One More Wedding Project Finalized!

I lovelovelove the album we got through Erica--it's gorgeous and professional and I still can't believe we were able to narrow down all those pictures to just the 75-ish that are in there!

But then I looked at all the pictures from the Shower, and our Bachelorette parties, and the pictures from our friends and family and realized I could not let those go to waste sitting on our Shutterfly site with no purpose. And I thought about all the work we put into everything like selecting our vows and readings, creating our centerpieces and programs, etc; I didn't want to lose all that work. So I created another album, a scrapbook, to keep those memories close at hand.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

All that's left is to create a small shadowbox for some items, order a canvas portrait print, and get a frame for our Turks & Caicos souvenir map. Oh, and finish that cross-stitch I stated ages ago... It's funny to think that a year later and the wedding still isn't technically "done."

Stories Have Meaning

Yesterday and today are important days in the fight for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. The HRC has encouraged people to wear red in support of Marriage Equality (please don't call it gay or same-sex marriage, you don't say straight marriage), which has prompted most of my Facebook friends to change their profile pics to a red version of the HRC Equality symbol.

I didn't. I did change my pic to one of Ellie and I at our wedding though, because that was more important to me--putting real faces on this situation, reminding people that, should we ever move to one of the 40 states that don't recognize our marriage, we're as good as strangers to each other. It's not that I don't appreciate the love, support and sentiment expressed by my family and friends--things like this really do go a long way toward promoting acceptance and understanding by a larger audience. But a symbol is often just that (think about all the times women post their bra or purse color in "support" of breast cancer awareness--that goes nowhere to help further the research toward a cure). I don't think this is the same, but I'm still undecided about how I feel about all this.

I do know how I feel about the image I posted above. This morning on my commute, I checked Facebook and saw this image on the personal account of Erica Ewing Photography (yes, I'm cool enough for my photographer to friend me on Facebook!). For some reason, THIS made me tear up. I found Erica by accident at a wedding expo and instantly connected to her. It helped that she recognized Jeremy from a blog post he'd done previously. Her answer to "Have you done a same-sex wedding before?" also helped. Erica smiled & said "I haven't had the opportunity to, but I hope I can" or something like that. So many of the other photographers were disingenuous: smiling too wide & avoiding eye contact because they didn't want to be rude, but clearly NOT comfortable with the idea (you're being obvious, so I won't even think to hire you, don't worry about it); or making up excuses about why they don't have experience with same-sex weddings (I don't actually expect most mainstream photographers to have experience, I really just want to know how to feel about it).

Erica is a professional photographer, and she made money off of us (that's why one goes into business for oneself--to make money), but she CARES--the gifts and time and repeated comments about how much she enjoyed our wedding have gone a long way to make me realize that we ARE just like everyone else.

I lucky to know part of Erica's reason for changing her profile picture, but I don't know the story behind most people's change--these stories are what will change the minds of the undecideds, the ones who don't think they know anyone affected by Marriage Equality, who don't think they know an LGBT person. Don't just change your profile picture, tell the world WHY you're changing it.

Honeymoon Album!

We interrupt your not-so regularly scheduled Honeymoon recaps with an announcement that we purchased the album, and YOU can see it below. On a slightly related note, the professional album came in a few weeks ago and it's phenomenal! Erica Ewing was a gem and we're blessed she was such a vital part of our most special day!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

A Weddingy Christmas Surprise

The other day, a package from Erica Ewing Photography came in the mail for Ellie and I. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting anything from her, let alone a fairly large package (a card, while unexpected, wouldn't have been entirely surprising since she IS our photographer).

Package from Erica--much bigger than a card, although smaller than a toaster

Despite my excitement about seeing what she'd sent (I have seen posts from other brides that talk about getting small gifts from various vendors they are working with), I had to wait until Ellie got home from her OT shift. I barely let her get in the door before I was begging her to let me open it...

