Saturday, October 24, 2009

Busy Bee's

So I figured it was about time that I catch everyone up on what been going on. We have been super busy lately not only with the wedding plans but with our jobs and house hunting as well.

I finally got a job as an RN at a trauma center about 45 minutes from my house. I love it there! The staff are all so nice and welcoming and willing to help. Its a big change from nursing school, but I'm really enjoying all of it. Especially all the wonderful people I've been meeting :)


Shawn and I have also been doing a bit of house hunting and we have finally found the one that we want to call home! It's in a nice quiet little neighborhood in the same town where we currently live. It has three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice big kitchen, dining area, attached 2 car garage, fireplace, deck, pool, and a full basement which we plan to have finished. We put in a bid for the house a few days ago and it was accepted. Now we just have to get approve from the bank and will be well on our way to moving in! Were both a little bit nervous but very excited that soon enough will have a place to call our very own. If everything goes as smooth as possible and on time our closing should be around the 30th of November!

Okay so now back to the wedding! We've been working on a DJ and we think that we have found the right one. She's energetic and keeps everyone dancing... and best of all she is very reasonably priced! were planning on meeting with her sometime this week to go over the nitty gritty of what exactly we are looking for.


I've also been looking a bit more at bridesmaids dresses. One of my bridesmaids gave me a swatch of color for a dress idea and I love it. It's called cinnamon which would be the perfect color for a fall wedding! I know the picture makes it look red but the color in person is more like a mix of brown and orange. So pretty!



Shawn and I received our engagement picture in the mail a few weeks ago. Were planning on using this picture on our save-the-dates. I'm in the process of sending paperwork back and forth between companies to get permission to copy the picture onto the magnet itself, which in the beginning sounded too complicated but it's actually quite easy. 





Thanks for reading!

Only 343 days until the wedding!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Photographer...Check!


We now have a photographer!! As of yesterday evening Paul Saunders (the gentlemen listed in the blog below) is booked for our October wedding and Shawn and I are so very excited! He has done over 2,000 weddings and has been in the business for 23 years. He is very reasonable with absolutely no hidden fee's the price that he gives you is it (tax included). He is extremely flexible with his packages. You can swap and trade just about anything so that you only get what you need. 

He was very energetic and had so many ideas for pictures to take at the wedding. He wanted to know all the details...what kind of flowers we were thinking about, what color bridesmaids dresses I wanted, the size of the families etc. He also told us that his job is to tell a story with our wedding photos. He doesn't like a lot of posed pictures he prefers to get more candids then anything to really capture the moment. One of the things I loved the most was that he said in all his years of shooting wedding he has never missed the brides mother, grooms mother, and grooms reaction as the bride come down the isle. (If you couldn't already tell he completely had me sold by this point!).



So we decided to go with his gold package. That package includes unlimited coverage from the brides home (in this case it will be the hotel), through church ceremony, family formals, and loads of reception pictures. 800+ color preview shots in a storybook style personalized library hard cover wedding proof books (that we keep!!) 24, 8x10 wedding album enlargements, and/or up to 48 5x7's and/or 96 prints matted to an upscale florentina leather wedding album. 2 florentina leather parent albums each with 24 matted 4x5 custom enlargements, 2 8x10 custom-framed enlargements, 8 8x10's and/or 2 16x20's or 4 11x14's, 18 5x7 enlargements, 60 thank you cards or 120 loose pictures, and JPEG's of all of the package selections. So as you can see his package comes with everything we could possibly need and then some!


However Shawn and I have also decided that (as another option for this package) to trade in our traditional wedding Album and upgrade to the designer flush-mounted coffee-table style album which blew us away! Its very unique and offers more room for pictures than the traditional album. This picture is a
n example of what a page in one of these albums can look like, and the cover.



