going to the baker on friday.
recommended to us by the coordinator from the venue.

gonna show them this picture:





[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 2:34 PM. Reason : yay!]

5/5/2010 2:32:52 PM

venue - booked
photographer - booked
hotel - booked
flights - booked

just waiting on rsvps to determine the reception plan. then the rest should fall into place easily.

5/6/2010 4:25:18 PM

the fiancée and i would like to do engagement pictures sometime in june, but we haven't decided where...we're pretty avid backpackers/outdoorspeople, so i was thinking about some place with nice scenery...our photographers are pretty avid outdoorspeople, too, so they said they're up for a day hike or whatever

however, because we enjoy the views so much, i have to remind myself that these are pictures of US, specifically, and not really of the landscape, so while i was thinking about some place close like hanging rock, i don't know if that will end up being a viable option

suggestions? if you're doing engagement pictures, where are doing them? we've thought about a vineyard, as well...we're trying to avoid the really popular places like duke gardens

we'd like to keep it to a 2-hour drive of raleigh (where we live) or durham (where our photographers live), but that's really the only requirement

5/10/2010 1:42:48 PM

What about the NCSU Arboretum? Or Yates Mill Pond? Down by the mill is pretty with all the rocks and water, but not overkill..

I think ours will be done on campus somewhere or downtown (our photographer does a questionnaire then throws out a few places to choose from that fits out relationship/personality but I'm assuming that will be one of the options)

5/10/2010 2:07:52 PM

^those are pretty much the same places I've been focusing on. Also, centennial campus is pretty (to me) so that's a big choice. I personally would like my dogs in some of the pictures, so my initial idea of the NC State Fair is out (lol).

^^You know better than anyone the places that may work out. When I think avid outdoorsman, I don't think nicely manicured landscaping, but instead I think of a non-existent path in the middle of the woods. Any local park (umstead, jordan lake) can give you that type of scenery. You could set up your tents and put your boots outside, aww how cute!

5/10/2010 2:31:32 PM

ART MUSEUM! great place for engagement pics. they have a really cool outdoor area. my cousin actually did his wedding pics there but i think it'd be great for engagement pics too

5/10/2010 2:44:29 PM

I, too, want my dog in some engagement pics... Do you think he's be ok on State's campus?


Side note:

I saw something today on Facebook and was like AHHH WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! But then I started thinking... people probably think the fact that you will have to pay for beer after a certain amount runs out at my wedding is tacky**....

Anyways, some girl put "attending" to "_____'s Bridal Shower" and "_____'s Bachelorette Party" created by "_____ and _____'s Wedding" ... If you got an invite like this, would you gawk a little? I thought it was a huge no-no to throw your own bridal shower and bachelorette party...


** the place we are seriously considering doesn't let you get a permit and bring however much beer you want, and you have to pay upfront so the only way people would have to pay if it was towards the end of the night (hopefully it'll hold out though because we can get a permit for liquor drinks)

5/10/2010 3:08:37 PM

We did our e-pics at the farmers market, its a place we like to go when the weathers warm and walk around together, so why not?

We dressed casually and comfortable and took some photos with our pup at the end.

5/10/2010 3:49:04 PM

bought the wedding rings today. Being unconventional myself, I got an unconventional ring.



[Edited on May 10, 2010 at 4:01 PM. Reason : ]

5/10/2010 4:01:23 PM

Quote :

"I thought it was a huge no-no to throw your own bridal shower and bachelorette party..."

i sort of agree, however my "bridesmaids" are both from very far out of town, really busy people, and my mom HATES planning shit.
as a matter of fact she told me to throw my own engagement party and she would just pay for it.
we're not having one though b/c i'm not sure where to even start.
that being said i will probably be planning most of my stuff. (not a shower though, but bachelorette party-yeah. i know its not customary nor conventional, but whatever )

cody and i are going to the art museum for pics on wednesday
and i think the arboretum would be a great


and does anyone, by chance, know of any barbershop quartets in the area? (the area meaning that they would actually travel to NC )
i've done lots of searches but i'm coming up with the same two and i can't get a hold of either one

5/10/2010 5:18:40 PM

Quote :

"We did our e-pics at the farmers market, its a place we like to go when the weathers warm and walk around together, so why not? "

this is a really good idea too

^ yay the art museum! my cousin's pics (though wedding pics not engagement) turned out great. i love the outside.

5/10/2010 5:31:39 PM

Raven Rock State Park has some beautiful places - There's lots of pics and it's in Lillington, NC.

Here are some:



As for our engagement pics, since we are getting married at the aquarium, we are doing some pictures at the groves at Fort Fisher, which is right nearby, and gorgeous.

And as for the unique rings, my fiancé wants a black wedding band too. I found some tungsten rings that he likes. Now we just need to get his finger sized.

