This blog has been pretty un-wedding related recently since I've been cooped up in the house. I think it's going to continue to be for a little while. Today, I got up and went into work for an hour or so to pick up some work and get out of the house. It felt AMAZING to get out of the house and talk to people and drive. I'll be happy to be working next week - but slightly sad that I won't be able to watch more movies.
Last night, I spoke with another DJ - Chris Laich. He is really well known in the DC area and his company is known for being extremely professional and classy. I LOVED him and really like his vision and examples for our wedding. However, I was disappointed once again with the price. I realize I'm being very picky about the DJ but feel like I totally have a right to be because the DJ is pretty important to us. After all, if the music stinks, so does the party normally. He comes in close to the price we had been quoted from Absolute Entertainment. I've gotten a few other recommendations but the people recommended to me from those companies are already booked on our dates. Is it worth it to go with someone else from the other companies even though the specific DJ was not recommended? I am ready to make a decision on this and just book someone.
What is everyone doing this weekend? Coming to visit me? :) My mom is bringing Tessa back to our house tonight to spend the weekend with us and then she'll go back there Sunday night. Other than laying around, I have nothing going on. Have a good weekend!!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Gross Pictures
WARNING: These are absolutely disgusting. So do not look if you can't handle the gross surgery shows. The doctor is very pleased with how it looks after 6 days and I was actually very surprised at how little bruising there is. He took 3 staples out today because they were bothering me and will take the rest of them out next Thursday. I'm in a more comfortable cast now that I can take off for showers and bathing - this makes my life 100 times easier! I can start putting weight on it in 1 week and will start therapy on it right after that. Wahoo - this is going to be a better recovery than expected!
No work for another week unless it's from home.
Okay here are the pictures.
This is a horrific picture of me right after they took the hard cast off of it - but I was thrilled that my leg felt so much lighter and free!!
No work for another week unless it's from home.
Okay here are the pictures.
This is a horrific picture of me right after they took the hard cast off of it - but I was thrilled that my leg felt so much lighter and free!!
And here are the nasty nasty make-me-want-to-vomit pictures:
Still Home
Reality Bites was good! I also watched Waitress with Keri Russell in it and I really liked it for some odd reason. Has anyone else seen it?
Yesterday, I was up and around more yesterday. I did the dishes, made a morningstar burger for lunch, and actually made dinner for the boy. He was shocked when he walked through the door. I made pasta and a vegetable vodka sauce - and it took me over an hour to make it with all of the hobbling around.
Yesterday, the construction was so bad that whatever drilling they were doing was somehow vibrating into our house at the exact spot of our fire alarm. So every few seconds the alarm would start buzzing loudly. Between that, and the Westin screwing up the room block AGAIN and needing to call and deal with that, I was in the loveliest mood and finally lost it on the construction workers. They stopped using the electric drill quite promptly. I think they may have been a bit scared I would poke them with my crutch.
Today, I am going for my first follow-up with the surgeon. I'll be getting a new cast I think and I'll find out when I can go back to work. Last night I had a bit of a scare. I can't really feel my pinky toe which is not abnormal after surgery. But last night all of my toes suddenly became numb for over an hour. I finally got up and went into the bedroom to get ready for bed and looked down and my toes were purple. I called and talked to the surgeon on-call and he wasn't worried. I, however, was freaking out like a little baby. The feeling eventually came back and they went back to their normal color. But, what was that all about?!
So I might be driving myself to the surgeon if Ian is too busy to come get me. I'm a little scared for this. And just to put you a little bit at ease, my bad foot is the left one - so my right one is free to drive! I also will be taking my camera to take pictures of what my foot looks like and then I'll post them - warning that they might be a little gross (and my hairy leg will be showing!)
I'm bored - come visit!
Yesterday, I was up and around more yesterday. I did the dishes, made a morningstar burger for lunch, and actually made dinner for the boy. He was shocked when he walked through the door. I made pasta and a vegetable vodka sauce - and it took me over an hour to make it with all of the hobbling around.
Yesterday, the construction was so bad that whatever drilling they were doing was somehow vibrating into our house at the exact spot of our fire alarm. So every few seconds the alarm would start buzzing loudly. Between that, and the Westin screwing up the room block AGAIN and needing to call and deal with that, I was in the loveliest mood and finally lost it on the construction workers. They stopped using the electric drill quite promptly. I think they may have been a bit scared I would poke them with my crutch.
Today, I am going for my first follow-up with the surgeon. I'll be getting a new cast I think and I'll find out when I can go back to work. Last night I had a bit of a scare. I can't really feel my pinky toe which is not abnormal after surgery. But last night all of my toes suddenly became numb for over an hour. I finally got up and went into the bedroom to get ready for bed and looked down and my toes were purple. I called and talked to the surgeon on-call and he wasn't worried. I, however, was freaking out like a little baby. The feeling eventually came back and they went back to their normal color. But, what was that all about?!
So I might be driving myself to the surgeon if Ian is too busy to come get me. I'm a little scared for this. And just to put you a little bit at ease, my bad foot is the left one - so my right one is free to drive! I also will be taking my camera to take pictures of what my foot looks like and then I'll post them - warning that they might be a little gross (and my hairy leg will be showing!)
I'm bored - come visit!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I Hate Construction
There is so much noise going on outside out condo that there was very little napping today!! They are redoing the siding on our condo so there's all kinds of drilling and banging and sawing noises going on. And I'm such a scaredy-cat that I was worried the workers could see through our blinds so I made Ian put sheets over the windows this morning before he left.
