The Avocado Wedding Album

I've had my wedding album in hand for a few months now and finally got around to taking some photos so you can see how gorgeous the finished product is. The album was designed by the company Albumesque, and assembled by the company KISS wedding books, both are companies that work exclusively with photographers. I wanted an album that focused on clean and simple design elements that allowed the photos to really remain the focal point. All photos by Kelli Nicole Photography.

The album came with this lovely floral case, I store it inside whenever I don't have it out to show it off to protect our big investment from accidental damage.

I decided to order the 12X12 with a black leather cover, and it's HUGE. It's beautiful, but I think if I could do it over I would scale it down in size.

The front page. I'm so glad Kelli Nicole took the time to take detail and establishing shots, as this shot of the Seattle skyline really sets the stage for the rest of the album.

I chose not to have any overlapping images or graphic elements in my design as I wanted things to be very clean and simple. It took me hours to narrow down thousands of images to just over 100, but I think those that I chose tell the story of the day really well.

My favorite part of the album? The full page spreads. At two feet wide they are absolutely stunning to view in person. The quality of Kelli Nicole's photography really helps as well. :)

A few details...

The book lays flat when opened, and the small fold in the middle is hardly noticeable.

Any my favorite, a yummy super-soft leather cover.

I'll leave you with my favorite spread. Stunning, right?

Did you order an album through your photographer? Do you have any suggestions for companies non-photographers can use to get their album done?

The Avocad's 1st Anniversary

Today marks the first of what I know will be many wedding anniversaries for us. How do I know? Because we aren't going to make it happen. We aren't soul mates. We were never "meant to be". We chose this, and we are going to continue to choose to make it work for the rest of our lives and beyond.

I've written a lot about our wedding, 29 posts to be exact. If you want a detailed summary of the entire experience visit my last post about the wedding experience and scroll down to see a list of links to all of my recap posts.

For this anniversary post I went through a few thousand photos (literally) and chose 5 that describe some of my favorite moments of the day.

I can remember the way I felt at our "first look" so clearly. The endowment ceremony and time together in the celestial room the day before had been so calming. Everything felt so right, and we couldn't stop smiling at each other. I was so sure I wanted to be with him forever.

This was moments after we walked out of the temple as husband and wife. Right behind the camera stood a ring of our closest family and friends, clapping and cheering and waiting to come forward to hug us. We really did it! We were married!

I hadn't placed a lot of importance on making sure we got a classic temple shot, but now I'm so glad we did. A year later and the scaffolding on the spire doesn't bother me at all. Pretty golden Moroni can still be seen and it's truly what is inside that matters. Our sealing in the temple means absolutely everything to us. It gives us an eternal perspective when marriage is hard. It's what will keep us from ever giving up.

The first dance was just one of the many my new husband showed me how much he cared about me, and what he was willing to do to make me happy. He took some lessons with me, practiced with me, and on our wedding day he got up and performed in front of everyone. One year later and he still continues to make sacrifices for me and for our marriage.

I think this photo describes the way we approached our marriage in the beginning. We jumped in head first, giving it everything we had and learning a few tough lessons along the way. I love my husband ten times more today than I did that night, and I expect that love to grow exponentially each year. When we welcome the baby into our lives next April we're going to have to work even harder to keep our marriage strong, but I think we're up for the challenge.

I chose him. He chose me. We'll continue to choose each other, eternally.

A New Twist on the "First Look"

Want to spend a few minutes with your beloved before the ceremony breathing in each others excitement, but you also want the first time he sees you to be the moment you walk down the aisle?

Consider doing what this couple did and use blindfolds! I don't know this couple so this might not be the situation I think it is, but doesn't it look like they decided to spend some time together before the ceremony without actually seeing each other?

This photo makes me want to cry a bit, it's so touching!

All photos in this post by Clayton Austin

If you had described something like this to me I would have pictured something really cheesy, but this is fabulous! I just stumbled on Clayton Austin's work and I'm loving it. Check out this bridal session on his blog, it's so original! I kind of want to link to all of his sessions but I won't. So much inspiration to be found!

I'm always looking for new photographers to inspire me, stumbled on anyone whose work you think the hive might enjoy browsing?

