Tips for Swoon Worthy Engagement Pics

Planning your engagement photos?  With the Pinterest & Instagram the exposure and pressure to have pin-worthy engagement photos is kind of a thing.  There are sooo many stunning photos out there it’s a bit intimidating! So how do you make yours special? Well, I have a few tips to help make sure these photos are swoon worthy, personalized and show stoppers.

Wardrobe.  If you really want something show stopping, yet simple – steal the show with a jaw dropping look. Whether it’s a gorgeous skirt, bright color in front of a stark back drop, or a casual look on a fall day – don’t skimp on the wardrobe! Also ladies, don’t forget about your significant other and making sure they step up to the plate and match your look.  Just remember, wear what you’re comfortable in, and true to you both as a couple!

Location.  Beach? Forest? City-scape?  Your favorite diner? With the help of your photographer scope out your spots, and see what might work – but have a couple ideas in mind.  Working to get multiple locations in one day? Make sure they’re close, and again chat with your photographer too see what might be possible. Don’t forget that some of the simplest locations will result in the most stunning pictures.

Time of Day.  We wanted some beach photos, and our photographer recommended sunrise photos instead of sunset.  Although we had to get up super early, the sky was perfect, no one was around and we were able to capture some gorgeous shots.  Evening photos could get tough and might need lighting to be involved, which could be a bit more costly, and some locations might not allow photography, so be sure to ask ahead of time if you photographer doesn’t!

Photographer. Finding the right photographer that has a portfolio inline with your vibe is important! But don’t forget about working within your budget – since you still have to save up for the big day! Although, this is a good test run to see how you’ll work with them on your actual wedding day.  Some photographers might also offer a package for engagement & wedding day, so be sure to ask!

For B and I, it was a little awkward at first, posing, kissing, and trying to look longingly at each other.  But once we got warmed up, we started to get the hang of it and have a little more fun.  Also have fun with props (balloons, your pup, fresh flowers) and don’t over think it – but also talk with your photographer and be sure to share your vision and even a few examples from your Pinterest board to show some different angles or inspiration!

 

Missed Out? Or planning your wedding? Check these out:  Our Engagement Photos | Tips for Creating your Wedding Registry | How to Plan your Honeymoon | Our Wedding Sneak Peak

 

Image Sources: Black & White Close-up | Blue Tulle Skirt | White Dress Kiss | Forest  | Hands & City

#EmnBWed – The Ceremony

I hope you’re not sick of my wedding pictures yet?!  If you’ve missed out on these beauties, check out our first sneak peak, the girls getting ready, my handsome groom and our stunning venue. And now, I leave you with the main event – the actual ceremony and the last of wedding photo posts for a bit!

We had a traditional, full service mass for our wedding vows, something that was important to the both of us.  We also put a lot of thought into the readings we chose, and who we asked to be involved in the ceremony. Most of it was a blur but we had a few good laughs with the sweet homily from our priest and then a little moment during our vows that will always be sweet memory.  My main goal was not to cry walking down the aisle, because I’m a Kim K. cryer, but I kept it together and only got a little teary eyed.

Since it was a tsunami of rain our entire wedding day, our exit from the church had to be adjusted – I had hand cut and made over a hundred ribbon wands and they weren’t going to waste! So we had a quick brainstorm while we were held up in the bridal suite to hand them out to guests ahead of time and asked everyone to wave them as we walked down the aisle – it worked out pretty great, and the best part was B had no idea so he was completely surprised!

What I love the most about these photos is they share the true emotions of happiness and love that we all felt that day, it was an unbelievable feeling that won’t be able to be duplicated.

Planning your big day? Here are some helpful posts; Wedding Registry Guide | Choosing a Florist | Tips for Planning Your Honeymoon | How to Create Your Sweetheart Table 

Photography by: Timothy Logan Photography 

#EmnBWed – The Venue

If you are an avid bee reader, you may recall we had a whirlwind of wedding planning from traveling out to Jackson Hole to plan our intimate wedding of 30… to halting planning completely… to changing all our plans after falling head over heels for our venue.  As soon as we saw our venue which (by the way) was under construction with puddles of water, open walls and no fixtures we were heart-eyed emojing with goosebumps.

The venue was a bank from the 1920’s – 1923 to be exact, that was restored to be an event venue.  The original bank vault is in near mint condition with it’s nearly foot thick original door, and the bankers office was the perfect space for photos ahead of time with original wood ceilings and a stunning fireplace. So without further ado, please enjoy the finished product with lights, flowers, lots and lots of marble and pure perfection.


One of the benefits of this venue was that it was so beautiful to begin with that we really didn’t have to do much with the florals, or other decor, although we had some stunning centerpieces that definitely made a statement.  Pro-tip: Look for a venue with natural beauty, you’ll save with the extras in the long run.  Although to further show off the beauty and details of this venue, we rented six, sixty-inch mirror table tops that reflected the gorgeous original ceilings, allowing our guests to enjoy the original beauty at all times.  The venue also had original bankers tables that we were able to use as bars in the main room, this pulled everything together and really tied in the history of the venue.

