Dressing the Bride - PHI DO NOT READ!

Disclaimer: This post is entirely about selecting, purchasing, and looking at pictures of wedding dress contenders. If you are not interested in seeing what I may walk down the aisle in, you should stop reading now. PHI: this means you.

Who knew deciding on a wedding dress would be so difficult?

Actually, I really should have anticipated this.

Currently, there is a dress I love hanging in my closet. Its problem is that it is 1 size too small. Yes, thats a pretty significant problem, but I kinda did something I always encourage other people not to do: I purhcased it anyway because it was on sale. Gasp!

I do love it, and could easily see myself walking down the aisle in it. Because of its sizing issue, it needs a significant overhaul...think: at least $250 in alterations - just to make it wearable! Turning my $200 dress into one that's going to run me/mom at least $450. And with the economy, its probably going to be a good $500 total before that's all said and done.

The other kind of dress I love is more sexy - its got straps, a v-neck, mermaid styling with a dropped wasit and rouching. And is made of taffeta (not wild about the taffeta). It even has a train (which would have to be bustled). And I just love it. Its plain, but sassy and sexy and I could totally see myself traipsing around in it for one of the most important days of my life (notice, I said one of...thinking about it this way takes some of the pressure off. Things should only be better after the wedding, not be the capstone of the first 27 years of my life - lol).

I have the best Mama in the world. And I think its because she gets me and loves the me I love. Despite this, I was worried about her response to my loving a different dress and was heistant to even mention it. See, Mom is fronting the dress bill. Her rationale: because she knows I'm particular about what I wear and that this would be no different. Love her. When I mentioned it last night, she was interested in seeing the dress and surprisingly open to the idea of me getting a different one. Ultimately, she wants me to be happy. The idea of the second dress makes me happy. Knowing that if I take this second route, Mom is still on board makes me even happier. She is the best Mom ever.

Okay, I think I've told you everything I can tell you about the dresses without actually showing them to you. Henry Jason Christopher Smith (yes, thats his whole government - lol), if you've decided to read up until this point, baby please stop now. I'm posting pictures!

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I'm serious....dont look! Youre the one who doesnt want to see, so you cant get mad if you peek!


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Dress #1: David's Bridal

I've mostly tried Dress #1 on. Because its too small, I had to be clipped in. But I've tried on A-line dresses like them before, so I know what I look like in them. And they are flattering. And comfy. That dress is light and I love the ribbon detail. I also love the simplicity. And the price. We cant forget the price. Oh, and I would definitely wear it with the crinoline...in the pic it looks a little limp, but the crinoline fills it right on out. Hmm, what else do you need to know? Oh, theres no train, and its not that long, so I'd be relegated to flats (which I got for $7 a TJMaxx - pics later). I ♥ this dress. Seriously. Moving on...

Dress #2: Marisa (price: TBD?)

Dress #2 is fab, I know. What it will look like on me? Idunno. I think its a viable option though for wedding day glam. The top is a little low cut for me, considering I'm soooo booby, so Id want it to be taken up a bit so I'm not falling out of my dress all day. It has a train (that I wouldnt want to be too long, but would need bustling, and arguably I'd be able to wear some kind of heel with it. Its not too poofy and still pretty slick and sleek. I could rock it.

As you can see from its label, I know who makes this dress. I haven't been able to find it on their website. The next logical step would be to go to a bridal salon, but I know how that's going to go. David's bridal is the only one who really carries a variety of samples in my size. Other bridal salons are disappointing. And the only plus size dresses they carry are these ugly, over beaded monstrosities. I know from the first dress (we'll call it Dress #0) that I am not a beading kinda girl...I never really thought I was. And I know that simple gorgeousness is my way. In a perfect world I'd get this dress in white with a slight train and wear it with a a cathedral length veil.

*sigh* I ♥ this dress too.

There is this lady on eBay who makes custom bridal gowns. She'll make any gown you send her a picture of, and last night I threw caution to the wind and sent her that picture of the dress. I should have probably sent pics of the back too, but I'll wait and see what she quotes me in terms of price based on what I sent.

