Greetings from...

I haven't posted in awhile, but there hasn't been too much to post that's wedding related. In case you were on the edge of your seat about what happened at the photographer meeting from the last post, we did end up going with her. Her name is Stephanie Haller, and even though she's based out of Issaquah, she travels for weddings. Lucky us! I am in a friend's wedding that's coming up quickly. And by quickly, I mean in two weeks! I had a slight panic attack last week when I realized this, because I needed to get my bridemaid's dress altered. Somehow I found a seamstress in Ellensburg that did it quickly for me. I just picked it up today, and it fits great! Thank you Edna at Custom Cut Clothing!
Other than that, I'm starting to get my ducks in a row: making lists about everything. I'm a habitual list-maker. I list out my bills every month, make grocery lists, and when traveling I click down a mental list of what I need and write it down. I've found that more often than not, if my head weren't attached to my body I would inevitably leave it somewhere. Hence my unrelenting list-making.
Speaking about travel list-making... Chris and I paid a visit over this past weekend to sunny California, and boy was it sunny!  We spent four days in Central California (almost exactly halfway between LA and San Francisco) wine tasting, going to local festivals, and kayaking with real wild sea lions! It was an adventure for sure. And now that we've somehow, on short notice, spent a total of 10 days vacationing in the past month, we are back to the grind. Someone's gotta help pay for this wedding, right?!

Morro Bay

 

Sea lions are everywhere!

Capturing the moment

We have been so lucky in that there are several large parts of the wedding that we either aren't having to pay for, or the cost is minimal. With that being said, we haven't had to deal with vendors at all... yet. Although the wedding seems so far away from now, I know we need to book a couple important aspects- one being photography.

Photography was about the first thing I started looking at when we first got engaged. I'm a photo junkie.  I love taking pictures, and I love seeing what others are doing. As I started looking on the internet at different photographers, I realized I gravitated to the photojournalist-style. I really don't like the cheesy poses, and just unnatural look of some of the wedding photography out there; I appreciate a much more candid and relaxed feel of photos (even if they are posed, they don't necessarily look like it).
I've come to find a few photographers that are absolutely amazing... and so are their prices! I understand that hiring a professional for a service would cost some money, but I had no idea really how much wedding photography can be. So we decided to sit down and figure out our photography priorities. Pretty much our number one is quality over quantity. During my searches, I've found many photographers who offer everything under the sun for a bargain. But the catch is that the photos aren't necessarily the best quality. Meanwhile, I've found others that offer a bit less for a higher price, and with that higher price comes better quality photos. So do we go with the full-time teacher who just loves photography and does it on the side, or a professional who has all the right equipment? Since we are on a budget, that was a point in which we had to make a really important decision. In the end we stuck with quality over quantity. 
We're going to meet our very first potential photographer on Monday. Yep, as in 3 days! I've been emailing back and forth with her for about a month, and decided it's time to meet. If everything goes well, she'll go on our short list. We'll probably talk to one or two more people, and then make our decision. It's all so exciting! I know I'm being really picky about this specific topic, but after the music is gone, decorations are put away, and the cake is eaten, photos are all we're going to have left. And they're not just for us, but for family and beyond. It's sort of an exciting thought that in the distant future, a relative could be holding our wedding pictures, asking who's who in them, much as I have done with other pictures of my own family.