Wedding: Bridal Shoot

I shattered my iPhone screen this morning, so to make myself feel better, I thought I'd go ahead and share some of the photos from my bridal/boudoir shoot with my fabulous photographer, Jessica. 

I went through the photos and chose some that weren't too risqué. There aren't really any that are too much, but I'd feel better leaving you with some mystery. Anyway, we took these photos more than a month before the wedding at my cousin's beautiful house. The location was a neutral ground for everyone and my cousin has the most perfect bathroom and private porch, so it was wonderful. 

My dress hadn't been altered yet, so we had to be a little strategic about those photos, and the props I used were either from one of my grandmothers or one of Kyle's, so they were all very nostalgic. Me, nostalgic. Imagine that. 

I made a photobook from Shutterfly with these for Kyle on the wedding day, along with his axe I bought him from Best Made Company. (More on that later.) 

For the boudoir photos, I wore a pair of high-waist, light pink lace underwear from American Apparel with a lace bralette from intimint, as well as a little nighty I've had from Victoria's Secret for years. I liked these because they were so girly and vintage and didn't make me feel too scandalous. I love boudoir photos, but some of them I've seen are just…well…a little scary. To each her own, but I wanted mine to be fun and pretty and a little pin-up-y, and I think Jessica captured that balance perfectly. I felt comfortable with her, and not just because I've known her my whole life, but she really just makes you feel relaxed and excited to have your photo taken. 

When it was time for the bridal portion of the shoot, I put my dress on with my hair clip and did a few poses on the porch where the sun was finally coming out and the lighting was nice. This was such a weird feeling…I had on my wedding dress and was taking photos but it wasn't my wedding yet. I sort of realized all at once, "I'm going to be doing this for real soon." So weird/exciting/wonderful.

After a couple hours, Jessica had taken a zillion photos and we wrapped it up. We all joked during the shoot that I'm the cutest I'm ever going to be, so we really need to document it!

If you're not sure what to get your soon-to-be husband for a wedding gift, I really recommend this. It's special and romantic, and even if you don't want to go the boudoir/photos in your underwear route, you can always just have some pretty photos taken of you in your dress.

Find a photographer who understands what you're going for with the photos and makes you feel comfortable. Jessica and I had a shared secret Pinterest board where we could both pin examples of photos for each other to see, which really helps give your photographer an idea of what you're going for, and will let you see the styles your photographer likes.

Also, Jessica and I are in contact all the time. She is great about texting me with updates on the status of the editing or previews of photos she's really loving. Find someone who is open with you and doesn't disappear after the shoot or event, but also remember that they need time to get all the photos ready and they probably won't be finished the very next day unless they have magical powers (and probably horrible photos), so it's best not to stalk them, either. I haven't had to contact Jessica myself much at all because she is so good at keeping me updated, and because I have seen Jessica's work and love it, I haven't been worried about the photos at all.

She actually texted me this week and told me the wedding photos are in the mail, so of course, I'm obsessively checking the mailbox. I can't wait to get them and eventually share some here.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on boudoir photos, and if you have any questions about my photos or working with Jessica, just let me know! 

love.

krq.

the new dyers

Well. It's over. It happened. I'm married.

That's just a preview shot from my FREAKING AMAZING photographer. Of course, once I have all the photos, I'll post more extensive details, but in short, it was magical. The whole day. Of course everything never goes exactly as planned, but like my aunt Angie said, even if we drove up the day before the wedding and the barn was on fire, we'd still get married, and that's what matters. The barn wasn't on fire, by the way. Unless you count all of us crazies dancing to "Blurred Lines" like it was our job, then yeah, it was on fire. 

Everyone tells you leading up to this day that it's all a whirlwind and it goes by so fast and you feel like you don't get to talk to anyone or even really eat any of your own food. Well, everyone was right. It's really quite crazy. You plan and plan and plan, then eat nothing and talk to no one. Or at least that's how it feels, because it goes by so quickly, and if you're like us and invite an entire county, there are just too many people to have a meaningful conversation with in one night. Everyone also told us that once you leave, it's the most exhausted you've ever been. Also, correct. 

Kyle and I had a vision for what we wanted our wedding day to be like, but sometimes our ideas sounded crazy, and were never the easiest to accomplish.

