hair and makeup - take 2

Sorry for the long hiatus! It's been a busy week at work and slightly busy on the wedding front as well. Anywho....two weekends ago I had a second hair and makeup trial with someone new (see the first one here). Overall, I think it went great. This MUA/stylist was much more personable and really put me at ease. Unlike the last person, once she was finished we evaluated and tweaked the look until I was happy with the outcome. Let's take a look-see at the results, shall we?






The eye makeup basically looks the same as it did the last time, she just used pinks and mauves instead of browns and golds. I love, love, love the long lashes. The hair was much closer to what I wanted in the back, but the front looked a bit flat and sad. I much prefer the look of the front from my first trial. Plenty of body at the crown and more hair sweeping across my forehead.


Now here's where it gets frustrating. I received a follow up email from this person early last week and I responded with my thoughts, questions and concerns almost immediately and also to let her know that I would like to sign a contract and place a down payment. This week came and I still had not heard anything. So I sent another email on Monday. As of this morning, still nothing. I really hope nothing serious has happened, but I don't want to wait around twiddling my thumbs until I hear something back. I'm quite upset at the thought of going through this entire process yet again. Especially since the trial had gone so well! Luckily I had an appointment for a cut and color last night and when I was talking to my stylist about it she told me that she does wedding hair and makeup. So I went ahead and set up an appointment for a trial with her (but it's not for another two weeks). Keep your fingers crossed that the third time really is the charm!

Have you had any experience with unresponsive vendors? How did you handle it?

*UPDATE* I finally just received an email back with a copy of the contract and an explanation for the delayed response. Now I have to make a decision whether to book her or not. I really want to because I love what she did and we got along great, but future unresponsiveness would probably make me very anxious. Perhaps I should bring this to her attention and see what she says? Thoughts?

second thoughts

This past weekend I had a hair and makeup trial. After it was over, I thought things had gone pretty well - the makeup looked nice, my hair needed help, but the MUA said that if I booked her she would do another hair trial free of charge. My friend who went with me said I looked nice, as did the future mister when I got home. My mom agreed when I video chatted her and so did MOH Sam when I sent her a photo from my iPhone.

But now I'm having second thoughts. The hair definitely needs work, that's a given. I was going for something soft and romantic looking:

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But instead got a messy french twist looking thing.

(Can we say hot mess??)

The stylist tried, though. Apparently my hair wasn't cooperating (even though I went with dirty hair) - the curls weren't staying and after awhile it all became a static-y mess. Which is why I think she just haphazardly pinned it back and told me I need to grow it out longer. I hate long hair, by the way. My hair was much shorter at MOH Ash's wedding and I think her stylist did a great job.


Now makeup. I'm pretty good at doing my own. Case in point - my engagement photo makeup, which I ended up doing myself due to the Sephora semi-fail. So because of that, I sent the MUA these photos to show her how I like to wear my makeup.

(I threw this one in, too, for good measure)
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Here are the after photos:

Like I said, the makeup looked nice, but there's just something bugging me about how I look in those photos. Maybe it's because they were taken in bad lighting with my crappy point-and-shoot. Because I do actually like the photos that I took with my iPhone:



Or maybe it's because, in person, I could tell that it was just sooo much makeup compared to what I wear on a daily basis. I've also thought that it could be because the makeup she used was warmer (i.e. golds, bronzes, yellow browns), when I usually wear cooler tones (mauves, pinks, grays) - blushing bride rather than golden goddess.

Whatever it is, something just isn't sitting right. Now I have a few different options. I can pay her the deposit to hold the date for me and just do another trial (both hair and makeup) before the wedding. She contacted me today to let me know that she has another inquiry on my date, so that decision would have to be made soon. Or I can make an appointment with another MUA/stylist and hope that trial goes better. I don't want to be left with no options and no one available if I just keep searching around. But I also don't want to jump into a contract that I feel uneasy about. What do you think I should do? Does anyone have some words of wisdom?

card "box"

Nancy "the hankie lady" has turned into a true friendor. Yesterday she and her husband had my parents over for lunch so she and my mom could brainstorm table decor and centerpieces. I'll touch on all that a bit later, but first let me introduce you to our card "box", or rather, birdcage.


It's kind of funny. To my knowledge, Nancy doesn't read wedding blogs or look at wedding magazines, yet all of her ideas so far seem so in tune with much of what I've seen floating around wedding land lately. It was she who suggested using lace doilies underneath the mason jars on our tables - and now I'm seeing photos of similar centerpieces all over the blogosphere!

