Boudoir Photography - My Wedding Gift To My Future Hubby!

I know I just made a post about keeping things secret from Chris, but I can't not post about his wedding gift! I'm doing a boudoir session with Lindsi and making Chris a "little black book" with the images. And because I'll be the guinea pig for Lindsi's first boudoir session, I'm getting an awesome rate!

If you've never heard of boudoir photography before, think of it as a risque version of a bridal portrait session. It's kind of like bridal pin-up. Depending on the bride's level of exhibition, these photos can range from fully clothed bridal lingerie to nothing at all. I'm going with a classy middle ground. ;)

Time for inspiration photos!

First up is traditional bridal boudoir. I'm definitely getting one set of lingerie all in white. Victoria's Secret is going to love me in a few months. And I may have to get a "prop" veil for the occasion as well. Maybe I can borrow one from one of my married friends? *cough*Amanda*cough*Leslie* :) I'll have to add some red lipstick to up the ante on the white lingerie.

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Sexy/mysterious boudoir:

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I love this photo! Probably too elaborate of an outfit for me to get my hands on something similar, but I love it nonetheless!

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How cool would it be if I bought a wig and became a different person for a few of the photos. Might as well run with the "fantasy" of boudoir while I'm at it!

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Theme boudoir. I absolutely love the sports' jersey photos. Chris will love that as well. I already have a UGA jersey and socks like this:

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I like that this one showcases the ring as well:

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I may have to channel my inner Jessica Simpson for this one. I have an apron that says "Domestic Diva" on the front. I'll definitely be playing with Chris's traditional side by doing a "housewife" photo.

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We're planning on holding the session towards the end of summer when I'll be in better shape and have more free time. I'm scouting out hotels that have exceptional decor as the background for our shoot and I've already been scouring lingerie sites for ideas on my outfits. I'll keep everyone updated as the plans come together and of course, when I get the photos! As with the wedding dress photos, they'll be posted in my private Photobucket account until after I give Chris his gift.

Our Engagement Photos!

Lindsi (our photog) just sent over the photos from our engagement photo session a couple of weeks ago! We chose the beautiful campus of the University of Georgia as our backdrop and the photos turned out AMAZING. Take a look for yourself!

Highlights from our engagement photo session with Lindsi Jones of Lindsi Jones Photography. Click on the photos for bigger versions:

We started off with pictures in the Founders' Garden which is still beautiful in the middle of winter with no full blooms. :)

After that we moved towards North Campus to get photos with the historic buildings of UGA and of course, the Arch! The Arch picture is probably my favorite because it just captures everything I love about Athens: the university, downtown, and the love of my life.

Next was the gorgeous Tanner Building. It's a renovated warehouse that is now used for art classes. This building is one of my favorites on campus even though I've never even been inside it!









Lastly, we were supposed to take photos inside Sanford Stadium where the Georgia Bulldogs play on Saturdays in the fall. However, the man who was supposed to let us in never showed up! ARGH! I'm just glad Lindsi thought to get this photo outside the ticket office before we left.

I am extemely thrilled with the outcome of the shoot! I am planning on using the photos to make a yearbook-style guest book for the wedding reception and Lindsi is helping me look into albums, so they'll definitely be more on that later.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I would have done a few things differently though for the session. Mostly, I wouldn't have worried about getting my makeup done professionally. I needed new MAC foundation anyways so thought I might as well get a free appointment out of it for the engagement photos. I asked for a very natural look with just a little emphasis on the eyes using neutral colors. However, they put a new girl on me (even though I had an appointment with someone else who is very experienced) and she basically did makeup 101. She applied tons of black eyeliner and purple eyeshadow because purple is the color that's supposed to make brown eyes stand out. She also gave me HUGE fake lashes that I had to cut down when I got home. I ended up looking very unnatural in a lot of the close up photos. What's more, the appointment took twice as long making me have to push back the photo session and lose critical light!

