In My Head – Wedding Photo Edition

October 11, 20131 Comment

HI.

Lately my life has been neither extraordinary or ordinary, really. I’m stuck somewhere in between. I feel a bit whelmed, as described here. As I mentioned in my previous post, Bryan and I are making a large purchase and as a result, my serotonin levels have been suffering. Coupled with the fact that I am also planning a wedding has made my brain into a 24-hour-a-day, non-stop machine. With no off switch.

Usually, when I find myself in times of trouble, ~~mother Mary comes to me~~ I drink a little vodka and buy lipstick. This routine has now become totally blasé. I find myself needing just two simple things. The first thing keeping my mind in the sane category is maintaining a neat and tidy home. I feel the need to banish crumbs, vacuum on the hour and take out the trash when it’s a quarter full. Perhaps it’s the sight of the perfectly proportionate mist from the Windex bottle kissing the hairspray stains on the mirror. The soft thud of the Honey Nut Cheerios I have swept up into the dustpan hitting the garbage can liner. My worries are wiped away and taken out with the trash. I LOVE IT.

The second theraputic means, I am doing right now! Spewing my thoughts onto the interwebs, in a journal, on a paper towel, WHEREVER – has always calmed me down. List making is another good one. So it is here, where I will attempt to bring solace to my unrelenting case of the worries.

Now it is time to talk about wedding photographers, k?

I have gone through a bit of a journey here. Searching the Wedding Wire directories got me lost and confused in the foreign land of tiered “packages”, photo-journalistic styles and high-res/low-res discs. I know the difference, btw, but where I start getting all messy boots is when I begin to compare one photo to another.

Which is better? How important is a photographer? I quickly learned the answer:

VERY

Another annoying habit of mine is figuring out what “style” is fitting. Trends like the Pinteresty washed-out look, to the use of fancy wide-angle lenses and crazy contrasting brings up tough questions. Which is “us”? Which is timeless?

Pinteresty

Contrasty

Photos courtesy of Pinterest.

I looked at a million pictures and made a few phone calls. It’s kind of like online dating. YEAH. Where’s the match.com for people to meet their wedding photographers?

Of course (especially with me) price plays another huge factor in this decision. Photography costing upwards of 6-7K these days, it’s no wonder people lose their sh*t over weddings. Yes, it’s your wedding day and hopefully, (unlike 50% of the population) you will only have one. When else will you hire a brigade of (for lack of a better word) minions to order around to do your makeup, curl your hair and let your dress out another inch because you couldn’t say no to all that pie?

Wedding websites suggest 10-12% of your budget should go towards photography. But with $7,000 price tags, how many of us are shelling out 60 grand for our weddings? I’ll tell ya one thing: WE’RE NOT.

If it’s not already painstakingly clear, I needed help. I dreamed of a wedding photographer consultant – a fairy godmother of sorts, who will wave her magic wand and poof! A smiley, perfectly groomed wedding photographer would appear and take the perfect mix of photos. All while capturing the moment and keeping an immaculate schedule.

Too much to ask?

Luckily, such a person does exist (thanks Alisha!). I am beyond thrilled to have made this decision. Now, onto the other 712,1238912 decisions.

ALSO – More news on the big purchase is coming soon, promise.

Megan and Ben’s Wedding

August 22, 20136 Comments

Hello Mates!

In an attempt to tackle what could easily be the most wordy, emotional and just plain long post – I have wisely decided to go down another path. The path less traveled. The path that is sprinkled with photos and witty anecdotes, free of mile-long paragraphs and steep pitches of run-on sentences.

How do I plan to do this?

I am channeling my inner minimalist and hoping the random sampling of photos will somehow resemble a post that is worthy of such a spectacular day. Like unwelcome wedding guests, nerves, anxiousness and worry somehow reared their ugly heads. Luckily sheer joy, love and laughter persevered above all.

It wasn’t a perfect day. Seams were ripped, sweat permeated satin and raindrops fell. I don’t know about the bride, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

So, with no further adieu – I give you, my loyal readers…

Megan and Ben’s Wedding – The Top Ten List

1. Decorating!

2. The rehearsal dinner

The Johnson Siblings

Girls and ~~Boys~~ Girls

3. Getting our Nails Did

4. Getting our Hurrs Did

Ol’ Crazy Eyes

POMPADOR

Ouch!

5. Getting Ready

Pluckage

Tiny Chloe

6. The Ceremony

Strutting

Adorbs

Double Fisting

Just look at my face.

7. Seeing Friends and Family at the Reception

Bridesmaid Entrance

8. Cutting a RUG

9. DRINKING and CAKE

Melting my heart.

