Wedding Week: First Look

I knew from the beginning I wanted to do a first look. I also knew that I would do a first look since we chose our wedding date after day light savings time and I wanted an evening wedding, oops. It was a no brainer really though, I wanted to optimize on our time for portraits. Like I mentioned in our timeline post, I wanted 40 minutes with the hubs of portrait taking and for our first look. Just some time to spend together and alone on our day. It was a decision I highly recommend because it wasn't overly emotional and it was nice to not stress too much and enjoy the afternoon in the beautiful sunshine relishing in our day.

I wish I had put more thought into "how" I wanted our first look to go down but I enjoyed walking to hubby and surprising him but I suppose it may have been easier not to tap on the shoulder or not have my bouquet but that's how the cookie crumbles, I didn't really think about it! In my timeline I DID want to have an opportunity at a few photos of just myself with Meredith but our timing that day did not allow for it, so I'm glad for my bridals! Our first look did work out though because hubby was able to get to campus first so that I could walk up to him and surprise him. He always mentions that he could hear my dress while I was walking swooshing up to him and that made him even more nervous!

I really love the emotion behind the first look photos though, and I would suggest doing a first look to ANYONE considering it. I also have to say that it did NOT take away from the emotion that our ceremony held for us. I'll touch more on that later, but here's to a happy Tuesday!

Such a happy day! I wish we could do it all over again! I want to save our portraits for the next post because this is such a happy emotional post.. As you may remember in our video you can see the tears well up in my eyes and see how nervous hubby really is and that's an amazing thing. 

In case you missed it:
Bridal Luncheon
Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Timeline
Getting Ready   

xoxo,
mrs. a. 

Photographer: Meredith Perdue / Videographer: Simile Productions / Flowers: Aldena Frye / Hair: Kari Berry via Marigold Parlour / Makeup Artist: Fiquet Bailey Swain via Luxe Apothecary / Bride’s Gown: “Lauren" by Amsale / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin from Coplon's / Bride’s Earrings: ED-1D-261 by Bounkit from Coplon's / Bride’s Veil: Veils of Art via Etsy / Wedding Invitation: Palm Papers / Bridesmaid Dresses: “ G558C" and "G660C" in Charcoal by Amsale / Groom’s Attire: Custom Tuxedo by Indochino / Groom Bowtie: Ralph Lauren / Groomsmen Tuxedo: Vera Wang from Men's Warehouse  / Groom’s Cufflinks: Nordstrom

Bridal Portrait Reveal

After getting my wedding photos back looking at my bridal portraits definitely took second priority. GASP! But I wanted to get back to basic's and take a trip down memory lane and share with you some of my bridal portraits. 

Taking bridal portraits is definitely a very southern thing and not every gal does them. I was on the fence about it but then I was thinking that if I'm sitting here paying for hair and makeup and NOT trying the dress on it seemed like a waste. I really wanted to experience it all. It was definitely a decision I'd recommend to other brides because I LOVED my bridal session! It was so fun to get dressed up, walk around downtown Raleigh, and smile for the camera for over 2 hours. A little much but it was so easy working with Sarah Der!!!!! She is amazing, number one, and uber sweet number two. She didn't make me feel rushed or pressured and allowed for our session to be complete before packing up and leaving even though it was her anniversary!! I was so grateful and the pictures are just magic, so thanks again Sarah! You rock!! (OH and if you're looking for a portrait or wedding photographer, definitely contact Sarah, she lives in Chapel Hill and she is TOO cute!!) And a special shout out to my incredible hair and makeup artists, Fiquet Bailey Swain of Luxe Apothecary in North Hills and Kari Berry of Marigold Parlour at Seaboard Station. If any brides out there need assistance on their big day I HIGHLY recommend both of these lovely ladies!

OK, so I started my photos at our reception venue, The Stockroom at 230, because I needed somewhere to put on the dress and we got some good shots out of the venue but we wanted to take advantage of daylight so we quickly began our walk downtown:

 

Then we ventured to City Market with the old cobblestone streets for a bit of fun and some of my pumpkin love.. What's that? Pumpkins?! You'll see!

We wanted to use the last bit of daylight so Sarah asked if I knew anywhere with some wide open space because downtown Raleigh was sucking up all the daylight with the shadows. I said YES of course! Where hubby is the head pro, Lonnie Poole Golf Course!! I quickly called him and told him he had to leave and we were on our way for some last shots!
 

 

Capping the evening off with some Wolfpack love!!

Well, there you have it! My bridal portraits! Sorry for the mass amount of photos but it was hard to choose which ones especially since we did so many different locations and styles. It's fun to see all of them in one place though. After the fiasco of having to reschedule and almost giving up, I loved the end result and Sarah was so quick and prompt in helping me get the photos quickly so we could use them at the reception. Like I said, bridal portraits may not be for everyone but I had a blast and I think it would give any bride a sense of calm and confidence in preparation for the big day!

Happy Monday!

xoxo,

mrs. a.

  

Bridal Portraits

On Wednesday I'm taking my bridal portraits and I'm so excited/nervous because it's also my first trial run for hair and makeup. (Hopefully the only trial I'll need..) It makes me anxious because hair is VERY important to how I feel that I look in pictures, it's my vainity. Makeup I'm not as worried about because it's something I'm confident even doing myself but I'm excited to work with both my vendors.

One of the lovely ladies that is helping me look beautiful is Sarah Der! I unfortunately could not work it out with my wonderful and amazing wedding day photographer Meredith Perdue to take bridal's so she suggested her friend Sarah! I'm SO excited to work with Sarah because she seems uber sweet and fun!! I know we're going to have a great time and that she's going to make me feel special.

I just have to hope for no rain on Wednesday evening y'all because I had to reschedule my portraits because it rained out my first scheduled date.. :( AND BOY what a pain in the rear it was to reschedule but the forecast is looking good!!

Speaking of looking good, here are some beautiful shots from Sarah to tide you over!

Honestly, I'm just excited to get all dressed up TWICE in my beautiful dress and spend some quality time with mom. It'll definitely be a memory that I won't forget. I'm just sorry I can't share anything with you until post-wedding!

xoxo,

a.

My Hiatus

Sorry it's been awhile since I last blogged. This weekend was a bit crazy and here's a little recap of what happened.

I was supposed to take my bridal portraits today, but as a long of east coasters know, it's raining today!! Not only is it raining but supposedly it's going to downpour tonight from 4-7 when we were scheduled for portraits. So number one, we could not find an indoor venue available (nor did we reallllly want to) and two, my hair! SO finally around 1:00pm yesterday I threw in the towel and gave up on trying for today. It's frustrating because I was so prepared and was ready to do them and had the whole day off to do so. BUT luckily, everyone is available to re-try for October 4th, as long as I can work it out with my work schedule...

downtown raleigh session that i LOVE by Cade Bowman

We also realized that my future MIL had an unexpected trip to Asia and we still had not placed any order for rehearsal invitations.. Uh freak out mode here. Since we mailed the wedding invites last week, I knew we needed to get a start on those so that we could have our guests plan accordingly so I was rehearsal dinner invite searching all weekend!! I did find one and I'm OH so excited about them!!

OH and we DID mail our invitations!! I'm going to prepare a post about them later this week since I think everyone should have gotten them. But for now, here's a sneak peek!!

Our custom created wedding logo by our uncle!!! EEK!!! it almost has a D as an ampersand! our initials!!

 

 all packed up and ready to go!!

 

Ok friends, I'll be back soon!!

xoxo,

a.