I'll admit that I was a bad blogger & tore into it without photologging the experience--this is a staged image

Underneath an adorable Christmas card of her son was THIS baby--DEFINITELY a present! I unrolled and unrolled and unrolled; first the mesh wrap you see in the above picture (it made me think she'd sent fruit), then tissue paper, then bubble wrap! The bubble wrap confirmed that it wasn't fruit, this was something nice. Afterward, Ellie and I both admitted we thought it was going to be a cute little frame when we saw the bubble wrap since she IS a photographer. Finally, out rolled the sweetest votive holder:

Crappy picture with bad lighting--I'm never going to be a professional

How festive and sweet, right? I knew we picked the right photographer! Thanks Erica, we're definitely looking forward to working with you this year!!

SAVE THE, Rainforest, whales, children, african elephants....

Well... actually here we are talking about SAVE THE DATES!!!! woohoo... So after much debating, discussing, and debacle.. we have chosen, edited and ordered our save the dates. It's reassuring that we are running on time with the majority of things. It also makes everything seem so real. Although we have looked at our engagement pictures a million times I hope that with in the next month we will finalize the pictures we want and order them soon. The more things are decided on the more we are moving away from a traditional "everything has the same style" to sticking with the theme of "us". Some might not see or understand how certain things pertain to Jessi and I but we feel we are being very truthful to us and that is what matters. Now we are slowly obtaining addresses so maybe we can mail them out on time. I will say the most off putting aspect of ordering the save the dates was after we ordered we were given 10 minutes to order an additional amount at half price... I wondered if we could have order less to begin with and saved money by taking advantage of the 10 minute deal afterwards. Then again one can not bank on a "random" deal like that and could end up costing much more. So all join in with a Hip Hip Hooray and hope for a speedy delivery so we can start the addressing process. :-)

Live from Bedford: Jessi & Ellie Unplugged?

On the 241 South Studios Facebook page, Jeremy posted a link to an article on Offbeat Bride about having an "Unplugged Wedding."

So there you are at the altar, gazing into the eyes of your beloved, saying your vows. You turn to sneak a glance at your wedding guests, all your favorite beloved friends and family... and are greeted by a sea of down-turned faces staring at their LCD screens.

Yup, I'm as guilty as the next person of paying more attention to my camera and getting the "perfect shot." But really, is that picture, that I'm only going to look at once or twice for the rest of my life, really worth missing some of the experience? Heck, at the last wedding we went to, I was behind the camera during most of the ceremony trying to get the perfect shot--and it DIDN'T HAPPEN! What did happen was I missed some of the pastor's speech and some of the vows. Maybe that's why I've never been much of a photographer; I've always been too busy to remember to take the camera out (I've gotten better as I've gotten older, but there are no pictures from when I was in high school or college). And when I helped Jeremy with the GSEM Gold & Graduating event, we were talking about all the parents that didn't care about free professional pictures, they were all crowding around taking crappy cell phone pictures, not even paying attention to their daughters' achievements. It was also difficult for him to take pictures without a parent's head or camera in the way--if you read that article, you'll see that many photographers feel this way.

I am seriously thinking about having an unplugged ceremony (don't worry folks, your cameras would be welcome at the reception!). I might even talk to Erica about getting prints of the ceremony for us give with our thank you cards or something to people have something and won't feel quite as bad about not being able to take their own.

I don't know...I'm more just as connected as anyone, but I think this would be a really meaningful thing to do, for both us AND our guests. Hopefully Ellie feels the same way.

Say Cheese!!!

So after a lot of discussion and thinking and debating we have decided on a photographer. Honestly, this was a difficult decision and for me who is slightly obsessed with photographs I'm sure Jessi was not looking forward to deciding on this topic. The problem was we saw two great photographers, both very nice people with talent. This could be looked at as a win win or a lose lose situation. As Jessi mentioned one was a family friend and the other was someone Jessi met through an expo. I have no doubt if we were going to get a professional videographer that we would have gone with Jimmy. However, we don't want something that fancy for a video and photos were the issue on the table. We went with Erica Ewing and I have strong beliefs that this will pan out well. I think the hardest part with the whole wedding thing is not hurting anyone's feelings. I felt like this with picking a venue, photographer, people in the wedding party and even invitee list. It's hard to remember this day is really for Jessi and I. Jessi and I are such people pleasers that this becomes hard to keep in mind. To be a little selfish and to pick with the gut at times and not on emotions or I don't want to be de-friended on facebook ;). SO... what's next from here. Venue-Check, Photographer- Check.. now save the dates and invitee list. yikes...

