Wedding Week - Photography Extravaganza

Since getting married I've seen and heard about some budget wedding photography disasters. It was only through sheer luck that didn't happen to us.

When I started Wedding planning I knew next to nothing about photography. I knew it required a fancy camera and some sort of an "eye." I knew that some photographs looked better than others, but I wasn't sure of why.

What I did know was that I had a budget of about $3,000, and there was no way I could afford to spend over 1/3 of the budget on photography. Which ruled out almost every photographer I found. So I started trolling craigslist. Even unknowledgeable me could see that most of the cheap photographers were that cheap for a reason, as even their example photos seemed off to me.

And then I saw this wonderful ad from a new photographer to the area offering Wedding coverage for free (minus $200 for expenses and $100 for the disk). She barely had a website at the time, and only had a few images from one wedding and a host of landscape shots. Those few images were gorgeous and $300 was just to good to pass up, so I took the risk.

I'm so glad I did. Melissa Tomeoni, now of Soul Mates Photography was fantastic. She was fun and easy to work with. Neither Zach and I are naturally comfortable in front of cameras, but she gave us just enough direction . She also had some great creative ideas. Especially considering we were one of her first weddings, she was a dream. I still wander over to her blog from time to time, and it's really fun to see . Of course, as much fun as she was to work with, the end pictures are what matter most. I'll just let those speak for themselves.*

Equally fantastic were my bridesmaids, Jennifer (Jen) and Mindy. We lived together for almost three years in college, they were there when Zach and I met, when we got engaged and for all sorts of other wonderful times with just us. They were and are fabulous people who I am lucky to have as friends. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have there that day.

Best of all, I think having them there made the whole wedding feel fun. With Zach and my family, it was a big important emotional day. With Jen and Mindy, things were certainly meaningful, but we were also laughing and goofing off and just generally having a great time.

Their smiles and wonderful selves were the most important part, but I also thought they looked great. Since they were the ones wearing it, I just asked them to choose whatever they wanted that they thought would go with everything. I think the bright blue dresses were perfect for the day, even though they may not be as re-wearable as I tried to delude myself into thinking. I also find it kind of amusing that without talking to one another, they each choose the same shoes, which were very similar to the ones I choose.

Speaking of looking fantastic, I was also really pleased with how my look came together. My hair wasn't quite the loose, sophisticated updo with a hint of curl I had envisioned, but the tight curls weren't too promesque and I think it worked for me. I just did my own makeup with just a little more than I normally wear. I'm glad I did, it's nice to look at the pictures and see my face smiling back at me.

I've already discussed my love for the dress. I probably wouldn't have gone amiss from tucking some spanx under the dress, but even without it was still perfection. I know tiaras and other big sparkly head gear are kind of passe, but I loved the little touch of sparkle mine added. I now keep it on my desk, wrapped around a lamp. I still occasionally slip it on when I'm cleaning, or feeling particularly sad or silly. It still never fails to make me feel entirely pretty and ridiculous in the best way.

Other than the sparkly headband, I tried to keep jewelry low key. My earrings are actually the same earrings I wore to my High School prom. I had a hard time finding new earrings that weren't too huge or too simple. I randomly tried on these old ones, and surprisingly they looked great. My dress was so heavily embroidered that I felt like any necklace would be too much. I'm also glad I went with a simple, traditional veil. It added just the right finishing touch to everything.

And of course, I loved my shoes. I could only walk in them because my dress was so tight and had such a full train that I had to take teeny-tiny steps. I still loved them though, even through the pain. (The flip flops I changed into during the reception may have helped that love.)

We took most of the pictures right around the Temple we were married in. The grounds were lovely, full of flowers, and a fantastic fountain and reflecting pool.

Still, the me that wanted something a little more than standard. I loved some of the more urban shoots I'd seen from other weddings, and would have loved to swing into downtown Portland for a few. We tried and tried to see how we could manipulate the schedule to make it work, but it just wouldn't have been doable.

Even so, I made sure to mention my desire to our photographer. She had the unique idea to go to Washington Square, a mall on the way between the Ceremony and Reception site. I was skeptical, but didn't have any better ideas, so we gave it a shot.

Who knew that the best place for a variety of completely different and utterly unique backdrops would be a mall?

I loved the looks and well wishes from complete strangers. Best of all was the little girl who poked her head out of a car window and yelled "Did you just get mawwied?'

But the pictures, oh the pictures.

These were taken next to the giant pillars outside of Nordstroms. I love the texture and neutral color of the brick, but those grand pillars are still what get me.

For a more modern feel, these were next to Sephora.

But best of all, was this shot right in front of Williams and Sonoma. I think even if all the rest of our pictures has been rubish it would almost have been worth it for this shot.

All in all, I had a blast taking pictures. Running around, being silly and sweet with my Zach and my girls, well wishes from strangers. At some point during the hour plus of pictures in between the laughing and the kissing i started to feel all the joy and reality of being married. And once it started, that wonderful feeling kept building until I wondered how one personal could possibly keep all that in.

As much fun as pictures were, the more I kept going, the more excited I became, and the more I couldn't wait to get to the reception and really start celebrating with everyone.

I loved taking pictures, but when the time came I was more than ready to move on to the next part.



*The files I received from the photographer, and uploaded here are huge. Which means that some of them look a little off and fuzzy from being compressed this much. I just don't have the time right now to resize every image. So any fuzz and the like is due to that, not Melissa's work.