On my exciting agenda today, I called the Westin to figure out an issue with our room block. I watched lots of TV, emailed a lot and worked a whole lot on applications. I also updated our website with more current reservation information. Make your reservations now!!
But the big news of today - I walked to and from the mailbox 2 times. It took me about 10 minutes each time and I honestly wanted to take a 3 hour nap after each trip - but I made it there and back! Wahoo - progress:)
And now, I'm waiting for Ian to come home to make me dinner! While I wait, I'm watching Reality Bites which I've never seen. Oh, this is the life!
Kim - good luck finishing up the project tonight!
On my exciting agenda today, I called the Westin to figure out an issue with our room block. I watched lots of TV, emailed a lot and worked a whole lot on applications. I also updated our website with more current reservation information. Make your reservations now!!
But the big news of today - I walked to and from the mailbox 2 times. It took me about 10 minutes each time and I honestly wanted to take a 3 hour nap after each trip - but I made it there and back! Wahoo - progress:)
And now, I'm waiting for Ian to come home to make me dinner! While I wait, I'm watching Reality Bites which I've never seen. Oh, this is the life!
Kim - good luck finishing up the project tonight!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Engagement Photo Session
Here are some of my favorites out of the 180 that our photographer took. Let me know what you like!
Bored
I am only on day 4 of laying around and I'm bored! This weekend, I watched Live Free or Die Hard, We Are Marshall, A Mighty Heart, Shrek 3, and Father of the Bride (the 1950's one). I'm now waiting for more Netflix movies to arrive. I also decided that I was tired of being tied to the house so Ian drove me to the bank to deposit checks and I went to Target yesterday to pick up Thank You cards. This was after I had already taken a bath - which I am sad to say is something that takes a whole lot of energy! The entire ordeal took a lot out of me and by the time I had crutched my way to the entrance of Target, I was ready to collapse! So Ian pushed me in a wheel chair to the card section and then we quickly came home where I took a 2-3 hour nap. Oh how I love naps!
I don't have a whole lot related to the wedding to talk about. So instead, I'm listing what I have on my boring agenda today:
I don't have a whole lot related to the wedding to talk about. So instead, I'm listing what I have on my boring agenda today:
- Write Thank You notes for birthday gifts
- Some holiday shopping online
- Take a nap
- Finish a few law school applications
Friday, November 23, 2007
Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Tuesday night Ian took me to Black Market for my birthday dinner and it was awesome! It's owned by the Black Restaurant Group who have amazing restaurants - you should def check them out! I highly recommend the mussels as an appetizer - yum!
Wednesday we woke up bright an early to head to Brookside Gardens to meet with our photographer. It was a beautiful day and the gardens are A-MAZING! We were really excited to see how he worked with us and he'll be giving us the cd of images on Monday.
Our Thanksgiving day was so great. Ian's parents came down to go with us to Maggie and Brian's house with our family. The food is always fantastic and their house is extremely homey - it feels so much like fall when you go there for Thanksgiving. I also have to mention that I made an appetizer that I had stolen the recipe from Bridget's bridal luncheon and it was a huge hit. Here's the recipe:
Stuffed Gouda Balls
1 8 oz can of crescent rolls
1 7 oz ball of gouda (or smoked gouda)
Separate the can of crescent rolls in half and make them into two squares. Cut the ball of gouda into 2 thin slices horizontally so that they are still round. Place one block of cheese onto each square of crescent rolls. Fold up the crescent roll around the gouda very tightly so that there are no gaps. Place the folded side down on a non-greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown. Serve with jam on the side (such as chipotle-raspberry). DELICIOUS!
Last night was kind of a damper for me because I was so worried about surgery this morning. The surgeon had prescribed me a medicine to take before even coming to the hospital to try to calm me down. I took that - but it barely helped this morning! I started crying as soon as Ian and my Mom came back after I was in my gown and hooked up to the IV. This was a true test for Ian because I tend to be quite needy in these types of situations. But he was a rock - he was awesome and even kept his nervous jokes to a minimum. Although, my mom did inform me that as soon as they wheeled me off for the surgery they went into the waiting room and Ian was quite choked up - aww he's cute.
I woke up very quickly after surgery and was released from the hospital about 45 minutes after waking up. The surgery was only about 30 minutes - I love my surgeon! There was no tear - the tendon was just extremely weak and there was a ton of scar tissue. He cleaned it up and sewed the bad tendon to a healthy tendon to strengthen it. The awesome news about this is that I have less recovery time! So currently as I type, I am on the couch with blankets all around me, my foot (in a cast) is propped up on lots of pillows, and there are two tubes coming out of the cast that attach to 2 tubes that go into an ice cooler. The ice cooler has a motor on it that pumps the ice water through my cast. It keeps the swelling down, and since I've been home I have yet to take the pain medicine the doc prescribed. I'm obsessed with this machine!
I'm out of work for the next week until I see the doctor. I will find out then when I switch into a walking cast and then shortly after will start a short course of physical therapy. All in all, I am pleased at how smoothly things went today and thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!
Wednesday we woke up bright an early to head to Brookside Gardens to meet with our photographer. It was a beautiful day and the gardens are A-MAZING! We were really excited to see how he worked with us and he'll be giving us the cd of images on Monday.
