Engaged: Jessica + Frank
Our friendly and fun clients Jessica and Frank had their engagement pictures with their photographer, Johnny Arguedas a few months ago and I wanted to share! They are having a big May wedding in Simsbury, Connecticut and we couldn’t be more thrilled or honored to be apart of it!!
Allison + Jacob: Engaged
Super clients Allison and Jacob had a fun engagement session with the ultra amazing Amanda Herzberger of Orchard Cove Photography this past weekend and I couldn’t help but share! They are getting married May 1st at the Old State House (my most favorite place in the entire universe….!), followed by an incredible reception at The Hartford Club.
Allie and Jacob went to Elizabeth Park in Hartford, Connecticut followed up by their home in West Hartford. Here are some of my favorites…
You can see all the rest here on Amanda’s blog! Can’t wait for your big day A&J!
xxooo
Things We Love, Vol. #5
The above is an editorial / love shoot that was photographed by Kellan Studios. I love the styling and the accessories!! Don’t be afraid to go all out and do something incredible like this for your engagement session. It’s soooo worth it!
I’m totally inspired by this colorful room full of different textures on Apartment Therapy. It reminds me of the style of my first apartment in college. Expect an inspiration board on this soon!
This gorgeous contemporary yet vintage wedding on style me pretty. I just love yellow weddings!
These printable airmail invitations are so cute and fun! Have you visited Vintage Glam’s transformed and new blog, Ruffled yet?
Green Wedding Shoes posted the amazing country / modern wedding of Rebecca & Jason. I adore the cakes!
This paper chandelier from Pottery Barn is so much fun! Oh So Beautiful Paper inspired us with it — I’m going to do something with these in an upcoming photoshoot!
A purple inspiration board by Creature Comforts is my favorite for this week. Love the lavender, muted colors and feel!
The Party Dress posted a great artichoke place card holder — with the top sliced off and the interior hollowed out to make room for a tealight. Love it! I love using food as candle and place card holders.
Junko Yoshioka’s studio tour on brooklyn bride was so inspiring! I love the light, styling, and pure white everywhere. It’s like a bridal dream world. Wouldn’t you love to try on dresses here?
Happy Sunday!! xox
Laundry Inspired Engagement Session
I came across this engagement session by Clayton Austin (and found on Green Wedding Shoes) and just had to share! What is it about laundry and an open field that is so sexy? What a hot couple! To see more images from this shoot visit Green Wedding Shoes.
Do yourself a favor and ditch your GAP cardigan for your engagement shoot and do something fun.
Email’s back to normal. Happy Monday!
Our Engagement Pictures
When Mike and I thought out doing our engagement pictures we wanted to do something that was uniquely about us. We’re such a relaxed couple and we love to go with the flow and enjoy the moment. We not only wanted our engagement shoot to reflect our personalities, but the things that we love. Mike loves his fast car and his motorcycle and I love photography and clothes! Totally unrelated to one another but when you put them together its meant to be! We decided to visit The Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, Connecticut for the bulk of our shoot. They were so accommodating and friendly to us and it made the most beautiful backdrop for our session. After, we headed over to Hopkins Vineyard in New Preston, Connecticut for some last minute shots.
Here are some of my absolute favorite pictures from our session with Robert and Kathleen, who did an incredible job of photographing us. There are also additional pictures posted on here on their blog!
Things We Love, Vol. #3
This is one of my favorite weekly posts. I love to star my favorite blog posts through out the week and share them with you all. I also really enjoy reading YOUR weekly round up posts as they always point me in the direction of very talented people!
Okay, so the photograph above? I am loving this pink and navy wedding posted on The Brides Cafe Blog…. everything… the bridesmaids dresses… the flower girls cardigans… ALL of it… I LOVE IT. So much style!
I love this Mary Norton chiffon rosette purse featured on SevenEight…. it is super dreamy.
Real Simple’s advice to accessorize with shimmer instead of a scarf this season… love their choices. I agree, a little shimmer on the collar bone makes such a difference!
I have a love of chalkboards, and had to share 8 cool chalkboard finds on Real Simple’s blog.
Having an e-session soon? Take note of inspiring details from style me pretty!
A little floral inspiration from Sarah of Party Perfect. Just what you need on a gloomy and rainy day!
Love banners, especially this colorful DIY celebrate banner from Once Wed.
I’m totally drooling over these Save the Dates and Invitations from Katie and Ben posted on Brooklyn Bride… i’m such a sucker for awesome packaging!!
I love the crystals and chandeliers from this wedding featured on style me pretty.
These stylish bridal sashes posted on Classic Bride are gorgeous.. if you know me, you know I love embellished belts (with flowers!) so these are right up my alley!
Make your engagement session fun!
If your photographer offers engagement sessions, be sure to schedule one. It is a great opportunity to work with them prior to your wedding day, and it really allows them to learn more about you, your style, personality, and what style of photography you like. I spent the latter part of this week doing a bit of inspirational research on engagement sessions. As a matter of fact, there is a whole website dedicated to the art of the unusual and fun engagement session: Are We Married Yet?