Anyways, back to the topic...My first impression of the birdcage was that it was rather large - perhaps too large to be used as a card box. My mom agreed that it was pretty big for a birdcage, but that it would look great outside at our reception and wouldn't overwhelm the space. I trust her judgment. So Nancy and her husband are going to clean it up, repaint it and decorate it with some ribbon.

What are you using/did you use as a card box?

day of coordinator

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we had recently signed the contract and paid the deposit for a Day of Coordinator. I am extremely excited to have this checked off the list! I knew from early on that I wanted a coordinator of some kind, but was concerned that one wouldn't fit into the budget or that it would be considered unnecessary. Luckily, both my parents were on board with this idea and the future mister and I met with someone back in June.

After our meeting, we decided to go with their lowest package, which they describe as "for the couple with their event professionals and facilities confirmed, but who require a coordinator to facilitate their rehearsal, pre-ceremony pictures and ceremony." More specifically, this package includes:

planning sessions at 3 months, 1-2 months and 1 week prior to the event
unlimited email and phone conversations the month of the event
personalized, detailed timeline of pre-ceremony and post-ceremony photos
personalized, detailed timeline of ceremony
copies of personalized timelines distributed to all appropriate wedding professionals the day of the event
etiquette advice and guidance
complete wedding rehearsal coordination (1.5 hours)
pre-ceremony and ceremony coordination (4 hours)
emergency coordinator kit available at event

Our coordinator will also be able to handle some set-up as long as it is minor. For anything that is more involved or time consuming, our coordinator suggested we hire a second person at an hourly rate. We can also upgrade to full day-of coordination (to include the reception) at any time. This is where I'm torn and would love some advice. Initially, I was very happy with just rehearsal, pre-ceremony and ceremony coordination in order to save some money. After the post-ceremony photos, I figured that the DJ and catering manager could take things from there. But now I'm thinking that an extra $200 might be worth the peace of mind that comes from having a coordinator there for the entire day, pre-ceremony through reception. Which do you think is more important - saving some money or peace of mind?

busy, busy

Just some of the wedding related things we've been accomplishing this week:

Met with a potential DJ

Met with the restaurant we want to use for the rehearsal dinner

Got quotes for shuttle services to transport our guests from their hotels to the ceremony/reception site and back again

Printed, cut and packaged table numbers for friend's wedding

Receiving/revising contracts for hotel room blocks

Dropping dresses off to be altered (for our friends' weddings)

Driving to Charlotte to get my e-ring fixed (my setting is loose) and hopefully picking out my band

Wow, just typing all of that exhausts me! But at the same time, it feels incredibly rewarding to keep crossing items off my list. Do you get as excited as I do when crossing stuff off the list?

the dreaded phone call

About two weeks ago I received a phone call from our event coordinator at Epting Events - her husband had accepted a job out of the area and she was leaving the company. Definitely not the kind of phone call you ever want to get when planning a wedding!

Since we were still at about a year out, though, nothing much had been done except for the initial meeting, proposal and deposit. Plus, Epting is known for taking care of its clients. Well today we met with our new coordinator, Wendy, her assistant Abby and even Lee Epting himself. It was a great meeting. We were able to hash out our ideas and pare down the initial proposal. No worries here!

So now that that's settled, I'm going to leave you with some eye candy - my attempt at an "inspiration board." I brought this with me today to show our coordinators, but I had to doctor it a bit for the blog so that my gorgeous, top secret wedding gown isn't seen by the wrong eyes (i.e. the future mister's).

the great kid debate

To have kids (at the wedding) or not to have kids? I'm not sure about other couples, but this has been one of our biggest debates during wedding planning so far.

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I LOVE children. I have been babysitting since I was 13, worked in various day cares, volunteered at the boys and girls club, and minored in Human Services in college. Despite this fact, I don't want children at my wedding (except for the ring bearer and flower girl). My reasoning is that we have a fairly limited guest list - 150 max. When you take into account that our extended families are on the large side, the numbers add up pretty quickly. In my opinion, having children at our wedding would take invites away from many adult friends and family members that I really want there to share in our love and marriage. Now I do remember attending a wedding when I was maybe 8 and I had so much fun! But there were less than 10 children there. Our number is closer to 50 or 60. Of course I know that not all parents would choose to bring their kids, but I don't want to take my chances.

Well, at the moment we are in the midst of working on the guest list. Although we had cleared the no kids issue with both of our parents months ago, concerns are being raised. What do you do if a person you really want to come to the wedding more than likely won't come if their child(ren) can't come as well? Do you make exceptions? My thoughts are no because if you make exceptions for one person you have to make them for everyone or risk upsetting/offending people.

