Say Cheese!

Today's excitement: I got 250 business cards in the mail which instruct guests how to upload their photos to a Flickr website to share them with us.  On the back, I am going to put a label with our new address once Lee and I find a new place to live.  I am very happy with how they turned out!  Vistaprint does their job well!

I can't wait to see the pictures people take on our wedding day!

Weekend, Here We Come!

Today is a good day.  Lee's and my e-pic photo shoot was featured on my all-time favorite wedding blog, Style Me Pretty. It's pretty cool, because over 90% of submissions are turned away, but somehow my submission managed to sneak its way in there! 

In other exciting news, I mailed our save the dates yesterday, and they should be coming soon to a mailbox near you!  You will receive one of two varieties, so be sure to collect them all while supplies last. 

 A surprise I will share with you now: check out the postmark when you get your save the date!  I traveled a short distance to Bridal Veil, Oregon to send out my save the dates and will be doing the same thing for my wedding invitations. 

Bridal Veil, OR Post Office

The only thing keeping this post office open is the thousands of brides who travel here to get there wedding correspondence hand-cancelled by the postmaster.  While I was there, I was able to choose from 3 postmark stamps.  I chose a plain circular postmark because I want to save the special postmarks for my wedding invitations.  When I send out my wedding invitations, I will get to choose between a heart or dove design.  Which do you like better? 

No machine printing on these beautiful invitations!

Case Closed!

A decision has been reached!  Since the prices were very comparable, I decided to go with TWO save the date designs.  Younger wedding guests (my friends and Lee's friends) will receive the black and white artsy save the date, and parents' friends will receive a more traditional pose on their save the dates.  Everyone's happy, especially me.  :)

Best of all?  My only expense is printing the postcards, since I designed the postcard by myself and the e-pics were complimentary from our photographer.  The total price per postcard to print is 24 cents.  Postage for each will be 29 cents, making this one budget-friendly project!  

Save the Dates!

I have been working on options for save the date postcards, and I need your help!  Below are some of the save the dates I have created.  Here are my questions for you!

1) Which is your favorite front design?  Keep in mind the picture can be changed.  Also, the colors can be modified as well. 

2) Which is your favorite back design?  The back will be printed in black and white.  Again, keep in mind the picture can be changed. 

3) Out of the featured pictures, which is your favorite picture for the save the dates?  If there is a different picture from our engagement photo shoot that you think would also work, let me know!

 

Paper Products

Recently I have worked on a couple of paper products for the wedding.  First, I worked on a guestbook instruction sheet which will be framed and placed by the guestbook.  It includes our monogram and the fonts that I will use on the rest of our formal paper products, such as menus and programs.

I also made a fun, playful I Spy worksheet so people have something to do during the reception!  Also, this will ensure that people take pictures (and hopefully post them to facebook) of our wedding reception.  I found this idea on Pinterest. 

Oh Happy Day

It is with abounding excitement that I write this post.  Lee and I got a few e-pics emailed to us today!  The rest of the pictures will be edited and in our hands in the near future.  :)  Our photographer must be editing chronologically, because most of these photos are from the beginning of the shoot.  Enjoy! 

Birthday Pictures from Walmart

As you can see, the birthday pictures Lee and I took at Walmart's portrait studios didn't turn out half bad.  :)

Small Update

Here's what I have been up to lately:

• Working on our wedding website.  It's not done yet, but it's getting there!
• Booking blocks of rooms at 3 hotels for our guests
• Continuing to arrange flowers (more pics to come soon!)
• Taking just-for-fun cheap couples pictures at Walmart for my birthday.  They were just as hilarious as I thought (and hoped) they would be.   
• Watching the movie Bridesmaids for the first time
• Creating our Honeyfund registry
• Making plans to attend the Rose City Bridal Showcase in Portland on October 8 & 9.  I like bridal expos so much, I will probably go to the Portland Bridal Show in January too!
• Getting catering estimates from the Grand Forks Cold Stone Creamery to make my wedding ice cream dreams come true.  :)

E-Pic Outfit #2

Engagement photos are next week, and I am excited!  I have struggled figuring out what I am going to wear for my second, more casual outfit.  I took a couple of pictures today, and I wanted to see what you think. 

I went shopping a week ago with Sofie, and I found these great shoes at H&M.  I thought it would be fun to base my outfit around a fun pair of shoes.  :)

Also while shopping, I found a simple white v-neck t-shirt at H&M and a pink/coral scarf at American Eagle.  Ta da, engagement outfit #1, trialled with a pair of skinny jeans rolled to show the shoes off:

Kind of fun.  Now, here's a second option.  I purchased this pink shirt at Walmart for $4 a few weeks back.  With this outfit, I trialled my flare jeans.  They still show the shoe off, but much more subtly:

I know which outfit combo I like better, but tell me what you think!  Flare jeans vs skinny jeans?  Pink shirt vs white shirt?  Keep in mind Lee will be wearing a pair of jeans with a steel-blue colored polo.  Faithful blog readers...help me out!

E-Pic Dress!

After a long day of shopping with Lee, I think I have found a dress for my engagement photos.  Best parts about the dress are it fits and my mom approves.  :)

I got it at the Ann Taylor Loft outlet in Woodburn.  I was initially hoping for a brighter color than purple, but I think this will look nice with Lee's black shirt.  Plus, the dark colors will contrast with our blonde hair.  I'm still deciding on what shoes I want to wear.  I got these shoes at Payless earlier this summer.  I might go with a simpler black heel. 

In other wedding planning news, Lee and I have chosen our first dance song!  We went with "Blue Eyes" by the Cary Brothers.  This song was featured in the movie Garden State, but I first heard it in my ballroom dancing class at the U of O.  It will be a great song to waltz to. 

Last, but definitely not least, I put together a booklet of my wedding inspiration pictures today.  I will take this back to North Dakota with me to show my parents some of my inspiration ideas.  Then, I will be able to decide what kinds of crafts and projects we want to tackle over the next 11 months!

So Here's What I'm Thinking...

Engagement pictures...  I have a feeling my trip back home to North Dakota is going to come quickly, so I have been earnestly searching for something to wear for our e-pics.  My mother and sister (both separately!) suggested for my more "formal" pictures I wear a classy, sleeveless dress.  I like this idea, since I want to wear something that won't look dated in 10 or 20 years.

I have looked high and low in the two malls and Salem, and my searching has proved to be futile (so far).  I can't say I am too surprised.  First, Salem's malls are very small.  They do have nice stores like JCPenneys, Macy's, and Nordstroms, but the dress sections of these stores are literally the size of my apartment living room.  And I have a very small living room.  Secondly, I can never find my size in any of the dresses I would be interested in.  I wear some of the smallest sizes in women's dresses, and they either don't stock these sizes or those sizes are the first to go.  Finally, I have very specific requirements.  The dress must have straps so I can wear a bra underneath and the dress cannot be too short (that eliminates shopping in the junior's department!). 

Once I find a dress, I am going to choose a more casual outfit to wear.  I'm thinking jeans and a cute shirt or cardigan.  I guess what I end up choosing for this outfit will depend on my dress selection.  I want the dress and the casual outfit to be two different colors.

So...help!!!  What do you think of the dress/casual outfit idea?  What could you see me wearing?  And any good ideas on where to shop?!

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?