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For the last week, the Engineer and I have been looking at photographers for our wedding. UGH! This is one of those things that, while I care deeply about our pictures being outstanding (You know the routine. The pictures should tell the story, represent our vision, blah blah blah), after a while they all start to look the same to me. Good thing I’ve got the Engineer around.
The Engineer’s family seems to be a very talented “picture taking” group. In fact, over the past weekend, I probably looked at hundreds of pictures of my future hubby, in various stages of life (only the most embarrassing will make the cut for the wedding slide show). All baby pictures were cute, vacation pictures breathtaking, and well….the pictures where just plain good. In fact, my future father-in-law has recently started a small business with his photographic talent. He has done a ton of nature pictures, all of which could be suitable prints for National Geographic. To top it all of, all three kids (my fiancé, his brother, and their older sister) all have an “eye” for photography. Maybe it’s genetic. Somehow, I never got that gene.
Anyway, Mr. E (Engineer) always sees things in photography that I don’t, which makes this “pick the photographer” process a little easier. He looks for pictures where the background isn’t set quite right and it looks like things are growing out of peoples heads. Who thinks about those kinda things??? He also looks for over lighting, under lighting, exposure, etc. He catches all the photo-technical junk that I would completely miss. In this arena, he is truly the peas to my carrots. And for that I’m grateful.
I digress.
So, soon to be father-in-law has graciously agreed to help us save some moolah by taking our engagement pictures for us. What are engagement pictures for anyway? The only use Boy and I could come up with was for the newspaper announcement. Why on earth pay $100-$300 for some guy to take pictures of us that we’re just going to use for a newspaper announcement?? It makes no sense. And so we’re not doing it (the pay the photographer part). The plan is to meet with future father-in-law sometime in the fall, when the leaves begin to change, and spend an hour or so taking pictures around Knoxville. Boy says “No” to matching outfits. Boo to him. This is a session I look forward to.
Recently, several photographers have asked me if I would like a “bridal session” with our photography package. When faced with this question, the only thing I can think of is that I would have to make sure my wedding dress was picked out and ready at least 2 weeks before the wedding in order for said bridal photo session to occur. Then I think, “I’m bound to get something on this dress during this photo shoot: makeup, hair product, beverage, etc. Should I risk it?? I know me. I know what messes I’m capable of. Isn’t this tempting fate? Maybe I should just pass on this.”
That’s when I found this website:
Fun… simple… beautiful
Crazy, sexy, cool (the picture… not the album)
This was the picture that started it all….. how could you NOT want a picture like this??
Last one. I want a picture like this.. only in my Blue shoes..
So apparently it’s the cool thing to do (you know me… I’m a sucker for cool). Brides don’t take a bridal portrait, but wait until after the big day to have a couples session with the photographer. The couple takes pictures in settings that they usually wouldn’t be in on their wedding day. These include, but are not limited to: grassy fields, water features, old run-down buildings, railroad tracks, sandy beaches, etc. These are all areas typically avoided due to the desire to keep ones wedding attire dry and clean.
After very little thought, I’ve decided that I’m all in. I had already knew that since my wedding dress would only be worn once in my lifetime, I wasn’t going to spend a slew of money on it. So I figure I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ll get two good wears out of the dress: once on the big day, and once on the day it gets to play in some fountain. Rob thinks it would be fun to have a few shots taken of us frolicking in the fountains at World’s Fair Park (see previous post about the Sunsphere, the picture shows some of the fountains), and I think that anything that will add some character to the wedding album is alright with me.
We have two more photographer interviews this week and two next week. I hope to find someone who’s as excited about the opportunity to help me “trash my dress” as I am about actually doing it.
So now the question is: Have I lost my mind? What happens if I find a dress that I love and for some reason can’t imagine “trashing” it? I mean… isn’t that what dry cleaners are for? Will I chicken out??
What lengths will I go to in order to have unique pictures in my wedding album?
Stay tuned.
S
We finally have a reception site!!! WOOO HOOO
I can’t express the words, phrases, or ridiculous sounds to show how unbelievably happy I am that we finally found, signed, and placed a deposit on a venue site. (yes, I’ve noticed that I haven’t said where yet…. That’s all part of the suspense!).
I actually want to take this moment to describe what I went thru looking for a reception site. First of all, I’m not from the South by birth. My mother comes from a moderately large Puerto Rican family (she’s 1 of 8). Weddings on my mother’s side of the family aren’t just any everyday wedding. It’s a C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N-S. It’s suppose to last all night. The object is to have a great time and to have to force the bride and groom to leave, because they are having such a good time, they don’t want to go home! Apparently, in the South, weddings are short and sweet. You all know the kind if wedding I’m talking about…. .cake and finger sandwiches in the basement of the Church. Now don’t get me wrong. Those weddings are great for those who are pull them off; however, when the majority of your guest list is traveling 2+ hours (and several are flying 5+ hours) to come to the event, you’ve got to give them more than cake and mints! Four hours is the typical time allotted for a seated or buffet dinner with Knoxville venues. FOUR HOURS!!! When do people have time to dance, start a conga line, cha-cha around with great uncles and aunts?? So you can only imagine the shocked looks I’d get when I would sit down and tell them that I needed a venue quote for 7-8 hours. HA! Most people would either refuse to quote that amount of time, or they would raise my minimum food and beverage cost to an amount so insane you would think we were inviting the army from a small but wealthy country. I can’t tell you how many times vendors would look me point blank in the face and say, “Have you ever been to a wedding in the South??? People will never stay that long at a wedding reception!” I never let it bother me. MY people weren’t from the south.
