Beyond the Dress

(Bridges Wedding Photography)

Now that the wedding is over, I keep wondering what I am going to do with my dress. When I bought it, the women at the store said that a lot of folks who had bought the same dress dyed it black and made it into an evening gown. Hmm...or I could do a session with Karen Bridges of Bridges Wedding Photography who has a nice package for people like me who might want to wear it one last time. For some crazy reason, I am still not ready to trash my dress by running into a lake...I know, I know. I will never wear it again. But for some reason I don't know if I am ready yet, but I do love some of her shots and they seem less of me getting the dress all "trashy".

Probably one of my favorite shots!

Here is her package...
Beyond The Dress is a bridal fashion photography session with award-winning photographer, Karen Bridges of Bridges Wedding Photography. When you go Beyond The Dress, you let your hair down, bring along your sexiest pair of shoes (no matter the color!) and prepare for a photography session that goes way beyond bridal. Beyond The Dress also includes an 8x8 album with 14 of your favorites to keep for yourself or give to someone special. (Great surprise or anniversary gift for the hubby!) Please contact us directly by calling 309.287.5992 or emailing bridgesphoto@gmail.com for more information or to schedule your session. Thanks!

Welcome!

I am like a proud mom! My photographer is blogging! Yah! Another one that will be added to my google reader!

The Photographer Shot Sheet

One thing I have been told over and over again is - make sure your photographer knows exactly what shots you want. I recently have been getting Real Simple's wedding emails and saw this the other day. It is a photographer/videographer shot sheet.

Some Love to My Photographer II

(StudioThisIs)

So my sister stalks our photographer. I got an email from her late last night, informing me that they had just posted four new weddings up in their featured section. So I of course looked this morning and I know, I know - everyone says they love their photographers - but I really do love them. As it is getting closer and closer to our wedding day, I get even more giddy with excitement to see their work on our big day!

Some Love to my Photographer

I was psyched when I was looking through Brides Chicago magazine today and found an article on my photographer StudioThisIs. They were also highlighted on Brooklyn Bride's blog yesterday as well!

Here is what Brides Chicago said (unfortunately, I can't find the article online yet).

The Next Wave

We were scouting for a wedding photographer whose shooting style is more Vogue, less high school yearbook, when we came upon StudioThisIs. This photography studio based in Chicago specializes in editorial wedding photography, creating photos that are typical of a high fashion magazine spread. "When we started shooting weddings, we realized we had a gorgeous bride in a couture gown at an incredible venue," says Jeremy Bustos, one of the studio's principal photographers. "It had all the makings of something out of a magazine, so why not shoot it that way." The three photographers behind StudioThisIs are known for scouting unusual locations for wedding portraits - anything from meat-packing warehouse rooftops to scrap steel yards. "It's controlled photo journalism" says Jeremy. "The setup is staged but the moments are real."

More Beauty Shots...

It is cold here in lovely Chicago, so what better than to sit inside and surf the net all night! I am constantly cheating on my photographer, but I can't help it - I am a sucker for photographers that not only shoot beautiful shots of the couples but also get the beauty of this city as well. I came across imaginative studio website and have fallen in love with Gina.

Cheating on my Photog

I love my photographer...but I am constantly looking at others! Here is Orange Squared photography - based here in Chicago. They do a wonderful job of getting some great shots while also showing off this great city. I love that they also have named their packages after Chicago neighborhoods.

Some Cool Shots

Not happy at all about the OSU game, so avoiding all newspapers and sports websites for a couple days. These were some of the photos that basically sold me on our photographer...

The bride celebrating right at midnight on New Years Eve...

This would be me - but chugging a glass of wine or beer instead!

This was actually from a wedding!! I guess this was the entertainment...

There are a ton more on their website - StudioThisIs

Say Cheese

Ugh...Unfortunately, I had the worst commute tonight. I had wanted to get dinner and go see Gone Baby Gone. Instead - I am sitting here blogging, while my BF is watching TV. Love engagement life!

But can I tell you how in love I am in with my photographer? I just am so happy that I got them! Studio This Is. I will be the first that I was ready to skimp on the photographer and then woke up and realized that this is really the only thing you take away from your day. I was searching and searching the web, when i came across their website. I think I went through their portofolio five hundred times. I was sold. My only advice on photographers is do as much research you can do. I ended up posting on several sites asking for photographers that folks had used. I even asked another photographer who was booked, and she even said to go with them.

Pics and More

After about a month of phone calls back and forth. I have officially signed on with my photographer. YEAH! I spent more than I wanted but so happy with their work and they have been wonderfully nice! So this weekend, my sister is coming in and hopefully we will find the bridesmaids dresses. THEN - it will be really only just invitations and figuring out flower arrangements. I am enjoying this. Maybe because I think my wedding is going to be fun. I have not stressed too much just yet, except over the budget. What was I thinking? I know I could have a cheaper wedding, but I always love the higher end stuff. That is what kills you...

Brooklyn, baby!

I hate saying it but as you become more and more engrossed in wedding planning, you start checking out every other site. One of my favorites - http://www.bklynbride.blogspot.com/. This is what I would do for all Chicago brides - if I actually had time. So I have been on this site every day and came across this - our photographer and she was raving about how great they were. This was from his own wedding. I am in love! http://bklynbride.blogspot.com/2007/09/sota-dzine-jeremy-hayley_04.html.

We still need to sign the contract - but I think this just got me to do it!

What about the dog?

So my soon-to-be husband has a prized pet - his golden retriever. We actually bought her together when we were first dating. Of course, she is the best dog ever. She wasn't always this way - I believe golden retrievers go through terrible twos...just like humans! Recently, he asked if the dog was going to be part of the ceremony. I laughed, but then came across this photo today. What a cute pug!