I Do! The Invitations

Just 3 months to go until I become a Mrs. and that meant those invitations that I had designed a long time ago needed to somehow all get printed and mailed. Thankfully, we are having a smaller wedding and so we only had to get roughly 80 invitations out. Thanks to a simple design, two home printers and an amazing Maid of Honor, these babies were out within two days. Truthfully, we could've easily done it in 1 but after a while we got distracted with food and homemade wine. Our bad. They still went out exactly 3 months before the wedding. My German "on time-ness" came through once again!

Please excuse the iPhone photos, the thing is just so darn convenient!

I designed everything myself in Illustrator and then printed it all with the help of InDesign (and the fiance's expertise). All paper and envelopes are from Paper Source - love them - and our awesome return address stamp is from Note Trunk on etsy.

If you're now planning on crashing the party - just be aware there is no open bar, so bring cash and please don't eat all my food.

I Do! Bridesmaid Dresses

I don't have a lot (or really any) photos of the Bridesmaids shopping experience. Partly because it was just plain stressful. This post should really be called "How much I loathe David's Bridal. Thankfully, I have easy going girls but I was not prepared for this day at all.

We first went to Splendid Bridal where I got my Wedding Gown but we had originally decided on Satin dresses. Splendid didn't have any that the girls liked and I had made an "appointment" at David's Bridal since 2 of my ladies are from out of town and I thought this might make it easier on them later on.

Well, as soon as we entered David's Bridal I went into full on panic mode. I don't shop in person very much so I was not prepared for what hit us when we entered the store. Compared to Splendid, David's was an absolute, chaotic mess. I was called the wrong name 3 times despite correcting her each time and even providing our "consultant" with a shortened version of my name. I'm sorry, but my name is not Yamaka, who names their kid after the Jewish head piece?!

I always expect people to mispronounce my name, that's just how it goes but once I tell you how to say it and you continue to mess it up, I'm sorry but I have no pity for you. That might seem harsh but especially in the sales world, wouldn't you want to make sure your customer that is about to bring in hundreds in sales for you is taken care of? Customer service is the number one priority in my wedding photography business, I just simply expect the same from other vendors.  Aside from checking in every 30 minutes or so really nobody helped us. Thank God my ladies are used to shopping and just went for it themselves.

Anyways, rant over. I gave the girls the option of picking different dresses according to each girl's taste and style but they actually ended up all picking the same one. The exception to that was my Maid of Honor, who actually ended up getting her dress a few weeks later at Splendid Bridal - THAT experience, was ah-mazing.

If you need anything, a Prom, Bridesmaid or Wedding Dress, I would highly recommend heading to the Reading Bridal District and checking out Splendid Bridal. These ladies pay attention, look at your body type and most of all, listen. We had a dress for my Maid of Honor within 20 minutes and it is perfect.

As I said, Bridesmaid dress shopping, for me, wasn't the best experience but it just confirmed that I had made the right choice in who I picked to stand by my side. My advice? As long as you're with a great group of girls, you can't go wrong. Let them pick their own dress, trust them, they won't pick something ugly.

I Do! The Engagement Party

Things are getting serious. In 6 months I will not be behind the camera, I will be in front of it. As the main subject, nonetheless. I will walk down the aisle and get married to my best friend. In 6 freaking months!

Luke and I got engaged New Years Day 2012 in Chicago and we had decided on a long Engagement to not get stressed out and enjoy the process. I was so used to saying "Oh next year!" when people asked when they big day was, not that it's down to the last few months, it's starting to hit me.

I realized I hadn't shared much of my experience in wedding planning so I wanted to start this little series. What I believe helps me tremendously when it comes to photographing weddings that I know exactly how the bride feels. The excitement, the nervousness, the anticipation and fear, I've been through it all and continue to go through it for a little while longer so I understand and can put myself in the couple's shoes. 

First up in this series of I Do! is our Engagement Party, which was about a year ago. What I remember most about the day was how incredibly hot it was. We're talking above 100 Degrees by the time people arrived in the late morning. Second was how amazing my mother was. She went all out for her little girl and whipped up amazing decorations, food and an amazing speech.

Throughout this series, you have to remember that my family is not from America, so a lot of traditions that most of you grew up with, are unfamiliar to us. Despite the cultural differences though, we've managed just fine. Including this Party. Despite the extreme heat, everyone seemed to have had a great time socializing and celebrating Luke and my Engagement.
My mom made all the food, decorations and flowers herself with the help of just a few friends, didn't she do an amazing job? These photos don't do it justice whatsoever (party because back then I had no clue what I was doing - I came a long way!) See what I mean? Gorgeous! I feel so blessed to have such a loving family and even more so that Luke's family has been so kind to let me into their circle.