first thing is first...i finally said yes to the dress(es)!! i found the one i will wear on the big day yippee... and actually not too long after my last post. it really couldn't be more perfect. when we last left off i found two dresses that i loved but neither one of them felt just right (ha it's like right out of goldilocks and the three bears...except with dresses instead of porridge/chairs/beds...and there's no bears involved). i knew i had to find a dress that was a combination of the two i couldn't decide on..and i did! it is so perfect it's scary...when i found it (valentine's day) and where i found it (sorry this one's a secret only a few close friends have seen it and know where it came from) are literally 2 more pieces of evidence proving to me that things really do happen for a reason! it's beautiful, it's perfect for the venue and it completely fits my personality! i just can't wait until brandon sees it on our day.
what's even more exciting is the dress i chose completely flipped the script on the whole theme and tone of the wedding. now i'm going back through my bridal magazines and finding incredible inspiration i completely looked over just because it wasn't "in your face" or "modern"!
i found (well actually my mom found) the bridesmaid dresses as well and again it's a secret! i guess i should probably mention mostly every thing is going to be a secret from now on...no more inspiration boards or sneak peaks...we have some big plans in the works and i don't want anyone to see anything until it is all put together. okay, back to the bridesmaids - do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bridesmaid dress that doesn't look like a bridesmaid dress? it's really quite ridiculous and time consuming! By the way, if you're a designer there's a huge market for non-bridesmaidy-ish looking dresses...so get on top of things before someone else does. challenge #1: it's outside, at a farm, in august...so silk, or satin, or charmeuse, or chiffon, or taffeta is either going to be way too dressy or way too hot! challenge #2 the maids range in ages from 19 to late 30's so finding something that isn't too young or isn't too mature was a little difficult. challenge #3: it's pretty obvious that everyone is a different shape or size so it was really important to find something that would not only be flattering on everyone but most important it has to be comfortable!! i want the girls to have fun and i don't want them to have to spend the day tugging or pulling or thinking about how ridiculous they look in a dress that is all wrong for them. being a bridesmaid is quite the experience and every maid knows that it is the brides day...but every single bridesmaid is such a beautiful part of my life i want them to feel beautiful too! I really think they will in these dresses and as an added perk, *alert-i am about to say one of the biggest bridal cliches known to man kind* yes...i do think the girls could wear the dresses again! ha! i just said that out loud and couldn't help but giggle at that statement.
what's next...oh the engagement photos!!!!! brandon and i won a free engagement shoot from the photographer we fell in love with. i really wasn't too worried about engagement photos to begin with so because we won the session our main goal was to just have fun with it....and we did! the main photographer was shooting a wedding that day so we actually got to work with elijah hoffman, a wonderfully talented photographer that was so awesome to work with!! it was a little awkward in the beginning...mostly because brandon and i had absolutely no clue what to do. do we look at the camera? do we gaze into each others' eyes? do we stare thoughtfully into the distance? yeah...no clue but once we got the hang of things it got a little easier. elijah was so great about giving us direction and didn't get mad when i literally could not stop laughing when he wanted me to get "moody" (i'm a full teeth smiler so even a half smile feels extremely uncomfortable to me...imagine how hard it was to produce my most extreme stink eye on the spot). all in all it was a really great experience! we had fun, we got to see some really kick ass parts of downtown portland, we took some weird photos (which is fitting because brandon and i are freakshows about 75% of the time), and i'm sure we got some pretty great pictures in there as well. I'm anxious to see them and I am so glad we did it.
well that's about it for now. i won't leave you hanging for too long. we are creeping up on being a year out from the date...so it's time to get rolling!
hugs
♡
