Pro Pics 3: Drew and His Guys

Like I said last time, Brad wasn't able to get any shots of the guys getting ready. We told the guys to meet at the hotel that Drew was staying at to get dressed. Fortunately, most of the guys stayed at the hotel with him over night. Note that I said most. More on that later. Anyways, the guys were told to be at the Cathedral at 11:00 AM in order to start their photos.
Drew and his best man, Drew. They've been friends forever.

Drew and Josh. They lived together for a time and that's when I met Josh. Josh used to work at the airport with Drew.

Drew and my brother, Greg. My brother normally has on tight skateboarder pants and a tshirt, so I was so happy to see him all dressed up. He looked so handsome! There was a moment when we were waiting to walk down the aisle and I turned to him and asked him if I looked pretty and he responded back with, "Ya, you look good" with such a sincere tone in his voice. I almost lost it then.

Drew and Erik. You'll remember Erik from the rehearsal pictures.

Drew and Joe. They've been friends for a long time too and also lived together at one point.

Drew and another Eric. This Eric is his brother-in-law. Seriously, probably one of the nicest guys ever. Ok, well all of his groomsmen are probably some of the nicest guys that you will ever meet. Drew has been so blessed to have such great friends and family surrounding him. And I am so honored to have another brother.

Drew and Josh. I'm not quite sure how they met, but I do know that they took the same A&P classes through Rock Valley, only Josh was a year ahead of Drew.

Drew and Adam. Adam used to be Drew's boss. Adam was one of the first people that I met with Drew. We went over to his house to play poker. It was also my first experience with poker. I'm surprised they kept me around.

Drew and his dad. Such a great looking group of men!! See, stud muffins.... Too bad that all are either married or in a serious relationship. Well, except my brother. So have at him ladies!! LOL!!!Ok, remember how I said that most were on time. One of the ushers, Tim showed up very late. From what I understand, he didn't get there until 12:30 and I'm pretty sure that Brad had already moved onto us girls.

Pro Pics 2: The Making of a Bride

Next, in our wedding photo journey, is the girls getting ready. My sister and Angela stayed the night at my place on Friday night, so we were ready to go bright and early. I asked everybody to meet at my place at 7:30 AM!!! Ya, I know, cruel right? I did that for a reason though. Basically, to allow time for the chronic not-on-timers that there inevitably are. Luckily, we didn't have any issues with people getting ready and we actually headed out the door to go to the Cathedral a few minutes ahead of schedule.

My aunt did mine and my sister's hair. She's done our hair all of our lives. Kelly, Josh's girlfriend, was nice enough to come over and provide her services for the other girls. My sister was first up to get her hair done.
My mom did our make-up and Angela was sure to sit her butt in that chair first.

She let out a little shriek when she saw Brad trotting up our driveway with a backpack. I think she wasn't very impressed with me. Apparently, she didn't want to be photographed without make-up on.

By the way, Sarah is absolutely gorgeous. She is going to make such a pretty bride when her day comes!!I love how this shot is over my sister's shoulder. As her and I were looking through the pictures, she said to me that she had no idea that he was there behind her.

It's true too. After about 10 minutes of Brad being there, we kind of got used to him moving around and started to ignore him. He was everywhere! He was constantly taking pictures. Before I started getting my hair done, I pulled out the flowers and programs and other stuff that needed to come with us and he started to pull things and arrange them and take beautiful pictures with them. Have I mentioned that I heart him yet??

Ya, and my sister... She's gorgeous too! I had such a beautiful bridal party.

After I got my hair done, Brad grabbed me to take some shots in front of the window.

And I told him that I really don't like veil photos, so good luck taking one that I would like. And what do you know? I'm actually pretty pleased with it!

So then, I look over and see this:

So Brad was going back and forth between taking pictures of me in the window and catching this moment that was happening between my aunt and my mom. You see, my wedding is the first wedding in the family since my aunt, the one pictured, got married. That's been like 20 years or so. Needless to say, it was a happy moment for my entire family.

And I was simply excited to be done with the hair and able to move around again.

I was kinda not feeling the greatest that morning. My tummy was upset and I think that I was just overly excited. I did not want to sit in that chair for any longer than I had to.

Sarah, however, was perky!

My mom decided that she wanted to do my makeup when we got to the Cathedral. I was fine with that.

Ok, so after my makeup got done, it was time to get dressed. I put on my slip and bra and then went to find Brad to let him know that I was getting into my dress. I also had to find Nicole since she was there for one of my fittings and knew how to help me step into the dress. Have you ever played Super Nintendo? Remember the game with the Princess and you could make her float because of her dress? Well, my slip kind of had the same effect.

I could get some mad air in that thing!!! I had no idea. But I ran and gave a little leap and was able to get quite the air time. It was so-o fun. And my girls in the back? Ya, they just laughed at me!!

Then, I had to settle down and actually get into my dress. Note to anybody out there getting married, step into the dress!!

Have your girls help you hold your slip and then just wiggle down into it. It was really nice to not have to worry about my hair or veil getting messed up.

After I was dressed, us girls headed upstairs to take some formals. Unfortunately, we didn't get any shots of the guys getting ready. Brad hung out with us girls (hee hee) and then just headed straight to the Cathedral. Next time though, we'll look at Drew and his groomsmen formals.

