We interrupt

your regularly scheduled blogging to bring you a discovery that has me tickled.

Not only did we love, love, love our engagement photo shoot with Alyssa Alig in Athens, but it seems the feeling was mutual!

We are now the engagement portfolio couple. How fun is that?

Check it out here.

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And I digress...

So soon, you ask?

Why yes! Because, when she saw that I had not photos of the set up process, my new father-in-law's lovely girlfriend sent me some!
  

 

Loading up the vehicles...I believe I am in there 

conferring with my brother about a checklist.

 

 

 Look at my hot husband hanging curtains for me.

  

 

 

Look at how much fun my lovely maids were having! haha. right.

  

   
 

The siblings, helping out. While others were nice enough to not make 

comments along the lines of, "she is insane," these two had no qualms. 

Ah, sibling love.

 

 
 

 "Here dads, let me show you how I want it..." 

I may or may not have walked around apologizing to everyone and 

thanking them profusely throughout this entire process.

  

And with that, a few hours minutes later, we were good to go!

  

Again, thank you so much to everyone who was willing to climb ladders, get ceiling dust in their eyes, tie pretty bows and sting lanterns ad curtains that night. It all came out fabulously.

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Photos are in!

We have received all of our professional wedding photos! Thank you Jeff!!

I will be starting recaps just as soon as possible, until then here are is a sampling of a few of my favorites {which are all over the place, but otherwise I would just have to post them all!}:

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Still Waiting...

for our photos to arrive, but in celebration of a month of marriage here is another one to whet your appetite.

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Preview!

The wonderful Alyssa Alig sent me an email today that was happily awaiting my arrival in Virginia.

She is 'ahead of schedule' and has our preview up on her blog {!!!!}

Alyssa, I love you. Truly, madly deeply. This just made my day!

Click here for the full preview.

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Extra E-pics!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but my FSIL is a photographer. Seriously.

What a major hook up - right? Wrong. I don't want her working on our wedding day! I want her standing next to me as a bridesmaid able to enjoy the moments, not worrying about capturing them.

There is another way that she can put her awesome skills to use, however, and I am SO excited to share that with you all!

You see, the FH and I originally met and fell in love in high school.

{yes, that is actually our high school}

Since we graduated (way back in 2002) there have been many changes in administration and school district zoning, but I had alway thought that it would be kind of cool to head back there some day.

As I was thinking about locations for our engagement pictures I began to think how awesome it would be to be able to have access to a high school setting (like this photo shoot from the incredible Anne Ruthmann) since that would be so us. But what school, in this day and age of safety and security nightmares, would let us in?

Turns out, our school will! On a whim I shot off an email to the new principal of our alma mater explaining our situation and the one weekend that both the FH and I, along with his sister would be back in our old stomping grounds. This morning she emailed me back saying that she was more than happy to help us in our endeavor. Success!

We are all so excited to get to head back to our hallowed halls, and I am even more so because now we will get two engagement photo sessions in places that have meant so much to us as a couple - where we began, and where we first lived our lives together, as just us.

Did you take engagement photos in any unusual places that had sentimental value?

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just because I am excited...

Check out some of my faves of Jeff's editorial and commercial work...

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Photographer Booked!

Remember way back when in December when I got all indecisive about our photographer?

Well, it is a good thing that I did.

We met with Jeff Thompson, of Jeff Thompson Photography, when we were in Wisconsin over Christmas and immediately fell in vendor-love with him.

His work is fabulous, and while we were all for booking him then and there...he was way more expensive than the other photographers that we had been looking at.

But look at these photos!

After much thoughtful consideration, the FH and I decided that since photography is one of the most important things to us about our wedding day, we would go ahead and splurge on him. Between his attitude and style, he was one of the easier decisions that we have made...though it will be tough to balance the budget a bit.

We sent him word and our happy contract is off in the mail. Consider him booked!

What were your budget priorities?

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Engagement Photos

A while back the FH and I were discussing how fun that it would be to have engagement photos taken here in Athens. This town has been very important to us - it is the first place we learned that we could make it, just the two of us; it is the place where we got engaged; not to mention the place where we both have gone to school and made new friends.

At the time, we were considering going with a wedding photographer who included engagement photos, but we aren't anymore {more on that later}. And while our new photographer does engagement photos on the cheap for his couples, he suggested because of timing and scheduling that we have someone outside of Wisconsin do them for us. Smart man.

All in all this means that we get to have our photos taken in Athens! One of my maids, Lindsey, helped me scout out some possible photographers and after contacting a few, we have decided to go with Alyssa Alig Photography. They are great cost wise and release their photo rights, which means that I can use them for our guestbook idea, which is key, plus their images are beautiful.

This husband and wife team sounds so adorable and have been so great in all of our contact thus far. They even have a quote that I love on their website:

"Love is a canvas of many threads, embroidered by the imagination. Let us tell your story."

Here are some examples of their magnificent storytelling

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and the indecisiveness sets in...

There may be a new photographer in the works.

Check out the Jeff Thompson website. His style is fabulous, no?

{I would post pictures here, but do not yet have permission from him, so...explore at will}

He is a little more expensive, but also gives all photos, and has online proofing. {not to mention a killer sense of humor}

We are, of course, not going to book either of them until we meet with both in person...

but, is this normal? Did you all make any changes on something you thought you were confident in?

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So, my mom has this friend...

Who happens to be a photographer, going back to school for a degree in Graphic Design.

I think her photos are pretty good, and now I am torn :\

Take a look (all photo credit to Amanda Matzke)

 

 

She is around the same price as BH Moments, and also gives full reproduction rights. I think her work is good, but these samples are all from a portfolio that she sent me, which means she does not have a website.

A risk worth taking?

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Drooling over Photo Blogs

 

Image Source 

One of the photographers that we are considering for our big day has this picture on her website! This is the dock at Lake Wissota Golf, which is our reception site. Can you picture us there instead? :)

Photos are one of the most important parts of our wedding, to me. We are certainly blessed to have some very talented photographers on our guest list - my FSIL being one of them. BUT, while I will welcome and photos that they take that day (and look forward to seeing them) I do not want anyone at our wedding as a guest to feel like they need to be 'on point' for every little moment.

Unfortunately, as I have mentioned before...certain areas of Wisconsin (where I am planning being one of them) are in a time warp regrading websites. I am serious. They are out of control. I am talking angelfire here.

So, while the website is not laid out in a fabulous way, I think that Beata, the photographer at Bh Moments has a style that we like. We definitely want more of a photo-journalistic style. To be honest, I am not sure that that style is big up in Wisconsin just yet, based on the fact that most websites and blogs have a mix of traditional and more contemporary photos.

My mom is going to swing by her office and do some re-con. I am hoping that she turns out to be it for us! She is my favorite so far within a reasonable price range who also releases the rights for reproduction, which is a must for me.

Here are some of my other favorites from her site:

 

  

  

 

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