Bridal Portrait vs. Engagement Pictures

Next in the wedding department? Preps for my bridal portrait. I wanted to wait until after the first of the year to take them but that's been moved up to one month from yesterday! YIKES! Talk about starvation! I guess I need to get my butt to the tanning bed too!

Anyhoo -- a lot of my friends have asked why I am doing a bridal portrait. I guess it's a real Southern thing to do. Not everyone does it? What about you Sass?

My Mom is dead set on it and I want it as well. We will have a big portrait on display at the reception for everyone to see.

We are going to do a lot of the shots in Uptown Charlotte and in a park nearby. I hope to get a shot like this. My photographer actually took these. Click on the photo below to go to his website.

Isn't this one cool too??

So, it was between doing a portrait or engagement pictures of Brad and I. I would have liked both but it's not in the budget. Brad felt like with me being 'documoto' that we had enough good pictures of us together and wanted me to opt for the portrait.

What do you think? Portrait beforehand or wait and take all the pictures the day of the wedding? Are portraits stupid?

Wedding Planning Update

Ok – I’m just under 6-months out and everyone at work is surprised I’m so calm? Seriously peeps…

Maybe it’s because I accomplished my goal of getting everything done on the front end and am now just waiting on the breaking news? Well, for the most part.
Here’s the checklist:

Venue – check
DJ – check
Lighting vendor – check
Photographer – check
Videographer(who will do our memory video as well) - check
Cake – check
Florist – check (My Mom is back in town this weekend and we’re sitting down with the 2 fabulous gay guys to ‘design’ my look. Yes, I know what I want!)
Officiate – check
Dress, shoes, and jewelry – check
Colors chosen – check
Maid of Honor dress – check(well, I guess – I sent her a fabric swatch and she’s picking out whatever dress she wants but in that color)
Monogrammed napkins – check
Gift bags for out-of-towners –check (well the items I want to include in them. Of course, it’s too early to put them together)
Save-the Dates sent out – check
Wedding website – check(I beefed it up too!) www.mywedding.com/deannaandbrad
Registries - check

And the drum roll please!

Party Favors – check
Thanks to Coco’s suggestion I decided on Krispy Kreme doughnuts! I called the headquarters – which is based here in NC and they said they have a 2 doughnut box for $2! Brad isn’t totally crazy about the idea but I know our guests will love them and eat them! Plus, since so many of our guests are not from NC – they’ll get a taste of NC!
Cool or what? check them out below! This will avoid the wrapping of the do, etc!

What’s left?

Ceremony musicians(trying to find graduate students to be cheaper)

Invitations

Calligraphy - still deciding on what to do?
Wedding bands ordered
Rehearsal Dinner location
After rehearsal dinner party location
Gloves and headpiece
And lose 10-pounds by the beginning of November so I can take my bridal portraits early before it gets cold!

Then there’s my bachelorette party! I’m doing it early and I’ll post about it later!
Happy Humpday!