Our Thanksgiving day was so great. Ian's parents came down to go with us to Maggie and Brian's house with our family. The food is always fantastic and their house is extremely homey - it feels so much like fall when you go there for Thanksgiving. I also have to mention that I made an appetizer that I had stolen the recipe from Bridget's bridal luncheon and it was a huge hit. Here's the recipe:
Stuffed Gouda Balls
1 8 oz can of crescent rolls
1 7 oz ball of gouda (or smoked gouda)
Separate the can of crescent rolls in half and make them into two squares. Cut the ball of gouda into 2 thin slices horizontally so that they are still round. Place one block of cheese onto each square of crescent rolls. Fold up the crescent roll around the gouda very tightly so that there are no gaps. Place the folded side down on a non-greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown. Serve with jam on the side (such as chipotle-raspberry). DELICIOUS!
Last night was kind of a damper for me because I was so worried about surgery this morning. The surgeon had prescribed me a medicine to take before even coming to the hospital to try to calm me down. I took that - but it barely helped this morning! I started crying as soon as Ian and my Mom came back after I was in my gown and hooked up to the IV. This was a true test for Ian because I tend to be quite needy in these types of situations. But he was a rock - he was awesome and even kept his nervous jokes to a minimum. Although, my mom did inform me that as soon as they wheeled me off for the surgery they went into the waiting room and Ian was quite choked up - aww he's cute.
I woke up very quickly after surgery and was released from the hospital about 45 minutes after waking up. The surgery was only about 30 minutes - I love my surgeon! There was no tear - the tendon was just extremely weak and there was a ton of scar tissue. He cleaned it up and sewed the bad tendon to a healthy tendon to strengthen it. The awesome news about this is that I have less recovery time! So currently as I type, I am on the couch with blankets all around me, my foot (in a cast) is propped up on lots of pillows, and there are two tubes coming out of the cast that attach to 2 tubes that go into an ice cooler. The ice cooler has a motor on it that pumps the ice water through my cast. It keeps the swelling down, and since I've been home I have yet to take the pain medicine the doc prescribed. I'm obsessed with this machine!
I'm out of work for the next week until I see the doctor. I will find out then when I switch into a walking cast and then shortly after will start a short course of physical therapy. All in all, I am pleased at how smoothly things went today and thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Ian's Groomsmen
I forgot to post about Ian's people! Here is his list:
Best Man - Alex - his brother
Best Man - James - his best friend since high school
Groomsman - Jeremy - his old roomie
Groomsman - David - my brother
Groomswoman - Stacy - his old roomie
Chris was supposed to also be a groomsman but he has another wedding to go to (that he isn't even in - weird if you ask me). He'll be missing the big celebration!
I had hoped Ian would post about his groomsmen. I'll get to him eventually!
Best Man - Alex - his brother
Best Man - James - his best friend since high school
Groomsman - Jeremy - his old roomie
Groomsman - David - my brother
Groomswoman - Stacy - his old roomie
Chris was supposed to also be a groomsman but he has another wedding to go to (that he isn't even in - weird if you ask me). He'll be missing the big celebration!
I had hoped Ian would post about his groomsmen. I'll get to him eventually!
Happy Birthday to Me
Ha - so today is my 25th birthday. Normally, I am so excited for my birthday. Today, however, I woke up feeling kind of blah about it. Not sad or upset - just doesn't really feel like my birthday. I hear that as you get older, birthdays become less important. NO! I don't want this! I want to love my birthday and enjoy becoming more mature! I refuse to believe it!
I think this feeling is partly to do with my upcoming surgery. This is not a serious surgery - they are fixing a tendon in my ankle. But, I simply don't do well with surgeries. If you know me, you know I get very anxious about anything relating to blood or doctors (more than just a regular checkup or going in for a cold or sore throat). Although, this is going to be a great learning experience for the future hubby as he'll have complete responsibility for walking Tessa, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of me for at least 4 weeks! And my time off of work could easily be spent doing a little online Christmas shopping or wedding research! Score!
I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Ian's enthusiasm this morning - he gets really excited about giving presents. He gave me a gift certificate, a Friends season, a cd, 2 cards, and gum. Yes - gum. I'm quite obsessed with chewing gum and happy that he knows it! Also - I went into my weekly team meeting at work and to my surprise, my team had gotten me a delicious birthday cake and sang to me! I'm going to miss these people when I go to law school!
Tonight, Ian is taking me somewhere for dinner - have no idea where or when. But as the day goes on, I'm feeling the excitement of my birthday because of everyone who is making me smile!
I think this feeling is partly to do with my upcoming surgery. This is not a serious surgery - they are fixing a tendon in my ankle. But, I simply don't do well with surgeries. If you know me, you know I get very anxious about anything relating to blood or doctors (more than just a regular checkup or going in for a cold or sore throat). Although, this is going to be a great learning experience for the future hubby as he'll have complete responsibility for walking Tessa, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of me for at least 4 weeks! And my time off of work could easily be spent doing a little online Christmas shopping or wedding research! Score!
I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Ian's enthusiasm this morning - he gets really excited about giving presents. He gave me a gift certificate, a Friends season, a cd, 2 cards, and gum. Yes - gum. I'm quite obsessed with chewing gum and happy that he knows it! Also - I went into my weekly team meeting at work and to my surprise, my team had gotten me a delicious birthday cake and sang to me! I'm going to miss these people when I go to law school!
Tonight, Ian is taking me somewhere for dinner - have no idea where or when. But as the day goes on, I'm feeling the excitement of my birthday because of everyone who is making me smile!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Swigs and Sweets Recap
Thank you so much to everyone who came on Saturday to celebrate my 25th! I had a blast (a little too much fun I think!). Lauren was here from Rochester and we had a blast together - sad that her visit was so short! Here are some of my favorite pics from this weekend:
The last picture pretty much sums up how I was by the end of the night.