The incentive with going with this kind of situation is that I'd have the gown cut for my measurements - my big boobs, my funky middle section, and my big kinda flat booty. And even if I had to have a few little alterations when it arrived, for the most part, I'd have a dress that only needed to be tailored, not overhauled (remind me to explain the issues with my current dress some other time). I'm not entirely comfy with ordering a dress on eBay, but the more I read her feedback (594 response, 100% feedback) the more I liken it to purchasing a gown from a bridal salon. From what I'm told, those things are meant to be custom fitted. Rarely does someone purchase a dress that needs no alterations, so this situation is not really much different. If I purchase the dress to fit my largest part, and have the rest altered to fit, I'm in the same bridal boat as every other bride.

So whatcha think? Dress #1 or Dress #2?
♥

Surprise Wedding Gifts Rock

A couple of weeks ago a mysterious package was sitting at my backdoor. I was expecting my FM transmitter for the iPod to be back there, but this other books was truly a mystery. I know mom hadn't sent anything because she would have asked about it. I really didn't know who it was from and eventually gleaned that it was sent from the Greater Palm Beaches. Home! A package from home! But from who?

I didn't get a clue until I opened it. And on top was a print out of an email on how to vote for a girl I know who was vying to be a red carpet reporter at the Emmys. It was some People.com/You Tube contest which mom had told me about, so I now knew which family this was from. But a couple sheets of paper is not worth a box, right? The box was for some really gorgeous towels! Ivory with an Old Gold (yes, I did say old gold...look it up if you don't have a reference point....try AlphaPhiAlpha.net) patterned border. They wouldn't be something I'd typically pick out since I'm into bright colors and almost all of my towels are a different color, but they are perfect for like a guest bath.

And they screamed their sender. Ms. Lerna is really quite a lady. Immensely thoughtful and pretty fabulous in her own right, she's one of those people who you just enjoy being around. And she sent us our first gift! Interestingly, there was no card, but I knew Fran (the daughter and People.com red carpet announcer contest winner didn't send them. These screamed her mom.

And that meant our first thank you note was in order. I promptly ordered some pretty cute standard thank you notes from Target.com and patiently awaited for their arrival. I figure we can have a wide variety of thank you type notes - ones that match the invites, some that feature our gifts, and even just solid ones for before the invites go out. Plus, I keep thank you notes on hand. In my older age, I really wanted to be the kind of girl who sent thank you notes for gifts. So I became her and I always have some on hand.

I sent Ms.Lerna's TY note on Thursday and she should be getting it this weekend. It was such a lovely gift, enhanced by the fact that it was a total surprise.

Surprise gifts rock. The fact that its a wedding gift that makes the surprise that much sweeter. I ♥ Ms. Lerna. She rocks.

♥

O-08!

I'm not nearly as political as I believe I ought to be.

Researchers who study the self believe that there are 3 possible selves: our actual self (e.g. "Who I am" our ideal self (e.g. "Who I'd like to be when I grow up") and our ought self (e.g. I'd like to be the kind of person who [fill in the blank]).

Generally speaking, I really like me (actual), and my ideal me is a pretty cool chick too. My ought to be is a little more problematic. If I had to fill out one of the possible selves worksheets that I give my students (if you wanna see it, let me know), "into politics" would be at the top of the list. Especially considering we are experiencing history. Literally.

Barack Obama is the official democratic candidate and his primary opposition has selected a woman (yes, you read that right) as his running mate.

WTH?!

Dont get me wrong, its all pretty awesome! But you wouldnt have a clue about my interest if you'd been monitoring my TV viewing this past week. Everyday, people I know have been talking about the convention goings on and up until last night I didnt even know what chanel to turn to. Last night the guilt got to me and I tried to watch some of it, but I was sleepy and distracted...so I DVRd it instead. I am a little sad I missed Hillary interrupt the vote thingie, and that I missed Michelle Obama speak. I heard some snippets on the radio, but was always on the train when they played the entire speech. Perhaps this weekend I'll look them up on YouTube and watch them in their entirety.

