Southern Sweethearts: Posing for the Camera

Right after the ceremony, we were supposed to take a quick, romantic trip around downtown Savannah in the horse and carriage. But when we got to the end of the aisle, we discovered that it was already gone! I found out later that it was mistakenly booked 30 minutes earlier than we needed it for (which explains why it was at the hotel early), so the driver took off before the ceremony was over.

So we used the extra time to grab a few more photos before our family formals. Only this time, we were husband and wife!

Come away with me!

Yeah, we totally took photos in front of some random house on the square. Hope they didn't mind!

At this point, I'd only been wearing my shoes for a total of around 30 minutes. And I would only wear them about another hour. I'm still sad about not getting be with them most of the day. :(

Once the trolley cleared all the guests out of the square, we started taking formals with our families.

Lab brothers and Mama Lab.

With Mr. Lab. For some reason, my sisters left the square before photos, so I never got a full family photo. I had no idea they were gone until we started taking photos! :(

Mr. Lab and his family. He married into a HUGE family compared to his.

Me with Mr. Lab's family and his BIL.

I wanted one with my oldest brother, his children, and his fiancee (who's now his wife!). He was on leave from Iraq, so I love that I got this photo especially since he's still over there.

Us with the younger members of our wedding party (junior bridesmaids, flower girls, and ring bearer). All of them are my nieces and nephew! Mr. Lab went from having no nieces or nephews to having 6!

Aren't they the cutest things EVER?!

And while we were taking photos, our second shooter was off being silly with the rest of the wedding party. From what I hear, they were told to make their best mug shot faces!

The trolley finally came back from dropping off the guests for cocktail hour. We loaded up, snapped a pic, and were on our way to the reception!



Are you planning to take any photos right after the ceremony, or will you head straight to your reception?

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get “Sessay”
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party…and Paparazzi
• Details Tell the Story
• Years of Waiting for This Moment (Ceremony Part: 1)
• We Tie the Knot with Faith, Hope, & Love (Ceremony Part: 2)
  

Next Up: We sneak in a quiet meal together during cocktail hour!

*All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.

Photo (Pr)Ops

As you may know by now, my wedding is an ode to the Southern way of life. I started to think about Southern Belles and realized that for some of my wedding pictures, I really want to look the part. Not quite as done up as this...

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...but still with the same essence. So I hopped on Ebay and found a very "Southern" looking lace parasol and matching fan. How great will these look in photos of me in my dress walking around Savannah's famous historic squares?

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I love that the lace will compliment my dress. And speaking of my dress, I've been researching some dress forms as well. I want some shots of my dress on a mannequin. Don't get me wrong, I love love love the artistic look of the "dress on the hanger in a doorway or window photo"...

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...but I also want some shots of my dress displayed in its full form glory. There's just something about a dress on a mannequin that makes my heart flutter.

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Source (PS. The bride made this dress!)

I haven't purchased the dress form yet, but I'm in love with one like this:

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After the wedding, I plan to put my new dress form to good use. I have a sewing machine my mom gave me a couple Christmases ago and want to start picking up where I left off in 9th grade Home Ec. I figure I'll have to fill my post-wedding DIY blues with a new craft, so sewing it is! I'll eventually need a dress form as I get better, so I'll already have one!

And if I happen to procrastinate and end up not brushing the dust off my sewing machine, I'll just "antique" my form and use it as a pretty display in my house. It's a win-win!

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Are you buying any special "props" for your wedding day? Do you plan to use them after the big day has passed?

DIY "Through the Years" Photo Slideshow

To me, DIY projects are not just about having something extremely personalized and to your exact liking; it's about making something yourself that others charge out the butt for creating!

Enter my DIY "Through the Years" photo slideshow project! I did a quick google search for pricing on photo slideshows and found that professionals charge an average of a couple hundred bucks a pop for them. Insanity!

What's crazier is that most people have all the equipment necessary to make a slideshow already on their personal computers! From Windows Movie Maker to Final Cut Pro, there are several options for creating your own photo slideshow.