And this one I just think is hilarious - I was in heels and we had to go down this steep hill and I was afraid I was going to fall - so Ian piggybacked me and I was terrified that we might both go down.
The last picture pretty much sums up how I was by the end of the night.
Sunday, we went up to Baltimore to meet Mrs. Twink and her hubby for a little photo session. It was freezing and I was super worried my nose was going to show up bright red. They were troopers taking pictures for us in the cold! I just looked at the pictures that they sent and I don't have a red nose! I am OBSESSED with several pictures. Here are a few of my faves:
And this one I just think is hilarious - I was in heels and we had to go down this steep hill and I was afraid I was going to fall - so Ian piggybacked me and I was terrified that we might both go down.
I am going to have trouble deciding which one to use! You guys rock!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Short Post
Today's post will be quite short. I am leaving work early to go pick Lauren up from the airport! We're going out to dinner tonight and then tomorrow have lots of wedding related errands to run as well as errands for the Swigs and Sweets Party we're having tomorrow night for my 25th Birthday. We're making a ton of desserts and have to get our alcohol shopping finished up. If you're coming to the party, come HUNGRY!!
Sunday, we're meeting with K&J after we drop Lauren off at the airport for them to take pictures - can't wait!
I'm meeting with Russell from Freed today at 2:30 so I'll let you know how that goes!
And a shout-out to Annie as tomorrow is her 24th Birthday - have a great weekend at Tech!
And people - I'm a little disappointed with the commenting - Kim has been the best. Stacy - you're slacking. And Alex - I will sucker punch you if you don't comment!
Sunday, we're meeting with K&J after we drop Lauren off at the airport for them to take pictures - can't wait!
I'm meeting with Russell from Freed today at 2:30 so I'll let you know how that goes!
And a shout-out to Annie as tomorrow is her 24th Birthday - have a great weekend at Tech!
And people - I'm a little disappointed with the commenting - Kim has been the best. Stacy - you're slacking. And Alex - I will sucker punch you if you don't comment!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Lots to Report
Sorry about not posting yesterday - things were a bit hectic. So Tuesday night, Maggie and I went to David's Bridal to try on bridesmaid dresses. We found one material that we liked the dresses and that the prices were quite reasonable. When Lauren comes into town this weekend, I'll take her to both places to see which she prefers. I also am happy to report that I have asked all of my bridesmaids now. Here's the list:
We met with Freed Photography last night. They have several photographers based on experience and different package prices depending on who you hire. We LOVED Russell and Pablo's work. We were so pleased with their work that we're going to go ahead and go with Russell we think. I think it's important to meet with him before we sign a contract though (since we just met with one of their reps last night). I expressed my concerns and the girl we worked with was fabulous. She said she'd throw in the engagement session for free and that we'd use that as the meeting time. If it turns out that we don't click with Russell, we'll walk away with no strings attached. She was fantastic. I have a call into her to find out when we can get the engagement session done since as of Friday the 23rd, I will be on crutches for several weeks and in a cast. No photo sessions for me after that! I'm hoping that he can fit us in this weekend but we'll see!
So I have some bad news about the STDs. We were using a photo that one of my friends from college had taken as the photo for our STD (I am not going to name just to keep this person anonymous). However, when I told her about it she asked that we credit her ON THE STD! Umm - say what? We certainly wouldn't dream of using her photos and making it seem as if it was our work. We offered to credit her on the website and in our program - but she was not happy with that. My fear in putting her information on the STD is that a) there is so little room on the STD as it is, and b) it would make it look as if she had designed them which would be horrible since Lauren is in fact, the person designing them! It's a super long story but basically she asked us about 2 years ago to take photos so that she could have couple photos in her portfolio. We agreed as long as I could develop a few photos for us to use. So she took the photos and then I paid 1/2 for the prints to be developed, and then after I chose the ones I wanted, I paid for those to be developed as well. Up until now, I've just framed the ones I liked and they're in our house. I've gotten tons of compliments about them and recommended her to a lot of people. By the way - this is not her profession - it's a hobby. I just think it's absurd that as a friend, you would demand such things. So we said forget it- we're not recommending her anymore and not using the picture anyways. I would've thought it would've been great for her work to be sent out to lots of young couples invited to our wedding who I'm sure would've been interested in knowing who took them. But not my loss! Also - she probably reads this blog but I don't care - this is stuff that she should know - this is not what a true friend would demand! Especially when I paid half for the prints to be stinking developed! Thoughts on this? Quite a few people have said to just go ahead and use the photo - but at this point I don't want to give her one ounce of exposure.
So that leads me to say that Mrs. Twink and her hubby might take them for us this weekend!! Their recent photos have been AWESOME and I can't wait to give credit to people who are truly our friends and are super excited to get experience!! Thus far, things that are meant to be have just fallen into place. So - I know that this will fall into place as well!
- Matron of Honor - Maggie - Maggie babysat me when I was little and she's like a sister to me. We spend most holidays with Maggie and her hubby and 3 amazing kids.
- Maid of Honor - Lauren - Lauren and I met during our junior year of college and just clicked. I feel like we've been friends for forever. We really "get" eachother! She lives far away but you'd never know it based on how much we keep in touch.
- Annie - Annie and I went to high school together. We've been great friends ever since and have lots of embarrassing photos that will not be coming out during the wedding process!!
