April 18, 2012

Wedding | Katie & Jake

  Jeremy & I had the privilege to kick off our 2012 wedding season with a bang! Katie & Jake had booked us nearly a year in advance, and we had been anticipating this first wedding of the season for a few months. I can’t say enough good things about Asbury Park Grove, where they were married. It’s a small, simple venue…. but it has everything you need. It’s in a convenient location, has stunning landscaping and FABULOUS food! Another important thing…. the people there made sure to keep us in the loop, and made sure we were taken care of… which we can’t always say about venues. It makes our day go so much smoother, a good coordinator/wedding planner is PRICELESS!   To see all photos and to order prints from Katie & Jake’s wedding click here!  
April 5, 2012

Wedding | Being Thrifty

If you know me personally, you know I’m a bargain hunter. I got that gene honest, my mother was The. Bargain. Queen. You may or may not know I am a TJ Maxx poster child and I’ve got the credit card to prove it. I also get the Sunday paper delivered strictly for the coupon section…. read numerous coupon blogs and shop almost exclusively from the grocery weekly circular and clearance sections. If I knew about all these great things when I was living off $850 a month, making minimum wage WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE…. my money would have gone A LOT farther! I had to get creative 3 months after getting married, Jeremy lost his job….. his well paying job. We were left to live off my non-profit salary and unemployment. Thankfully, we had paid cash for Jeremys car, mine had a low payment, and our mortgage was lower than most apartment rents. We were going to be fine….. but we needed to live a little more slim. I discovered the Sunday paper and coupons…. Now… you can save plenty by couponing…. but we’re talking about weddings, right? So where am I going with all this….. EBATES! If you aren’t familiar with Ebates… familiarize yourself. When I first discovered it, I thought…. this is sketch… too good to be true…. instant cash back? No way. …. BUT YES WAY! I use this site all the time, especially to buy expensive camera gear. (and clothes, and other things I don’t need). They are affiliated with many online retailers, and offer a % cash back on purchases. Each vendor has a set %, and each day their is a daily double… sometimes more than one. I’m letting you know all this because today I got my daily email from them letting me know what the daily doubles are….                   and it was all about weddings!! Here are the deals for purchases today…. they even highlighted registries!! (So buy your friends getting married, their wedding & shower gifts today!) Nordstrom: normally 3%, today 5% J Crew, Saks, Macy’s, Target : normally 3%, today 6% (all great shops for wedding attire & registries!) DSW & Sephora: normally 4%, today 8% (mmm shoes & good makeup… love!) Minted (awesome for invitations!!): normally 5%, today 10%!   So get to saving for your big day (or be a good friend & buy something off someone’s registry)!!!!   and just for good measure… a photo of my favorite.          
April 4, 2012

Goals | April 2012

Are you guys as excited as I am for April?! The days are the perfect temperature for riding with the top down, sitting on the patio after work and laying on the beach! March was just insane with my day job, so I’ve been looking forward to April when things slow down just a bit…. just to give you an idea, I drove just shy of 2,000 miles for work alone. Yeah… I was really sick of seeing the inside of my car. So among all the job stuff, here’s how I did on my goals…. 1. Continue working on album orders Got two approved and ordered! (5 more to go!) 2. Begin working for Iredell Living Magazine (today!) Done! I picked up the April issue yesterday, and have already shot one of the May feature 🙂 3. Work on editing & blogging Done some! (more to do!) 4.  Blog some film we shot Done!   April…. 1. Finish editing a baby shoot 2. Finish editing Jake & Katie’s wedding 4. Cut the grass on our beach lot (ok, so this is on Jeremy’s to-do list… but we’re heading there on Saturday afternoon, and spending Easter Sunday at the beach!) 5. Complete some events and projects for work 6. Order a new sample album from RedTree (cannot wait to get this!!) 7. Complete quarterly taxes… ugh.   Here’s a little preview of Katie & Jake’s wedding…. it was so awesome!!!  
March 29, 2012

Wedding | Megan & Chris

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of working alongside Johnny Davis at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, one of my all-time favorite venues!  
April 18, 2012