10. Seeing my big sister the happiest ever

Venue: Terra Blanca Winery
Dress: La Belle Elaine’s
Bridesmaid Dresses: Purple Parasol and David’s Bridal
Food: Twigs
Flowers: Twigs and Petals
Nice Photos by: My Talented Aunt Judy and Andrea Starr Photography
Ring: Dodson’s Jewelers

THE Dress

April 2, 2013July 18, 20136 Comments

There are shows devoted to it, stores that specialize in it and crazy-ass broads who spend as much as a manufactured home on it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen…I am broaching the ever-so-enlightening topic of wedding dresses. Piggybacking off my last wedding related post, I felt it only natural to start with the dress, a very good place to start. I’ll try and spare you the details of this inundating search for a garment I realize, I will only wear but once. Let’s keep this party polite.

And as much as I love Say Yes to the Dress, I will not be following any of their rules.

Please don’t think me a wanna-be wedding guru for trying to abolish rules set fourth by such characters. I am in know way an expert. However, having attended a hefty amount of weddings in my time which I think, makes me privy to certain things at the very least.

To me, a wedding dress should look like you. You at your most fabulous, but still remain true to your style. But I’m getting ahead of myself. According to my personal research, wedding dress shopping is like selecting a diamond. There are a multitude of basic characteristics one must consider. With a diamond, you ponder the 4 C’s. With wedding dresses I have broken it down into the memorable acronym, SCFN . Silhouette, color, fabric and neckline to be exact. These seem to be the maja things to look for in a dress. For all the crazies, I could include train, hemline, bustle, sleeve, etc.

At Starbucks, “Can I get a fit-n-flare, blush-colored, silk organza, sweetheart, cathedral train, tea-lengthed, swarofski crystal-embellished, empire-waisted gown, to go please?”

NO foam.

I think brides of today get so caught up in searching for the so-called “perfect dress”. It’s almost as if our culture is encouraging betrothed women to tote around clipboards with their wedding dress checklists. “I’m sorry but I can’t try that on. It’s Chantilly lace when clearly I asked for Alençon.”

Let’s be honest about one thing here. Do you remember what kind of neckline the bridal gown had at the last wedding you went to? Unless your Austin Scarlett, probably not. What do we remember?

My guess: The way the bride looked overall.

Most brides tend to be emphatically joyous, glowing. It’s her day and she has likely worked hard for it. She may have allowed herself to be consumed by the placement of pearls on the bodice, or the bustle not being just right. But does anyone notice besides her? Sadly, probably not.

It’s really quite a shame that we heap all these expectations upon our mystic-tanned shoulders. On the other hand, it’s more than running down to Macy’s to get a dress for Sunday Mass. I plan to employ the if-at-first-you-don’t-succeed method in my quest for the dress (hey, maybe I’ve got the name for a new blog!) and will hopefully emerge victorious.

My expectations? I’d like to pay homage to all of the different looks I have in my head. I die for blush-colors, lace, bust-enhancing accoutrements, full ball gowns and open backs. Oh, and I love me a sweetheart neckline. Shut it down. Hat tip to Miss Zoe for the vocab.

And while I have no words for the amazingly beautiful couture dresses I see floating down the runway on an Angelina-after-detox look-alikes, I’m fine with procuring myself the knock-off from David’s Bridal #noshame.

Oh haaayy cuz + Nan

My dress bucket-list is short, much like my tolerance for satin. But that’s a another post. I’d like the ability to have a reasonable range of motion. All 6 feet of me forced into geisha strutting? Not happening. I’d also like to look as girly as possible, which may be a task in and of itself. Masking my somewhat manish upper-half is gonna take some serious styling and I’d prefer NOT to look like Patrick Shwayze in To Wong Foo. Ok, maybe a little 🙂 Lastly, the dress must be somewhat light. Although I love the look of heavier dresses, I will not pit out for fashion.

Let’s get to the dresses I’ve been looking at ~~5X per day~~ once or twice on the internets.

*A huge thank you to Miss Claire Pettibone for constructing what I believe are the most beautiful dresses on earth. If only I could afford you…

NO WORDS.

More inspiration courtesy of Mizz Lhuillier

*All wedding related posts will now get filed away under the “wedding” tab. Brill.

An Old-Fashioned Wedding

March 12, 2013March 23, 20132 Comments

…Blessed in that good ol’ fashioned way!

Oh how I love Ethel Merman.

I think that being an engaged woman constitutes lots of lengthy, emotional posts where I’ll expose each one of you to semi-ridiculous subjects such as tealights and cake-pops. And no, we won’t be dispensing cake-pops at our wedding. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. I prefer to roam in the pastures of garden lanterns, petite fours and pink champagne, ça va?