Because you see, despite me wishing I was more political, I do actually care about politics. And beneath my veneer, I'm super pumped. I do still retain some of my cyncism about the politicians (thats probably what motivates alot of my non-political behavior) but I want to believe that either way we will take some major steps towards minority equality. And thats what I'm going to do.

Obama 08!
♥

I DO NOT ♥ the Guest List

Ahh guest list...how I loathe thee.

I'm just going to put it out there: our guest list is much larger than I'm comfortable with.

But there are reasons why. One reason is that the PHIs family is on the large side (think approx 20 aunts and uncles (including their spouses) and approx 30 first cousins). My family is not nearly as huge (only 6 first cousins) but the wedding is in my hometown, and there are a slew of close family friends (I lovingly call them the fake aunts) that are pretty much family. When you factor those people in, were more equally yoked on the family front. Add in the handfull of Spelman sisters/Morehouse brothers for me (the PHI's line brothers for him), some of my friends from grad school (his job for him), and the requisite parent adds and were upwards of 225.

Eeeek!

Our ideal day-of count is 150-175, which means I'm hoping that at least 50 people say they are sad they cant attend our event. I know thats terrible, but its the truth...so we'll roll with it.

However, in order for the 50 to decline attending our fabulous event, all 225 have to be invited. I'm not going to reveal what the invites will cost us per piece, but I will admit that I think of every addition to the guest list as an additional [insert price]that its costing us to invite them.

So regardless of their response, we've already spent money on them attending our event. If we spent the money on the front end, at least you could come and celebrate with us, right? You want everyone to come, but you want a lot of people to decline. You want your loved ones to be there, but only some or most of the loved ones.

And now you see my issue with the guestlist.

You cant win them all, but the guest list feels like a losing battle all across the board. Because the guest list is intimately linked to the budget bottom line (my other fave wedding topic...NOT!), the more people you invite, the more the most basic celebration is going to cost. The more food/champagne we'll have to buy. The more invites and stamps (ech!) we'll have to make arrangements for. The more cocktail napkins we'll have to make arrangements for (more on that later).

The more I'm going to think about our guests as dollar amounts rather than people. God, that really sounds terrible. Yet brazenly honest and true.

*big exhale* Looks like I'm taking this one for the team...
♥

Cha-Cha-Cha Request

OM just informed me that her advisor has a cupcake request: chocolate, chilli, cherry cupcakes or Cha-Cha-Cha Cupcakes as OM likes to call them :)

I'm not the biggest chocolate cupcake eater (we all know vanilla cake-vanilla buttercreme is my fave combination), but I'm intrigued, and I think the chocolate and chilli would go well together (think: moho/mojo sauce) and a choco-cherry buttercreme could be tasty.

Hmmm, he may be on to something.
to be continued...

♥

ORG Idea #1: Emboss me!

I blame my mother. She worked really hard to ensure that I was able to make choices as a child, and as I got older that translated into me thinking I could always exert said choice - especially when I'm asked.

You'd think wedding registries would be perfect for that. I get to tell you what we (mostly me) would like for our new home. I have tons of stuff already, mostly because when I want it, I figure out how to get it (VISA loves me), but there are some things I had planned to purchase and am now holding off on because the PHI blinged me out. For that same reason, mom and Dani have both been on this "dont get it because you can register for it kick" when I mention things I just have to have.

Since I'm not allowed to purchase these things for myself (my normal course of action), I'm starting what I'm going to call the Off Registry Gift Idea Series (ORG for short). For those of you who believe shopping from someone's registry is completely beneath you (lol) and unoriginal. Trust me, I really do want those plates we (mostly me) picked out, but if you must pick out something original, I can deposit some stuff here that I've been lusting after. And, this is my formal disclaimer that even if I mention it here as an idea, I stil may buy it and use it for the wedding (or not) and probably not add it to the budget. Since we all know how much I love the wedding budget.

