Check: Videographer

EEEEEEE! One more vendor check, and it's another splurge!

The videographer search involved a lot of internet searching, 2 meetings in person and we can't wait to work with Austin Walton! He won us over with his amazing HD quality, his charming personality and best of all his low price! hey, it's a splurge but we're still tight on the budget ;)

Here's a sample of his great HD quality, it's not a wedding (we got 3 of those samples to watch at home before booking and there's a couple on his website) but just know that his weddings are just as clear!

Christina & Steven - Engagement Shoot from Austin Walton on Vimeo.

I am truly excited to know that we will be able to hear our vows for years to come!

If you booked a videographer did you go for HD filming or something else like super 8?

300!!

Source

It might not be "glory" but we are preparing for our special day and we have now made it to 300 days!!

A little personal décor for the sweetheart table

Our very first trip together was a road trip to San Antonio for Mr. E’s birthday in 2007. It was a special trip for us which is why we will be heading back there for our minimoon after the wedding. During that trip I saw how much I had touched Mr. E’s life, and knew how much he made my life better.

Our first full day started with a free breakfast at the hotel followed by a cruise down the river.

After the river cruise we decided to venture out to the market square.

With the city map from the hotel in hand we headed out, and after getting lost once or twice (I stink with directions which is why one of the best Christmas presents ever was a GPS for my car from Brother Elephant) we finally arrived. The market area is full of crafts and one of the first stops we made was to a stand that would create a wooden sign out of your names for about $10. I really wanted one, and Mr. E was sweet enough to buy it for me. The seller said it would be about an hour to finish (there was a long line of orders in front of ours) which would give us enough time to check out the rest of the market area and head back to pick it up.

After checking out all of the little stands and the “mall” area, we killed some time by watching a children’s dance school performance. They were too cute!

We headed back after an hour, but they still weren't done so we had to kill even more time. Another 30 minutes and ours was finally finished! We picked blue and green for our names - see we loved those colors even back then!

We will be placing this on our sweetheart table for the wedding to add a little personal décor.

How will you decorate your sweetheart table?

Free Transportation

Score one for the budget!!

Since our ceremony and reception will be at the same location, it cuts down on the transportation cost. Since our wedding package includes a free night stay at the Tribute, that drops down our required transportation cost to zero!

We’ll drive ourselves to the venue the day of the wedding and then use that same car to drive home the next morning.

I do want to have a “send off” where the guests wave good bye and our photographer gets some good shots of us leaving. When talking to our planner about the possible rental of a golf cart just to ride down the street and come back, she let us know that the Tribute will let us use one for free. Wow! That’s one word you don’t get to hear too often (if at all) during wedding planning so we are thrilled to take them up on their offer. Our planner also let us know that in order to max out our floral arrangements from the ceremony, that she will re-use it to decorate the golf cart while we are dancing the night away.

I can picture it now, Mr. E and me driving off in a decorated one of these!

(Source)

How will you make your grand exit from your wedding?

Sunset Engagement Pics

Just one more post of engagement pictures, I promise!

I don't think I can rave enough about our photographer Lynn Michelle!! After our engagement session at the railway museum, Lynn asked if we would like to meet up again with her to take some sunset pictures. She loves a good sunset shot and due to the closing time of the museum, we knew we wouldn't be there late enough for sunset pictures.

Of course we jumped at the chance to hang out with Lynn again and take more pictures! She even asked if we wanted to bring along my dog Gypsy to get in on the action. Its hard to narrow it down, but here are my favorites for your viewing pleasure :)

All photos courtesy of Lynn Michelle Photography

I love this next one of us and Gypsy! I just have to include it in our Christmas card this year ;)

Gypsy gets her close up.

This one is a good shot of Mr. E's art work.

Saving the best for last. I can't wait to get it enlarged! Look closely between us, notice anything interesting?

If you had engagement pictures taken, did you have a hard time picking a favorite?

Favor Packages

In the earlier days of planning we opted to forgo the candy bar in place of a potential photobooth. I still loved the look of blue and green take out boxes, and we would still like to send our guests off with a little somethin' somethin' edible.

While shopping in Michael's (where else would I be?) I picked up a couple of 1/2 pint take out boxes, added a little ribbon and printed off mini Thank You tags. Put it all together and what do you get? Our favor boxes!



Still not sure what we're going to put in them, but at least I have something cute to put them in that will also add color to our tables!