Frolicking in Versailles.

Let’s first address the elephant in the room – weddings are expensive. I realize that for some, dropping over 25 grand on ONE day is child’s play. For me however, parting with $100 for a completely necessary car repair or vacuum cleaner brings on hives. I practically break out the xanax each time I undergo a major purchase. You guys know I shop at Goodwill and 75% off racks at Target, trying to justify adding a belt to a 3XL cardigan, by telling myself it’ll be cute.

I certainly understand the importance of quality in certain things, however, I am my mother’s daughter. I have rifled through many a $1 bin and scrounged around in strangers garage’s in 95 degree-heat. It’s true, I am perfectly able to surrender to a striking black leather Rebecca Minkhoff Mac Bag but it pains me to pay full-price for items such as socks, casserole dishes and the like.

Worth It

And when it comes to weddings, a person can go proverbially hog-wild.

Planning this shin-dig is overwhelming and kindof makes me want to curl up in my pink snuggie (yes, I own one) and never emerge. More than that, I sometimes feel a weird competitiony vibe with women + weddings. We are losing sleep over coming up with the most unique centerpieces and always looking for the new “it” item that no has done yet (i.e candy buffet bars, photo booths, cupcakes, etc). In fact, the hit show on TLC , Four Weddings focuses on just that. Yes, lets attend one another’s nuptials and pass judgements to complete strangers on dress, food and venue. Disclaimer: I do watch this show when it’s on. I like me m’progrums.

Who am I to hate on a Pnina Tornai ball gown with a see-through bodice? Or potluck-style receptions? You wanna do a keg-stand at your wedding? Sounds great! You feel it’s right to break-dance in your wedding dress? More power to you!

Yep.

But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, I don’t blame these broads who go totally apesh*t planning their weddings.

And, I fully realize what you new-agers out there are thinking. That there are ways around all of the “norms”.

Scenario 1: “Get married in a park and have a potluck.”

Scenario 2: “Rent a community center and do the food and decorating yourself.”

Scenario 3: “Go to ______(insert destination of choice) and tie the knot under a waterfall.”

Or my favorite…”Just go down to City Hall.”

Yeah…NO.

For all of you people, I ask you this: Is that what you’d really choose? Maybe. Pre-enganged Natalie might have uttered one or more of these suggestions and tried to convince herself that they were all viable options. These ideas could be totally amazing and work well for many.

Does it work for me?

NO.

I would love to say that I don’t care about all the wedding “crap”. That I don’t spend hours upon hours parousing the thousands of wedding boards on Pinterest and lusting after mushy pictures and DIY crafts. That I could just as easily scamper on down to the hitchin’ post with a white sundress from Forever 21 and call it good.

But I can’t.

If I am being honest with myself, I want an old-fashioned wedding. With the sappy ceremony, the white dress and maybe even a signature cocktail. If I’m being honest with myself, I want the day that every little girl dreams about. And DON’T say you never thought about it. We all did.

However, I am prematurely waving the white flag for any type A’s out there. Our wedding will be us and thus, not perfect. We’ll do things that have been done (e.g cupcakes, gasp!) , not everything will match “the theme” and, by George – if I want cotton candy I’m having it!

Yes. Cotton. Candy.

So in conclusion to this prolonged and colloquial discourse, I must warn you of this:

I will blog honestly an openly about all-things wedding.
It may be graphic and upsetting.
None of the following will be mentioned: the electric slide, the song “We Are Family”, the chicken dance or (the worst offender) signs toted by the ring bearer, reading “Here comes your girl!”.

No thanks

Bekah + Matt’s Wedding

December 8, 20113 Comments

Happy Thursday Lovelies!

So in the midst of lots of mediocre posts about Hello Kitty mini-plushes from Albertsons and one-man book clubs, I missed one the most important events this year! One of my besties got MARRIED.

Bekah and Matt met when we were in college, at Whitworth. Bekah and Matt were, get this, lab partners. I know, it’s so freaking cute. They were just friends. And what started out as friendly study sessions turned into something more over the years. The couple now resides in an adorably cute apartment in downtown Seattle. I sound like the chick from House Hunters…anyways – Bekah is a PA and Matt is a PT. They’re smart. They know things.

Anywho- their wedding was on November 4th, 2011 and I was lucky enough to be in attendance. The wedding was at a freaking AMAZING venue and was decorated so beautifully, but most importantly so much like Bekah. They went with a vintage circus, almost Moulin Rouge-ish theme.

Before the wedding, we all dashed across the street and took tequila shots. Because that is smart.

