Videographer

Wow. I just contacted the rudest videographer ever. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But I was not pleased.

So I decided I want a videographer for the wedding. The day goes by so quickly, and it's impossible to see everything, especially yourself! I want a basic DVD of the day just so we can look back later. I looked on the Boston.com wedding vendor forums for some recommendations, and TheKnot.com. I also asked a recently married co-worker. The co-worker suggested one but he is in Providence. I contacted one from The Knot, and two from the Boston.com forums.

The Boston.com forums ones responded politely and quickly to set up meetings with me. Their pricing was available online and they were very accommodating with their schedules (Black Tie Video and Eagle Pro Video). The one from TheKnot.com, Fotografia Love, did not have pricing online. They did have an online inquiry form, which I filled out. They offer photography and videography, and I indicated I was interested in videography only. This was their response:

Hi Sarah,

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

Our videographer is currently still available for your wedding date. Mina & I are also still available for photography. Are you interested in photography? If so we could set up an appointment for you to view our album photo samples.

If you are only interested in video you may view our demo video online

Attached is our pricing & more info. Call or email us with any questions you may have.
If you would like to reserve the date only for video and not photography, we will email you a video contract.

Regards,
Demetri Papoulidis

Now, it was polite enough I suppose. But what annoyed me was the push for photography (which I have already booked elsewhere) and the assumption that I would sign with them before even meeting them. I need to know I would get along with this person, as they will be following me all day! They attached a brochure with pricing, as they did not display that on their site (which I will never understand). Of course, they were more expensive than the other two I contacted as well.

So I replied to them, rather bitchily I suppose.

I am not interested in a photographer, as I already have one. You pushing your services, which I am obviously aware of as I filled out your online inquiry form, is very unprofessional. I prefer to meet with videographers before signing contracts, and I prefer not to be pushed for services I do not need. I will not be requiring your services as I am meeting with videographers who responded more politely to my inquiries.

Thank you,
Sarah

His response?

1^st time I heard that one!

Good luck

Demetri

Interesting. Oh well, I have appointments with the other two, who came highly recommended. Wish me luck!

Such a perfect day! Happy 2 year anniversary my love!

I just got back from three days in Maine with my fiance. It's amazing how much a little get-away can totally refresh and renew us. We were celebrating our two-year anniversary. Two years ago on August 18, we met for the very first time, and life would never be the same.

Simon and I are computer geeks, so of course we met online. Craig's List, to be exact, as I wasn't ready to shell out money for a dating service. His was the one intelligent reply to my ad, so I gave him a shot. Eight months later, I moved in. A year after that, we were engaged.

We spent from Sunday till Tuesday in Bridgton, Maine, staying at the Noble House B&B. Sunday we drove to Maine and stopped at Yummies and the Maine Diner on the way. We got to the B&B around 7 and just relaxed and watched a movie. Monday we spent two hours at the lake, went to an arcade, then finished the day at the drive-in movie theater, which I had never experienced before. Tuesday we checked out, spent two and a half hours on a riverboat cruise, then drove back to Massachusetts and reality.

We're a very affectionate couple, but being away for a few days made us downright sickening (in a good way!). There were constant “I love you”s and “happy anniversary”s and we just couldn't have been happier. Sometimes you just need to get away and focus on each other, instead of the wedding, and work, and the house.

My presents were a “Love: Sarah & Simon” canvas to hang in our room, a “Sarah & Simon” frame...AND A KINDLE!!! I have a freaking Kindle!!! He spoils his little bookworm. ;) As you may recall, his engagement ring was his early anniversary present, and he has been very good and worn it every day.

I'm sad to be home from vacation, but I know it was worth it and we made memories to last a lifetime. There's nothing like escaping with the love of your life.

Engagement photo outfits

Okay, one last post about this, as the pictures are tomorrow. Lisa recommended we do two different outfits, since we'll be at home and can change easily. Here is what I have.

First outfits, casual. Me = dark purple dress, bare feet (I got a French manicure on fingers and toes). Simon = dark red polo, jeans, brown shoes.


Second outfits, dressier. Me = dark brown shirt, blue skirt, and brown heels. Simon = light blue button-down (with white t-shirt underneath), gray twill pants, and brown shoes.

(Yes, I'm obsessed with Old Navy. No, I did not pick out all 4 outfits from there on purpose, I swear!)

She recommended solid colors that coordinate but don't necessarily "match." So...comments, suggestions, thoughts? Please???

I love having the dresses planned for my wedding and then COMPLETELY changing my mind

I think it’s funny how when you think of your wedding before you get engaged, you have a completely different picture of it than once you actually start planning. Some people may keep their original vision, of course, but mine has changed countless times. For years, I pictured my bridesmaids all in purple, my favorite color. Then it was a medieval-style wedding with jewel-toned velour dresses. Then it was a beach wedding with the bridesmaids in ocean-blue sundresses. Then I actually got engaged. And once it was real, everything changed.

The first thing we discussed was when we wanted to get married. It was pretty much a given that it would be in autumn, our favorite season. We didn’t want to rush and do it this fall, so we decided on October 2010. That got me thinking about a fall-themed wedding. Our birthstones are garnet and topaz, which happen to be fall colors. What better way to have a wedding that’s “us” than to base the colors on our birthstones? I fell in love with that idea.