Wedding | Katie & Jake

  Jeremy & I had the privilege to kick off our 2012 wedding season with a bang! Katie & Jake had booked us nearly a year in advance, and we had been anticipating this first wedding of the season for a few months. I can’t say enough good things about Asbury Park Grove, where they were married. It’s a small, simple venue…. but it has everything you need. It’s in a convenient location, has stunning landscaping and FABULOUS food! Another important thing…. the people there made sure to keep us in the loop, and made sure we were taken care of… which we can’t always say about venues. It makes our day go so much smoother, a good coordinator/wedding planner is PRICELESS!   To see all photos and to order prints from Katie & Jake’s wedding click here!  
April 5, 2012

Wedding | Being Thrifty

If you know me personally, you know I’m a bargain hunter. I got that gene honest, my mother was The. Bargain. Queen. You may or may not know I am a TJ Maxx poster child and I’ve got the credit card to prove it. I also get the Sunday paper delivered strictly for the coupon section…. read numerous coupon blogs and shop almost exclusively from the grocery weekly circular and clearance sections. If I knew about all these great things when I was living off $850 a month, making minimum wage WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE…. my money would have gone A LOT farther! I had to get creative 3 months after getting married, Jeremy lost his job….. his well paying job. We were left to live off my non-profit salary and unemployment. Thankfully, we had paid cash for Jeremys car, mine had a low payment, and our mortgage was lower than most apartment rents. We were going to be fine….. but we needed to live a little more slim. I discovered the Sunday paper and coupons…. Now… you can save plenty by couponing…. but we’re talking about weddings, right? So where am I going with all this….. EBATES! If you aren’t familiar with Ebates… familiarize yourself. When I first discovered it, I thought…. this is sketch… too good to be true…. instant cash back? No way. …. BUT YES WAY! I use this site all the time, especially to buy expensive camera gear. (and clothes, and other things I don’t need). They are affiliated with many online retailers, and offer a % cash back on purchases. Each vendor has a set %, and each day their is a daily double… sometimes more than one. I’m letting you know all this because today I got my daily email from them letting me know what the daily doubles are….                   and it was all about weddings!! Here are the deals for purchases today…. they even highlighted registries!! (So buy your friends getting married, their wedding & shower gifts today!) Nordstrom: normally 3%, today 5% J Crew, Saks, Macy’s, Target : normally 3%, today 6% (all great shops for wedding attire & registries!) DSW & Sephora: normally 4%, today 8% (mmm shoes & good makeup… love!) Minted (awesome for invitations!!): normally 5%, today 10%!   So get to saving for your big day (or be a good friend & buy something off someone’s registry)!!!!   and just for good measure… a photo of my favorite.          
April 4, 2012

Goals | April 2012

Are you guys as excited as I am for April?! The days are the perfect temperature for riding with the top down, sitting on the patio after work and laying on the beach! March was just insane with my day job, so I’ve been looking forward to April when things slow down just a bit…. just to give you an idea, I drove just shy of 2,000 miles for work alone. Yeah… I was really sick of seeing the inside of my car. So among all the job stuff, here’s how I did on my goals…. 1. Continue working on album orders Got two approved and ordered! (5 more to go!) 2. Begin working for Iredell Living Magazine (today!) Done! I picked up the April issue yesterday, and have already shot one of the May feature 🙂 3. Work on editing & blogging Done some! (more to do!) 4.  Blog some film we shot Done!   April…. 1. Finish editing a baby shoot 2. Finish editing Jake & Katie’s wedding 4. Cut the grass on our beach lot (ok, so this is on Jeremy’s to-do list… but we’re heading there on Saturday afternoon, and spending Easter Sunday at the beach!) 5. Complete some events and projects for work 6. Order a new sample album from RedTree (cannot wait to get this!!) 7. Complete quarterly taxes… ugh.   Here’s a little preview of Katie & Jake’s wedding…. it was so awesome!!!  
March 29, 2012

Wedding | Megan & Chris

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of working alongside Johnny Davis at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, one of my all-time favorite venues!