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I'm making mine using Final Cut Pro 6. As a broadcast news major and aspiring reporter, I invested in a Mac Book Pro and all the high end editing software because I knew I'd need it for my class projects and future career. I took advantage of the education discount and got my FCP Studio software for only $500 (compared to the regular price of $1299!). Who knew I'd be using it to create my wedding slideshow one day!

Our slideshow will be presented at both the rehearsal dinner (as a feature) and the cocktail hour (on a continuous loop for casual viewers). It will include four chapters:

1.) Mr. Lab growing up
2.) Me growing up
3.) Our "courtship"
4.) Our engagement from the proposal all the way up to the wedding!

This will be an on-going DIY project that I will probably wrap up right after our bachelor and bachelorette parties about 2 weeks before the wedding. I've already finished Chapter 3! Now I'm waiting on our moms to send our baby photos for Chapters 1 & 2. And of course we still have plenty of photos to be taken throughout the year to finish Chapter 4.

One thing I'm really trying to aim for with the slideshow is including at least one photo of every guest in it. I'm a photo fanatic (most likely to be toting a camera among my friends!) and am sure I will be able to complete my goal. It is my way of honoring our friends and family who have been their through our past, present, and hopefully, future, all while loving and supporting us along the way.

Then comes the songs the photos are set to in the slideshow. I've already chosen "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg for Chapter 3. For Chapter 4, I've set it to "Better Together" by Jack Johnson, which is also our first dance song (more on that later!).

Now I need some inspiration from the hive! Any suggestions for cute, preferably boy & girl themed, growing up songs for the first two chapters?

Btw, I'll post the finished product here when it's all done!

[Edit] We may use this amazing take on "Stand By Me" somewhere in the slideshow. Loves. Mr. Lab actually found it!

Some songs we've come up with so far:

Groom:

Kenny Chesney-I Go Back
Kenny Chesney-Young

Bride:

Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole- Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Flower girl song)
Van Morrison-Brown Eyed Girl (Mom & Daughter dance)

Wedding Photography

Today I spent most of my waking hours comparing photographers' wedding galleries online. Photography is one of my top priorities (along with the food/alcohol-let's get this party started!). It's the one thing that really lasts after the wedding comes and goes (besides our love, but that's understood).

I ended up making a spreadsheet with different categories to compare all of the top photographers I have my eye on. The categories included pricing, amount of wedding day coverage, whether they have more than one photographer or an assistant, whether they shoot in a photojournalist style, whether they provide options for an engagement photo session and rehearsal dinner coverage, and finally whether they charge travel fees. I then contacted each one with a list of what I am looking for in a photographer and my wedding date. Almost all of them have responded and sent a price list. One already has my date booked; hence the reason I am so on top of things!

Here are my top 3 choices right now:

Belletti Photography: http://www.bellettiphotography.com/index.shtml

I actually met the photographer, Shannon, while attending a bridal show with a friend. She's very sweet and her work is absolutely STUNNING. Of course, so are her prices. But really, for everything she includes-2 photographers AND all day shooting PLUS no travel fee for my engagement photo shoot which will be in Athens, not to mention the sheer quality of her work-she's really quite fair. I may have to sell a kidney on the black market to afford her, but I probably wouldn't regret it. ;)

Gandy Photographers: http://www.gandyphotographers.com/

This is a husband and wife team and I know some of their clients. I was sold on them when I read their "message to the bride". This couple really seems to be in touch with what the typical bride is looking for when it comes to documenting her wedding. I haven't heard back from them yet, so their prices may be the make or break point for this choice.

Lindsi Jones Photography: http://lindsijones.com/

Lindsi actually graduated a couple years ahead of me from the same high school. She has done several of my friends' weddings (my matron of honor, Amanda, was one of her first clients!) and she continues to grow in her skills. Her work is gorgeous yet she is definitely the most affordable choice.

I think it may just come down to my what I can afford on my budget. Let me know what you think of these choices and whether you can make any recommendations!