Senior Pictures

Thursday evening was a very fun time for me. As you all very well know, I am graduating in May (almost there!) and so it of course came time to take those wonderful Senior Pictures. I feel like I just took my High School graduation pictures, and now I am taking my college ones! It just doesn’t seem like it’s been long enough. But it has. The time came. So I had my wonderful husband load up the camera Thursday evening and we ventured out to take pictures. We snapped a few on the college’s campus and then went down town, an area which never fails for a good background. So instead of telling you about all of the wonderful pictures he took and describing each of my favorites to you, I am simply going to direct you to another one of my husband’s blogs (I’ve lost count of how many he has). This one is strictly his photography blog, which has a growing portfolio. So simply click on this link and view the artwork of Joshua Breland: http://thelophoto.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/libby-senior-portraits/#

Enjoy! Oh and be sure to leave your comments, he wants your feedback!

Wedding Advice

I just want to preface everything by saying that I by no means know everything about planning a wedding. Everything went really well when it came to planning our wedding, so I figure there’s some good advice that comes with that. I have a lot of friends that are currently engaged and others that will probably be following soon. Plus, I think some stuff every girl just needs to know for when her time comes. So feel free to adhere to the advice, take it with a grain of salt, or completely reject it. It’s up to you.Actually the opposite is probably true. The advice that I am about to offer comes from my personal experience.

1. Definitely remember to have fun. This was the most important advice given to me. Wedding planning can be extremely stressful. If you don’t take the time to enjoy picking out the details for the wonderful day God has blessed you with, then it just becomes a pain. Your wedding is not supposed to be a pain. It’s not supposed to be like homework. It’s intended to be fun. So be sure that if you feel yourself start to get stressed, just step back, and remember what day you’re planning. If it doesn’t bring a smile to your face, then take a day off of planning and spend it with the one your marrying. Maybe that will help you remember the “wonderfulness” of the day.

2. It is your wedding day (and your future husband’s). There is a lot of stress of brides to appease everyone else on their wedding day that sometimes they can forget what they want their wedding to be like. Now, this isn’t a free pass to being a Bridezilla. That is most certainly uncalled for! But when it comes to how you want the sanctuary or reception hall decorated, or the bridesmaids’ dress colors, or any detail, it should ultimately be up to you. Now in this process don’t forget that your groom may have an opinion. You are on your way to becoming one and you don’t want to leave him out. Now if he says that he really doesn’t have an opinion and just wants to marry you, then trust him and don’t bug him about every detail. Don’t let others push you or guilt trip you into what they want. Remember this is the day that you are marrying the man of your dreams. The day should reflect the two of you, not the entire family and wedding party.

3. Don’t skimp on the photographer. Josh and I had an AMAZING photographer. (I have a post about how awesome she is if you haven’t heard). But picking out the photographer was the hardest part of the wedding. Even harder than finding my dress. She happened to be a friend of mine. But she is definitely professionally labeled. When it comes to photographing your wedding, you don’t want mediocre shots. You want someone who knows what their doing and will take pictures that really capture the day. When you look back at your pictures you want to have all of those same emotions you had on that day to come flooding back. We are fortunately able to do that. So spend a little extra money and get a really good photographer. Even if someone says “oh hey, your sister’s boyfriend’s mom’s nephew’s cousin has a really nice camera and will do the pictures for free” PLEASE see some of their work before you say “Oh that sounds great” only to wind up regretting it in the end. You can always use my photographer (E. Stevens Photography).

4. If you’re planning on doing your own makeup, have a back up! I was pretty set on doing my own makeup going into the day of the wedding. However, on the day of, I was shaking and nervous to no end. I knew there was no way I could do a straight line with my eyeliner. Fortunately the lady who did my hair was able to do my makeup too, and I looked better than when I did my bridals. I was very fortunate!

5. Eat something. When I first woke up on our wedding day I felt fine. I was a little out of it, I think because I had taken a Tylenol PM the night before because of a headache. But Mom made sure I ate by bringing me McDonald’s breakfast burritos. I know, what a horrible thing to eat on your wedding day. But it is the one food I can never turn down. It was the last thing I ate before the reception. I tried to eat while I was getting ready, but by that point I was feeling so sick to my stomach I couldn’t eat a thing. So I was very grateful for the breakfast. So be sure to grab something that morning, because the closer you get to the ceremony the more nervous you get and the less likely you’ll eat.

6. Don’t panic. Something will go wrong. It’s pretty much inevitable, so don’t freak out when it happens. Two days before the wedding we found out that the unity candle we bought was an electric candle and not one you light. So Mom and I had to completely change the plans we had for decorations for the table and find a new candle. Mom and our wedding decorator laughed and I wanted to cry. But as soon as we got out shopping, I had calmed down. Everything was going to be okay. And it was. We found a new candle and holder and everything was beautiful. The day of the wedding my photographer dropped and broke a lens right in front of me. Normally that would call for a freak out. But she stayed calm (another plus for our photographer) so I stayed calm. She had a backup and our pictures still turned out beautifully. The wedding procession messed up. My father-in-law was supposed to walk down behind my mother-in-law and then together go light their candle. Well that messed up and they just sat down. My parents walked down and lit their candle and then my in-laws recovered nicely and simply lit theirs after my parents. Watching the video, you couldn’t even tell things got messed up. It looked like it was planned. So take a deep breath and just let things play out. Most little mistakes won’t even matter in the end.