A Bee's Life: Avo Edition

Becoming a Blogger
I wrote my first blog post of all time on May 1st, 2004. I discovered the world of blogging a few months prior when I did an internet search on my American Eagle t-shirt phrase and found a LiveJournal page by a girl in New York. It all seemed so ridiculous and self-involved and my friends and I mocked the people who would do such a thing. Then I swallowed my pride and decided to start my own. I started my first blog with this sentence of a post: "I am not sure what this is, I am at work and I get really bored so I thought I would try this out. " Pitiful right? Then I found this article on Time.com while surfing the 'net at work one day, and realized that blogging could be something powerful and exciting and so I began to write scores of mediocre posts detailing my life and different things I found online. I had no readers, a handful of comments, and averaged about 50 posts a year. Definitely not Weddingbee material.

Then I started dating this great Polish guy, and things were looking good. Really good. Like marriage good. I'm not sure exactly how or when I found Weddingbee (sometime in September or October I think), but I posted excitedly about it in November of 2007:

I have a new obsession. It is one of the most addicting sites that I have ever visited. Weddingbee. It is a wedding themed blog updated by brides across the country as they discuss everything pertaining to their own weddings.

All of the brides have the cutest handles, like Kiwi, Mangnolia, and my favorite flower, Gardenia. Each new batch of bride bloggers choose a nickname from a group, the newest group being types of desserts. Yum!

I check it obsessively, so much so that I have even started reading through the archives. The posts are organized by bride, and I have read through the complete weddings of 3 different brides. There is no end in sight in terms of reading them all (something I am gleeful about).

I am in love. I am going to buckle down and write daily, so that when Swayzie finally proposes I can become a bee myself!

All of the sudden I went from posting once or twice a month, to posting 18-20 times per month, and then every single day! My old "lifestyle blog" wasn't going to cut it anymore so I created a bride blog, entirely devoted to all things wedding, where I continued to post daily. I spent a lot of time on Weddingbee, reading and commenting on as many posts as possible, but I also spent a lot of time building up a community outside of Weddingbee as well. I linked to a lot of other bride blogs, I read their posts and commented on them, and I began to receive comments from other bride bloggers. I was actually bride blog friends with both Mrs. Pomegranate and Mrs. Sea Breeze before they became Weddingbee writers. When Mrs. Pomegranate wrote on her bride blog that she had been accepted to Weddingbee I was positively green with envy. I wanted to write for the 'bee more than anything!

Applying for Weddingbee

I confess I still have my Weddingbee application, and I've actually read through it several times since I sent it in. It's so fun to read about the wedding I wanted before so many of the decisions were made. I thought some of you hopeful applicants might like to know a few details about a successful Weddingbee application (although who knows if my application was good, maybe I got in by the skin of my teeth!) as you compose your own.

My application was 3 pages, single spaced. I read through the posted guidelines and made sure I felt like my application fit them exactly. I read through it, out loud, several times to make sure it sounded good. I treated it like a job application and made sure there were no spelling mistakes or sentences with poor grammar. Even though it was a risky move, I was completely honest about two very important things. The first was that I still wasn't technically "engaged" in the traditional sense of the word. I explained that I was planning the wedding and letting my significant other give me a ring on his own time. I tried to spin it into something unique and interesting, and said I planned on blogging about the proposal as it happened, which wasn't something I had seen on Weddingbee before.

The other thing I was honest about, and this was the riskiest move of all, was Mr. Avocados then-reluctance to have his pictures online. I wrote:

I should be up front and say that S is leery about having his image plastered all over the internet and so if I am accepted as a Weddingbee blogger the two of us are going to have to work something out between us. He knows that I am very interested in blogging for Weddingbee, and very encouraging in my efforts to apply and so I know that we can come to an agreement. This might mean that I am a little more selective about which engagement photos I post, and that most of my posts about the wedding will probably be photos of me and the details of the wedding.

At the time I didn't know that Mrs. Bee has never posted a picture of Mr. Bee and so I chewed my nails to the quick wondering if that had been a smart move on my part. The day before I received my acceptance email Mr. Avo relaxed his strict stance on me putting up pictures of him so it was never an issue, but it killed me to be honest and upfront in this part of my application. I share this with you so that those of you who have things you are worried will eliminate you (like Mrs. Mary Janes worry that a courthouse wedding wouldn't "fit" in with the Weddingbee blogging world) will reconsider and attempt to find a way to spin those things into something unique and fresh to the WB blogging world. Weddingbee wouldn't be what it is if we were all the same!