As for the tacky comment...I think it is considered tacky to throw your own bridal shower (since it is like saying, "Gimme Gifts!") but your bachelorette party - NO WAY! Party on, IMO.

5/10/2010 6:17:39 PM

Quote :

"i sort of agree, however my "bridesmaids" are both from very far out of town, really busy people, and my mom HATES planning shit. as a matter of fact she told me to throw my own engagement party and she would just pay for it. we're not having one though b/c i'm not sure where to even start. that being said i will probably be planning most of my stuff. (not a shower though, but bachelorette party-yeah. i know its not customary nor conventional, but whatever )"

Well this I can understand. Not to mention, you seem like a classy lady so I would hope you wouldn't make a Facebook event as the invite for a bridal shower... The bachelorette party thing I still see as a gray area -- people throw their own birthday parties so I don't see the difference, as long as you don't demand people pay for you (or expect them to).

5/10/2010 6:17:39 PM

aww shucks. thank you

just trying to give my $.02

(and no there will be NO facebook invitations ahahah)

5/10/2010 6:27:06 PM

Quote :

"my mom HATES planning shit. as a matter of fact she told me to throw my own engagement party and she would just pay for it. we're not having one though b/c i'm not sure where to even start."

By the way - My mom is the exact same.

5/10/2010 6:30:47 PM

Quote :

"As for our engagement pics, since we are getting married at the aquarium, we are doing some pictures at the groves at Fort Fisher, which is right nearby, and gorgeous. "

we did some of our e-pics there, and w/ doggy in tow...tis a great spot



down by the water is pretty sweet too by the rocks--it was a rough day so we had some cool wave shots crashing by us...if there's not a lot of people around do it up!




[Edited on May 10, 2010 at 6:34 PM. Reason : ]

5/10/2010 6:33:41 PM

^those are great!!!!!!!!!!!!

5/10/2010 6:34:41 PM

thanks

gosh, and pawprint...the ferry was under construction when we did ours, but I always thought that would be awesome. start at FF, take the ferry over to Southport, then get some photos around their quaint lil' downtown

and now i'm reading you're ^ doing the art museum--nice. with the new space I bet they will be awesome. especially the Rodin garden!

5/10/2010 6:39:56 PM

Large picture is large

We had a friend take our engagement pics at a local shrine. I think they came out pretty well

I wish we had been able to take our pics on campus since we're both NCSU grads but that's kind of impossible where we are now. Maybe when we have our first kid we'll take celebratory pics on campus then

5/10/2010 8:43:15 PM

Quote :

"I, too, want my dog in some engagement pics... Do you think he's be ok on State's campus?"

we had our engagement pics done on state's campus a few weeks ago and just looked at them yesterday. i had my brother hold my dog while we took some pics and then my dog joined us for some. i wish the ones with my dog came out better. he had his long tongue hanging out in the majority of the pics and it wasn't cute like it might sound haha. it was definitely fun though, so i recommend it...especially if you do it on a saturday or sunday since you don't want to be on campus during classes and such.

5/12/2010 8:13:29 PM

Less than 3 days away now

5/12/2010 8:20:01 PM

^^Did the photographer have you standing on the wall right outside the roundabout near the belltower? We saw a couple out there when we were on our way down Hillsborough.

^Best wishes!

Sorry for the large pic...too late to edit

[Edited on May 12, 2010 at 8:51 PM. Reason : typo]

5/12/2010 8:51:22 PM

^
haha yeah...that might have been us. she took a couple of us on the wall...including doing the wolfpack hand gesture. just another reason to do it on a non-school day. i couldn't imagine having a bunch of pictures taken of us when everyone's rushing to class. too embarrassing.

5/13/2010 8:54:59 AM

What do you guys think of this guestbook idea?

I am making the table runners for the wedding and afterward I will use them to make a quilt. I was thinking of pre-making some border squares, setting them in a basket with some fabric pens, and people can write messages and sign the quilt squares as the guestbook. Then I'll incorporate them into the quilt.

5/13/2010 9:04:34 AM

good one. some friends of ours did that for theirs ~4 years ago, but her sister still hasn't made the quilt yet

5/13/2010 9:41:32 AM

haha yeah I kind of fear I'll end up doing the same thing.

5/13/2010 9:45:09 AM

Quote :

"bought the wedding rings today. Being unconventional myself, I got an unconventional ring."

i'll likely go with tungsten or titanium (though tungsten looks to be winning because it doesn't scratch very easily)...but i like the color white gold and the contrast of yellow, so i'm thinking of going with an inlay of silver (actually looks goldish to me) or yellow gold:



is yours tungsten? does it have a nickel or cobalt binder? did you get it from a place like artcarved with lifetime replacement/resizing? i'm not sure i can bring myself to pay those prices for what can be had for a quarter of the price (and so i could therefore replace it 4 times and keep the old ones if i were to gain/lose weight, though hopefully that wouldn't happen)...but i question the quality

i think my fiancée felt bad at first, since a tungsten ring is so much cheaper, but i finally convinced her that i'd rather have something practical

5/13/2010 9:56:15 AM

^those are nice.
cody's the same way...although i showed him this and i think we're both getting these....