We were so in love with how it all turned out, how beautiful everything looked and how it all came to life for the most perfect day!

Image Source: Timothy Logan Photography 

8 Wedding RSVPs You Won’t Be Expecting

About to send out your wedding invites? Get ready for the fun with these 8 real life wedding RSVPs you may not be expecting… I realize that in the grand scheme of life, they’re not a big deal, but in the moments of wedding planning they are excruciating annoyances on top of all the last minute details. Perhaps these will even prepare you so that you might be able to laugh it off, and not be so surprised by your nearest and dearest who made it onto your guest list.  I am a super organized person and we RSVP immediately to weddings (unless it’s a destination), so this was a particularly frustrating part when it came down to it. So, please enjoy this little rant… *smiles*

Image: Timothy Logan Photography

The Text Message. Yup. Sadly this happened, and it happened with a question inquiring about what the food options were available, because they ‘lost their RSVP card.’  They had texted B – had it been me, I probably wouldn’t have responded, tough luck.

The Resended RSVP. In a nut shell; “Yes! We are coming to your wedding” Then, one-week before deadline… “Some family emergency popped up, we won’t be able to make it in a month on that day.” … oh BTW there is a thing called social media, remember what you said you were doing when. #busted

The White Out. We had a few folks actually white-out the ‘M’ as a placeholder for Mr./Mrs. and replace it with their Dr. – I mean we addressed the envelope properly to them but god forbid the RSVP card be generic to everyone. We get it, you’re a Doctor!

The Dog Ate the RSVP.  But didn’t eat the envelope! So they did still end up sending a piece of paper with all the correct RSVP info filled out and a sweet little note AND we received it before the deadline! It was actually kind of cute.

No RSVP.  There were a handful of peeps who we never received an RSVP of any sort, no text, no call, no card… it will forever be a mystery if they just didn’t receive the invitation or if they’re just plain rude.

Directions? What Directions! We had asked people to initial what food option they wanted, since we had 4-different choices to choose from – when a family of 5-RSVPs with numbers instead of initials, it just meant we were back tracking to see who wanted what meal. People also reached out asking “what kind of fish?” or “what’s with the steak?” … and I’ll just leave it at that.

No Show RSVP. There were about 5-people who RSVPd ‘yes’ with meal choices who came to our ceremony and then completely didn’t show to our reception.  That’s essentially an entire table – which is also a floral arrangement, linen rentals, centerpieces, favors, alcohol, a plated dinner, shall I continue?

The Late RSVP. This is unavoidable and extremely annoying – so to try and make my point I posted a nice little reminder on my Facebook page that read the following ❤

“RSVPs received after October 16th will be submitted into a review and approval process. Upon completion of the review process, applicants will be notified if approved or denied based on receipt of submission.

*To improve your chances of RSVP approval, be sure to do the following: send RSVP via mail in the addressed and stamped envelope, indicate if your accepting/declining, initial your desired entree (i.e. check mark, X or other symbol by entree will further delay review process and/or you may not receive your desired entree) and be sure it arrives by October 16th. Text messages, DMs, comments or other ways of RSVPing will delay and lessen chances of approval.

Thank you to those who have already RSVPd.”

So that’s it. Those invitations that you hemmed and hawed on will get lost, they won’t even get sent back or read, those stamps you bought for RSVP envelopes will go to waste… and all those hours assembling the pieces and parts will simply go unnoticed (by many, but not all!)  On the flip side, we did love receiving these in little batches day by day, guessing who it would be from. A lot of closer friends wrote sweet notes on the cards or envelope so that made it even more special and exciting to receive! I am also pretty sure I had almost everyone’s meal memorized by the time our wedding rolled around… *grins*

Have a wedding RSVP that tops these? Comment below, I want to hear it!

Image Source: Timothy Logan Photography

#EmnBWed – The Girls

For an avid Bee readers, I’ve mentioned there would be more wedding photos to come! Well today’s the day… in the effort to not completely take the Bee Life over with wedding I’ll be featuring groupings every now and then from our special day!

One of the things I love the most about our wedding photos were my getting ready shots at the house. Our master suite turned out to be a clutch spot to not only get ready but snap beautiful candids and portraits with my girls… including my number one, Moz! *heart-eyed emoji*


So many of the candids of getting the dress on/all tied up (which seemed like an eternity during the time) with finishing jewelry touches are so stunning and perfect. Timothy Logan Photography did a wonderful job not only capturing the space and making it look stunning but also putting the pieces of the morning together. I’ve been trying to scheme on what else we could have shot up in our space, maybe some boudoir shots?

Hope you enjoyed a few of these just as much as I do!

Xo

Local Love – Chronicle Brewing Co.

Sharing some local love to a dear friend and one of the finishing touches for our wedding.  Our wedding favors were custom-home brewed beers that were completely created unique to us and our favorite beer tastes! This was especially cool because we got to walk through the whole process from start to finish with Chronicle Brewing Co.  Chronicle Brewing Co. is a home brewing company that has grown from a passion and creates custom brews for birthdays, weddings and other special holidays!