Blogging Tips

I've been asked a few times by hopeful applicants what they can do to have a better chance, and I think this is my opportunity to share my beliefs about what helps make a good blogger, and thus a good candidate for Weddingbee. There are many others who are much better writers and bloggers than I am, but I hope my tips will be helpful to those who are in the midst of the application process!

1. Grammar, punctuation, spelling.
No explanation should be needed here. If you are composing a post that you hope ends up on Weddingbee one day, write using the skills you learned back in your 10th grade English class.
2. Leverage your unique voice.
I knew what made my story unique, and I made sure to compose my application and write posts for my blog accordingly. I'm a Mormon, and my ceremony wouldn't be photographed or discussed in detail. Mr. Avocado is Polish and we wanted to incorporate some Polish traditions. I still wasn't officially engaged at the time because Mr. Avo was being slow about giving me my ring. I liked to take pictures and noted that I would be using a lot of them in my posts. I talked about the DIY projects I had planned. My mother is a wedding photographer and did some portrait sessions for us. My father is an organic farmer and we used his produce at the wedding. When composing your own application, think about what sets you apart from the pack. What makes your wedding story different from all of the other wedding stories being sent in to Weddingbee?
3. Regularity.
Weddingbee has made it very clear that writing 3-4 times/week is a must, and they mean it! My own sister realized how difficult bride blogging can be when she launched her own blog before her wedding. She had the best intentions, but soon she was wrapped up in decisions about flowers, cakes, and first dance song options, and writing for her blog wasn't a priority anymore. Give yourself some time to decide whether you will be able to write on the consistent basis that Weddingbee depends on.

Why Mrs. Avocado?
Back when I was still a hopeful reader desserts were introduced and I salivated over the characters. Apparently a lot of other applicants did as well because they were snatched up really quickly! Then, right before I applied, drinks came out. There were a few options that would work for me, but most of them were alcoholic! It would have been a little silly for someone like myself, never having drank an alcoholic beverage in my life, to be Margarita or Pinot Noir. Luckily they sent me a list of all of the available characters from every generation, and I decided to snatch up the last tropical fruit available, Mrs. Avocado. I suspect I chose it, in part, because my maiden name starts with the letter A and because I can't ever seem to eat enough homemade guacamole with Stacy's Naked Pita Chips. :)

Writing for Weddingbee

As the others before me have mentioned, writing for Weddingbee takes dedication. The best posts sometimes take hours to write, and even the short & fun ones can take up to 20 minutes. During my 105 days as a "Miss" I wrote 91 posts! I was living at home, working as a waitress a few days a week during that time so I was able to set aside incredible amounts of time for my Weddingbee blogging, something I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. That doesn't mean you need to be a bit of a bum like I was to handle the responsibility, but the ability to make blogging a priority is a MUST. We all get so excited when a new writer is introduced, and want to hear from them and learn about their wedding as much as possible!

The last bit of advice I can bring to the table is to be prepared for both critcism and an overwhelming feeling of love from the community. As with all life experiences, writing for Weddingbee brings out the good and the bad. You will have people tell you they don't like your ideas. Commenters will criticize your decisions and it's important to take it like a champ and move on. For every Negative Nancy there are 50 other wonderful commenters taking the time to tell you how much they love your writing and what you bring to the table. I applied, wrote constantly, and continue to write even now because of the wonderful community that can only be found at www.weddingbee.com

My Friend Has a Camera, He Can Do My Photos. Right?

Professional photographers are very passionate about insisting that you shouldn't ask just any friend with a camera to take your wedding photos. But aren't they just out to make some money? They are running a business after all. What's the real difference between a professional with a fancy Canon camera and your friend with one?

Seattle Bride set out to answer that question and the results are quite fascinating. They asked Cody Ellerd, a professional travel writer with a Nikon D60 to tag along with Joey Hong of John & Joseph Photography at the wedding of Vicky Wu and Chris Nicoll. Cody Ellerd has had a few of her shots make the covers and pages of magazines so she definitely has an eye for photography! To quote her "If you didn’t budget for a professional photographer at your wedding, I’m the friend you might call to take pictures."