"Let's compile a list of songs no one knows and invite members of our families to sing them together, and let's hold practices for them three weeks before the wedding, so they can try to learn the songs, even though everyone has to like, work."

However, everything turned out so incredibly. It was so beautiful. I've never felt so loved in my life, and not just because of Kyle. When people just show up to help decorate and make flower arrangements for the tables without you even having to ask...that's when you feel loved. When your parents bust themselves in the summer heat to build arrow-shaped signs and cut flowers off the side of the road because you actually like those weeds...you feel loved. When your college-student siblings buy gifts for you they know you'll absolutely love and know you want them for your wedding day and honeymoon...that's love. 

I know this post isn't giving all the real details about the wedding, because really I just wanted to thank everyone. My parents, my siblings, Kyle's family, all my family and friends, our wedding party, everyone who sang and played instruments, the wonderful men who married us, our photographer and caterer and readers and cake-bakers, people who traveled pretty far to be there, people who posted such kind comments on our photos and Facebooks...everyone...thank you. Because of all of you, our day was exactly what we wanted — a day filled with people and love and fun.

Click here for the beautiful video my photographer made with some of the photos in it. So wonderful. I cry every time I watch it.

More details to come!

love.
krq(d)

twentyonedays

Today is the three week mark. Twenty-one days until Kyle and I are married. Eek! It's coming up so quickly, and there are still a million things to do, but I just get more and more excited every day. If I think about me walking down the aisle, I cry. If I think about my sister singing or my brother crying or my best friends being there with us, I cry. I basically cry over everything that is related to that day. It's an emotional time. Give me a break. 

So I've picked up my dress. It's ready to go. I've got all my somethings…old, new, borrowed, blue. Most of the decorations are finished, and I'm working on finishing up some of the gifts for my people. There are still projects to be completed, but they are really good projects. 

Also, Katy Perry's "Roar" is my anthem. My iTunes tells me I've listened to it 67 times within the four days I've had it. Yep. 

I recently had my wedding shower, which Kyle's family threw for me, with the help of a lot of my family, too, of course. It was crazy and hectic, but lovely and fun and we got SO MANY gifts. And like awesome ones, too.

To name a few…

vintage owl set from Finds&Designs from Kelli Barksdale!

the rest of the luggage! we got pieces from my aunt and uncle,
Holly's parents, Holly & Caleb and Kyle's parents.

owl cookie jar from anthro that I've wanted for years!
from Kyle's aunt Janet.

the perfect pie pan from anthro. from Lara & Chris.

my bedspread from anthro! from my parents.

Italian wine glasses from Fishs Eddy
in New York. from my sister.

and I just love this picture. all my pretty friends smiling!

I have such wonderful people in my life, and I'm so glad you people really know me! All the gifts were perfect!

Also, I got my bridal/boudoir photos back from Jessica, and holy moly. I don't want to post any of them here yet, but I will after the wedding. Eek!

Kyle and I have another shower this coming weekend at my cousin's house. Then the next weekend is my bachelorette party. Then the next weekend is the wedding. AHHHHHHHH!

I know everyone is probably so sick of hearing how excited I am, but seriously. So pumped. 

love.

krq.

fortyonedays

So I'm sitting in the floor on my yoga mat, drinking coffee and listening to Coldplay. This is the first time in weeks that I've even had a minute to think about writing a blog, and as the theme has become in the last few months, I blame the wedding. There's SO MUCH GOING ON, and this morning on the way to church, Kyle said "Forty-one days." That's all he had to say and I had a little heart attack. That is NOT A LOT OF DAYS. That's almost just one month. ONE! Ahhh! I'm leaving Tennessee on Friday to go to West Virginia for the rest of the time until the wedding, because there's just too much that's going to be going on for me not to be there. There will be two showers, my bachelorette party/Color Run, endless projects that need to be completed, dress fittings, hair/makeup run-throughs, trying to get a good tan without looking crazy or having tan lines, meetings with caterer/DJ/preacher/singers, the rehearsal dinner/decorating and doing ALL the workouts.

Help.

BUT...on top of all this stress and fear that things will fall apart and it will pour the rain on my handmade veil that hasn't even been made yet, I have never been more excited in my life. So excited that I cry. Makes sense, right?

My sister and I were texting yesterday morning about music ideas and such, and she said...

