Dear fellow brides to be,

One piece of advice that I wished someone had shared with me prior to my engagement, is that when you share your ideas for your wedding with others, you open the door and invite them to share their opinions of your ideas.  And also, to share their own ideas for your wedding.

What I never realized is exactly how many women have been planning my wedding for years. Many of these women were at it loooooonng before they had ever met me.  Some had every detail ironed out, even before I myself was prancing around my parents' home with a pillow case on my head, envisioning the magical day that I would one day walk down the aisle toward my very own Prince Charming.

And ladies, let me tell you, the weddings they've planned in their minds are not any where close to the day I'm envisioning.  Not close at all.

Now, if you are the kind of bride-to-be who needs a little help (or a lot) then you have a bevy of women who are already a mile ahead of you to lend a hand with the planning.  You can breathe a sigh of relief.

But if you're like me, and have even the smallest detail planned, this "help" can come as quite a shock. 

I know that my engagement and early wedding planning phase would have been so much more pleasant and enjoyable if I had only known what I was getting myself into.  If only I had been aware of the number of women who were ready and willing to plan my day for me.  That there were even a few who expected me to let them plan my day for me.  Which for me, is not what I wanted.

And so ladies, I hope your experience is very different from mine.  I hope no one ever tells you your ideas are bad or wrong.  I hope you never recieve "no" as a response to your "wouldn't it be great if...".  I hope your family/friends/future in-laws are supportive and encouraging.  But if you think you might recieve the responses that I did, I encourage you to keep the details between you and your wedding planner (if you have one).

E-Session

Its not very often I get a chance to be in front of the camera.  Its even less often that Chris and I are both able to be in front of the camera at the same time.  

For this reason, I knew that the most important part of our wedding planning process would be finding the perfect photographer to capture our story.  I didn't even mind if this became one of the largest parts of our budget.  After all... when all is said and done, all you have left are the pictures to remind you of your big day.

I searched and I searched and I was worried I was just being too picky.  I've done my share of modeling and the last thing I wanted to look like on my day was a model.  

I didn't want vogue.  I didn't want high fashion.  I didn't want editorial.  

I wanted real life, captured for us "on film".  I wanted the feeling and the emotions of the day.  I wanted to look like a real bride, overjoyed to be marrying her best friend.  Not an impostor playing a role.

This seemed to be a tall order here in Virginia Beach where it seems everyone is trying to break into modeling or photographing models.  

That was, until a previous colleague of mine mentioned Amanda Hedgepeth.  Once I saw her work, I fell in love.  It was exactly what I had in mind... the lighting, the feel, the emotion, it was all right there. I praaaaaayed she wasn't booked!

When we were finally able to meet, it got even better.  This little ball of fire is FULL of ideas!  And excitement, and enthusiasm, and passion for what she does.   And let me tell you, she is ammmmmmazing!!!  I cannot say enough wonderful things about her and since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let a few of hers speak for her themselves.

And these are just a few!

We managed to squeeze in what is probably a half-session before the skies opened up and it down-poured.  Despite the clouds and the whipping winds, she was able to capture amazing shot after amazing shot.  

Seriously, if you're looking for a life-style photographer in the Virginia Beach area, she is it!

And she can be found at... http://www.amandahedgepethphotography.com/  and http://amandahedgepethphotographyblog.com/

Bridal Show

Before we left for our cruise, my FMIL and I attended a bridal show at the Norfolk Airport Hilton.  I'll be honest, this bridal show left a lot to be desired.  It was heavy on the pyramid scheme-type consultants with a smattering of photographers trying to break into the industry. 

Here are some tips for anyone even remotely interested in setting up a booth at an event of any sort.

1.  Have enough of whatever you are handing out for every single person and guest that might wander by your booth.  It does you no good to be there unless you have something to put into people's hands.  If you run out of your materials, you leave one impression on the very people you are trying to convince to be your clients - unprepared.

2.  If you have any sort of photographs make sure they are both in focus and properly exposed.  This goes for vendors of any sort, but most especially for up-and-coming photographers.

3.  Make sure the people working your booth with you actually know about your business.  They need to be able to answer questions for you while you are busy speaking with other potential clients. 

These may seem like no-brainers but I can count on one hand the number of vendors represented who did not violate one of these three.  Everyone else... oooooohhh boy.


There were a few things I did like and here are some of the pictures I took.  All of these are displays by Turpin's Florist.