While trying to come up with a solution, I came across a website for an event babysitting agency. They will send 3 or more CPR certified sitters to your event or even off site at a hotel. Now it is not in the budget for us to fork over the money for group sitters. However, this agency will also set parents up with individual sitters that will stay with their child in their hotel room.

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Do you think that this would be considered more of a meet in the middle? Or should I try to rearrange our budget to hire group sitters? Where do you stand on the great kid debate? Any thoughts, suggestions?

more "real"

A few weeks ago, the future mister and I went to see our venue all set up for a wedding. Here are the pro pics by Melissa Prosser:

(we'll have access to this vintage car!)

It gives me goosebumps just looking at these. And a little voice in my head starts yelling, "You're getting married there! You're getting married!"

At what point did your upcoming wedding/marriage become more "real"?

wedding videos (part 3)

So who did we choose to capture our wedding day for all eternity?

Drum roll please...

Andy Jackson of Portal Films!



Please go there now and click on Enter Gallery to view a short clip of his work. Or if you have the time, check out his blog for a few full length pieces (20 minutes max) - but only watch them if you have the time to do so without interruption. Trust me, it's worth it!

Yes, the Stillmotion videos make me tear up and I love that they so beautifully capture the emotions of the day. But, Andy's films make me ball like a baby AND they give me chills. AND he shoots in Super 8mm. Which, by the way, fits so completely with the feel of our wedding.

I'm not sure I could really say it any better than Andy can himself:

"The films I have been creating over the course of the past few years, or at least the style I have been striving towards, is purely impressionistic. When I say that, I mean that what I capture is not necessarily literal... love is not necessarily portrayed with a couple exchanging a kiss, nervousness is not necessarily portrayed by a bride shedding tears, joy is not necessarily portrayed by smiles and shouts. Within the films I create, I do not strive to show memories that people already have; I do not serve to replace or dilute those memories. Therefore, love is more evident within a hand caressing an arm in comfort, nervousness is more evident within the fiddling with one's hair, and joy is more evident within the look the bride and groom give each other after all the cheering has passed.

So when I say 'impressionistic' it is not because I exchange images entirely with metaphorical replacements, but rather because I tend to show the in-between moments, the gentle details, and the little interactions instead of just an 'event.' My work is about experiencing a feeling rather than watching history.

Add to all of that the geometry of composition, the emotional relation to objects, and the piecing together the flow of an edit like a puzzle, and you have the reasons why I call what I do 'impressionistic art films.'"

I get giddy just thinking about Andy capturing our wedding day. If I cry and get chills by watching strangers, I can only imagine that those emotions will be one hundred times stronger for our own film. And THAT is something I can watch over and over and over again.

wedding videos (part 2)

UNTIL! Until, the wedding blogs came to the rescue once again. It was love at first sight. I was head over heals. BUT, this person was about two hours away. Nothing lost, though, by finding out pricing and travel fees. I'm telling you, this was fate. The videographer, or in this case cinematographer (read about the difference here), has a brother in Atlanta so we would only be charged for mileage, which was pretty insignificant. I was floored.

However, this was pretty early on in the wedding planning. We didn't even have a venue yet. So we sat on it. Then, come January, I decided it was time to get a move on and start making other decisions, mainly regarding the photographer and videographer. So I went to this guy's blog and read that he had moved to Vermont! I almost cried. But again, nothing lost by finding out what the new travel fees would be. They only went up by about $100. Are you kidding me?! It really was fate. Just two weeks ago I signed the paperwork and paid a deposit.

Curious yet as to who we picked? I think I'll drag it out into one more post...

wedding videos (part 1)

Before getting engaged and discovering the wonderful world of wedding blogs, I was of the mind that wedding videos were boring, sometimes cheesy, and almost never looked at again once the wedding was over. Not something I was interested in.

Then I saw this:

Laura + Josh // The All Brevis Wedding // Mexico from stillmotion on Vimeo.

And I cried! I don't even know these people and I'm crying and watching their wedding video over and over again! Wouldn't it be great to have something so touching that wasn't mind numbingly long and boring - something that we could watch on occasion to remember how special our wedding day was? Of course!

The company that did the video above is called Stillmotion. Unfortunately, they are based out of Canada. So the search began. Most other companies in our area couldn't even compare. Some weren't quite as corny as others, but they still didn't have what we were looking for. Until...

What are your thoughts on wedding videography/cinematography?