- Bridget - Bridget and I went to high school together and have lots of hilarious (blackmail) stories from those days. She just got married in October and I was honored to be a part of her wedding!
- Leah - Leah (or as I call her - Laya) probably is receiving her card today in the mail, but she doesn't read the blog so we're good! Leah and I were extremely close while in Spain together. Once we returned home, our friendship has remained just as strong.
- Katie - Katie (or I often will refer to her as Lewis, or possibly abah) and I went to Spain together to study abroad. We weren't that close while abroad, but when we got back, we coincidentally ended up as roommates and we formed such a tight bond. We act like complete goofballs together.
- Junior Bridesmaid - Abby - Abby is Maggie's daughter and I've known her since she was in diapers. She's the sweetest girl and absolutely beautiful - her Dad needs to be careful once the boys start looking at her!
- Flower Girl - Ellie - Ellie is Maggie's youngest and is my god-daughter. She's a riot and she sometimes acts like she's my age. I will not be surprised if she steals the spotlight on our day!
We met with Freed Photography last night. They have several photographers based on experience and different package prices depending on who you hire. We LOVED Russell and Pablo's work. We were so pleased with their work that we're going to go ahead and go with Russell we think. I think it's important to meet with him before we sign a contract though (since we just met with one of their reps last night). I expressed my concerns and the girl we worked with was fabulous. She said she'd throw in the engagement session for free and that we'd use that as the meeting time. If it turns out that we don't click with Russell, we'll walk away with no strings attached. She was fantastic. I have a call into her to find out when we can get the engagement session done since as of Friday the 23rd, I will be on crutches for several weeks and in a cast. No photo sessions for me after that! I'm hoping that he can fit us in this weekend but we'll see!
So I have some bad news about the STDs. We were using a photo that one of my friends from college had taken as the photo for our STD (I am not going to name just to keep this person anonymous). However, when I told her about it she asked that we credit her ON THE STD! Umm - say what? We certainly wouldn't dream of using her photos and making it seem as if it was our work. We offered to credit her on the website and in our program - but she was not happy with that. My fear in putting her information on the STD is that a) there is so little room on the STD as it is, and b) it would make it look as if she had designed them which would be horrible since Lauren is in fact, the person designing them! It's a super long story but basically she asked us about 2 years ago to take photos so that she could have couple photos in her portfolio. We agreed as long as I could develop a few photos for us to use. So she took the photos and then I paid 1/2 for the prints to be developed, and then after I chose the ones I wanted, I paid for those to be developed as well. Up until now, I've just framed the ones I liked and they're in our house. I've gotten tons of compliments about them and recommended her to a lot of people. By the way - this is not her profession - it's a hobby. I just think it's absurd that as a friend, you would demand such things. So we said forget it- we're not recommending her anymore and not using the picture anyways. I would've thought it would've been great for her work to be sent out to lots of young couples invited to our wedding who I'm sure would've been interested in knowing who took them. But not my loss! Also - she probably reads this blog but I don't care - this is stuff that she should know - this is not what a true friend would demand! Especially when I paid half for the prints to be stinking developed! Thoughts on this? Quite a few people have said to just go ahead and use the photo - but at this point I don't want to give her one ounce of exposure.
So that leads me to say that Mrs. Twink and her hubby might take them for us this weekend!! Their recent photos have been AWESOME and I can't wait to give credit to people who are truly our friends and are super excited to get experience!! Thus far, things that are meant to be have just fallen into place. So - I know that this will fall into place as well!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Review: Elaine Studley and Save-the-Date Samples
We drove out to Darnestown (which is a little far out there for those of you who do not know it) and pulled into a very long driveway and gorgeous home. Elaine's studio is attached to her house and I was quite impressed with how professional the studio, and Elaine were! She made things so comfortable and things just felt very natural in terms of the conversation. The two other photographers, although we liked them, felt a bit awkward like there were awkward silent moments and whatnot.
Elaine showed us samples of different albums we can have and told us about her career. She used to be a documentary photographer and travel back and forth to NY for events when her photographer friends broke his collar bone and asked her to take photos of the weddings he had already been hired for. She never went back after that - she fell in love with weddings.
After showing us the albums and telling us about herself and finding out a bit about us and our wedding day, she left us alone to look through any album, any proof book, and her table full of notes from previous clients. The one thing that she did that no other photographer has done is show us complete wedding photographs - not just the perfect album pictures, but the proof books. For the first time, I felt like I connected with the bride, not necessarily because I was so like her brides (for instance, one decided to come in on her harley), but I just felt like she captured each bride beautifully.
She is a bit over what we had wanted to spend - but we might have to deal with it because I LOVED her. Ian thought she was somewhat comparable in terms of liking her pictures to that of Jan's work. I, however, loved Elaine's personality that much more!
We have another appointment tomorrow night with a photographer - we'll see how that one goes!
Lauren put together two rough drafts of our save-the-date cards and I am obsessed!!!! Not sure I am going to be able to decide which one to go with. I don't know how to post them since she sent them to me in pdf form. Also - on our STD is the website address to our now live wedding page: http://www.ianandkatie.com/. It's still a work in progress so don't judge ha.
Tonight, Ian is going out with some of his buddies. I actually have a bone to pick with one of his buddies about something relating to the wedding - but Ian is too nice to say anything to his buddy. If it were me, I would've come right out and said something! I on the other hand, am going to look at bridesmaid dresses with Maggie at David's bridal tonight. Have a good day:)
Elaine showed us samples of different albums we can have and told us about her career. She used to be a documentary photographer and travel back and forth to NY for events when her photographer friends broke his collar bone and asked her to take photos of the weddings he had already been hired for. She never went back after that - she fell in love with weddings.