So lets get this thing crackin...Off Registry Gift Idea #1: Embosser

(image: paper-source)

From the Paper-Source website: Blind embossing is a technique that raises an image without color. Think braille.

The way it works is you take that first contraption and add a little plate that makes the piece of paper or cardstock that you are imprinting look like this:

(image courtesy: paper-source)

Long story short, they make awesome paper goods....notecards, stationary, envelopes, the list goes on and on! And I really want one. I still toy with the idea of doing wedding stationary with it (mostly thank you notes), but I really dont know if I'll have the time or energy or money come time to put up or shut up.

Which is precisely why its numbero uno on my O.R.G. list. Do not be surprised if you see one of these at our house in the near future!

Now the only question is what kind of plate do I want....

♥

Shower Me With Your Love

My mama has been on this bridal shower kick. She's asked me about it a few different times. I don't know if this means she has ideas, or she's looking forward to hosting a party, or what. But eventually I pacified her by saying I'd be sure and mention it to the MOHs. I've only managed to mention it to Dani so far and I think I almost freaked her out (I think she had shower planning pegged for early 2009...and rightfully so).

So I got to thinking about bridal showers and all the fun ideas for them. I cant say I've actually attended a bridal shower before, so I only have what I see on TV and read about on blogs to go on. I have gone to a baby shower...but only 2 and those were both pretty fun.

So for those of you out there who are interested in hosting/attending/giving input on a shower, here are some sparky* things:

1. Party til you drop. Mom and I have tossed around the practicaility of doing multiple events in one day, like shower by day and bachelorette by night. Why would you ever want to combine 2 glorious events into a 24 hour period you say? Because if youre like me and your bridesmaids live (literally) all over, that may be the only time to get everyone together. Not that its a requirement for them all to be there, but still...

2. Going to a lesson/class for the shower. I read earlier today about a bride who had her shower at Sur La Table. I've never actually been a Sur La Table, but from looking at their site, it totally seems like the kind of place I'd be in to. Plus, if you have it at a location, its both a party and an experience, and maybe people can learn something to boot. I'm a big fan of LetsDish (and lesser so of WeekDay Gourmet here in Athens), but both businesses encourage private parties, and technically a shower could be a private party. Plus theres cooking/food prep and food eating...sounds yummy to me. I've also read about

3. Take advantage of the opportunity to have all those hands on deck. My BM Tamerah did this when her sister Paula got married a little while ago. They turned things like favor-box folding into shower games! Whoever folded the most boxes got a prize. Although my favors wont be boxed, they will need to be assembled, and if I had one of these showers it would definitely have to be at home. But you have to admit, all that extra help around would be a complete God-send for any DIY projects you had brewing.

4. Put your bridesmaids to work. This is the first I had ever read of it, but it was a pretty cute idea. Essentially, the bride invited her bridesmaids to a party at a store where they make custom bags - and the finished bags are the bridesmaids gifts! If you're interested in where they went and what they made (they were very cute by the way) you can click here. However, this idea could be very easily transferred to a jewelry making party. The best part is that the ladies could choose whatever they wanted to make. It didnt have to be for the wedding day, although I think a few of them went that route. Idunno, something MJ said about not wanting to wear the jewelry the bride gave them (a typical BM gift) is sticking with me...so much so that I'm leaning heavily towards not dictating jewelry. I digress...this idea has alot of things I love: personalization, choicefulness, and fabulousness....all in all an awesome shower idea.

Those were the probably the four top shower things that have come across my plate lately. But now that I'm thinking about it, I am even more excited about the idea of my own shower - whatever kind it will be. I know its going to be wonderfully fun. Hopefully I wont have to plan it (I told Dani the other day if I had to plan it I wasnt having one.I was having a bad day). Running now because I'm supposed to be cleaning. I'm so supposed to be cleaning. But I couldnt leave without depositing these little ideas down - for both your viewing pleasure and for my seriously sketchy short term memory.