7. If you can, video the wedding. I am so glad we got our wedding on video. It was a last minute add, but I’m so very glad we did it. Thanks to the video we got to see Mom breaking down as I walked down the aisle and Dad putting the not-quite-empty cup of grape juice in his pant’s pocket. We have some wonderful memories that only a video could capture. So do it if you can.

8. Use people you know and who know you. Behind all of my wedding planning was some wonderful women. There is no way I could have done it without them. We didn’t use anyone that we didn’t already know and trusted. They talked to me and listened to my ideas and then made it happen in a beautiful way. We had a lady from our church who did all of the flowers, another who decorated, another who did the cakes, and another who did the food. They all worked so great together and everything was just phenomenal. There is absolutely no way that without my mom and these women that my wedding would have turned out as wonderfully as it did.

There’s probably a whole lot more information and advice that I gathered from the wedding experience, but those are the highlights. Just remember to enjoy the day. Remember who you are marrying and marrying that person really means. Every other detail will quickly fade from your mind. The day will be beautiful no matter what happens. So take a deep breath, smile, wear waterproof mascara, and enjoy the wonderful day God has blessed you with.

A Photographer Worth 1,000 Words

If there was a rating higher than 10, a grade better than an A+, a percentage greater than 100%, or more stars than 5, such a rating would have to go to Emily Cutrer and her E. Stevens Photography.

Choosing the photographer to document the most important day in a girl’s life, her wedding day, is a difficult, tedious, and important task. Not to mention generally expensive. If you want good quality you have to be willing to pay possibly more than you paid for your wedding dress. Josh and I looked around at photographers. We looked at websites and reviewed portfolios. However, we kept going back to Emily’s photography. She seemed to have what we were looking for: a modern, artist eye with a classic twist. Plus she was well within our budget. I had to keep rereading the message she sent me with financial information to make sure I had it right because we were all blown away.

The package Emily provided for us included engagements, bridal portraits, and the wedding day. This also included a cd of all the pictures as well as some fun little extras along the way. She was so much fun to work with. When our first batch of engagement pictures didn’t turn out to her approval due to some technical problems, she offered to retake them. Talk about a photographer who truly cares about customer satisfaction and about doing a job right and well! She got on her hands and knees, crawled in dirt or grass, anything she had to do to get the perfect shot. She was patient and the most personable and friendliest photographer I think I have met. She made sure we were comfortable and was completely flexible with locations. She has an amazing eye for seeing what would make the perfect shot. Whether it was “move to the left a little” or “oh! let’s try this spot” or “bring your head down and yours up, now 1, 2, 3, kiss!” Emily was always right on target. You don’t have to fake your laughter for pictures with Emily. You truly just want to smile or laugh or do whatever she asks of you. She is just that kind of photographer and person!

Now, I personally know Emily. I have known her since high school. But don’t discount my review. I am not doing this for a friend. I am doing this because I know great quality and good worth ethic when I see it, and in this day and age, it is worthy of acknowledgment. In knowing Emily, I also know this: her joy and hard work come from more than just a good personality in a rotten world. The contagious joy of Emily comes from her love and dedication to Christ Jesus, her Lord. God has given her this gift, and I know that she uses it for His glory. I also know that if you asked her, she would say the same thing. Emily has a heart of gold that has been refined by the fires of our God’s grace. Her photography is a ministry, one that I know she cherishes. Her actions, diligence, and caring heart and attitude speak volumes to the love of God which has been lavished upon her.

Josh and I constantly look back at our pictures (it’s only been 2 months) and we still love them! I love looking at our engagement picture magnet on our fridge and the one on my parents’ (Mom loves it so much she refuses to give it up). We just recently got prints of some of our wedding pictures and they still look amazing! She captured every moment perfectly and beautifully. We can relive the moments of our marriage simply by looking through her pictures. That is how good they are! We constantly say “Wow look at that one!” and “We had such a wonderful photographer.” E. Stevens Photography is truly the best photographer out there. Her busy schedule will speak for itself, and her pictures will scream of her talent. Emily is not only talented. She truly has a gift and with that gift she has a passion to use it.

Here are just a few examples of some of our favorites from the three different shoots:

This one has been called our “Twilight” picture. It was one of the first engagement pictures we saw and we knew right then that we chose wisely with our photographer!

This was one we raved about for weeks! I joked with Emily saying the only thing Josh and I had in common was books. This was one of our favorites to take too, because Josh had to be instructed in the ways of holding a book!

This was such an awesome picture! I told you, she catches everything! We were walking to our new location and my mom is actually to my right holding up my dress, but this is the shot Emily got!

This is one of those shots where she was on the ground on hands and knees to get this angle. Trust me, it was hot in the balcony of the sanctuary where we took this picture and she was constantly moving!

This was one of the most precious moments of the wedding, and Emily caught it perfectly! This picture will be treasured by our family forever.

I’m telling you, she caught EVERY perfect moment of the day. I am so happy she got this picture. I was so thrilled to be sitting down and eating a PB&J on my wedding day. This is seriously how I felt at this moment!

Please, don’t take strictly my word for it. You can check out more of Emily’s pictures. She has a Facebook page: E. Stevens Photography, where you can look at some of her favorite pictures. Also, you can find a link to her blog there, or just click here: http://www.estevensphoto.com/

I guarantee more than satisfaction if you choose Emily for any of your photography needs. She truly is a photographer worth more than a thousand words!