After showing us the albums and telling us about herself and finding out a bit about us and our wedding day, she left us alone to look through any album, any proof book, and her table full of notes from previous clients. The one thing that she did that no other photographer has done is show us complete wedding photographs - not just the perfect album pictures, but the proof books. For the first time, I felt like I connected with the bride, not necessarily because I was so like her brides (for instance, one decided to come in on her harley), but I just felt like she captured each bride beautifully.
She is a bit over what we had wanted to spend - but we might have to deal with it because I LOVED her. Ian thought she was somewhat comparable in terms of liking her pictures to that of Jan's work. I, however, loved Elaine's personality that much more!
We have another appointment tomorrow night with a photographer - we'll see how that one goes!
Lauren put together two rough drafts of our save-the-date cards and I am obsessed!!!! Not sure I am going to be able to decide which one to go with. I don't know how to post them since she sent them to me in pdf form. Also - on our STD is the website address to our now live wedding page: http://www.ianandkatie.com/. It's still a work in progress so don't judge ha.
Tonight, Ian is going out with some of his buddies. I actually have a bone to pick with one of his buddies about something relating to the wedding - but Ian is too nice to say anything to his buddy. If it were me, I would've come right out and said something! I on the other hand, am going to look at bridesmaid dresses with Maggie at David's bridal tonight. Have a good day:)
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Week Ahead
This weekend was not a very busy wedding planning weekend. Saturday morning, Maggie and I picked up my veil and tried bridesmaid dresses on. No I have not figured out the entire bridal party but I will post that as soon as I have finished doing that! I am a little behind in that respect!
At that bridal shop, we decided we liked BillLevkoff dresses. The style numbers we chose are 458, 309, 310, 311, 970. I want each of my bridesmaids and junior bridesmaid to be able to pick whatever style they want. My only concern with these dresses is that they are quite slinky looking - almost too shiny. What do you think? I tried 2 of them on and they looked very flattering, and Maggie loved one of them. We're going to go to David's Bridal on Tuesday night just to check out their selection.
Tonight, we are meeting with Elaine Studley to check out her photography work. Elaine is one of the few people that when I saw the photos on her website, I was amazed. I am really excited to meet with her! We have a couple more photographers to meet with after tonight and then hopefully we can book our photographer in the next week.
Also this weekend, we looked into prices for lots of honeymoon destinations. I am really hoping we can go to an island in Italy, Greece, or Spain. We found some amazing places - Sardinia, Tenerife, Monaco, Catania, and Crete. This is the fun part:)
At that bridal shop, we decided we liked BillLevkoff dresses. The style numbers we chose are 458, 309, 310, 311, 970. I want each of my bridesmaids and junior bridesmaid to be able to pick whatever style they want. My only concern with these dresses is that they are quite slinky looking - almost too shiny. What do you think? I tried 2 of them on and they looked very flattering, and Maggie loved one of them. We're going to go to David's Bridal on Tuesday night just to check out their selection.
Tonight, we are meeting with Elaine Studley to check out her photography work. Elaine is one of the few people that when I saw the photos on her website, I was amazed. I am really excited to meet with her! We have a couple more photographers to meet with after tonight and then hopefully we can book our photographer in the next week.
Also this weekend, we looked into prices for lots of honeymoon destinations. I am really hoping we can go to an island in Italy, Greece, or Spain. We found some amazing places - Sardinia, Tenerife, Monaco, Catania, and Crete. This is the fun part:)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Save-the-Date Cards
First off - I loved Jan Michele. I was in a TERRIBLE mood on our way there because of the wonderful DC traffic. We literally sat on the GW parkway going no more than 10 mph. I was not a happy camper. We were late and I get horribly cranky when I am late - it makes me frazzled and my face gets all tense and then I get really snappy with the boy, as if somehow he has a choice in the traffic stopping or starting. Sorry I!
So we got there and she lives in a very cute house. Her pictures framed all over the house are beautiful. We loved her albums and her personality. She's very calm but yet has a fun side to her. We certainly came away very impressed. She's all about making the client happy which obviously we like to hear.
I do have to mention that looking through albums, while although is fun and gives an idea of the work, it's hard to be wowed by them unless you feel like you're like one of the brides in the photos. I just feel like if I can connect with the bride in the photos that it's that much easier to see the photos as what they would be for me. I have a feeling that does not make any sense at all, but for you married ladies, do you know what I'm talking about??
I am very excited that Lauren is starting to design our save-the-date cards!! She is an amazing graphic designer and I'm pretty open-minded about what it should look like, so I'm excited to see! Laur, I hope you don't mind but once you come up with some samples I might just have to post them on here to show off! My requests so far have been the wording on the STD, and the colors. And we are hoping to use a picture as the background.
Tomorrow morning I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with Maggie. I'm going to hopefully pick the material and I already know that they'll be black. I found a few ads in one of the umptieth bridal magazines my mother has given me (meanwhile, I haven't bought a single one!) for David's Bridal bridesmaid dresses. They have exactly what I'm looking for - I pick the color and the material, and most likely will decide that I want them all full-length, and then each of the bridesmaids will choose the cut and style of it. We also are going to try to register at another store this weekend. And the part of the weekend I am dreading the most - I need to finish my law school applications! Have a good weekend!