♥

*sparky = Patti-slang for "things that spark my interest"

Pains in my bridal arse

I had kinda prepped myself for this, but I knew the GuestList would be a huge pain in my arse. And it has not disapointed me yet. In fact, right now I am avoiding re-adding some people back to the list that I know I will end up inviting. Thankfully it doesnt add that many invites to the list and I believe keeps me under 150. Is it tacky to send a box of invites to my mom and have her distribute them to save postage? Not all the local ones...just the family. I'm seriously considering that.

My second arse burr is the budget. I hate that thing. I know that we are over budget in some critical areas for me - namely invitations and photography. Oh, and facility rental. Our rental fee is $2500. Thats just the location...no food, no decor (except for its natural beauty), just the building. Thankfully mom is gifting it to us. [thank God for her. seriously.]

Despite the previously mentioned things, were pretty on target for the budget. All the major things are on there and accounted for. Its the minor things that I now have to figure out. Like our cocktail napkins. Cocktail napkins are standard fare at weddings. But they dont have to be tacky. I hate the standard ones like these:
Ech. I think I just half-gagged.

As you can imagine, said monstrosity is pretty cheap. Hell, they really should give these ugly things away. Part of the problem is that I don't know anything about this couple other than the fact that their colors are navy blue and white and they like flowers and doves (and I'm sure other equally typical wedding decor) from looking at these napkins.

Ugly and cookie-cutter? Double ech.

Personally, I ♥ these:Look at them...hearts, initials, and totally personalized. These are not your average cocktail napkins! Plus, my favorite part is that they actually don't scream wedding day. Everyone I have showed these to so far could easily see me pulling these things out for any occasion at our house. They're just so us.

And up until a couple hours ago, I fully intended to order them. But at $24.95 for 100, even if I supplement printed napkins with solid ones (the current plan), I'd need about 150 of these (running me about $36.90) before sales tax and shipping.

It didn't seem like a lot when I fell in love with them (i.e. picked them out) but now that's alot to spend on just napkins. Damn budget. My shoes didn't cost that much. And if I go with the current veil plan, my shoes and veil together wont cost that much. Plus, that's just the printed ones, that's not including locating and purchasing plain ones....probably from PartyCity or someone like that.

Long story short, I am determined to have cute cocktail napkins and I think Etsy may save the day for me. I found these fab (and inexpensive) customizable napkins from Etsy seller Go Against the Grain (perfect for wedidng planning), that may work. I read on another blog that she's getting married, but I'm seriously considering convo-ing (Etsy lingo for sending a message) her today so that we can get the ball rolling on the napkins. They don't go bad and I have no problems with them sitting in my office or at my mama's house for a year.

I'm avoiding the budget spreadsheet like the plague right now. So much so that I continue to think of things that should be on it and instead of adding them to the spreadsheet, I'm adding them to a Word document on my desktop with intentions to add them later.

*sigh* terrible...I know. At least I'm writing it down somewhere, right? Never thought I'd say this, but I much prefer Curves-induced arse pains.
♥

P.T.I and new ♥'s

PTI is one of the few shows (if not the only show) I can say I *gasp* actually enjoy on ESPN.

PTI is cool in my book for a number of reasons:
1. They only talk about each topic for 30 seconds...not like another show I know that goes on and on and on about nothing indefinitely (ahem SportsCenter).
2. Theres a really useful agenda on the right side that scrolls and adjusts as you are crossing topics off the list (I know they dont really talk about it that way, but thats the way I interpret it).
3. Technically its a sports show, so I get half points with the PHI for sitting through it and actually paying attention.
4. Those Sportscasters are fiesty slightly arrogant sports-know-it-alls. Add those together and you get some parts that really are just straight up funny.