I love when couples put thought into the details of their engagement pictures: wardrobe changes, cool accessories, amazing locations, and great personal energy all contribute to spectacular photographs. I say: do something different! Go to a unique location, have your photographer capture you doing something other than posing on a park bench. Love wine? Go to a vineyard. Like football? Wear your team jerseys and play touch football in a local park. Obsessed with vintage old Hollywood? Get all dolled up to resemble Greta Garbo, Bette Davis… or better yet, Betty Paige. Reenact The Honeymooners, Ricky and Lucy, or old Good Housekeeping ads. If you have a favorite artist or painting, why not reenact them? Favorite movie? Remake one of the scenes (I’m thinking When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, Dirty Dancing!!, A Streetcar Named Desire, Bonnie & Clyde, An Officer and a Gentleman, Ghost, feel free to continue…). Spend the day at a movie theater, go to a carnival, oyster festival, flee market, amusement park, or concert. Ride a bike, get on a motorcycle, rent a vintage car, skate board, go horseback riding, rent a trolley. Have a fun, interesting, cute, unique story of how you met? Talk to your photographer about it and see if they have any ideas on how to pay homage to it.
The point is: do something out of the ordinary! It isn’t often that the two of you will be together with an entire afternoon dedicated to capturing who you are on film. But don’t just take my word for it – I asked a few of my favorite photographers for their advice on engagement sessions and here is what they’ve said:
“I always ask, if you have a free weekend to do whatever you want to do, you know you’re going to have a great time doing it, and distance and cost do not matter, what would you do?” Richard Esposito of RE Photo Design has worked with some really creative and fun couples. He just did a super fun engagement session at Disney Land, click here to check it out! Some other fun engagement sessions from Richard: Yale Baseball Field and A fun day in Newport. You can see all of Richard’s engagement sessions here!
Jerome Braga of Studio1923 has done some pretty amazing engagement photoshoots, too! “I always ask is to split the session in two parts. One more about fashion, scenery, architecture, etc and the other part about fun. The fun part is REALLY about them.” I think this is the perfect recipe for great engagement photo shoots! Check out some unique and fun ones that Jerome has done, such as Theatre Date, Toboggan or Not Toboggan, and It Ain’t Utah!. You can view a “best of” montage by clicking here!
Val McCormick of Val McCormick Photography recently had an awesome engagement shoot featured on Are We Married Yet? She says, “Engagement sessions are a great opportunity to have fun, romantic and playful photographs of the two of you, it is also a great time to either try out or get to know your wedding photographer. I have found that engagement sessions really give me the opportunity to get to the bride and groom a little better and help “break the ice” prior to one of the most important days of their lives.” I couldn’t agree more! Check out Val’s blog for more engagement session goodness!
Feel free to browse some of our favorite photographers websites who have all done amazing, awesome, fun engagement sessions (too many to highlight!): RJT Pictures, raw photo design, Carla Ten Eyck, Orchard Cove Photography, and Studiofoto, to name a few!
The Thank You Card
When you get engaged there will be a lot of opportunities to send out thank you cards. Throughout your engagement, people will often send you gifts, have get-togethers in your honor, and mail you cards of well wishes and happily-ever-afters. Many people are curious about etiquette involving thank you cards, especially when it concerns marriage and all the opportunities there are during the process to send them. When do you send thank you cards? Do you send them for engagement gifts, attending an engagement party, shower gifts, or what about a thank you card for a card? I believe it is important to send a written thank you, even if it is thanking someone for sending you a card. We all have, at one time or another, sent someone a card congratulating them on something (such as an engagement or a new home) and never heard from them. We’re often left to wonder if our card ever reached its destination.
Since there are so many opportunities to “send thanks” to your loved ones, it doesn’t hurt to stock up on thank you cards. Having them handy is one more step to ensure that they are mailed promptly. If you “collect” stationary, like me, than it also doesn’t hurt to shop around for a variety of stationary. Personally, I like to sort my stationary into classes, meaning, I send my expensive “boutique” stationary to the recipients who notice and appreciate letterpress or card stock, while I send my “mass produced” stationary to the recipient who wouldn’t notice those finer details. I also believe in never sending the same thank you card twice, so it is always good to have a variety on hand for that purpose!
I’ve found some really beautiful card collections at Target which fit my personal style. The thank you card pictured to the right and the cards pictured above are part of three different collections I purchased at Target, and are the primary thank you cards I sent out for the beautiful engagement gifts we received. As I said above, I purchased a variety of cards to ensure that I never sent someone the same card twice. I’ve found that Target has a wonderful selection of formal, traditional, romantic, artsy, modern, and unique cards. The main advantage, along with the stylish selection, is the affordability. Most of their card collections are between $4-10 dollars for 8-12 cards per package.
For those wondering, etiquette mandates that you send a thank you card for engagement gifts as soon as they arrive. You should send a thank you for gifts you receive at your bridal shower no later than 2 weeks after the shower. For wedding gifts, you should send your thank you cards no later than 2 weeks after you arrive home from your honey moon. When in doubt, send a thank you in writing. It is a very personal way to connect with someone, especially when they’ve acknowledged this wonderful period in your life.
Along with Target, there are several online websites you can use to create custom thank you cards and stationary. While national online retailors do offer a great selection, I prefer supporting local businesses in your community. You may want to search google for a local stationiare who sells quality preprinted stationary or offers custom designs.