The second problem we came across was size. The Engineer didn’t want to have the reception in a standard hotel ball room. He wanted something with a little more “oomph” or “show”. However, our guest list size is around 220-250 people. With that size of a party, requesting a seated dinner, several of the unique venues just couldn’t handle our needs. We were relegated to looking at ballroom after ballroom for the space alone. I could see the decorating costs escalating quickly. Finally, after a 4 month search on my own, plus a 5 month search with our wedding planner, we’ve finally found our reception site. This place will not only accommodate our size, but it’s unique and has great food (the caterer comes HIGHLY recommended). I think it’s an accurate statement to say the venue has sufficient “oomph” (actually, this place actually oozes with oomph), and it’s completely affordable. Plus, I know it will party as hard as we will (we’ve got the place all night, so there’s no need to fret times).
Without further ado, I introduce our reception site: The SunSphere
Yes, the SunSphere. Yes, the big gold ball that has been the unofficial symbol for Knoxville since the World Fair in 1982. The same ball that appeared in an episode of The Simpsons.
Feel free to follow the links below for some information about the SunSphere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunsphere
http://www.answers.com/topic/sunsphere
Needless to say, the engineer and I are both very excited!! It’s gonna be AWESOME!
Let’s take a moment to recap the last year, just to get everyone up to speed. Ready? Buckle up.
Last May (2006), to the protest of a loving boyfriend, I accepted an MBA internship with Dell, packed up my car, and headed to Austin, TX for 12 weeks (well.. more like 14 if you count travel time/prep weeks). On our 3 year anniversary (also know as Memorial Day weekend), the boyfriend (hence to be known as the engineer) came to visit me in Austin for some fun in the sun. It was at the Omni hotel in Downtown Austin (where we happened to be ‘residing’ for the weekend) that He popped the question (on the day of our 3 year anniversary, on one knee, very traditional). Of course, I said yes and thus began the adventure I call wedding planning.
Fast forward a few months. August 2006, I’m back in Knoxville, both the engineer and I are back in school (I’m finishing up my last semester of my MBA degree, he’s working on his second to last semester of a Masters in Engineering). I really thought that I could do the whole school-job hunt-wedding planning things. Turns out, I’m not that good. I had been given an offer to return to Dell, but Boy really didn’t want to move to Austin. I can’t blame him. He had a career already started and I wasn’t working, plus I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my “life”, so moving for a company, not a career, didn’t make much sense. However, with graduation approaching, I knew that I had to get a job. The savings account was looking pretty sad. And to top it all off.. we had to plan a wedding.
Fast forward 4 months to December 2006. I finally graduated with my MBA in Logistics. I would love to say that I’m done with school forever, but we all know that forever is a LONG time. I accepted a job with a Fortune 500 company here in Knoxville as a Logistics Business Analyst. It was at that time that I realized, “Holy ‘beep’, I’ve got a full time real job…. How on earth am I going to plan this wedding AND work!?!?!?” Enter wedding planner Sonya Scott from “A Perfect Day”. Yes, you’re reading it here. I, one of the most picky-precise-hard-to-please-perfectionists, hired a wedding planner. At first I thought it was going to be hard letting someone else do some of the major planning, but it’s actually been a huge relief. Sonya has been a lifesaver and we’ve only been working together for around 6 months now. She’s been great at keeping us on schedule and anticipating our questions and needs. Who knows where I’d be without her right now. (Actually, you probably don’t want to know where I’d be)
Fast forward another 5 months to May 2007. The Engineer took the PE (Professional Engineers) test in April and should get the results back in late July. He also managed (I say that with a laugh, since his GPA was 3.95, but it took him three years) to finally graduate with his Masters in Civil Engineering. This is the first time since we started dating in 2003 that we’ve both been working full time and neither one of us is in school. It’s nice because we come home, cook dinner, watch some TV, do some house work, and then get ready to do it all again. We don’t, however, have to write papers, study for tests, or prepare presentations. It’s GLAMOROUS!
That pretty much catches us up on the past year. I can’t believe that we’ve been engaged for a year and in 11 months, we’ll FINALLY be married. Who would have thought? It will be here before we know it (we have been invited to five weddings this year, and besides ours, we know of two others next year!).
S