Anyway, hashing out PTIs merits were not my reason for showing up today. I wanted you to pardon my interruption of all things wedding so I could talk about something else for a bit :)

Today, I wanted to tell you about 2 things that are basically changing my life. Thing #1: Mobile email. Okay, so I've been trying to get mobile email for awhile and erroneously thought I needed a blackberry to do so. When I wanted to change my phone but not my plan (about 6 months ago), Verizon told me that was not possible. So I hung up my mobile email hopes and tabled them for when i was debt free. Then I got engaged. And then the PHI and I decided to combine our Verizon accounts in an attempt to save money (thats a story for another time). The plan we ended up with comes with a ginormous amount of minutes and features VZ navigator - our whole reason for getting said plan. However, it also has mobile email and some other crap I kinda tuned out and subsequently dont know about. I had almost forgotten about the mobile email until PHI brought it up one day and I started to check it out. After figuring out how to even get to the email, I quickly opened it up and there was my gmail...in most of its text only glory! How exciting! And considering I'm away from email for a large part of Tues and Thurs, it allows me to stay abreast of whats going on so I'll know what I'm coming home to.

*swoon*

My second new love is one of google's fab products. Anyone who knows me and is close enough to hear about the wedding planning know I am obsessed with WeddingBee. I try not to bore people to death with a wedding that is not theirs...I remember what being on the recieving end of the obsession is and I hope that my girls will tell me when they are over hearing about it rather than just suffering in silence - lol. But WeddingBee is awesome in that it allows me to read about, gather inspiration from, and sometimes even help other brides who are just as interested in their wedding as I am in mine. I cant say that I was much of a blog reader until fairly recently. Yes, there was my favorite cupcake blog, but that had gone to the wayside when I started planning our wedding. Then theres WB and whatever links to other people's blogs that I come across. Enter GoogleReader. Seriously, its changed my life. Basically what it does is it brings all my blogs to a central place. If you leave the window open, it will automatically update itself like gmail does. And I can star things, email things, make lists public, etc.

Simply stated: its pretty awesome.

And I now am subscribed not only to wedding blogs, but also to my beloved cupcake blog (and I may add a couple others but I really only love one), Obama's shared articles, and my wedding photographer's blog.

*bigger swoon*

Okay, I need to get back to "work." I was poking around on wedding sites and ran across an article on sweetheart tables. And considering mom keeps asking me about various decor aspects, I figured it might be a good idea to start collecting decor ideas in general. All sweetheart tables are not created equal, and I want the whole team to have a really good idea about what the aesthetic is not going to be.

Adi!
♥

We know I love her...now you can love her too!

Yes yes, another photography post.

I promise I'll chill out about this soon. But it occured to me that you probably hadn't seen any of her work! You need a visual, so I'm going to stop chattering so we can get to the goods. These pics are of Jamel and Marissa's wedding in DelrayBeach earlier this year. If you remember, I previously posted about doing my due-dilligence on selecting this photog...this couple was one of the references, and if you read that post, they obviously loved her. Now you'll see why.

Ohmigosh, this pic makes me want to wear a veil. I hear that this bride&groom under the veil pic is very popular...I hadnt seen it before and I love it. PHI also seems to be very into the idea of "revealing me after I'm pronounced as his wife" <-- his wording.

I just love her work and I'm so excited about her capturing our day. Seriously, when I'd found her, I knew....kinda like when I met the PHI.

Happy Wednesday!
♥

Giving Thanks

I love stationary. So the idea that I get to send out stationary throughout this wedding process is extremely exciting to me.

It can also make you nauseous.

See, wedding stationary is terribly expensive. And because this is a once in a lifetime kind of thing, you want it to be as fabulous as possible - within reason. I added that last bit because as I've mentioned before, I know people are going throw these bad boys away. My goal is to find the proper balance between something thats fabulously me, but wont cause me to shudder at the thought of my friends and loved ones throwing them away. Which I have. More on that later.

Today's post is about another important piece of wedding stationary: the thank you note. Again, I love little notecards, particularly ones that are personalized in some way. I have ones with my initial, hearts, and polka dots - all Patti icons that once you open it you say "oh, this is so her." Naturally our thankyou notes needed to follow suit.

Today on my favorite wedding blog Weddingbee I ran across this idea on the message boards:

(source)

What you're looking at what I believe to be the front of one couple's photo TY note - the couple surrounded by their gifts.