So we got there and she lives in a very cute house. Her pictures framed all over the house are beautiful. We loved her albums and her personality. She's very calm but yet has a fun side to her. We certainly came away very impressed. She's all about making the client happy which obviously we like to hear.
I do have to mention that looking through albums, while although is fun and gives an idea of the work, it's hard to be wowed by them unless you feel like you're like one of the brides in the photos. I just feel like if I can connect with the bride in the photos that it's that much easier to see the photos as what they would be for me. I have a feeling that does not make any sense at all, but for you married ladies, do you know what I'm talking about??
I am very excited that Lauren is starting to design our save-the-date cards!! She is an amazing graphic designer and I'm pretty open-minded about what it should look like, so I'm excited to see! Laur, I hope you don't mind but once you come up with some samples I might just have to post them on here to show off! My requests so far have been the wording on the STD, and the colors. And we are hoping to use a picture as the background.
Tomorrow morning I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with Maggie. I'm going to hopefully pick the material and I already know that they'll be black. I found a few ads in one of the umptieth bridal magazines my mother has given me (meanwhile, I haven't bought a single one!) for David's Bridal bridesmaid dresses. They have exactly what I'm looking for - I pick the color and the material, and most likely will decide that I want them all full-length, and then each of the bridesmaids will choose the cut and style of it. We also are going to try to register at another store this weekend. And the part of the weekend I am dreading the most - I need to finish my law school applications! Have a good weekend!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
DOC - Check
We decided to go ahead and hire Erin from Cherry Blossom Weddings & Events to be our Day-of-Coordinator. I am super thrilled to begin working with her and have her with us through the process. She has been very attentive thus far so I can only imagine how great she'll be now that we've hired her. Another item off my list! YAY!!
Next up, photographer time! We have 3 more appointments scheduled over the next week. Tonight, we are meeting with Jan Michele who was recommended to us by our DOC. I am super impressed with her work online. Do you like? She also is quite reasonably priced for the work she does.
I am going this Saturday to look at bridesmaid dresses with Maggie, my Matron-of-Honor. We're going to David's Bridal and Distinctive Designs (where I ordered my dress from). I also got a phone call yesterday from Sandy at DD letting me know that my veil is in and ready for me to come look at and pick up!! This makes me SO excited. Too bad the dress takes 5 months to come in. Ian asked if he could see it - NO! So I will be sending my veil home with Maggie on Saturday.
Next up, photographer time! We have 3 more appointments scheduled over the next week. Tonight, we are meeting with Jan Michele who was recommended to us by our DOC. I am super impressed with her work online. Do you like? She also is quite reasonably priced for the work she does.
I am going this Saturday to look at bridesmaid dresses with Maggie, my Matron-of-Honor. We're going to David's Bridal and Distinctive Designs (where I ordered my dress from). I also got a phone call yesterday from Sandy at DD letting me know that my veil is in and ready for me to come look at and pick up!! This makes me SO excited. Too bad the dress takes 5 months to come in. Ian asked if he could see it - NO! So I will be sending my veil home with Maggie on Saturday.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Reviews of Interviews
We had an interview with two people - a photographer on Monday night, and another DOC last night. Here are my reviews of each:
- Carl Bower: My first impression of Carl was wow, he's artsy! We sat and looked through his work and what I absolutely LOVE about his photos are the amazing candid shots. They aren't posed and they really capture the emotion and feeling of the day. I was thoroughly impressed with him. My only worry is that we'd be limited as to the number of posed photos we can take, as he prefers working in documentary style. Although when I asked him about this, he seemed completely willing to take the necessary ones that I'd like (at the church with both families, with my high school friends, with my college friends, and a group pic of all of the people coming from England). Additionally, he takes VERY few pictures in color - it would mostly be ones to show the warmth or to demonstrate the atmosphere - but otherwise, it's black and white. Now, we LOVE black and white photography - but I just don't know if I want to be limited. We're meeting with another photographer tomorrow night so we'll see how that goes. But overall, we would be happy working with Carl!
- Pammela Brown from KIAD (Know It All Diva) Creations : Pammela was great. She connected well with us and her examples of her work were lovely. She seems very knowledgeable and is around my mom's age which makes me feel like she has been doing this forever. She also seems like she'd be tough when she needs to be to get things done. She truly made me feel like I wouldn't have a worry once we get closer to our wedding day. However, I felt like Erin from Cherry Blossom who we met with last week kind of understood our vision a bit better. Maybe it's because of the age difference, but I just felt like I could almost be friends with Erin. Pammela is a couple hundred cheaper than Erin which is a great thing - but not enough of a difference to choose her over Erin.
We have another appointment with a DOC on Saturday but this is the person that's been a bit more flaky. Also, may end up cancelling it because we are just so happy with Erin. Do you think it's worth it to continue interviewing if you've found someone you love??
Tonight is a non-wedding meeting night! Instead I'll be catching up on the cleaning in our house and start picking out recipes to make for my 25th birthday party in 2 weekends!
I'm working with the hotel today to get the block of rooms set so that everyone can start making their reservations! I will post that info somewhere on the site so that everyone knows how and what to do. We are encouraging everyone to stay there since it's a late night and so that nobody has to worry about driving in DC!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Weekend Recap
This weekend we decided to take a break from all the wedding planning. We went away for the night on Saturday and really just concentrated on relaxing. We read a bit and watched very little TV. We did watch Hot Fuzz which was quite humourous, and Ian loved it for the dry (very British) sense of humor.
