One Month Down

... only about a bazillion more to go.

Yesterday marked one month from our wedding day. The time has just flown. We went on our honeymoon, I told my work that I want to go part-time, and we bought a house!

We're homeowners!

Wedding-related, I got about 99% of my thank you cards done and put in the mail, I sold a bunch of items, and I harassed my photographer and videographer via email to show me something already!

That's right... one month down, and we haven't seen A. SINGLE. PHOTO.

... I can hear you gasping into your computer screen.

Well, patience is a virtue (or so they say), and I'm trying hard to practice it. But it's really difficult when you have dreams that you receive your photos, then wake up to realize it was just a dream. Then you can't fall back asleep until you run downstairs and check your email like a crusty-eyed, sleep-deprived lunatic. Yeah, that's me.

So, stay tuned. I'm hoping to have something to look at by the end of this week (fingers crossed!).

To Buy or To DIY?

We booked our photographer last June. (Wow... it was that long ago?!) We signed the contract with David Bracho Photography, and paid the deposit... but we never actually decided on our package.

Being the overly-analytical, 10-page Excel spreadsheet, budget-wielding crazy that I am, it bothered me to have such a huge detail unfinished. So I sat down with the pricing information and got to work.

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We have a budget of approximately $3,000 and need 8 hours of photography. A few of his specials are as follows...

A: 2 photographers, 8 hrs - $1,950
B: 2 photographers, 8 hrs, 20 pg. 8x10 album - $2,750
C: 2 photographers, 8 hrs, engagement session, 30 pg. 9x12 album - $3,250

Option A is basic and a good price. It's exactly what we need, and no more. So the big question is whether or not we'll want to purchase a wedding album from David. If so, then option B or C end up being a much better deal.

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I've seen some gorgeous DIY wedding albums ordered online for much cheaper than what most photographers charge... but obviously, they aren't as high quality. I just don't know if making my own wedding album is something I'd going to want to tackle when all is said and done.

But on the other hand, perhaps a beautiful and expensive wedding album is something that really isn't all that important down the road. How much use will it really get? Plus, if we create our own, we could include photos leading up to the big day (rehearsal, rehearsal dinner), and photos after (morning-after brunch, honeymoon).

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Decisions, decisions.

Will you be ordering a professional wedding album, or creating your own?

This is Way Too Easy

The ease of our wedding planning to date is making me extremely nervous.

There's no way it should be this easy.

Case in point...

Hair and Makeup
My mom was at her hair appointment with our long-time stylist, Amy. She asked if Amy would be available to do my hair for my wedding. Amy loved the idea, wrote it on her calendar, and offered to do hair and makeup for everyone!
Done.

Hotel Block
We drove past a hotel in my hometown this past weekend. We stopped in to check it out. It was large, secluded, and practically empty. My mom reserved the rooms this afternoon.
Done.

Wedding Dress and Veil
Picked out and ordered after one afternoon and two bridal shops.
Done.

Photographer
Signed the contract after meeting him in person at our home in Indiana.
Done.


If the rest of our wedding planning goes this smoothly, I'm looking at an extremely laid-back 12 months.

Choosing our Photographer

I didn't want to discuss our photographer search in too much detail until we had our selection booked. Why? Mainly because I feel bad talking about people I don't know on my blog and listing all the reasons I dislike their business. That's just plain rude.

So I'm thrilled to announce that we have chosen the extremely talented David Bracho.

He spent quite a few years living here in Indiana, so when he came to visit family over the weekend, we had the great opportunity to meet with him in person at our house.

An hour and a half later, Ryan and I were sold. Take one look at some of these gorgeous photos, and you'll be sold too...

All photos courtesy David Bracho Photography

We haven't decided yet how many hours we want or if we want an album. All that can be hashed out later. For the time being, we just know that we want him there on our wedding day to capture all the moments like this...


Except ours would be a trip to Wendy's.

The Mystery of the Wedding Mail

I guess this should go under unsolved mysteries.

Just about every other day I receive wedding-related mail. It's not mail that I requested or even mail from vendors I've been in contact with.

Instead, it's totally random photographers and florists who somehow have my address.


How did they get my address?!

I'm totally clueless.

At first, they were addressed to our old apartment (Ryan and I just moved into a new apartment about a month ago), but USPS was forwarding everything to our new place. When it first began, all the vendors were Indianapolis-based.

A) Ryan and I live about 2 hours away from Indianapolis.
B) We are having our wedding in Chicago, not Indianapolis.
C) Again... how did they get my address?!

But now, they are coming straight to our new place with our correct address on them, and they are Chicago-based vendors.

It's like someone is stalking us!

Well, if they really are stalking us, hopefully they'll give up now that we have chosen a photographer (without the help of direct mailing... thankyouverymuch).

More on that later. Stay tuned!

Capturing the Moment

Picking a photographer is a big deal to me. I'm putting a lot of pressure on this one decision. Ryan and I have decided to forgo having a videographer (that's a whole post in of itself), so the photographs will be our only real lasting memories from our big day.


My narrowing down process was kind of funny (or sad). When I first got engaged and began touring venues via the internet, I kept coming across photos by Life on Prints. They were artsy and gorgeous and I drooled more and more with each photograph I saw.

I must have them.

And that's exactly what I told Ryan. I announced early on that our search was over before it had even begun. It was one more thing I could check off the list!

Until reality struck. I mentioned before that we have already maxed out our budget. So the idea of spending $4000+ on photography probably wasn't a good one.

My mom started sending me links to area photographers that she had heard of through friends. I won't post any links, but lets just say they were ugly! I'm talking over-lit, over-posed, and bad 90's-style shading and blurring to make the bride look as cheesily angelic as possible. Barf. Totally not my style.

Not this... but something almost as bad as this.

So I took the search into my own hands. I must say, for anyone going through the same sort of torturous hunt, the Wedding Photojournalist Association's website is a great resource! You can do a search for wedding photojournalists in your area and within your budget. Every photographer they list has to earn his or her way into the association... they can't just buy their way in. So you are assured they list only the best.

After that, I just had to use my gut. I can usually tell within about a minute of looking through pictures if it feels right or doesn't. I showed Ryan my list the other day and he helped narrow it down to our top 3 under $3000.

Since we live 4 hours away from Chicago, I'm trying to set up conversations over the phone to ask questions (but what questions?!). I'm crossing my fingers this decision will be a clear-cut easy one... but I somehow doubt it.

What's Next?

As soon as we picked our venue and booked the ceremony site, Ryan said, "excellent. Now we can just relax for a while."


Yeah... riiiight.

For him, this may have been a cue to sit back and wait, but for me, it was just the beginning. Now the planning can really begin!

The first thing on my mental list was a photographer. Being that photography is one of my favorite hobbies, and that photos are all you really have left when your wedding is over... I knew this was an important decision. I wanted to spare no expense!

But our budget had other ideas. Once I sat down and calculated it all out (ceremony and reception sites + projected food and alcohol costs + projected photographer costs), I discovered that we had hit our budget.

Yes, hit. Done. Completely maxed out.

What?! How could this happen?! We still have a whopping thirteen months until the wedding! There are a lot of things that still need to be factored in (ahem... wedding dress, transportation, music, flowers... and what about my beloved photo booth?!).

I quickly came to the realization that having the wedding of my dreams (even... the wedding slightly below my dreams), would cost way more than anticipated.

So I made a call to my mom. I confessed our budgeting sins, and tried to explain how this had happened. I told her I thought we could maybe take care of everything else for only $9,000 more. Ouch.

So the pressure is on. And I still haven't found a photographer I like for a price that's doable. More to come on that.