How cute is that? Pretty cute, I know. And if you do it right away, very meaningful. This could easily be turned into a postcard at vistaprint for mere pennies per card.

The TY note I selected/"custom printed" that will match our invites really isn't that thrilling. In fact, its mostly reality kicking in saying that 40 cents a card is a great price and that I would be hard pressed to get custom thank yous made elsewhere. Enter vistaprint. At vistaprint I could easily get 200 some odd postcards for like 40 bucks or so. Thats 20 cents a card!

Long story short, photo TY note is definitely a contender. The PHI likes it, I could do it for cheap, and it would be an interesting and different (dare I say, unique) way to thank our guests for their loving generosity.

File this one away folks...you may be seeing it again :)

♥

Britney Spears VMA Spots

Has anyone seen the new Brit Brit VMA commercials? She looks so....normal.

Idunno what she did, or when she stopped looking so cracked out, but thank goodness.

Welcome back Brit.

So Fresh and So Clean Clean

Wow, completely off topic: I'm watching Style, and MelB has (what I believe to be) a SoapNet commercial for All My Children. Now, I cant guarantee its all my children because once I realized it was her, and how fab she looked, I kinda stopped listening to her. I did stop long enough to know it was the black couple from that soap mom has watched since before I was born (seriously, she's watched it that long), and the groom's name is Jesse...which makes me think it was All My Children.

Sorry, that was so not the point of this post.

The point was I'm sitting here on the sofa extremely sleepy. Like, I'm so sleepy that the idea of getting up, slapping some rollers in my head and proactiv-izing (yes, I made that up) my face seems like waaay to many things to accomplish before falling into my bed. But I will do them because if not, my head will look like a mop (the nasty kind that instead of throwing in the washer you just throw away) and I'm in the process of overhauling my face. A girl has to be engagement photo ready in a couple of months (were shooting for November...pun not intended).

Anyway, I'm sitting here in a state of increasing dilerium and I happen to glance down at my ring. Despite what most people think, once you get some of that 4th finger left hand bling, you really dont spend all of your waking moments staring at it. Now, dont get it twisted, I spent a large part of the first month just getting used to wearing the thing and staring at it. And occasionally I still nik the PHI with it (he doenst want me to ever take it off...so he suffers its wrath mwha ha ha). But now that I'm a few months in, I have the requisite ring tan, my ring is definitely one of my homies. She knows that if its her against a wall or any other material she'll win everytime (diamonds are super hard which makes my ring super durable), and that she will come off when its time to put on lotion.

Why you say? Because lotion makes her extremely dirty.

I dont spend very much time talking about her specs...I know them because I was there when she was purchased from my friends at Kay, but I will tell you this: she's completely colorless...like a D. And when she's fresh out the jewelry wash clean, she's absolutely breath taking.

And that is when I find myself ring-gazing.

Like tonight. I got her cleaned on Saturday and have been taking her off for bath's, hair washing, etc. Its almost like she's turned into a whole other ring - on a regular basis. One day I'll post her before and after pics. She even looks bigger. Maybe its that light moving all up and thru her when she's so fresh and so clean. But anyway, because of that metamorphosis, I take every opportunity to get my ring cleaned. If were walking past a Kay, I'm goin in and letting them clean my ring.

If she lived on your finger, you would too. Trust me, the sparkle is worth it.

I'm a glutton for sparkle!!
♥

Photographer Update

You can see from my last post, I was absolutely into the photographer. I still am. And I loved her work before I contacted her.

Well, I was ready to book her immediately. Right after she told me she had the date available. But after talking to my dear friend Dr. Hunt, I came back down to reality. I realized I had not done any due diligence about her. I had seen her gallery, gone through her blog with a fine tooth comb, and read every bit of text on her site....twice!

Since she and I had started talking about a custom package, I realized I should probably slip in some questions from my Real Simple wedding sheet on "Questions to Ask the Photographer." I was hesistant to ask because I didnt want her to think I wasnt interested. And in hindsight, I should have asked the questions first and expressed my enthusiasm second - lol.

