Wedding Photos in a Shopping Center?

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I work in the wedding industry and this summer we had a client that wanted her formal photos taken inside the Promenade Shopping center. We thought ok here is a neat outside the box idea so we ran with it. But let me get back to that in a second.

Part of smart growth is taking pride in the built environment. A main tenet is “fostering distinct, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.” As I’ve said many times I don’t want “Anywhere, USA”, I want to be unique. A criticism of our township by residents is we lack a sense of community. (Visioning 20/20 Survey) The purpose of this tenet is to help foster one.

Smart growth creates interesting, unique communities that reflect the values of the people who reside there, and foster physical environments that support a more cohesive community fabric – Smartgrowth.org

While looking at these photos today I thought, here is really exceptional design. This is a shopping center so well done, so unique that a Bride wanted to get her formal wedding photos taken there. And they ended up fantastic. Clearly when the developer and community planned this place, they took pride in their built environment.

Our township is currently reviewing our standards. This is a no-brainer. Our commercial standards are antiquated and reflect out-dated thinking. Frankly this is long overdue.

Today I sent a letter to our elected officials challenging them to really re-think the way we build our “places”. There’s no denying what it says about a community when you can shoot formal wedding photography inside one of their shopping centers. In my opinion thats the bar.

Take it a step further…

By creating attractive communities with architectural elements that reflect residents, there is a greater likelihood that buildings and neighborhoods will retain their economic value over time. – Smartgrowth.org

Economically we’re competing with Saucon Valley for regional shopping dollars. The taxpayer has already invested in the by-pass to facilitate this. If we want to compete, if our goal is to be exceptional and really set our selves apart as a place that holds value then when designing Hamilton Crossings and shopping centers in general is it crazy to ask the question: Could a couple take their formal wedding photos on the premise? At the Promenade one couple did. The Promenade is universally considered a success and a regional destination. Coincidence?

To see more of Amanda and Chris’s photos visit our website at www.barnoneweddings.com