Wanted: Photographer

I'm on the hunt for a photographer. I really want to do a Trash the Dress (TTD) photo shoot. For those of you that are new to the idea, here is what Wikipedia describes as TTD:

Trash the dress, fearless bridal, and rock the frock refers to photography that contrasts elegant clothing with an environment in which it is completely out of place. It is generally shot in the style of glossy beauty and glamour photography.
Usually brides decide to have pictures taken on the beach, but possibilities are endless. City streets, rooftops, garbage dumps, fields, and abandoned buildings are only few examples of trash the dress session locations.
A model often wears a ball gown, prom dress or wedding dress[2], and may effectively ruin the dress in the process by getting it wet, dirty or in extreme circumstances tearing or destroying the garment.
It may also be done as an additional shoot after the wedding, almost as a declaration that the wedding is done and the dress will not be used again. It is seen as an alternative to storing the dress away, never to be seen again.

Ok, now I'm not looking to destroy my dress!!! I spent a lot of money and I love my dress to pieces. But, I do have a very hard time trying to be ok with packing it into a box for a long time.
I still want to keep my dress. I will probably end up packing it away in a box for a long time. But why not get some gorgeous pictures out of it before I do.

The possibilities really are endless with what you can do. It's obviously winter now. A winter shoot would be a great idea. Cold! But great!!

Drew works on airplanes and really does have a passion for that. I would love to go to the airport and shoot some photos out there. Can you imagine the great shots that could be had on a gorgeous day with a few puffy clouds in the sky?

Drew also has a passion for the Cubs. We've been over this before. Dontcha think he would love to get some photos at Wrigley? Of course, that's been done, so I want a photog who can do something out of the ordinary.

I have such a passion for photography. I told many people that if I could have afforded it, I would have had 4 photogs at the wedding. I told my mom during the planning process that I was thinking about doing a TTD and she was outraged. "Why would you want to destroy your dress?" was her big arguement. I told her that I would be destroying it, I would simply be taking pictures in it without the worry of it getting filthy. Yes, it's going to get dirty, but nothing that a simple trip to the cleaners won't be able to fix.

Ok, here's where it gets tricky though. I know that there are a ton of photogs out there. In fact, a ton who already do TTD. And I could just simply contact one of them. (In fact, there's a photog team who I will have pictures by before I die. They are Bobbi+Mike and they are fantastic!!! I love their photos oh so much!!!) But, I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for these photos. That's where it gets a little tricky.

Drew and I already spent a boatload on the wedding. I can't stomach spending more for photos that I simply want. With that said, I also am aware that in order for a photog to get jobs, they need a good portfolio. Not many people will hire an inexperienced photog for such an important event, like a wedding, without loving their work. So, I want to help out. I am looking for someone who wants to expand their portfolio. Maybe that doesn't exist and I'm being crazy. But that's why I'm throwing it out here. Is there anybody out there that is looking for this?

Pro Pics 1: Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

I know that some people have been waiting to see pro pics and I have promised to post them. Since I had the day off today, I took some time to go through them all again and jot down which ones I'm going to blog. There are a lot. Sorry! Or, maybe I'm not sorry since I'm sure you'd like to see them.

Remember, if you see something you like, comment on it. Do you want to know more about something? Ask away! Also, all of these photos were taken by Brad at Topshots Photography. He gave us the rights to these photos, so please don't steal them without giving credit where credit is due.

I thought that we'd start our little wedding day recap at the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.

Apparently, something was funny. Exactly what that was will probably never be known.

This is Erik. He's from Colorado. He's Drew's really good friend from high school. Erik and his wife, Jen, are expecting their second daughter in April. The minute that Drew and I stepped into the rehearsal dinner room, Erik was right at our side asking us if we wanted a drink. And, after answering, he scampered off and quickly returned with what we had asked for. How cute is he?!?!

I don't remember what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that we were having chicken for dinner. You see, Drew's dad, Mark, is under the assumption that that is all I eat. So, he teases me mercilessly for it. I tolerate it.

The woman in the middle is Drew's grandma or Gaupy. She is beautiful!! Ironically, her name is Shirley and my grandma's name is also Shirley.

Stay tuned for more!

You've Got Mail!

Guess what arrived in the mail today?

Yep, our wedding pictures!!
How freakin' cute are those??

5 of them to be exact. I am so excited! I was not expecting them to be so cute, but they are and I'm a happy girl. I've looked through some of them already and it's a lot better being able to look through them big then to try and squint to look at them on his site. I can actually see everybody's facial expressions and some of them have cracked me up.

It's going to take me a little bit of time before I can post them. I have to work on two projects with the pictures and are going to eat up a little bit of time. Hopefully, I can work on posting some later this weekend. I'll try!

Coming Soon...

I received word today that our picture DVDs have been put in the mail. They are coming from Ohio so I hope to have them by Saturday. ::Crosses fingers really tightly and sends a silent prayer that they're here by Saturday::

Remember way back on my first post that I said I was inspired by a certain blog to begin blogging during our engagement? This blog is the one that inspired me. Her name is Heather and her wedding was beautiful. She still blogs here about her everyday life. Anyways, she posted her pro wedding pics in "installments" and I really like that idea. I think that I'm going to do that. So be prepared for quite a few days of wedding pictures. Are you excited?

Oh, and if you love something that you see, let me know. Our photog came from out of town as a favor for us and I'm sure he'd love to hear some feedback. That does include any stalkers that are out there!! ;-)!!!