SO busy! but heres a ramble about photos!

I am so blown right now! Like, I can hardly do anything at work because my brain is so full of other stuff! Just went to a wedding over the weekend, got our engagement photos done, going to check out flowers today, my second dress fitting tomorrow, my first shower this Saturday (yay!), friends birthday also on Saturday/Sunday, and amongst this trying to be productive and checking things off our list. (damn that list! damn it to hell!)

I am not made for being so busy and am generally more on the lazy side of life. So I'm totally bamboozled by my schedule at the moment!

So for today's post, I simply have a ramble about our e-session and photographer:

To begin: engagement photos were so fun! and I'm so glad we did them! It was great to get to know our photographer (awesome) and also to kinda get used to being photographed. It helped that, for our first shoot location, we choose the busiest place ever to get over our photo nerves...the sunday farmer's market on Lyndale in Minneapolis!

Both of us love food and are committed to eating as sustainably as we can - so the farmer's market was a good fit for us. Also, I just thought there would be some fun, unique shots to be had there! So we walked around, browsed food, and actually did some shopping!

I'm super excited to see our photos! I try not to think about it otherwise I get all giddy...but she said they probably won't be ready for two weeks or so since she is out of town this week.

Oh, and this 'she' is Chelsey Marie of Chelsey Marie Photography! And now that I think about it, I can't believe I haven't talked about her! Maybe cuz I was holding my breath and not wanting to jinx it....which I still kinda am. We haven't seen the photos yet...but I just am feeling so happy with her already that I can't wait!

Once upon a time I was shopping for photographers. And holy crap are there a lot of them. A lot of really great photographers with amazing portfolios that just made me drool all over myself. But holy crap are they expensive. There was one, a couple with their own photo biz, who I just adored. Kage Imagery - check em out! Awesome photos and they seem like super awesome people! I really wished I could afford them...but alas, I'm a cheap ass. I had been in communications with them previously, and so when I finally gave in to the fact that I was a cheap ass I told them very nicely that I love their stuff, wished we could work together...but I'm a cheap ass. Then I asked if they had any recommendations of photographers to fit my cheap ass budget. They sent me two names - one of which was Chelsey Marie Photography.

Chelsey was exactly what I was hoping for! Someone with some great photos in her portfolio but just starting her own biz. We were actually the first wedding she ever booked under her own biz! This all means that we get an AMAZING deal that includes the works! Gah! (I guess I have gotten some wedding magic, because I feel super lucky to have found her and nabbed her while she is cheap! I guarantee that her prices will start to climb sooner than later.)

So I can't wait to see our photos! And if you haven't noticed yet...I've been keeping this blog mostly anonymous and haven't really shown full photos of us. Dunno why...just have. But I may just get super excited with our photos and not be able to hide our real identities any longer! We'll see.... :)

Our Wedding: The Venue

Thought I'd post some more about the nitty gritty of our wedding..including one of the most important (and stressful) parts - our venue!

The venue was a huge headache for us. Ok, for me. I spent hours and hours searching for an amazing blog worthy venue. This was my first wedding planning task, so I hadn't really found my wedding planning sanity yet. I was at the whims of the Knot and grand expectations. So I searched and searched and found some awesome venues.

One was the Round Barn Farm in Red Wing, Minnesota. Oh my goodness - BEAUTIFUL! This would have been an instant wedding blog hit - it has a beautiful bed and breakfast house, with a nice yard and gardens, and then of course the round barn. The barn is awesome in and of itself but with a few sparkly lights and some warming light from candles it would be so cute and give off the perfect relaxed but beautiful vibe. Really just a gorgeous place. But too expensive and far away for us. If there is another MN bride out there who could use it, do it! And then write me and let me live vicariously through you!

OK...back from that little tangent. We didn't use the Round Barn Farm, but can you tell that I daydreamed about it and thought long and hard about to we could afford it? *sigh* Maybe for my second wedding to some rich ass dude.

After many site visits and online searching, we chose the Dakota Lodge in St. Paul. It has very clean, usable space. The price was right - no extra charge for a wedding ceremony - actually, no extra charges for much of anything. Cute outside space where we can get married under a mondo oak tree. Its in West St. Paul - a central location for all our friends and family. And they would let us use any caterer with the correct license! Great!

Plus that have that awesome virtual tour with such catchy music! ;)

So Dakota Lodge it is!
On Saturday August 28th. (Its coming so soon! Ahh!!)

Our Wedding: Food!

As we stepped into wedding planning, we put together a list of things that were important to us. One of the biggies was using local, organic and seasonal food if and where possible. We knew this was going to cost us more, but when we are spending thousands on one day, we wanted to spend on our money on vendors and food that we felt good about.

Enter our caterer: Josephs Catering in Minneapolis.

Josephs was the first caterer we met with - and the only. Screw that business that you have to talk to at least x amount of vendors before choosing one. We liked them, felt good with them and went with them. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I didn't feel it was worth the trouble and time to do a million vendor interviews when we found one who seems to be a match!

We were so happy to find a caterer who truly seems to be committed to running a sustainable business. They only use dinnerware and try to reduce waste as much as possible and maximize recycling. They use local, organic and seasonal foods as much as possible and the chef often shops at the local farmers markets. And one of our favorite part is their food recycling program. All the leftovers that are suitable for people are given to a home for adults with disabilities. The leftovers that are no longer suitable for people are given to a local pork farmer - which is also where they get their pork.

As a business they are also great to work with. They are willing to work with us to get our choice of local wine and beer, to create a menu that fits our wedding, and to get the most out of our money without nickel and diming us. We may be paying a bit more than we had hoped, but in the end I think we are getting a lot for the price and that it will be well worth it.

We both feel good about this decision and are checking it off our list and not looking back.