With so much pressure to have a Pinterest-perfect wedding day, choosing the backdrop for saying your “I Do’s” can be a tough decision. Thankfully, there is no one way to choose a backdrop for your wedding ceremony. As with anything on your wedding day, choose a backdrop that really reflects who you are as a couple. Here are some of our favorites to inspire you and show you that any choice can be beautiful!

It’s that time of the year! Here are our favorite real wedding moments from 2018!

My first time to Philadelphia was this past summer, and while I spent a mere few hours with some favorite wedding photographers, I got a glimpse into why people love the City of Brotherly Love. There is so much to explore, it’s no wonder couples love being united in Philly.

Mamta and Hirsha's wedding at the Camelback Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania was this past December and all of us had our fingers crossed for snow! We had a backup plan, of course — wander into the snow machines for the slopes. But the weather was on our side and we didn’t just get snow — we got a snow STORM! Though the weather said “just a dusting,” while Mamta was still getting ready, it started snowing heavily! It stayed that way through their first look! They were so excited for snow photos that they stayed out for more than 45 minutes for portraits. (Mamta in those open toed shoes!) Hirsha’s family had a blast arriving in style — and in the snow! With the mountains as our backdrop, they had a beautiful and emotional ceremony filled with family.

How to diversify portfolios is a topic that comes up frequently in photography groups on Facebook. It generally looks something like this: “I want to start photographing gay weddings but don’t have any gay clients… what do I do?” or “I need make my portfolio less white/straight… should I do a model call?” A few of those conversations have resulted in white people getting called out for tokenizing members of marginalized communities and, frequently, those who were called out responded with mild (or not so mild) outrage and wondered how to get away from their straight white client base if they can’t do model calls for LGBTQ2S+ folks or POC to expand their portfolios.

There is very limited information regarding tokenism as it pertains to fine arts generally and photography portfolio building specifically. This article is an attempt to compile the information I did find and present it in a way that is applicable to the photography industry. It might seem straightforward and obvious to some, but I think it is needed

Charmi Patel Peña is a woke wedding photographer in New Jersey. In this interview with editor Liz Susong, she talks about forming her identity as an Indian-American woman, defying pressures to pursue a numbers-based career, and disrupting patriarchal culture from the inside.