A Year Ago Today
A year ago, approximately, I was pouring over my new pictures so happy they exceeded my expectations. A week or so before I was sweating as the June sun finally began to creep behind me. Determined to have good pictures I kept smiling. Julian dressed in mostly black was also over heating but he wouldn't complain until we were safely back in the air conditioned car. It was my fault. I waited until the last minute to schedule engagement pictures which he wasn't sure we needed. Deadlines and to do lists were always lingering in the back of my mind with only 4 months to go.
Online resources have made wedding planning simultaneously easier and harder. My favorite websites were APW and Offbeat Bride. Both were encouraging about keeping traditions that are meaningful for you and scrapping the rest. They also helped me keep my sanity with helpful articles and topics that went beyond favors and flowers. I'm good at planning and keeping track of things in real life but some things you forget about until the last second. Like a guest book. Or a wedding ring.
We started to loosen up and have fun when we moved away from stragglers wandering around on campus on a Saturday and came to a wooded area that I'd never explored. We found it fitting to have pictures taken at our alma mater UTA since this is where we met and was our designated meeting spot half way between our two houses for dates. We got some great shots and a few bug bites. I like being surrounded by trees with the exclusive and elusive veil they give you from other's prying eyes.
Around this same time in June we visited a house soon to be ours by the end of the summer during what can best be described as the September frenzy. This was the last month before the wedding and the busy season at my job so the stress was palpable. During this month I could have used a couple walks in the woods to clear my thoughts and relax. The house was initially a source of stress with unexpected repairs and pest problems, fleas, gross. It's now the haven we origianlly invisioned.
I never had this much fun at a photo shoot. The only other one I ever did was in high school for senior pictures with black eyeliner rimming my eyes and nonexistent lips and brows. I didn't really know this photographer, she was a friend of my mom, so that might have contributed to it. I was also in high school and didn't like people looking at me constantly worried about judgement. I wore my pale pink prom dress that I had yet to debut worried about snags when I leaned against the brick wall outside.
I felt confident now as we kept making each other laugh doing different poses and spinning around like kids. Julian finally warmed up to the camera's presence and you can see he is enjoying himself. He doesn't always like to smile in photographs but it's impossible to hide in these. Melissa and Nick were great at capturing moments and easy to work with. I knew Melissa from college and she seemed like the easy going type I would enjoy working with. Lucky me she turned her photography passion into a career in bridal photography!
Photos: Melissa Claire Photography