But anyway, one of the questions were about references. I've read in various places that you should definitely check references. But as a graduate student who has written a few letters of recommendation, you wont suggest people who will give you a bad review. Even still, I knew that I wanted to get the references and contact the people.

This is what Dani and I created to send out -the perfect blend of I know I dont know you but I want you to give me some inside info:

Hi Reference,

My name is Patti and I was referred to you by Chelsey Boatwright. I'm writing because I wanted to get your feedback on your photos, the picture taking process, day of issues, and just working with her in general. Any help or input you can provide would be great. Thanks!!

Patti

...and this is what I got back:

Hi Patti,

Chelsea was the photographer for my wedding and she was amazing!!! I did alot of research in choosing the right photographer because in my opinion that was the most important thing. I looked at her work and spoke with her and knew she was the right fit. I personally like her photojounalist style. Anyone can line up people and just snap a picture. But she has the talent to make things more artistic. Here is a link of some of my wedding pics in her blog: http://chelseyboatwright.squarespace.com/journal/?currentPage=3 And in my opinion these are not even the best ones. I don't have the pics saved to this computer so I can't send them. But there are about 5 shots not included in that which are absolutely to die for. I love them sooo much. The whole process of working with her was painless. And I got the pics online from her to view within a week. If you are thinking of working with her I would definitely work with her. I was even pregnant at the time of the wedding and she shot in great angles so you couldn' tell. And I am even using her for the photographer for our baby pictures. If there is any other info you need about my experience with her just let me know.

Regards,

Reference #1

and this:

Hi Patti,

When we had our wedding (this past December), Chelsey was working as an assistant to the photographer we hired. Chelsey had just begun her business and was doing her old boss a favor.

We're glad she did, because my husband and I honestly felt that Chelsey's pictures were far superior than her former boss. They subjects were more centered, had clearer focus and made better use of the avaiable light than the photographer we hired!! Chelsey had no problem taking whatever poses we requested and seemed comfortable improvising.

It took us a month for us to get our photos back, but that's not a reflection on Chelsey. Her pictures were submitted online far before her boss'.

We felt that Chelsey's work was above and beyond what we expected of her and we were thoroughly pleased with her both as a person and wedding photographer.

We hope this helps!!

Reference #2

So there you have it. Two glowing recommendations. Did I expect any less? No. Am thrilled nonetheless? You bet.

Now I'm waiting (on baited breath) for her to email our contract so I can send our deposit. Never been so excited to spend $200. Night!
♥

I'm in love with a....photographer!!

[sung to the tune of Gavin DeGraw's I'm in Love with a Girl: I'm in loooove with a photographer....(I'm.in.love.with)]

Okay not really, but I am very pleased.

See, for the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to nail down our next major expense: photography. Not that I wanted it to be the most expensive, but I wanted to be able to have a bit of flexibility with whomever was chosen, yet not break the bank.

Well, for a while, I was loving my #2 selection: www.rebeccahinsonphotograpy.com. I found her on craisgslist I believe, and her photos were lovely and her prices were totally in our range. Plus, it wasnt until I found her site that I realized we were interested in getting all of our digital images. Getting actual photos was fine too, but I really want to be able to have all the images to do with what we like...think albums, photo collages, slideshows, etc.

Chatting with Krissi confirmed that.

So the night I was contacting her, I was talking generally to Krisitin about selecting a photographer in general, and she told me she popped by our good ol friend theknot.com. It was there that I found my first choice for a photographer: Chelsey. Her work can be found at www.chelseyboatwright.com. There was just something about her pictures. It was kinda like the vibe I got when I saw the photographer whos going to take our engagement pics. I was absolutely smitten.

...and I still am now.

Now all isnt quite peaches and cream, but her package is something we can work with and I saw on her site that there is a possibility for custom packages. Idunno what that entails, but our perfect package would be about 6 hours of coverages, and all of our images on CD - we wouldnt necessarily need to have prints since you can get those anywhere for pretty cheap.

I'll keep you posted, but in the meatime....I'm in loooove with a photographer!

♥