The other things were pretty much out of our control. We wanted pictures ringing the Chapel Bell (a big tradition after football victories) but there was a service in session and we were prohibited from doing so. Then there was the stadium fiasco which was really upsetting. I wish we had thought to go around to the front of the stadium and get a few photos with the back of the jumbo tron. But hindsight's 20/20 on that one. Like I said, I'm very glad we got what we did and all of the photos were fantastic! Lindsi was such a pleasure to work with and I can't wait to work with her again during my bridal session, rehearsal dinner, the wedding ceremony/reception, and *drumroll* the boudoir session that I just added on! More about that later as well! ;)

Anyways, if you'd like to see even more from our engagement session or just more of Lindsi portfolio, visit her blog here! And if you're looking to have a professional photographer for any of your photo needs, I highly recommend her. She's also willing to travel, so don't be scared if you think you live too far away from the Valdosta area. Just let her know what you're looking for and she'll work with you!

Engagement Photo Session Date Is Set!

We've finally set our engagement photo session date for February 21st! It'll be earlier on the same day as our engagement party so we can just bask in a whole day of engagement festivities. As I've mentioned before, our session will take place in Athens, GA, aka the Classic City. We met here, attend college here, live together here, and share in our favorite past time here: Georgia football! If it weren't for growing up dreaming of a wedding in Savannah and living here for six years, I would have easily chosen Athens as the site for our wedding. But we'll still have plenty of parties and showers here and our engagement photos will be in our guest book, so I think I've covered Athens pretty well.

I wanted to share with everyone some of the places I would love to have as a backdrop of our photos (especially those of you who have been unfortunate enough to never visit this amazing city).

Easily one of the most recognizable icons in Athens is the Arch that separates downtown from the University of Georgia campus. A lot of people don't realize that the campus was the first thing built in Athens and the surrounding city (namely downtown) was then built around it. It is said that any underclassman that walk under the Arch will never graduate. Needless to say, I've steered clear (Even though I already have one degree, I don't want my other one compromised!).

Just across the street from the Arch is historic downtown Athens. It's full of so many landmarks that anyone who's ever been to Athens would recognize in an instant. One of the more famous buildings is the Georgia Theatre. Some of you may remember it from the music video of some singer/songwriter guy named John Mayer (who is that guy? :P). He shot "No Such Thing" in the GA Theatre. Athens music scene is insanely full of crazy good talent. R.E.M. and the B-52's of just a few other names to come out of this city.

I love all of the historic buildings in Athens. Here's a photo of the Tanner Building (now used for art classes) that is just gorgeous.

The Chapel on North Campus has been the sight for many many many weddings over the years. It would be just plain romantic to have a picture in front of this building.

Last but absolutely not least is Sanford Stadium. There's no way we'd have an e-session without including shots of the stadium in the background. But our photographer Lindsi had an even better idea: how about INSIDE it? We've spent countless Saturdays in the fall inside the stadium, so why not capture some of that in our photos? So we called around and got permission to shoot inside! This is the part of the session I'm most excited about (for obvious reasons!). I cannot wait to see how these shots turn out!

February 21st can't get here soon enough! Now I just need to find an outfit for the session...

"There's a saying in Georgia:
If you lead a good life and say your prayers,
when you die you'll go to Athens."
-The Princeton Review-

We have our photographer!!!

After much deliberation, Chris and I finally chose our wedding photographer. The winner is... *drumroll*...the fabulous Lindsi Jones! She was able to fit everything I wanted within my budget. Here's what I'm getting:

Engagement Session
Bridal Portrait Session
Rehearsal Dinner Coverage
Unlimited Wedding Day Coverage
2 Photographers
Images on DVD
Printing & Personal Use Privileges

We're currently setting up our engagement photo session which will be in Athens. We chose Athens because it's where our hearts will always live. If we weren't getting married in Savannah, it would definitely be Athens. I'm planning on making a yearbook style guestbook with our engagement photos for the wedding. This way we'll have a touch of the Classic City in our wedding! :)

I'm wrapping up this update quickly because I need to be out the door in 20 minutes. Chris and I are heading to the California Pizza Kitchen in Atlanta to eat dinner with one of his groomsmen, Dan, and Dan's wife. Brooke & Jimmy (who are also in the wedding party) will be joining us since they live in Atlanta as well. Can't wait to get on the road, I'm hungry! :D