5/13/2010 11:10:32 AM

I like that guestbook idea, wolfpack...

I'm going to paint a tree with no leaves but make it look like E + S is carved in the trunk... Then next to the painting will be a green ink pad - each guest will put their green thumb print on the tree and sign their name next to it

and yes I totally stole that off a picture I saw on the knot

(I'm also going to have a regular guestbook, probably)


Oh and ... is anyone else getting boudoir shots done? It comes with our photography package and I'm a little nervous about it (when that eventually gets here).

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 11:18 AM. Reason : I can't type]

5/13/2010 11:11:11 AM

^i am not. however, i totally think you should! thats something you don't do everyday and it'll be a lot funner than you think.
just go in there knowing you are the shit and they will come out great!


and also a lot of my ideas have been completely stolen form somewhere else

5/13/2010 11:20:36 AM

and also:

my friends' wedding was just featured on style me pretty!!

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2010/05/12/charleston-wedding/

5/13/2010 11:22:26 AM

Here's a good example except I want ours to be more whimsical (and much, much bigger)




Also, with Evoke you get three outfits and if you pay a little extra she'll bring in a make-up/hair artist to give you 3 totally different looks.. I'm glad April is awesome and outgoing because otherwise I think I would have a hard time with it. I know it sounds really cheesy, but I have this apron:



and I would love to do a pin-up-girl-esque shoot with it

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 11:28 AM. Reason : ^ gorgeous wedding!!]

5/13/2010 11:27:26 AM

^you have evoke? (maybe youve mentioned that before and i dont remember)
they are amazing! all of the pictures ive seen have been gorgeous.
easily one of my favorite wedding photographers i've seen in the area

5/13/2010 11:33:54 AM

yessss Eric's parents offered to get the photographer and said we could get whoever we wanted!!!

I knew I wanted her as a photographer the second I saw she hardly ever ever does angled shots.

5/13/2010 11:50:06 AM

eeeeeeeeek! cody and i went on (yet another) engagement session yesterday and she sent back some of the pics







she was really, really nice....i like her a lot.
totally recommend.

http://www.hilarymercer.com

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 3:43 PM. Reason : ]

5/13/2010 3:42:23 PM

we are getting some Walters and Walters. My sister used them and they were awesome!
http://www.waltersandwalters.com/

5/13/2010 4:08:35 PM

speaking of photography, can anyone recommend a good photographer for under $2000? the main thing i'm looking for is a cd/dvd of all the photos along with the rights...and of course good photos. if they have packages that include photos or albums, great...but it's not necessary.

5/13/2010 4:16:47 PM

^ I'm using Story Photographers. Their package I think was $1800 and includes the CD with all the rights.

5/13/2010 10:11:21 PM

ill shoot for $1300. http://pacaldo.net

5/14/2010 1:24:12 PM

Auto-play music

5/14/2010 11:08:46 PM

My idea for place cards/escort cards:
http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/beach-or-nautical-themed-origami-boats-and-flags

5/15/2010 3:14:19 PM

Crushed Learned today that Orton Plantation, where Justin and I were married, has been sold and is closing the grounds indefinitely June 1st. We were going to go back this year to have a picnic for our 1 year anniversary.

Hopefully one day they'll reopen. I hope no one was planning on getting married there this summer

5/15/2010 5:49:06 PM

Oh wow. I wonder why someone would buy it just to close it.

5/15/2010 9:25:54 PM

Quote :

"speaking of photography, can anyone recommend a good photographer for under $2000? the main thing i'm looking for is a cd/dvd of all the photos along with the rights...and of course good photos. if they have packages that include photos or albums, great...but it's not necessary."

[user]jsnell[/user] - http://www.tailwagginphotography.com/index2.php

She is in the outer banks, though - keep that in mind.

5/15/2010 9:37:16 PM

Quote :

"Oh wow. I wonder why someone would buy it just to close it."

It's being renovated. There's no timeline for it, so it's closed indefinitely. Hopefully it'll reopen whenever they're done.

5/16/2010 1:27:20 PM

Ahh okay, that's much less sad

5/16/2010 8:11:21 PM

I would like one of these to wear in my hair:









I think the last two are my favorites

5/17/2010 3:01:11 PM

I like 1 & 4

5/17/2010 3:02:41 PM

^^I made one that looks almost identical to the last one. It wasn't difficult.

Here's a blurry picture (sorry - phone camera)



[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 5:36 PM. Reason : picture]

5/17/2010 5:33:55 PM

Only 30 to go and I'm completely done making my flowers

5/18/2010 12:29:58 AM