This is a table vase but I thought it would be a good idea for bridesmaids bouquets.   

This is very similar to my best friend's theme, but still a cute idea that I can probably personalize and make my own.

This would be a cute way to present "thanks for coming" cards since we won't have a need for menus

I love fruit in vases of tall arrangements...

This circular menu is a cute variation on something so typical at weddings.

Wedding planning is not easy.

And ladies, we need to stop making it hard on brides-to-be.

***Pardon me, while I step onto my soapbox***

Category 1: The married women out there

You had your day. Whether it went exactly like you always imagined or you would do it entirely different if you had the chance. You still had your day. End of story. You're thoughts, ideas, and help are all appreciated. But please. Please. Do not make a bride-to-be feel that her hopes and dreams and plans are in any way wrong because they aren't what you would want if you had your day to plan again. You had your day. If you want a do-over, plan a vow renewal. Do not live vicariously through whatever bride-to-be is most convenient at the moment.

Category 2: The unmarried women out there

Celebrate with the bride-to-be that she has finally gotten a chance to have her day. Don't resent her luck. Don't try to steal her thunder. I know its hard to watch someone close to you as she plans her wedding when you feel like you may never have your turn. I've been there. I'm one of the last of my girlfriends to get married. Don't let the bride-to-be know its hard for you. Celebrate with her.

Category 3:

The haters They will obviously fall into one of the first two categories. Say congratulations. Ask to see the ring. Tell her its lovely. Smile and walk away. Behave like the lady your grandmother hoped you would be.

I have been absolutely appalled by the behavior of the women in my life. Appalled. Friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, just absolutely appalled. I can count on one hand the women whose reactions to my engagement and wedding planning have not been hurtful in some way, and still have fingers left.

Ladies, do the brides-to-be in your life a favor, be happy for them and support their dreams for their big day. Fake it if you have to. But please, be happy and supportive.

Big News!

I'll finally be planning my own!

Freezer Paper Stencils T-Shirts

There are tutorials for this all over the internet so I'm not going to go into depth with this one. However, I was incredibly surprised by the quality that these stencils produced and will be using this method many, many times again. I just wish we had known about this back in high school when we decorated countless t-shirts for every sporting event and cheerleading camp!

First, I used my cricut to cut the designs in the freezer paper. As you can see, in this instance I used the words "bride" and "bridesmaid".

Then, I used a hot, dry iron to adhere the freezer paper to the t-shirts. Make sure to place the shiny side of the freezer paper towards the fabric. I found a quick swipe of the hot iron adhered the paper very well. There was no need to hold the iron on the stencil for any length of time.





I then used fabric paint and sponge "brushes" from Michael's to paint in the stencil. You really don't have to be very neat with this part of the process. Extra paint on the stencil is no big deal.

At this point let me say that I used a translucent glitter paint for the letters. I really wanted opaque paint but they didn't have any in this color. It took 5 or 6 coats of paint to get the letters to look like this. If you find that you have to do this as well, lightly score the paint in a corner of each letter or design in the stencil to "start" it and then peel the stencil away. If you peel back on the stencil causing a fold as you go rather than pulling away from the paint you will have more success. I hope that makes sense.



The end result:



This was a cheap and cheerful way to do t-shirts for my friend's bachelorette wine tour but the sky's the limit on what this technique can be used for.

Unique Alternative

As I've mentioned in a few posts, my BFF got married two weeks ago. She went with a vintagey feel for her wedding and was looking for a unique alternative to the ringbearer's pillow.

This is what we came up with.



She found the box at Hobby Lobby and I lined it with satin that I had embroidered with their names.

Cool coincidence: The font I choice for the embroidery exactly matched her programs. That's when you know you know your friend VERY well...

Irish Eyes are Smiling

The owners of the venue where my bff got married a two weeks ago certainly have a sense of humor. :)

Package for Me!

My bridesmaid dress for my BFF's October wedding arrived this week. It's super cute and not so bridesmaidy. (This was my pick! I love when the bride listens to the opinions of the girls wearing the dresses.)



I even might not dye this one!

Now I just need to find some shoes... this is turning out to be a rather difficult task.

Ps. Like how both my monsters interjected themselves into this pic?

Pps. Excuse all the extraneous clutter, the bf locked the keys to my garage... inside the garage. I'm going to have to borrow some bolt cutters from the office.