I don't have much wedding gossip to talk about since we didn't really accomplish anything with it this weekend. This week, we are meeting with a couple photographers and another DOC. Additionally, I am going to ask the last of my bridesmaids this week to be a part of our wedding, and Ian will do the same. I want to finish that up so that I can start the fun stuff with them!
I added the story of why the blog is named what it is. People have been asking so I just added it! I also added the calendar of events - not that I think the majority of people are interested in knowing every appointment we have with wedding people. It's more for the few girls who are about to be, or already are engaged so that they can take a look into the people I've met with and we can share stories about them.
How was everyone's weekend?
I don't have much wedding gossip to talk about since we didn't really accomplish anything with it this weekend. This week, we are meeting with a couple photographers and another DOC. Additionally, I am going to ask the last of my bridesmaids this week to be a part of our wedding, and Ian will do the same. I want to finish that up so that I can start the fun stuff with them!
I added the story of why the blog is named what it is. People have been asking so I just added it! I also added the calendar of events - not that I think the majority of people are interested in knowing every appointment we have with wedding people. It's more for the few girls who are about to be, or already are engaged so that they can take a look into the people I've met with and we can share stories about them.
How was everyone's weekend?
Friday, November 2, 2007
Unwind
I am getting a bit overwhelmed with the appointments and so much wedding talk. We decided a couple weeks ago that Friday nights will be our one night that we do not talk about anything wedding related! I'm looking forward to having a break from it all tonight.
So last night we met with Alex and Erin from Cherry Blossom and I fell in love with these girls! They are absolutely fantastic. I came out of the meeting knowing that I'd be completely happy with Erin working with us throughout the process. What I love about them is that they take over in the planning for the most part, the entire last month before the wedding. I won't have to deal with my vendors or anything - they handle it! Not only that, but they have already given me so many hints and suggestions for vendors I haven't booked yet. But as I've heard from just about every bride, I am still interviewing two other DOC just to see. One of them has been a bit flaky in calling when she said she would, and the other seems a bit sketchy in terms of her website and the emails I've received from her. But both people have been recommended by people on the Knot so who knows! Either way, if neither of them work out I feel totally confident and excited to work with Erin!
No wedding planning going on this weekend. I am finishing up my law school applications and writing my personal statement so that those can go out over the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for the comments guys! Keep them coming - and don't be afraid to post them on the blog!!
So last night we met with Alex and Erin from Cherry Blossom and I fell in love with these girls! They are absolutely fantastic. I came out of the meeting knowing that I'd be completely happy with Erin working with us throughout the process. What I love about them is that they take over in the planning for the most part, the entire last month before the wedding. I won't have to deal with my vendors or anything - they handle it! Not only that, but they have already given me so many hints and suggestions for vendors I haven't booked yet. But as I've heard from just about every bride, I am still interviewing two other DOC just to see. One of them has been a bit flaky in calling when she said she would, and the other seems a bit sketchy in terms of her website and the emails I've received from her. But both people have been recommended by people on the Knot so who knows! Either way, if neither of them work out I feel totally confident and excited to work with Erin!
No wedding planning going on this weekend. I am finishing up my law school applications and writing my personal statement so that those can go out over the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for the comments guys! Keep them coming - and don't be afraid to post them on the blog!!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Honeymoon Destination Ideas
Tonight, we are meeting with a possible Day-of-Coordinator from Cherry Blossom. I will let you know how it goes. My mom is coming with us because I'm not exactly sure what I should be asking them. I already know what's included in the package and how much it costs. For me, it's more of test to see if I click (because really, how much is Ian going to be talking to this person?!) with this person and know if they get our "vision" for the wedding.
So, the title of the post is where I'm going with today's post. We have come up with many ideas so I'll list them out - vote, give us more ideas, tell us some wonderful places!
So, the title of the post is where I'm going with today's post. We have come up with many ideas so I'll list them out - vote, give us more ideas, tell us some wonderful places!
- Hawaii: I LOVED Hawaii when I went there as my college graduation present with my mom and brother. I found it incredibly romantic and there is plenty to do there in case we want to venture out to sightsee a bit. Our issue with Hawaii is that I've been there already - we both kind of want to go to some place neither of us has been. Also, it's not a very unique place to go.
- Greece: Neither of us have been to Greece and we both find the idea quite appealing. I've heard amazing stories and Santorini has been recommended as an incredible island to visit for a honeymoon. However, I quickly looked up prices just for flights to Greece and they were about $1800 per person - yikes! I've been told that we're probably too far away from the dates which is why the prices are outrageous, and that most likely the prices will drop.
- St. Thomas/Caribbean: Again - I LOVED St. Thomas when I went there with my family while on a cruise. But I've been there before. We also feel that since we only get one honeymoon, that we should go some place that is further, and go to a place that we normally wouldn't be able to go to. Same goes for other islands in the Caribbean. What is a less crowded or less touristy island in the Caribbean?
- Tenerife: This is part of the Canary Islands which are part of Spain. I visited there while I was studying in Spain. It kind of reminded me of Hawaii. Same problem - I've been there! Also , we are interested in going some place to relax, lay around and do nothing, but be able to go shopping or sightseeing for a day or two if we want. Tenerife doesn't have a whole lot to do except stay at the resort.
- Italy: Too much sightseeing to do here! But I'd LOVE to visit all over Italy. Ian has already been down that road.
So that's our list of ideas thus far. I would love to do France, but Ian lived there for 10 years so it's not all that exciting for him. Although he never stayed in Paris so I would love to go there for a couple nights if we are going somewhere in Europe for our honeymoon! Any other ideas?
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