This is why we can't have kids yet: Our idea of an awesome Sunday is taking off on the motorcycle

This past Sunday reminded me once again why I am marrying this man. Not that I ever really forget, but days like this just reinforce our love.

We woke up Sunday morning (LATE Sunday morning) to a gorgeous day after a rainy Saturday. At once we knew we needed to get out on the motorcycle, as days like this are rare now, and will only get colder. We geared up, packed up our cameras (Canon Digital Rebels), I hopped on the back of his bike, and we took off north to go get breakfast. After some yummy pumpkin pancakes, we headed west to Central Mass. where we heard there were good orchards. We ended up at Doe Orchard in Harvard, and wandered around taking pictures, holding hands, and kissing under apple trees.

It was the perfect October day, reminding us that this is what it will feel like outside when we get married in a year. This is why we love fall, and why we’re having our wedding in this season. The smell of apples, the colors of the leaves…we love everything about it.

We continued on to a beautiful cemetery to take more pictures. It may sound morbid, but the leaves were gorgeous and the area was just so picturesque. We got silly and took some pictures of each other taking pictures. Look how handsome he is in his motorcycle leathers!

We’re not your typical engaged couple in many ways. We started living together after dating for only 8 months, we got engaged before we’d even dated 2 years. We’re in no rush to have kids and plan on adopting a toddler girl someday, maybe five or more years from now, even though we’re not very young (27 and 33 right now); I really have no desire to experience pregnancy and he’s totally fine with that. We’re enjoying being selfish with each other, and we’re not ready to give that up yet. We like taking off spontaneously, sleeping in, spending a rainy day in our PJs playing video games, and having a bunch of guys over to play D&D. Then again, maybe that’s why he loves me so much. ;)

Engagement announcements, check!

Finally done with engagement announcements.  We bought labels yesterday for the addresses, and I stuffed and sealed the envelopes while Simon printed labels.  We were only short two addresses, one of which I got today, so we're not officially done, but just about!  Simon brought the 52 finished ones to the post office today.

I'm especially excited since I printed our website address on them, so more people can get wedding details.  And the website links to this blog!

I also set up an engagement announcement to print in the Boston Globe on Sunday, Nov. 1.  Need to remember to buy a few copies of that.  ;)  I want to start a scrapbook now that I have these things to put in it!  If I wait till after the wedding, it'll never get done.

So, one more thing is out of the way.  I need to mail contracts to our videographer and lighting designer.  Oh, and I'm going wedding dress shopping with my cousin Darcy on Sunday!  Could not be more excited.  I have a special little favor to ask of her that day.  ;)  Details later!

Engagement photos are done!

Our engagement pics are up...and I cried watching the slideshow.

From the second Simon and I got engaged, I knew I wanted some sort of engagement photos. I didn’t care if we did them at Wal-Mart, I just wanted some sort of nice picture of us, as we have very few of both of us. When I booked my wedding photographer, Lisa Rigby, she told me about her engagement photo sessions and it was such a reasonable price, I asked her to do those too. It would also give us an opportunity to work with her before the wedding so we’d be more comfortable.

She’ll do the shoot wherever you want (within reason), and we decided on doing them in our own backyard, as our new home together is very meaningful to us. We were supposed to do them August 13, but it rained. We rescheduled for August 26, and thankfully it was a gorgeous day.

It was an absolute blast; I felt like a supermodel, being followed around our yard and house with a camera. She thought up all kinds of things for us to do in the pictures, like sit on Simon’s motorcycle, play Scrabble and chess, and walk around the yard hand-in-hand.

When I got the pictures yesterday, I just cried. They were so beautiful; you could see the love between us. You could see how happy we are in our new home together. It just reinforced all the reasons I’m marrying this man; I love him more than anything.

Photography by Lisa Rigby

Bracelet and garnet drop earrings by Moody&Sanguine

Feather necklace and earrings by ChinaCherie

Clothing by Old Navy

Sarah's engagement ring by Barmakian Jewelers

Simon's engagement ring by Ethan Lord Jewelers

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???

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!