Photography the Second

On Thursday, we saw a second photographer, Jim at JMN Productions. Now, I didn't find him through a wedding expo, or in my other wedding-related searching; he happens to be a good friend of my dad's from childhood. I was hesitant to meet with him in case he thought I was trying to get a deal or something, and because I had always known him to be into videography--my dad didn't even know Jim was doing photography until last year when, amazingly, one of his co-workers hired Jim to do her wedding video and photos.

He's shy, which is not surprising considering he's friends with my dad, who's not the most socially adept person--only someone of a similar mindset could be friends with him for going on 40 years, and not as polished as I maybe expected--he didn't have any sample albums, only prints of individual pics, didn't have many weddings to display in the pics he did have (which doesn't surprise me as he's mostly into the video thing--there were TONS of DVD's in his studio!), and wasn't great at explaining how the album is created or layed out. We're going to have to settle this pretty soon so we don't keep Erica hanging on, and so we can get to the next stage of planning: Save the Dates!!

Our First Photographer

Yesterday, we had the chance to meet with Erica Ewing from Erica Ewing Photography. I met her at the Wedding Expo Jeremy & I attended back in April (this is his review, I know that I should have done one, but I got lazy and now it's too late). He went to ensure this was an expo that he really was interested in participating in. I went to start collecting data on photographers because I know we're getting to a point where I need to book--photographers kept saying that they were already booking September 2012 dates.

Honestly, I only liked one of the photographers we met there--Erica (duh, otherwise, why would I be putting that into this post about visiting her). Some of them were dismissed by Jeremy, my photo expert, as being "TOO" (costly, amateur, formal, informal, fake, etc). Some were incredibly pushy, which I dislike heartily--if you want me to even give you a second thought, don't step into my way as I'm wandering, don't criticize the other photographers (I'm not saying don't tell me what you do that they don't, or detail out how you work, but saying that you're better, or have a better product is egotistical to me).

Anyway, back to Erica. She's probably about our age, which I feel gives her an idea of what photography in 2012 looks like. I (and Jeremy) LOVED that she remembered his blog post about the last Expo we attended, which shows GREAT attention to detail. She sent a follow-up email right away and when I replied, we had a little conversation about Castle in the Clouds--a place she loves--because she'd read the site. When we showed up yesterday, we talked about how this site had given her a lot of feeling for who we are as people and a couple. I like that she took the time to review the site before meeting with us--it shows she cares, but not in a creepy way like a certain someone at a certain potential venue.

As happy as I've been that we've been meeting with super nice, it sucks because I just want to say yes to everyone. I'm no good at shopping around.

Getting My Feet Wet

I didn't discuss this earlier, but I attended my first Wedding Expo a couple of weeks ago, hosted by The Original Wedding Expo by Chevaller Associates in Marlborough, MA. I was lucky enough to get a free ticket from Jeremy at 241South Studios, who is thinking about exhibiting at a future expo (you can see his review here).

It was fun. Most of the reception sites are outside of my search area--we don't want people who are coming from out of state to have to travel too far from the airport or major roadway. Because the Expo was in Central MA, many of the vendors were a little too far west to be a real contender. But I was able to find a possible vendor for Ellie's outfit, got to meet a LOT of photographers (it's what Jeremy does, we spent quite a bit of time at all of the photographer booths). I was a little put off by the number of vendors that were really aggressive, but I hear that's just what they do. I did find one vendor that works in silk flowers that looked very real, so that was a positive. It gave me an idea of what to expect when Ellie and I go to shows in the future.

Pictures!

The engagement photos are here!! There are 61 photos, in a mix of color, black & white and sepia. I can't even begin to describe how happy I am with them. While you CAN order them if you'd like, we are planning to order some for giving out. Leave comments with your favorite pic #'s so we can see what people like best.

Maybe I'm being too much of a sales person, but if you are in need of professional photography of any sort, whether it's formal or fun, I HIGHLY recommend Jeremy; and not just because he's my friend, but because he does amazing work.

Engagement Shoot

Yesterday we finally had our engagement shoot!! My wonderful friend Jeremy of 241South Studios did them and it was a ton of fun. I've posted a review on the People & Places tab, so please check it out. Once we get the pics in, I'll be either posting them or a link to his site.