Blurry But You Get It

When we got there, we were welcomed into what I like to call basically a rad party. Bekah was donning a sassy white sequined cocktail dress and everyone was enjoying the southern-inspired appetizers that were being passed around. Hello hushpuppies! Check out this awesome treatment they did above the dance floor:

Vintage Umbrellas

Around 7:30, the party was put on pause for the ceremony. The small-ish crowd formed an aisle for Bekah to walk down. It was so incredible. We all teared up a tad when she walked down the isle with her dad (who I love). Bekah obviously looked gorgeous. Duh, she’s a friend of mine.

Tres Glam

The ceremony was awesome because it was SO different from any other I’ve been to. Basically, we all stood there watching in adoration as Bekah married her bestie. It rocked.

Adore

After that we drank some vino and got to it.

Scampin

Bathroom Pics, Always a Good Idea

Carey's Hubby Chris, This is Totally Normal to Me

Carey Creepily Enjoying Her Popcorn, Again Totally Normal

Whitney also brought along the Flat 4 PHOTO BOOTH! Aka, the other most wonderful time of the year.

Here’s Whit and I…we know how to get down in the photo booth.

Not exactly proud of my face and especially my arms in picture no. 4, but hey, anything for the blog.

All in all, the wedding was perfect.

Did I mention they had mini-doughnuts for dessert? I ate a platter. Don’t tell :-).

Let Them Eat Flan

September 30, 20111 Comment

We are officially on vacation!

Well, technically Bryan is still at work but he will be off in 4 short hours and then it’s really official.

You heard right, at 5 pm, Bryan and I will be flying to Seattle, staying for 2 days and then taking off for Mexico on Monday! Ole!

Other excitements include:

Staying at Bryan’s house in Redmond and spending time with his parents (awesome folk).
Attending his buddy Spencer’s wedding on Saturday with friends.
Getting to see my Mom and sister who are randomly coming to Seattle this weekend.
Frolicking.
Gallivanting.
Slayin wedding cake.

We’ll also be celebrating Bryan’s 28th birthday with his parents and friends. I LOVE birthdays so this makes me happy.

Mini-Saxaphone

Last Wednesday, I decided to throw Bryan a little surprise party myself!

Cupcake theme, obv

Birthday Irish Trash-Can

Baaad Eyeshadow

Dessert Sampler- Cheesecake, Red Velv Whoopie Pie and Italian Creme Cupcake

Singing

‘Twas a great time indeed. Thanks to Holly for helping me set up and Lorie for seeing it through to the end.

In terms of my Mexican adventure studies, here is all I feel I will need to know:

Don’t follow a group of random senors down a dark alley way just because they promised chihuahuas and flan.
Do not eat a street taco after you ask if it was prepared in sanitary ways and he holds up a bottle of anti-bacterial gel.
Always haggle. Always.

In terms of my Spanish?

“Hola. Me llamo Natalie. Uno cerveza por favor.”

And most importantly?

“Me gustaria la golosina”. (I would like candy)

Carey + Chris Wedding Recap

September 16, 20112 Comments

I’ve been to a lot of weddings.

Maybe not as many as my pal Whitney (best photog this side of the Mississippi *bible) but quite a few.

And I’ve seen it all.

The bride walking around the outdoor reception barefoot, holding a beer bong in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other.
A reception with ZERO decorations, yet there was a giant, gaudy swan ice sculpture.
15 minute- long maid of honor toasts that were dominated 100% by inside-jokes, leaving anyone who wasn’t BFF’s with the bride completely clueless.
A wedding where water wasn’t free…in July. Yep, please fork of $3.50 per bottle if you don’t want to pass out from heat exhaustion or…alcohol consumption.
Baked potato bar.
Vows that included the groom comparing the growing love for his bride to his staggering DVD collection.
A wedding which included the mother of the groom playing a professionally recorded version of “That’s What Friends are For” with her singing, replacing the word “Friends” with “Moms” during the mother- son dance (hello run in sentence, ending with parenthesis!). Thus making the title “That’s What Moms are For”. The song also included a monologue of the mother talking to her son.

I’ve also been lucky enough to attend some beautiful, elegant weddings as well. But those pretty much pail in comparison to the ones with pinatas. Sorry.

My friend Carey and her new hubby Chris put on maybe one of the most gorgeous weddings I’ve ever been to. Carey and Chris got hitched at Carey’s house, which happens to have a historic barn on the property. Every single detail screamed Carey, down to the individually wrapped pears to the locally baked cheddar bread on each table.

We kicked off the festivities with a bachelorette party of course. It was held on the rooftop of a building in downtown Spokane and was totes SATC.