Doggie Table Numbers

I have gone back and forth and back again when it comes to ideas for table numbers. I started out thinking I'd want to do something with wine bottles like every table being named after a different type of wine. Then I thought about incorporating our engagement photos but ultimately decided that I'd use those for our guest book.

Then I came across the cutest idea from another wedding blogger! I could incorporate 3 of the most important things in my life (besides Chris) into the table numbers: my dogs! Chris and I have 3 Labrador Retrievers that are our "babies". We seriously consider them our children.

Dixie, the golden lab, is about 11 years old and Chris got her back in high school. He found her after keeping an eye on a box of puppies left behind in a park by someone. He came back at the end of the day to find only one left walking around all by herself and decided to take her home. He initially had to hide Dixie from his mom until she "warmed up" to the idea of having a dog. She grew up to be the perfect dog that basically takes care of herself. You'd be hard pressed to find her doing anything wrong.

Dixie ready for Christmas gifts! She had already gotten a sniff of the milkbones awaiting her!

Madie is our purebreed black lab. Chris got her for me for our second Christmas. She was one of the last two puppies left from her breeder. When we went to pick her out, she was the one that ran out of the front door to greet us. Her breeder proceeded to warn us about Madie being the "stink pot" of the bunch. I ultimately picked her because she seemed immediately attached to us, like she knew she had to work it to go home with us! Madie is definitely the smart dog of the group. We quickly found out that Madie can also be a bit of a diva. She's picky about what she eats, who she likes, and even when we can pet her. She never sleeps on the floor and once even nipped my butt after I spanked her as if to say "You're not the boss of me!". But I love her so much anyways! I even found out we share the same birthday when I was filling out her AKC papers! She was meant to be a part of our family!

Madie thinking she can drive. I guess she just wanted to give Chris a break as we drove back home from a 4 hour trip...

Gabby is our newest addition. She originally belonged to my little brother who got her as a gift for his now ex-girlfriend. Then my mother took her in until my oldest brother (a police officer) decided to put her in K-9 academy. But there was another labrador already there that basically showed her up and Gabby was kicked out. That's when we decided to take her in. Chris and I had been talking about getting a chocolate lab to round out the bunch and give Madie a friend (Dixie's getting old and can't take Madie's rough-housing). The idea of a 2 year old, housetrained dog with all her shots and already spayed really appealed to us. So exactly 2 years after we brought home Madie, we brought home Gabby. I've never met a dog that is as loving as Gabby in my life. She cannot stand not being touched. But that's okay because she's also the softest dog in the world. Too bad Mom didn't mention Gabby's nack for "dumpster diving". We're always having to hide garbage because little miss piggy will get into it!

Gabby doing what she does best: begging to be pet. She's literally bugging Chris as I type this!

Here's all 3 of my babies with their Valentine's gift for me: A balloon that say "Love you so doggone much!" tied to a bottle of wine! Can you believe they went to the store and picked this out all by themselves! I'm assuming Dixie bought the wine since she's the oldest. ;)

Here's the inspiration for the "doggie table numbers":

Photo Source



Photo Source

I really like the look of the first one, but there's really no way I'm going to be able to get shots of all three dogs together like this. They're just too impatient. So I'm thinking I may just do a montage of different photos of each dog. I'm definitely going to plan a day to take them for a walk in a pretty park so I can get ton of photo options of them to do something along the lines of the second inspiration photo. I'm not sure yet if I'll put the photos in frames or use some kind of stand as pictured to raise it up for better viewing. All I know is that I'm excited at another DIY project that will enable us to include our "children" in a very special way!

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