Engagement Photos

Just over a month until Lee and I travel back to North Dakota to take our engagement photos.  Our photographer is Shawna Noel Widdel of Shawna Noel Photography.  I am excited for our "e-session" with her! 

I have been collecting creative ideas for engagement photos.  Of course Lee and I will want some of the traditional posed photos, but I want us to have fun with the session too.  For example, I would love to incorporate ice cream into one of our photos.  Lee said he would like to incorporate dentistry.  I think we will just have to incorporate dentistry by showing our pearly whites when we smile.  :)

Here are some fun ideas I have found:

Back to back: simple and sweet

 Balloons could be fun, and inexpensive.

 I also like the idea of incorporating a small bouquet.  

The two pictures above were taken on a bridge in our hometown.  I definitely want to try to recreate these. 

 Bubbles!  Cute!  And again, inexpensive.

 Sexy...  ;)

 Since we met dancing, a dance pose could be fun.  And maybe not just the cliche dip like you see in many other photos. 

A perfect example of a close-up formal shot.  And of course it's perfect: they are royals.

Cute hands

 Love the light in this one!  And i love how she is hugging him from behind.

 Ice cream!  It must be done.  :)

 Random, but cool: getting touchy-feely in the library.

 I like shots in the middle of the road

 One thing Lee and I both really dislike: the pictures where the girl/guy is standing in front, and the significant other is standing in the background, blurred out.  I think this is a nice alternative.  The focus is on the girl, but the guy is still part of the picture too.

 Cute props make photo sessions fun.  Maybe they should be "pears"?  :)

I like the perspective on this one with the columns. 

 A fun save the date idea with a chalkboard.

 Another save the date with a post-it note.

 Too fun.  The ring makes a perfect "o."

 A unique optical illusion!

Here is another location in our hometown I think would be fun to use.  This is underneath one of the bridges.  I like the perspective the rectangles offer.

Any favorites?

No Heat Curls

If you are looking for an easy way to style your hair for weddings and want curls that beat the heat, I found a new, fool-proof method of curling hair.  I tried a no-heat curling method last night before I went to bed, and I was really surprised by how the results turned out.  The process was quick (15 minutes), easy (all you need is a stretchy headband), looked great, and lasted the entire day. 

Here's a tutorial:

http://www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com/2011/07/no-heat-curls.html

The best part was how long the curls lasted.  I was surprised they lasted so long since I didn't even have damp hair when I put them in.  I got lots of compliments at work too.  :)

Monograms!

I just got internet/tv at my apartment for the first time in a month.  Thank goodness!  ;)  In some of my free time without internet and tv, I decided to take a stab at creating my own monogram.  My first attempt was pretty, but kind of boring:

My next attempt was much more to my liking:

 

I really like how it turned out, and I think it might be something I want to incorporate into the wedding.  Perhaps on things like invitations, wedding programs, thank you notes, and beverage napkins.  Any other paper products I missed?

I also made a black and white inverse of the monogram.  Looking at it now, I realize it is kind of squished compared to the original.  But you get the idea:

-1

Lee and I celebrated our "-1" anniversary this past week.  I was able to arrange a 3-day weekend for work, and we spent an evening talking about our wedding over dinner and fro yo.  We ended the night by going to the Harry Potter premiere. 

Lee has put me in charge of finding potential first dance songs.  We would preferably like to do a waltz for our first dance.  Any ideas?