After her experience with John Hong, Cody has changed her mind about hiring a friend for her own wedding which she is in the midst of planning. To quote her: "I now disagree more than ever with the digital-age adage that “now everyone is a photographer.” Tens of thousands of dollars in education, equipment and experience separate me from the pros. Professional photographers, like any other artists or business owners, need to spend money to make money. When you hire them, you’re helping them pay for their investments."

An example of Cody's shot:

And John's:

You can see the rest of the photos and read the full article on Seattle Bride's website.

There are so many reasons why I would be scared to ask a friend or family member to photography my wedding. Do they have a contract? What happens if their camera or lens breaks? How will they handle the posing of group photos? What if their landscape or portrait photography skills don't translate well for the varied circumstances of a wedding day?

Are you having a friend or family member (non wedding photographer) photograph your wedding? Or how are you making room in your budget for a professional?

Sistacado Got Married!

I have never felt so grateful to have one sibling in my entire life, because marrying off a family member is exhausting! I am sure it was much more so for my mother who outdid herself on the DIY details of this wedding. But Sistacado looked beautiful, and they both were so happy, and that is all I have ever wished for her.

I know it's a bit unusual for someone to "recap" the weddings of their sibling, but I think you're going to agree that it would be a good idea in this case because of the amount of unbelievably awesome DIY details my mom and sister came up with! I have a few iphone shots I took throughout the day to act as teasers for right now, and when Kelli Nicole (yes, Sisatacado loved Mrs. Avo's photos so much that she used the same photographer!) gives the photos back I'll see if I can get my hands on them to share some of the inspirational details with all of you.

A bridesmaid with no updo experience did her hair (after a failed attempt to do her own) and she altered a strapless dress to make it temple ready. Can you believe those sleeves are built on to what was once a strapless dress? The pleats on the bottom and at the sleeves were her own design.

The veil was fashioned by Mamacado and the flower comb purchased at a boutique in Utah.

Oh those shoes. To die for!

She had my grandma crochet her a garter with a blue ribbon running through it.

She was married in the Columbia River temple in Kennewick, WA.

Similarities to my wedding included gold ties for the fathers and groomsmen and suitcases in the group and family photos. We used the suitcases again in the photos to add a cohesive look to the pictures from our weddings, that way my mom can create a photo wall of family photos with an element that brings them together (and the same style shots since it is the same photographer!) They were also one boutonnière short so they gave the one my dad wore to my wedding to one of the groomsmen instead of trying to make a new one on the fly!

The bridesmaids wore black birdcage veils with fascinators (those who read my recaps will remember I had my maids do something similar). Of course these were created by my mom.

They ran out of black netting so I wore a cream birdcage, made of the same netting as the bride's birdcage! My pearl earrings are by Emily Walter Ryan (find them here) and my bolero is by Mary and Angelika.

Feathery centerpieces? Made by Mamacado of course! I've heard rumor that they are going to try to sell them, so if you're interested in picking them up from SLC please message me and let me know!

The cake topper was DIY (of course) and made from a candle that Mamacado picked up somehwere. They covered the top with moss and pearls and feathers and it looked darling!

Cake buffet. Yet another duplicate detail from my wedding, and quite possibly the best idea ever.

I love that our weddings were so similar, and yet so different AND, the best part, there was never any competition between us. We got married in different seasons in different places surrounded by different people to very different men. No we'll live different lives, but I think they'll both be happy ones.

Did you have a sibling get married around the same time you did? How were your weddings similar or different?

The Newlywed 10... wait, ummm 15

In 17 days, my little sister and I will be switching roles from the ones we had last October. I'll be the MOH and she'll be the bride! LDS girls tend to have short engagements (mine was quite long at 7 months), and she's pulling this thing together in just over two months.

I'm so happy for her, and I'm very excited to be wearing the black dress and new nude heels seen below (please try to pretend I'm wearing make-up and did my hair), but I've been feeling a little soft around the edges lately after gaining a total of 15 LBS since my wedding day in October.

I worked hard to look and feel confident on my wedding day, and I swore that I wouldn't let myself slide back into bad habits once the honeymoon was over. Unfortunately the call of our new Kitchenaid mixer and the row of pretty new cookbooks were too much for me to handle and I started baking and cooking with a focus on taste, not on health. I made my first chocolate cake, used phyllo dough for the first time, and went through multiple sticks of butter. And, worst of all, I started dishing out equal portions for both of us. He would eat half the pizza, and I would eat the other half.