To kickoff our beer process; we first had a tasting with beers that we like or were in a similar category.  For B, we went with an IPA since that is his go-to, the goal was to create an IPA that wasn’t to hoppy, and finding that happy medium to appease our guests as well as B! For me, I was in between a porter or a stout, something light but still flavorful with hints of chocolate.  With the tasting, Mike the founder of Chronicle Brewing Co. was able to better pinpoint and start creating the recipes for our beers based off of what B and I liked!

For the IPA’s we were able to buy hops from my hometown and Mike used those through the brewing process – which we were also a part of, again being a part of this the entire way! It was also awesome having a hand in determining the ingredients and using parts that were unique to us.  After a few weeks; we were ready to go over and help with the bottling process: sterilizing the beer bottles, applying the labels, and then the actual bottling and sealing with our awesome custom bottle caps.

From there they just needed to sit a little longer, we picked them up just before our wedding, and finally got to taste our beers that were being worked on for months! Guests were greeted by a beer at their table setting ready for them to take home, we loved that we were able to create not only special labels and caps for our beers but having two completely custom beers made to represent B and I’s favorite beer flavors, not to mention they were so delicious!

 

#EmnBWed – Sneak Peak

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a blessed and loving day with family, friends, loved ones and furry pals.  Our Thanksgiving this year was one for the books and a bit out of the ordinary since we were on our honeymoon! But more to come on that… so since we finally tied the knot, I wanted to give my readers a little sneak peak of our wedding since we are anxiously awaiting the final photos from our photographers – although they have teased us with a few.

In a nutshell, the day was absolutely perfect.  Everything seemed so surreal, I couldn’t believe it was actually our wedding day – I felt like we were playing dress-up the whole day. But it was so beautiful, everything worked out as planned and our guests seemed to enjoy themselves! The day didn’t seem to go too fast, but there were moments throughout the night where I almost pinched myself and a few times when I just sat down and soaked it all in.

No one can prepare you for what you feel on your wedding day, the mix of emotions, the wave of people, love and support, the overwhelming feelings and the moments of perfection. I imagined how I would feel, what the day would bring, things I wanted to try and do, but you can’t do anything but live in that moment at that very time, and oh what a crazy beautiful moment it all was.

Cheers!

Photography Credit: Timothy Logan Photography

Wedding Planning – Groomswear

Groomswear, because there is nothing better than a well dressed man. And one of the most essential parts of the wedding day should be making sure your man is dressed his best.  A perk of having a small bridal party is that we have the luxury of ordering custom suits and having a few more options on where to shop, since we don’t have to worry about rentals.  I’m personally not a fan of the renting tux’s – there is a huge risk for them to be incorrectly sized for any one of the groomsmen or groom in turn throwing off the entire look of the day.  Not a risk we want to take.

The photos above are definitely a mix of inspiration, pulling pieces and parts, fabrics and colors together to give B a completely custom, fitted and handsome suit.  B is deciding if he wants to go the bow tie route, or more of a statement tie.  I also love the idea of having a pattern or floral’s, and even if not for the groom perhaps the Best Man/fathers.  There are so many options for tie’s, we’ve looked into creating custom ties or shopping at a favorite spot; Grand Frank.

We also really like the idea of having a colored suit or a suit with a bit more texture and movement. A few other items that will also need to be determined once the suit is figured out is finding a great pair of shoes, belt, socks, pocket square and tie.  I can’t wait to go shopping with B to pull our vision to life for the big day!

Did you go custom for you groom? Share tips/tricks in the comments below or on social @mmariebee.

Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Wedding Planning – Shower Dresses

Happy First Day of Spring!

As I am planning my wedding, I can’t help but try and find the perfect dresses for other wedding festivities, like the Bridal Shower, Bachelorette, and the Rehearsal! Since most of these festivities are in the spring/summer the clothes and options are starting to become endless and the decision is going to be tough!

Although I haven’t found my perfect dress(es) yet; I’ve pulled some looks that are serving as my inspiration, as there are a few different routes that I could go and you might be in the same boat!

01 | 02 | 03 | 04

If you’re like me and already started your hunt, consider the following…

All White: This is definitely an easy way to go and a classic option, wearing all white at any one of these festivities keeps you as the bride and truly the focal point!

Make A Statement: With a bright color! Showing up in a bright pink or patterned dress will help keep the focus on you.  This might be a fun way to show off a bit of your personality too!

Know Your Venue: Is your shower/rehearsal a sophisticated backyard soiree? Or is it a casual setting at a family members house? Or maybe a tea party theme at a local country club? Be sure that you’re standing out but also dressing to your venue to keep the theme of the day/night on point.

Will You Wear It Again? Ask yourself this question as your picking out the dress. You’ll want to make sure you can wear it again for a date night,  the honeymoon, a friends shower or family function! That way you won’t feel so bad if you invest a little more money that you were planning!

Happy Shopping!