Wedding Wednesday: Tia & Glen Wednesday, December 30, 2009

This wedding inspires me for all sorts of reasons, one of which is that it's one of the very first weddings I saw online after I was engaged. I'd seen plenty of wedding photographs before getting engaged, but in those first few weeks, every wedding I looked at took on additional meaning. At the time, I had no idea which direction our wedding would take, where it would be held, or even what the possibilities were. But I knew there was something about this wedding that I loved.

Unfortunately, I barely remembered seeing this wedding, and when I looked for it again it disappeared as quickly as I had found it. I just remembered the super-romantic lighting in the ceremony, and the beautiful bride in her incredibly sexy dress. I was so lucky that Janie at The Bride's Cafe decided to revisit Tia & Glen's wedding one year later.

Sticking most in my mind was Tia & Glen's romantic ceremony:



Tia's dress is a good example of something I wouldn't wear myself, but I do want to look this beautiful in my gown:




It's not often you get a great shot of just how *sparkly* a dress is:


Cute!


Here's what's weird; I'd saved this cake to my favorites when we first got engaged, and I couldn't for the life of me find where I got the file! Now I know:


It's so funny; one year later, our wedding is turning out to look very similar to this one: simple, elegant, romantic. I wonder if these images planted themselves in my subconscious, and influenced me! No, I've been watching too much Twilight Zone.*

What images from your first days of being engaged have stuck with you?

* I watch the Twilight Zone marathon every year for New Years' Eve -- but this year, FH gave me the DVD set for Christmas... can you hear that theme song in your head?

You're Simply Invited

It's true our wedding isn't for several more months, but when there was a sale at the invitation store, combined with a promotion from the invitation company, I couldn't resist! So, we ordered the invitations a bit early and they're almost ready to be printed!

We're so excited to have chosen our invitations from Smock Papers, out of New York. The first time we saw them I knew they'd be perfect.

After going back & forth with wording, format, and layout, the proofs are here! I've had to block out some personal details, which really makes the invitations quite unattractive. Sorry! But trust me, they are beautiful.

If you're wondering why there's a website address in the lower right corner, we decided to do an online-only RSVP. We are very lucky that all of our guests - including parents & grandparents! - are relatively computer-savvy.

We were going to do a separate card with our website info, but I just couldn't justify the expense. Why pay to print a separate card with two lines on it? Since most of our guests are traveling, they'll need our website for more info anyway, and I personally don't like invitations with lots of little parts that are easy to lose. So we put it right on the invitation.

Etiquette guidelines say that you can put the website on the invitation only if it's for the express purpose of submitting a reply, so I think we're okay there. But honestly, once I had this idea in mind, there was no going back -- etiquette or not!

Click to enlarge:


Previously, I had written about my struggles with wording. Our original layout ended up being way too many words (what was I thinking?), and ruined the delicate spacing that led us to choose this invitation in the first place. So we simplified. No "together with our families," no "reception to follow," etc. I love the new version! What do you think? Can you spot any mistakes before we officially send it to the printers?

Engagement shoot redux. Monday, December 28, 2009

So we've recently come back from our engagement photoshoot in Chicago. Our photographers were every bit as wonderful in person as I anticipated, and it was fun to work with them. I loved the city, and we had a wonderful trip. We even stopped in Memphis on the way back and saw some museums.

I don't plan on using the photos for much; I hope to have a couple of shots for our wedding website, maybe one to frame in the house, one to display at the rehearsal dinner... and that's probably it. But coming away from the shoot I was worried about several things.

I never really found a coat to fit me. I kept ordering coats, but I have a lot of returns to process -- nothing worked. After we got to Chicago, a city where a stylish coat is practically mandatory, I found that there were many, many choices in my size -- but by the time I arrived, they were all gone. :( I ended up wearing my own camel colored pea coat, which only looks good open. But it was so cold that I had to close it, which means it looked weird.

I ended up having to wear my hat, which I purchased and didn't really intend to wear. A snowstorm that wasn't in the forecast ended up making things very cold and very wet -- and in several of the shots, I ended up wearing this little funny hat. I do not wear hats. I wish I had spent more time thinking about my accessories!

The aforementioned snow meant that we got very little pictures of my makeup & hair which I had worked hard on.

The good news: I was not worried about any of this during the shoot, which is great -- an uncomfortable subject ruins the shot, no matter how stylish! I imagine we got some good shots of us playing in the snow. We had a great time and FH insists that my little hat is adorable. (?)

Because I love blogging so much, and am so confident in my low readership, I'll post this picture of me, taken during our engagement shoot! While walking around, we spied this spectacular snowman and I asked FH to take a picture of it with his cameraphone. My students had just learned a song about snowmen, but most of them have never seen one! He even has a real carrot for a nose. This is down by the Chicago River, where it was super cold and windy!



There's nothing to do but wait & see... but I do wish I was better prepared. Oh well!

A trip, a photoshoot, and a deadline Thursday, December 17, 2009

It's almost time for us to leave for Chicago and I'm super excited. This week, I decided to tackle several things (maybe too many!).

I decided to meet with the last few vendors I can before the holidays. It has just hit me that our six month countdown is fast approaching. I figure many girls will be getting engaged over Christmas and New Years' (like I was) and will want to plan their summer weddings! I decided I'd better get on it and met this week with both a wedding planner and an officiant.

