your photographer to sell you the rights to edited photos and put them on a disk. Professional photographers make huge profits by marking up their printing fees. You can print photos for hundreds of dollars cheaper if you take a disk to a wholesale printer.
 Make sure you get what you pay for – “Do something with your wedding photos!” says Reed. Purchasing photo packages instead of single shots will keep your cost down. Reed explains, “Most of my packages include albums because I want my photos to seen, enjoyed, and not lost on a disc somewhere. But when it comes to photos the sky is the limit--you can even make them into post-it-notes.”
 Try a photo booth—If you can’t afford a photographer for the reception, “DO NOT use those disposable camera’s on each table!” warns Cooper. “You are lucky to get any good shots. Most people forget to turn on the flash and take some pretty random pictures that you will have to PAY to develop.” Instead, “Try a photo booth,” says Hansen. “Photo booths are fun, inexpensive, and you and your guests pay only for the photos you want.”
 Casual Elegance -- “You don’t need an elegant venue for elegant pictures,” says Jenny Hansen of Jenfolio. “The opposition of one elegant accessory, such as an armed chair in a dry riverbed, or a lamppost in the middle of a field excites the eye and saves you money.”