Yeah. Me too, sister. I had my bridal photo shoot with my amaaaaazzzingg photographer, Jessica Hutchinson, at my cousin's house last week, and I wore my dress for some of the photos...and my sister choked up on me. Very briefly and then she got it under control, but yeah, basically we're all going to be a mess. Heaven help us...and my makeup.

Also, people are starting to get their invitations so I feel like it's ok to post this.

Stole this from Jodi. Thanks, Jodi for instagramming this! :)

Eeeek! They turned out so great. Letterpress is where it's at, ya'll. If you can get it for your invitations, I promise it's worth it. And even though searching for vintage stamps wasn't easy, they look SO freaking awesome. Thanks, Kyle, for being a crazy-creative genius husband-to-be. 

I know things are going to just keep getting crazier until the wedding, so I'm just going to write if I can, and if not, I'll have SO much to write about when it's all said and done. I'm learning to not beat myself up over not writing as much. This is my wedding season! I do want to post some of the DIY projects we've done with my family for the wedding and show that you can make cool stuff yourself without spending a fortune. Yes, it's been pretty expensive, but not nearly as much as it could have been if we hadn't done a lot of it ourselves, and I really think it's going to be wonderful. 

It's really easy to get wrapped up in all the stuff we have to do...I do it every single day...but like so many of my family members have told me, the best part is when it's all over and it's just the two of us and we get to just BE married. Kyle is already wonderful, so I know having him as a husband will be even better. I mean, he walked back home in the pouring rain from the diner down the road, got the car and drove back to pick me up. So yeah, pretty excited to marry this guy.

So. Forty-one days. Actually now it's more like forty. That's forty days of crazy, forty days of excitement and forty days of me listening to our wedding songs over and over to remind myself that it's all going to be fine, it's all going to be worth it, and it's all going to lead me to the same thing...a happy marriage.

love.
krq.

nearly here

We are quickly approaching the TWO MONTH mark for the wedding. How in the hell did that happen? So much has been going on and my house in a constant state of "unbearably messy," but there's just no time (or energy) to deal with it right now. Lately, my days look something like this…

Get up. Make breakfast. Pack lunches. Squeeze in a very quick workout, if I'm lucky. Get ready for work. Go to work/put my makeup on in the car (Kyle drives). Work all day long. Pick up Kyle. Make dinner. Scarf down food. Do something wedding-related. Go to bed. 

It's basically like that every single day. Granted, we did just get back from vacation and it always takes a few days to get back into the swing of things, plus Kyle has a sinus infection, but still. You get my point. 

There is just so much to freaking do for the wedding. I know we'll get it all finished, and I know that it will be fine, blah blah blah. But when you're smack in the middle of it and people keep telling you how excited they are for the big day, you start to feel a little pressure. 

However, I really do think it will be wonderful.

My cousin, Jessica, took some wonderful photos for us at the beach last week, just for funsies. Here are some faves.

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I've been thinking about Corey a lot more than usual lately…probably because along with my wedding day, the one year mark is also quickly approaching. I can't believe he won't be there. This is a really weird memory, but it's just another example of how easily he creeps into my mind…I remember him telling Kelsey once that she had to scrub her face in the shower and not just move the soap around. I'm sure he was just giving her a hard time and I have no idea why we were talking about hygiene practices, but every single time I wash my face in the shower, I think of that. Isn't that odd? 

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I really can't believe how little I've written this year. I definitely blame the wedding planning, but I'm hoping once it's here and all over and I have a new name (eek), then I'll write more. Surely I'll have way more to talk about, too. I'd love to have some posts about wedding details we did ourselves, etc. Because God knows I haven't kept anyone updated throughout like I said I would. 

I guess I could give you a quick list of things we DO have…

my dress

his suit

his shoes

save the dates/invitations

decorations (kinda…)

the place

the cake (meeting with Candice this weekend!)

the DJ (meeting with Jimmy and Allison this weekend, too!)

the photographer

the food (hoping to see Pat when I see Candice. haha!)

the preacher

the wedding party

the flowers (thanks, mom!)

the entertainment

the honeymoon (can't freaking wait)

Still need…

everything else

If I list the things I still need on here, I might have some kind of attack. So just use your imagination. 

Even though I'm stressed with everything we have to do, I'm becoming more and more aware of how excited I am to marry Kyle. Like, really freaking excited. And happy...so very happy. 

love.

krq.