My first idea was to have my sister, the maid of honor, in burgundy and my bridesmaid, a friend, in gold. Then I thought it might seem weird and uncoordinated to have three ladies in three different colors. Then I thought if they have the same dress color with different color accents, it may pull together better. I wanted long, sheer sleeves for all our dresses, feeling that sleeveless was odd for the fall. That is a VERY hard style to find. I started thinking about this for the bridesmaids:

…but in brown with a burgundy sash for the MOH and gold for the BM. I thought, however, it might look odd to tie a sash around the waist with a basque waist dress. I did feel it went nicely with the dress I had tentatively picked out for myself:

I also had to add a bridesmaid at this point, as Simon decided on a best man and two groomsmen. Yes, I know they don’t have to be even, but I like symmetry. That’s when I asked a friend of mine from middle school to be my second bridesmaid, and she was so overjoyed I felt silly for not thinking of her in the first place! So now my sister and two girls I’ve known since ages 10 and 12 are my bridal party, and I couldn’t be happier.

I was all set with those dresses until I started looking around Dessy.com. They had some really cute dresses with sashes built in, and you could choose whatever dress color and sash color combination you wanted. That’s when I typed the above tweet, after seeing this dress:

Adorable! So I sent the three ladies pictures of it, and two liked it; but my sister, the shortest and heaviest, wasn’t too pleased with the tea length, and I can’t really blame her. It can be unflattering on short, heavy legs like ours.

In the meantime, I decided to find a non-long-sleeved dress for myself if I was going to put the bridesmaids in sleeveless. I guess I’ve finally come to terms with most dresses being that way, and that it’s not really going to matter since the entire wedding is indoors, with the ceremony and reception in the same building. This is what I started liking:

Since my sister was not comfortable with tea length, I went in search of a longer dress and found this:

I passed the photos around to my co-workers and got the consensus that it was a very classy style. It has a seam at the waist to it can be shortened without affecting the colored hem.

Then I also found I like this style:

The bridesmaids dresses can be seen here and here and the wedding dress here.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Thank you, savvy brides!

Engagement photos

One week from today we're getting our engagement photos done! I could not be more excited. We'll finally have professional pictures of us. We have very few of the two of us at all; the blog header one was actually taken by Simon himself, lol.

So our photographer is the esteemed Lisa Rigby, who photographed my cousin Darcy's wedding and I just loved the results. She's been a pleasure to work with so far, always on Facebook and Twitter and email, and generally easy to get a hold of despite her busy schedule. Our engagement photos are going to be taken in the back yard of our new home. The landscaping is gorgeous, and what could mean more to us than our new home?

I picked out this dress to wear:
I'm also doing red nails and lipstick to go for a pseudo-50s-pinup-girl style. My black hair and bangs will work well for this. I'll also be barefoot because we'll be outside and barefoot is my favorite way to be, despite my massive shoe collection!

Simon will be wearing jeans and a polo (she recommended we wear something fairly usual for us). I polled a bunch of friends online to determine the best color polo for him to wear. We have it narrowed down to a light blue polo with dark jeans or a navy blue polo with light jeans. Maybe a green polo, but I'm not sold on it. We'll have to compare them to the dress to make our final decision.

I'm sooooooort of considering a French manicure so Simon can wear a dark red polo. I really can't decide. Brightly colored nails are kind of my "thing," but I know the plain nails would look better. =/

So...comments? Suggestions? I want these photos to be stunning!

DIY bride

I’m a DIY bride. I’m making all of my decorations, bouquets, favors, centerpieces…EVERYTHING. I have a good-sized budget, but I just can’t justify dropping five grand on flowers. They will die and be gone and I just can’t do it. Now, a photographer is worth that. I’m spending the money where it counts, to me at least.

My co-worker (who is getting married this Friday, congrats Beth!!!) told me about Save-On-Crafts.com. I started looking through the site and I was absolutely delighted. I’ve put everything I want on my Amazon Universal Wishlist so I can easily save the links. My wedding is 14 months away so it’s a bit early to buy it all, but I can’t wait to get started!

My wedding arch is brown metal with a floral design, from which I’ll hang sheer, iridescent red, yellow, and orange fabric. On each side will be a small table draped with sheer brown fabric, topped with a tall, narrow vase of red and yellow silk poppies and red, orange, and yellow glass pebbles.



Centerpieces will be a round mirror under a bud vase surrounded by red and yellow votive holders. The vase will hold a single red or yellow silk poppy and red, orange, and yellow glass pebbles. The votive holders will contain small LED candles (safer and they don’t blow out or melt down!). I will also scatter fake fall leaves on the tables.

Around the reception area will be small tables/stools draped with the same sheer brown fabric from the ceremony, topped with baskets of silk fall leaves, flower petals, cinnamon sticks, and lantern fruit. I’m also going to order some balloon floor arrangements from a friend’s mother’s business, as I can’t attach anything to the walls and the room is very plain (one of the few things I’m not doing myself).

I’m also getting my aisle runner, chair sashes, easels for photos, vase for wedding wishes (on small cards, instead of a guest book), corsages, and boutonnieres from them. I’m making all the bouquets with silk flowers (red and yellow poppies and roses, and off-white roses and stephanotis). I’m ordering brown satin ribbon for tying flowers, and all my craft supplies like glue guns, floral tape, and pins.

Other than that website, I’m getting personalized Hershey Kisses and disposable cameras from TheKnot.com, blank programs and personalized favor ribbon from AnnsBridalBargains.com, and ALL of my wedding stationery from VistaPrint.com (with the sole exception of my Wilton print-your-own invitations). Wedding favors will be donations to the American Cancer Society in memory of my mother and Simon’s grandmother (they send you pre-printed favors for any donation amount, here. I’ll be tying those into scrolls with the personalized ribbon.


I do everything online obviously! But I’m saving a ton of money doing it all myself, and with over a year to do it, I won’t need to get stressed. I’m so excited to start putting this all together, but I’m sure Simon might get slightly annoyed if this stuff is all over our house for a year. Guess I’ll just have to wait a little longer! I’m proud to say, I am a DIY bride.