hair, per request of Patti.

so, i came across this hairstyle on the blog of the fabulous jennifer skog. i knew i wanted it as soon as i saw it. behold, the perfect hairstyle:

from the back:
from the front (please ignore random other people. i don't know them...)

found on this post

i probably won't have a flower in it (definitely not my style), but i want a veil...i think i'll just stick it underneath the 'do.

isn't it magnificent?

finding the perfect dress

well, that title is a little funny for my situation because luckily, i don't actually have to find the perfect dress. a dear family friend has offered to make a gown for me. she is an excellent seamstress, and i know all i'll have to do is show her a picture of what i want and she'll whip it up.

now, the real question is...what do i want? when i decided on cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake, i immediately took the formality notch down a few levels. i also am not a fan of big, poofy cinderella dresses. another thing that accentuates the simplicity of my ideas is my ring--no center stone, just a simple row of diamonds. when i started my "dress" search for ideas of what i wanted, here is what i came up with.

first dress i loved, courtesy of Stephanie Williams, a photographer who did a killer vintage shoot that can be found here: part 1 part 2



and another dress from the same shoot that is beautiful and simple. i looove the detail on the bodice.
p.s. amazing lighting on this next image, no?



so, using these ideas, i went to brides.com to continue my search and found these beauties. (note, only a smattering of my favorites...i had so many more, but narrowed it down to these, for you.)





and finally this one.

which i immediately fell in love with. i will admit that part of me loves the dress because of the beautiful photograph in which it appears, but i also LOVE the dress--lacy, vintage, modest, etc. etc. the caption describes this dress as an "Alençon lace tea-length dress with a scalloped hemline..., $4,600, by Ulla-Maija Couture, ulla-maija.com". so i scoured ulla-maija.com to see if i could indeed find this beautiful dress or something even like it. to no avail. i found one similar on a blog that lifted an image from your dream dress,

but everything else i found was brides that LOVED this dress and couldn't find anything like it anywhere! so, i emailed the picture to my seamstress, and this was her reply:

"OHH pretty dress. We can totally make something like this...we can do the dress for much, much cheaper!!"

lucky me! thanks, steph!

planning away...

i'm doing some good research on photographers, because while i am not on a huge budget, i'm guessing that photography will be my splurge, and perhaps my biggest expense. I want to get the best bang for my buck and have a fabulous photographer. Here are my top three choices, and a favorite sample photo from each.

what do you think??

rachel thurston
http://rachelthurston.blogspot.com/
probably most expensive of the lot, but also good. $350 traveling fees to utah.
pricing is here http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=12217f853e64443f&mt=application%2Fpdf
shoots a mix of film/digital

allison cox
http://blog.allisoncphotography.com
simple, but also fun. seems to match the couple and convey their style in the photos.
pricing is here http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1217b0bf9c492db7&mt=application%2Fpdf .
I think that she is probably the most bang for your buck, including an engagement session and prints from both sessions.
extra cash for electronic files of the photos, though.
shoots mix of film/digital

duston todd
http://dustontodd.blogspot.com/
a little bit trendier and artsier, but could be more classy and traditional if asked, i'm sure.
pricing here: http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1217e0d11c0994f6&mt=application%2Fpdf .
i think that he probably has a fun personality and would be fun to work with.
also good bang for buck--includes a print of every image. shoots exclusively on film (= not photoshopped look).
includes engagement and bridal session.

forever.

It's official. Alexander Hale Lovett and I are engaged to be married in December. hooray!

light assignment

some of my favorite photos from our light assignment. i was nervous about this assignment at first, because i had procrastinated, but i think i did a fair job of seeing. it turned out to be a fun exercise, and some of my photos turned out well.

Color assignment

Here are some of my favorite shots from my color assignment--shot at the SLC Public Library. One of my favorite buildings in Salt Lake City

Air Show fun

Alexander, Jackie, Cory, and I went to the air show at Hill Air Force Base on Saturday. It was really fun to see all of the planes and to watch the acrobatics. Here are some pics from the day

Jackie and Cory by the Hornet.

One of my favorite shots of the day.

A. in front of his favorite plane, the P-51

Jackie, in front of the Utah State plane. She wants to be an Aggie one day. No worries, we'll set her straight before it's too late.

alexander is my destiny

Here's the man that I plan on spending the rest of my life (and the rest of eternity, for that matter) with. Although I have no ring on my finger (1. haven't picked one yet and 2. proposals should be surprises according to A.) we will be wed on December the 26th in the Bountiful, Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yes, this means that 1. I will not be moving to Ohio. 2. I will be starting the Chemical Biology program at the University of Utah and 3. I will be moving home for fall semester (hopefully sometime in early/mid august) until the wedding, after which A. and I will move to American Fork, where we will live and commute (him to the Y and me to the U) until he finishes school in December 2010. One day, I will have to do a post dedicated just to him so that you can meet the love of my life. Next time, maybe when it's not too late and when I have a pretty ring I can take pictures of to show you :).

Until then, peace out.