Did you do edible or non edible favors? Or no favors at all?

Engagement Pics - My Favorites

After sitting through 2 posts of pics, are you ready for my favorites? It was so hard to narrow it down, but here are my top 10 (not in any particular order) from our engagement shoot.

All pictures from Lynn Michelle Photography

The first two were the teasers that Lynn sent, love the lighting in the first one and the intimacy in the second.

The next one just looks so cool. I'm 99% sure that this is the one that we will make into a canvas print to display at the reception (part of our photography package)

A little wind adds to the romance of this one.

With the old school train, truck and placement of the suitcases and globe, this next one is perfect for our save the date magnet.

The chucks were a want, not a need and we love them!

The last set were taken outside of the train museum. Lynn has an eye that turns random flowers (or weeds) and an old rusty truck into great backdrops.

And last but not least, the photo for our pre-wedding thank you cards.

Sigh, I could look at these pictures all day.

If you took engagement pictures, what did you do with them? Did you use any in DIY projects?

Engagement Pics - The Funny Ones

We checked out some e-pics here, now for some of the funny pictures from our engagement shoot.

All pictures in post from Lynn Michelle Photography

Here we are playing with some props from Lynn. The gnome is sort of a mini mascot for Lynn, he makes the rounds to all of her weddings and sneaks into a detail shot or two.

We got a kick out of the photo booth props.

The lead up to this picture is what made it funny. Let's just say I really needed an extra boost from Mr. E.

For the life of us we could not keep our left pant legs up!

You can call me air Jordan. I got ups!

Although this can easily be edited out, we thought the skull face under "embrace" was too funny.

Next up - My favorites!!

Did you have any funny shots from your engagement pictures?

Engagement Pictures!!

I am so excited about these!!! Lynn Michelle did such a wonderful job, and we had a blast shooting them. I won't talk too much, and let the pictures speak for themselves.

All pictures from Lynn Michelle Photography

The pictures were taken at the railway museum near Fair Park in Dallas. We started out in our "dressy" clothes, but that didn't last too long. Mr. E and I are both more jeans and t-shirt type of people, and felt more ourselves once we changed.

Here is one picture to prove that we did dress up in the beginning.




The series are in our casual clothes in, on and around the trains. Notice the shirt colors? Yep they're our wedding colors!

Another shout out to my mom for getting the hook up with the old school suitcases!

Love these pictures! Stay tuned for my favorites and the funny ones!

Did you incorporate your wedding theme into your engagement pictures?

A little help goes a long way

I love my fiancé! I’m so appreciative of how Mr. E has helped out so far in the planning of our wedding. He has made purchases (like a new tool box, and a drill) to help with the DIY projects…


has made several runs to Michael’s with me (so I can use two 50% off coupons in one trip), listens to me as I talk about the wedding (even if he’s playing a game, he’ll pause to give his input)…


…and has even helped fold flowers for the pomanders (he will most likely kill me for this picture, hehe).


These are just a few more reasons to add to the ever growing list of why I love this man and can’t wait to be his wife!

Did your fiancé help a lot during the planning process?

Make Up Help

Let's just say, between you and me, I am not a girl that loves to wear make up. In fact the reason I hate to put it on is the fact that I have to take it off at the end of the night, normally when I'm too tired to do much of anything. After my first couple of weeks at work, I was too lazy to bother with it, and haven't really worn it on a daily basis since. Here's a picture with my average everyday naked face.

On the plane to New Orleans

Don't get me wrong, I do own makeup and will put it on for a special occasion or anytime I know there will be a lot of pictures taken, like vacations or parties. I normally only stick to the basics: eye shadow, mascara, eye liner and Chap Stick. My lips are pretty sensitive, and have been known to break out, so I don't like to risk it. Here's a pic of my face with a little help from makeup.

Mr. E & me on a trolley tour on our trip to Philly in 2008

To really emphasis the fact that I hardly ever wear makeup, I still have the very first Clinique compact of eye shadow that Mama Elephant purchased for me back in middle school. It's worn down, and there's very little left, but I still have it 13 years later.

Of course I plan on wearing makeup on the big day, and that's the reason I will seek help in that department. I plan on hiring a makeup artist to come out to the Tribute the morning of and do my makeup there. I have begun the research and will keep you posted on what I find.

Will you do your own makeup on your wedding day, or hire someone else to do it?