A wonderful weekend

This past weekend Jason and I went back to Lubbock and took our engagement photos. We spent three hours on campus taking picture in three outfits (formal attire, casual attire, Tech shirts) and had a blast with our photographer. The highlight of the day was when we went to the stadium to take pictures and the guy told us we couldn't come in because there was an event going on in the suites. So we walked around by the student entrance to the field - and it was open! So we went in and took pictures in the empty bleachers. I think they're gonna look really neat with just the two of us and nothingness. We didn't go down and take pictures on the field (we wanted to so badly!!!) because we didn't want something to happen and for our photographer to somehow get into any type of copyright trouble for taking pictures without permission. Our photographer did say he knows the guy who does all the field photography, so next time we come into town he's going to try to get us in touch to maybe go back and take some.

I'm so excited to see how they turn out! He wound up taking about 400 shots, even though I know they won't all be good. He's going to edit them and then send them to us on disc to print ourselves.

The entire experience was so wonderful, we are trying to figure out a way to use him again. If anyone needs a photographer in Lubbock (attn: Suzi!) let me know because I'd love to send more work his way.

:)

Tonight we met with our other top choice for a photographer. We really like her because of how well we clicked. Supposedly there's another couple looking to book her on our day so it could come down to who books and sends a deposit first. We are going to compare what we get from each photographer, then see how much it would cost to get that stuff from the other photographer, and then see which one turns out to be the best value.

In all honesty, I was kind of hoping we would have gotten bad vibes from one of the two photographers. That way, this decision would have been an easy one to make. Now we have to nitpick our way through and actually decide on something!

I'm thinking about holding off on it until we get back from doing engagement pictures this weekend. I'll compare our photographer in Lubbock to each of the two here to see if that gives us any insight into what works best with us.

Seven months until the big day!

This or that? Him or her?

We met with a photographer and his wife this weekend to look over his work and quality and to discuss our wedding photography needs. He was really nice and we clicked well, which is a huge deal for me since he'll be right there with me the entire day. The only thing I would have liked is for his wife to be in the office with us instead of in the living room playing with her son. She's going to be there just as much as he is, so it would have been nice to see how we meshed with her.

Tomorrow after work we have a meeting with one other photographer. We're meeting at a Starbucks so it will be interesting to see how she displays all of her work (at the other meeting we watched a DVD slideshow of a lot of his work - don't think we'll get that tomorrow)

The goal is to have a decision made and a deposit sent by Friday since we are leaving to go out of town this weekend. It'll be nice to have one more think on my list checked off.

I really need to find time to go look at wedding dresses...

Another meeting

Tomorrow we have a meeting with a potential photographer. It's a husband and wife team of over 25 years. What I like is that they work together, so not only do they understand the dynamic of a couple as a partnership, but she can be with me while I dress and he can be with the guys while they dress and that way there's no way a photo op can go unnoticed. Of course, pricing is good for what we need. Now we just have to meet with them to see how well we click with their personalities. They say you have to trust your photographers like you would a good friend, since they'll be with us (almost) the entire day, behind the scenes and giving directions.

Hoping to hear back from the other photography front runner soon so we can set up a meeting with them too. It's always best to have options. Plus, based solely on email correspondence, we seem to get along really well.

One week to Lubbock!

Thank God I get paid tomorrow

The caterer has received our deposit. Now we just have to work on getting a formal quote in writing and then sign the contract!

The closest thing to

I just did a bunch of update stuff on our site so definitely check it out! Also, I added a message board feature, mostly because there is no option for a guestbook. So go by and just start a new topic to say hey!

Répondez s'il vous plaît

The last of the invitations have been purchased. I know we have a really long time to think about that stuff, but since Michael's has those 40%-off coupons in the newspaper each week, we took advantage of that, buying one package a week so we could use a coupon on each of them. Now I guess we will move on to buying something else, maybe vases for our centerpieces or paper for our ceremony programs. Jason and I have been stealing his parents' newspaper on Sundays so we can go through all the coupons they don't want. We found some for Linens n Things and B3, but don't know what we need from there (we don't want to buy stuff for the sake of getting the discount).

Monday we are sending in the deposit for the caterer, so that's one more thing we can cross off our list. The major things we have left are photographer, DJ, cake and officiant. I'm going to talk to a friend about the cake, and we are going to talk to the pastor from our church about being our officiant. I have already talked to several photographers and it just comes down to making a final decision and sending the deposit. Might have to make appointments to meet them first though. That's a lot of money to spend on someone we've never met!

And I saved the most exciting news for last... Jason booked our honeymoon!!! That's right, folks, the day after the wedding my HUSBAND and I will be going to..... somewhere. I know, I'm a tease. But it's a surprise! Don't worry, baby birds - you'll know soon enough :)

Venue, caterer. Caterer, venue.

Today we met our caterer at the Abbey so she could get an idea of the space and the kitchen she'd be working with. We sat down and discussed plans for appetizers, entrees, sides and drinks. Jason and I have to make a final decision on a few things, but it looks like our menu is mostly planned out! Now we just have to purchase all of the plates and silverware and stuff (unless we want her to do it and charge us a surcharge on top of the cost).

We also took one of our centerpieces up there so we could see it in relation to the size of the table we are having. Looks like we might be renting/purchasing larger fish bowls and possibly mirrors. Still have to play around with it a bit and see what we can find (and how much it will cost!)

Next on our list: the officiant and DJ. I guess we will set up DJ meetings for the next few weeks/weekends.


Lubbock in three weeks!