Also, and perhaps more immediately, I needed to figure out what makeup I'll be wearing. Lately my skin hasn't been looking so good; ever since I quit using Mary Kay skincare about two years ago, it just hasn't been as bright and has been full of blemishes. After a few disastrous trips to the MAC store and to Sephora, I finally settled on a combination that, in a few short days, has made my skin look better than it has in years.

My face was looking ashy in pictures, and it turns out that my super-dry skin wasn't being exfoliated enough. I also needed some photo-worthy foundation with a fair amount of coverage.

I wash with Dr. Susan Taylor's RX for Brown Skin, the "Bright & Even" wash. I tried it years ago, but it was a sample and I couldn't afford it then. When the Sephora consultant suggested exfoliation, I thought of it right away. The cleanser is about $25 and it's definitely worth it! I only use it in the morning; too much exfoliation can bother your skin.

The moisturizer in this line just isn't enough for me, so I use L'Occitane's Ultra Rich Face Cream, but only once, in the morning (because at night it's just too heavy to sleep in). FH remarked right away how much softer my face felt. How nice!

For makeup, I use the highly recommended combination of the Smashbox Photofinish Primer (colorless) and Makeup Forever's HD foundation in shade 175.

At night, I use a drugstore-brand facial wipes with a light moisturizer.

I could have added a concealer and some other stuff, but I'm just not worried about it -- I don't expect too many close-ups from our photographer, and to me it's more important to take care of what's under the makeup before worrying about anything else. At the very least, I am getting my skin in shape for the big day!

Other than the makeup drama, I'm just packing like crazy and looking forward to a great time in the very Windy City!

Wedding Wednesday: Laurel & Derrick Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Wedding Wednesday is making a comeback! This week's inspiring wedding is one I've been looking at for a while, Jory Cordy's beautiful work with the wedding of Laurel & Derrick.

Laurel & Derrick were married in one of my favorite Dallas venues, the Apartment. It's a beautiful place that is a total blank slate -- you can do just about anything you want with it. They did a beautiful job! I love the black/white/neutral color palette, which gives this modern wedding a sense of timelessness.

But what will I wear? Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Ever since we hired our photographer, who is based in Chicago, I have really gotten more interested in the city. I've always loved big cities and the allure they hold; the convergence of people & culture... and I'm excited to visit a place I've only heard about in near-mythical terms.

Well, I'll get my chance -- in about three weeks, we're having our engagement pictures done - in Chicago! The area I live in (Dallas) is no slouch in the "city" department, but it will be so much fun to visit a new place. We'll be having our pictures done somewhere downtown, which I imagine will be decorated beautifully for the holidays. It might even be snowing!

Since FH has ties to the area (he went to grad school there) and I am just excited in general, we've decided to make a little vacation of it. We've planned a couple of activities to do and hope to hang around and see how the locals do it. So many things to plan: hotels to book, plane tickets, what to do with the cats while we're away, booking a pre-photoshoot hair appointment, figuring out WHAT TO WEAR.

I am someone who gets *very* cold, so being cute while freezing is just not on my agenda. I have to come up with some way to be stylish and photogenic while keeping warm. Since I'm in the market for a new coat anyway, I might as well incorporate it into my look!

I have a couple of inspirations. One is this lovely engagement-in-the-snow portrait (plenty more beautiful shots where these came from):

I love the white coat in the snow. Of course, part of the drama of this shot is the falling snow, which I have no idea whether we can replicate. But she looks nice. Here's another, more dramatic shot (different couple, different photographer):


Yesterday, I found this paparazzi photo from jezebel.com:


I like this look very much. While I don't think I want my fiance to attack my ear to buy a printed coat, I love the casual structure of this look, the way the scarf fits, the sleek gloves. It helps that I love her hair as well. This is a good example of how I'd like to look... but without the ear-biting guy, thanks.

So, now I need a coat. I love the look of a light color, because I know photographically I'll just disappear in black. I fell for this Old Navy coat. It was perfect: a good length, some waist definition, the little pockets, the fabric across the back... but when it arrived it wasn't nearly as flattering as it appeared.




The length was all wrong (it fell halfway between my calves & my ankles), the waist was too high, the sleeves didn't fit. I ordered two sizes; one was too small, and one was too big. Back to square one!

I found this military coat at DrJays.com, which bills itself as an "urban" clothing store:


Not sure if it's what I'm after, since it only comes in black. But I love the cut & the length. There's certainly plenty of structure there! I also love that Dr. Jays' plus size section features one model, and it tells you what size she's wearing in the picture. So helpful!

Then I found Avenue.com, which features Jessica London coats. Jackpot! My three favorites:



My only complaint is the length. I'm not nearly as tall as these models! Of these three, my favorite is the walking coat (shown in camel; I'd get gray), with the tweed coat a close second. I love those open necklines!

For accessories, I'm thinking some pretty drop earrings, a scarf in a beautiful face framing color (maybe a dark pink, to go with the gray coat and my brown-ish hair) & gloves. Add my jeans & a sweater, and I'll be set!

How much thought did you put into your engagement portrait outfit?