Mr. Avocado has been supportive and wonderful, both telling me he loves the way I look, and encouraging me in my efforts to lose weight when I ask him for help. I lost about 50 lbs a few years ago by tracking my calories using Fitday (I use the desktop version) and decided to start weighing and measuring my meals once again, but Suavacado suggested adding a second element to my routine to help with the fitness and activity side of things. I would start tracking both my calories in, and my calories out in a very controlled manner.

You may have seen this black armband on The Biggest Loser contestants before? It's called the Bodybugg, and it tracks calorie output. It measures how fast your body is moving, the amount of heat your body is giving off, the electrical conductivity of your skin, and skin temperature. Yeah, I have no idea what that means, but it's supposed to be really accurate!

It's not the most fashionable thing I've ever worn, so I try to convince myself I look really tough and cool whenever I wear it. :)

I also bought a digital display, which gives me the chance to see how I'm doing in real time. 2291 calories burned is still not quite what I need to lose weight as fast as I would like, but that's actually a really good number for me. Yesterday I burned a pitiful 1747, and only walked 1901 steps. I don't have to wonder why I'm gaining weight anymore, I'm realizing that I'm very, very inactive!

I'm grateful that my Mr. Avo was willing to splurge on this for me, because it has made a huge difference in my motivation to be active. I'm getting a lot more workouts in than I normally do because I want to see my number of calories burned be as high as possible.

That being said, in the end it's just a fancy "toy" that tells me I need to get up and start moving around a lot more. Something I actually already knew! This was definitely a pricey investment for us, and knowing how much money we put into it makes me want to use it as much as possible (similar to the way entering into a contract with a personal trainer makes you workout more often). If you can budget the money for it, I think it's a great investment (as long as you don't mind wearing the big black band on your arm all the time!)

But if you can't afford it, I think that's okay too. The overall message for me was to get outside and get moving, and I've started doing that, even in this unbearable Dallas heat. If you're trying to lose like I am I believe you can do it!

What kind of activities do you participate in to get yourself moving during the heat of the summer?

Taking San Antonio By Storm

This weekend I had the privilege of meeting two lovely ladies you might recognize.

MRS. Lemonade

and

MRS. Kitten.

When Lemonade asked me if I would like to come to come down to San Antonio for her wedding I danced around the room. When Mr. Avocado said I could go (jobless me doesn't really have the budget for adventures like this so I would have to "borrow" from him!) I could hardly contain my excitement. I knew from Lemonades posts that it was going to be a party to remember, and it was definitely all of that and so much more!

I partied with Lemonade and her friends and family Friday night, met up with Kitten on Saturday morning, and then spent the rest of the day following Lemonade around wherever she went. The lovely Mrs. Lemonade was kind of enough to agree to let me do a little bit of a teaser post for all of you. She is going to be able to do some recaps to remember once she has all of her photos back!

Mr. and Miss Lemonade doing a little dance at La Fogata. It was Mr. Lemonades birthday that night and he was nice enough to share it with all of us. :)

I was sitting down for dinner when I naively asked what the eggs on the table were for.

Next thing I know I'm having a confetti filled egg cracked over my head. Fiesta baby!

The next morning I woke up and spent the morning with Kitten before heading over to watch the bride and her maids (and mom!) get their makeup done.

I love watching each woman have their "I'm a bride!" moment. Lemonade began jumping around like a little girl for hers!

How many bridesmaids, mothers, and flower girls does it take to attach a veil? Apparently more than this as Lemonade joked that she was going to have to ask Mrs. Avocado to come over and do it. :)

A shoutout to the lovely Mrs. Lovebug!

The backdrop for the ceremony was stunning. STUNNING. S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G. This photo does not do it justice.

The grooms face the moment he laid eyes on his bride coming down the aisle.

It was a beautiful ceremony.

Presenting, Mr. and Mrs. Lemonade! The newly married couple literally floated into the reception.

Mrs. Lemonade's dad mentioned Weddingbee in his toast! Lemonade and I were so proud to be bees! I'm not sure why Mr. Lemonade is making that face at her in this picture though.

There was a photobooth. I visited three times. Twice by myself. I am not ashamed.

Lost in Austin blew my mind. Everyone danced all night long.

Loved this moment. Mr. Lemonade fainted at the sight of his new wifes hot hot legs!

The last dance.

And the getaway!

Congratulations again to the couple. I love you guys!