Paul had also mentioned to us that if we want any specific pictures to be taken that we don't want to worry about having to remember on the day of our wedding, to just write them down and he will make sure that the pictures are taken (parents ideas too). He also had mentioned to us that he will get everyone that comes to the wedding in at least 1 picture. Which to me was huge! 50 years down the line I want to look back on my pictures and remember exactly who was there. Paul also mentioned that he is very respectful when it comes to taking his pictures (especially in the church...more brownie points :) ) He said that he stands in the back of the church and can still get beautiful close up shots.. and by looking at his albums you would have never known he was actually that far back. He said most of the night you wont even know that he is there. He doesn't use any harsh flashes that will be distracting either.

He also gave us a cd to look over for ideas that includes 700+ wedding
photos. Needless to say I'm going to be spending a great deal of my time today looking them over!


Over all Paul wants Shawn and I to just enjoy our wedding day stress free, and I couldn't ask for more. I would highly recommend him to anyone getting married and in need of a photographer!


This is my absoulte favortie picture out of his album's..and it was taken in the rain!!


P.s. Let me just also include that I highly recommend to anyone getting married (and planning their weddingthemselves) to get the Modern Bride survival guide! It is the most amazing book. Practically every question I have had this far I've been able to figure out with it. It gives so many helpful tips and tons of checklist to keep you organized! It also has good questions to ask you vender's when your looking to hire and even ideas for hairstyles on the day of wedding. It has everything!!

Thanks for reading!

Only 360 day's until the wedding!

Friday, October 2, 2009

One Year to Go!

Its official...we have exactly 1 year until the wedding as of today! I am so excited its hard to believe 4 months has already gone by since we got engaged, I can only Imagine how fast this year will go by.


So...let me catch you up on whats been going on lately. Shawn and I went to Country Studio's (Where we won our free portrate from) and got an engagement photo done. We decided to only get the one pose for now, which we will pick up next weekend to decide weather or not we want to order more afterwards. We are also considering to take a trip to picture people and see what they offer. After that we are going to choose our favorite one and use it on our save-the-dates :)


We are also meeting with Paul Saunders on the 6th which I am VERY excited about! He 
is the photographer I have been looking at for the past few months. I love his work and I am very exited to finally get to meet him and see some of his albums in person. He was actually referred to me by a nursing classmate who was married last October and had shown me some of her proofs (and even they were amazing). He is decently priced, you can rearrange your package to whatever you need, and you get to keep all of your proofs in a story book type of package.

I have also been working on a wedding website. Thanks to the idea from my girlfriend Courtney, and have gotten quite a bit done. I'm really pleased with how it came out. It still needs a few tweaks here and there but all in all it looks good. Its full of information for our guest and a few fun things too. I plan on putting that information with the save-the-dates, that way if our guest need directions or they forget an adress or just need to ask me or Shawn a question its all right there.

Shawn and I are also going to be visiting Hunter Mountain either this weekend or next to take a look at the summit for possible photo ops. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share :) There will be weddings also going on during the next three weekends so I am hoping I can also get some decoration ideas while we are up there. While were there we also plan on visiting Oktoberfest. Its a free festival full of authentic German culture and cuisine. Oktoberfest will also be held the weekend of our wedding.


I have also decided that the girls and I are going to be going bridesmaid dress shopping either the end of January or the beginning of February. I have a few dresses in mind. I love this dress, however for the wedding I would have them chocolate brown not a hot pink and most likely floor length. Its simple, but flattering and affordable! I also found a hair salon that I'm interested in having come up for the wedding to do all our hair on the big day! They are very reasonable and are will to travel up the the hotel :)

Shawn and I have also been taking a peak at wedding rings. Although we don't intend to by them just let we've gotten some good ideas of what we like. I found one that I loved. It's a very simple white gold band with about 6 or 7 small diamonds across the top, I think it would complement my engagement ring well. Shawn has been looking at the titanium rings. They are simple but the all look so different and unique from your average wedding band. I love them!

The countdown has also begun for some serious toning and a bit a weight loss on my part. I've been walking about a mile and a half a day and doing some ab work. Ive lost 2 pounds and 1/2 an inch around my stomach. Its not much but its a start, and thanks to my girlfriend Amanda I will also be starting Pilates workouts! I'm hoping that I can start shopping for my dress within the next few months. :)

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give you forever." ♥

Thanks for reading!

Only 365 days left until the wedding!