June 8, 2016
Happy first Tuesday of June! Can you believe it’s JUNE?! Seems like we just celebrated Christmas… I digress. Anyway… I’m back with another intimate wedding post, and as you may have guessed… we’re talking dresses! Every big bridal magazine is going to roll their eyes at this post… because their $2,000+ dresses would surely disapprove of a $50 off-the-wrack frock to tie the knot. Let’s face it, if you are looking to cut costs on your wedding day, a $10,000 Vera Wang dress isn’t even on your radar… but maybe those $99 David’s Bridal specials are… and I’m here to share some other (likely better!) options. If you’re dying for the “bridal look” start local. Check out your local bridal boutiques. Every single boutique has a back corner filled with sample gowns they are looking to offload at a discount. They’re last season, they may need to be cleaned, beading may need mending and they likely won’t fit like a custom ordered gown… but they will be bridal and have a designer label. A few months ago I was in J Majors looking for a dress to photograph and wandered through their sample wrack…. lots of pretty options, and I was stunned at the deeply discounted rates they were being sold! Again, if you’re dying for a true bridal gown, check oncewed.com and preownedweddingdresses.com. When Jeremy and I got engaged, the first thing I did was buy a stack of bridal magazines and hunt for my dream dress on the glossy pages. An Amsale dress struck me… it was the one. I’d not stepped foot inside a bridal boutique, but I knew this.was.it! I happened to find it on preownedweddingdresses.com in my size and about 1/3 of it’s retail price. I think that dress retailed for $3000 and I paid about $1200. It arrived and was even the perfect length! Seriously, no alterations were needed! About a month later I had a revelation that even though I’d spent 1/3 of retail, I’d still shelled out over a grand for a dress I’d wear once… I couldn’t stomach it. I put it back up for sale and actually profited $300 on that gown! Side note: I ended up wearing my mom’s wedding dress 🙂 Also, check out local consignment/resale shops in your area, when I worked at the Junior League Wearhouse we got lots of donated gowns (even from bridal shops!) Look at bridesmaids dresses! Nearly every single bridesmaid gown comes in at least ivory, if not white too. This will still give you a little taste of that bridal boutique experience as well… you can make an appointment, play dress-up and spend a fraction of what the white gowns across the store cost.**Make sure you check out my Intimate Weddings pins for lots of dress options! Shop the mall! Probably the simplest solution… go to the mall! You can find dozens of white dresses just walking into the shops there. Places like Cache, White House Black Market, JCrew (online) and many others will offer you options. Tagging on #4, shop online! Lots of mainstream retailers are carrying bridal gowns online… check out urbanoutfitters.com modcloth.com and zara.com too! Rent. After-all you may only wear it once. Renttherunway.com has a great selection of beautiful gowns. Go non-traditional. Picking a color other than white or ivory will open thousands of options for you… blush is wildly popular right now… I’ve also seen some killer colored gowns floating around… don’t be afraid to do something different!! The photo at the top is a dress I picked up on eBay for about $40… it was the perfect unique dress to shoot Michelle wearing at Richie Hill. It even caught the eye of the Trendy Bride blog and was featured over there! Be sure to check out more Intimate Wedding posts over HERE! And… if you’re looking to celebrate small (and budget friendly), make sure you check out my special rates on that page!
May 31, 2016
When I first got Jenny’s email looking for a photographer for their wedding at Eden Gardens in Santa Rosa, Florida… I about jumped out of my seat with excitement! I hadn’t been to the gulf coast since I was about 14… but remembered just how beautiful it was. The lush greenery that greeted us, did not disappoint my memory. Spanish moss draped from the trees, the sparking bayou and an incredibly, beautiful wedding day were what my outdoor-loving-simple-wedding, navy-enthusiast heart desires to shoot every.single.weekend. Bring me all the brides with this carefree spirit, go-with-the-flow attitude…. and dashingly handsome grooms! I will happily make the 9 hour drive to 30A over and over for these weddings! To view the entire gallery & order prints, click here! Dress: Sarah Seven Bridesmaids: After Six Guys: My Suit Coordinator: Suzy Matus Catering: Bud & Alleys DJ: DJ Vladi Bakery: Publix Rentals: H&M Tents & Events Rings: Steven Singer Probably one of my favorite bridesmaids shots I’ve ever done!
May 24, 2016
Well… we’ve been in our new bedroom for about 5 weeks! It’s been so lovely, I can’t even tell you!!!! Once the contractor was finishing inside, they started work outside. Jeremy had them run the plumbing rough-in work for the outbuilding aka the man cave. They’ll be a kitchenette and bathroom in there, so he had then run all the lines. Of course there are a few items still not complete… but I’m hopeful that by the end of June they will be. The only thing left for the contractor to do is put in one last door (we had them replace all the doors in the original house to match the new ones…. they forgot about one closet, so we are waiting for it to come in). Let’s just appreciate how this space started….. See more before/during shots HERE, HERE and HERE! *above photo by Catherine Marciniak *for a point of reference, the wall the bed is on…. is where the garage door was! Our bed is old (but still sold) from Pottery Barn. The nightstands were in the guest room at the house I grew up in… we haven’t had space for them… so my sister has been storing using them for the last 14 years! Our duvet is also Pottery Barn… but a certain black puppy has managed to put a few small holes in it when chewing his toys on our bed. Might be time to replace it. Lamps are from TJ Maxx, I think… they’re also 6+ years old. Curtains are from Ikea, we have blackouts that are hidden behind the white ones that we close at night (and keep shut during the day to help keep the room cooler). There are actually 7 white curtain panels up… two on the left of the bed, three on the right (two behind nightstand and one on the adjacent wall) and two by the bathroom. I knew just one panel in each spot would look skimpy. I failed to photograph the wall to my left (below) but it just has our tv hung on the wall right now… struggling with what to put below it. We don’t really need more storage, so a dresser doesn’t seem right. The door on the left goes to our gigantic closet! We just have hanging bars up right now, but have big plans to make custom built-ins! Below is the view looking out of the master door…. the laundry room the left and kitchen (original house) straight ahead. The laundry room is small, but functional. We got a butcher block counter from Ikea and it was the perfect length to cover the washer and dryer and fit the nook under the window. The dog crate fits perfectly under it and the cat food/treats are on top. We also hung a cabinet over the washer and will hang a rod between the cabinet and wall for drip dry shirts. It’s so nice to have the counter for folding and it’s amazing to have this room right outside our master suite… magically, clothes get put away much easier now! Our master bath has been a serious labor of love… that came out better than I could have imagined!! As you can see from the photo below, the vanity still isn’t complete. Our plumber had some serious issues getting the drains in the sinks to quit leaking. They finally got it right and now Jeremy has to retro-fit the drawers. Sources: Vanity: A dresser from Craigslist (but the seller owns this shop) Tile: All tile is from Floor & Decor, except the shower floor, it’s from Tile Shop Sink Faucets: Delta Dryden from Build.com Shower Faucets: Delta Dryden from Build.com Tub: Jacuzzi from Build.com Mirrors: These frames that I had mirror cut for at Lowes Towel Bar: Restoration Hardware (bought on eBay) Vanity Mirror: Target (can’t find link, bought it in store) Curtain Rod: Wayfair (unavailable now… but it’s the Umbra Cappa rod) Curtains: TJ Maxx Tub Filler: Jacuzzi from Build.com Sconce: Wayfair (unavailable now) Toilet paper holder: CB2
