Hello Internet! In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last week, I thought I would fill you in on what we’ve been up to with the ol’wedding planning process! About two weeks ago, Billy and I entered a contest through a company called CreativeLIVE to win a free wedding. You can see our video entry here. Over the years we’ve bought countless lottery tickets, and I think our winnings total about 5 dollars (which we then promptly reinvested into our get-rich-quick plans by buying another ticket) So we’re really not ahead, and really not luck of the draw people. Needless to say, it was actually a surprise to us that when we woke up last Wednesday morning, we learned that we were the couple chosen for this incredible opportunity! For the last week, we’ve been walking around in a daze, soaking it all in and trying to sort out what we need to do….. fast. I’ve had to practically turn my phone off because every time I hang up with someone it rings again, I’m a little overstimulated…  forgive me for being MIA. I’m trying my hardest to have life and business go on as usual, but it’s been difficult!

Here is the deal. Our new wedding date is August 27th, 2010! Hooray! We get an almost entirely free wedding, the only catch is… Jasmine Star HAS to be our photographer (which we are really really upset about…. insert sarcasm here :-) And our wedding will be broadcast LIVE through the CreativeLIVE website as a workshop for photographers who want to learn more about how to shoot weddings from Jasmine. We’ll be out there for the world to see, or not see. Tune in if you can’t make it or we didn’t invite you! Ha!

We really only had ideas in place for our former wedding,  we’re starting fresh. CreativeLIVE is working with the lovely and ever so talented Daniela Fagét of Bella Signature Design to create a wedding that is uniquely us. She really understands our aesthetic and what we’re going for with our wedding celebration. It is a major point of emphasis from everyone, that this process be about Billy and I. That our wedding remain in our taste and style, which is SO amazing. We feel so taken care of in this process. We genuinely connect with everyone on this team in a way that it makes it very easy for us to call them friends.

Here are just some of the things we’re working on this week!

Venue, Invites/Paper, Wedding dress, Wedding bands, Bridesmaid dresses, Cake, Decor color palette, and rentals… I’m sure more to come!

Friday we went dress shopping to a couple of stores here in Seattle, and the CreativeLIVE team followed me around at La Belle Elaines! BILLY DO NOT CLICK ON THIS VIDEO ;-)

We also checked out some wedding bands at E.E. Robbins, a really really great jewelry store here in Seattle that is very customer service focused. We have some great prospects there.

Honest concerns about this process: getting everything done in between, My clients, my family, my tan, they all deserve the attention they are used to getting. I’m only one person, one person who generally speaking is already stretched too thin. Hoping this doesn’t put me over the edge. Not sure what we are going to do about our bridesmaid dresses, and my girls call me every day to remind me that it’s important that they have clothes on at the wedding. Oy. My general disdain for Friday weddings, which I’m pretty outspoken about… and here I am, having a Friday wedding.

Concessions we’ve had to make: Bridal shower? Not sure when that will happen or if it will happen, bachelor/bachelorette, same deal. Some family won’t be able to make the event, which is good for the guest list, but bad for the heart.

So there it is! Thank you for tolerating my stream-of-consciousness ramblings. We don’t know much so far, but I know it will come together just fine.

Hope you’ll follow along with us during this process, and if you’re curious about more join us on Mondays at 12:00PST every week on CreativeLIVE for a live conversation about the wedding and where we are with everything!

xo,
Laura

Last week the office was unavoidably closed due to the annual WPPI conference in Las Vegas. This was my second time to WPPI and quite honestly I am still absorbing most of the information I took home with me last year. I kinda over did it last year. Between the 8am classes, the gigantic tradeshow, and the out-all-night-til-dawn industry parties, I came home desperately needing a vacation from my vacation. This year my priorities were quite shifted.

Sunday morning I arrived and took a cab straight to the Las Vegas Country Club for the photoshoot I produced for Portrait House Fundraising. I talked a little on the blog about what an amazing thing my friends Justin and Mary Marantz are doing with their goals for Portrait House shortly after I met with them while they were in Seattle. Portrait House is a charitable outlet for photographers to give back. They have an ongoing project list, and first up is Habitat for Humanity.

It’s just so hard to put into words how amazing it felt to address all of the participants at the shoot and realize that all of this hard work for the past 3 months was finally coming to a head. The monumental feeling that everyone there felt the same way I did about the cause. Mary spoke about their reasoning, about the larger purpose, and yes I’ve heard it before…. but this time I heard it. I heard it loud and clear coming from the crowd of eager faces staring up at me. They all got it, they understood what I understood. What we were doing here today was much more about getting the shot. We all felt pretty great about that too, trust me. I went back to my hotel room that night and had a big cry-fest by myself. This was the single-most-hugest-most-best-feeling thing I have ever done. EVER. SO much work, but so much payoff.

I also want to give a HUGE giant shout out to all of our amazing sponsors and talent. Without them, this would not have been possible:

Las Vegas Country Club, Thomas Meyer Designs, Couture Bride,  Tux One, Megan Mulligan Makeup, Bella Vita Design, Sami and Joey, Amanda and Mike, Megan and Mike, Jenn and Tim, Chantal and Jared.

I didn’t get a ton of shooting done because I was running around like a crazy person (more than usual). But I thought I would share with you some of my favorite images from that day.

1. YOU’RE NOT QUALIFIED.

No matter how savvy you think your design skills are, there is a reason why this is a separate career path photographers. There is intensive research and training involved to get that amazing typography and logo of your dreams. You stick to making awesome photos and let someone else make awesome type. I’ve seen too many silly camera logos and comic sans brochures to not have an opinion on this one.

2. MISTAKES ARE COSTLY

I’m actually inspired to write this because like a chump I decided to take it upon myself to design my most recent brochure….. and am having to reprint them because of a silly mistake that could have been avoided had I just picked up the phone and called my designer. And in case you were wondering, YES she laughed at me, and YES I almost cried, until she told me she would make it all better.

3. YOUR BRAND IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET TO YOUR BUSINESS

Your brand is represented by whatever typeface and logo you choose. You want to make sure it says what you want it to. Many times you might not be sure what that is. A GOOD designer, one that you click with  will help you answer those questions and give you a branding system that reflects your goals and where you’re going. Don’t just stop at a logo and a business card though. Keep it consistent and have your designer go the whole shebang. Even if you can only pay for one piece at a time. Make sure that card, letterhead, dvd label, website, portfolio, promo, thank you card, are all CONSISTENT. That is the key to successful marketing using a brand. Consistency.

4. INSIDER DEALS ARE KILLER!

Most often, a professional award winning designer, like Kristine from Cognition Studio, will have established and long standing relationships with vendors that will lower the overall price point making the really-awesome-show-stopping-jaw-dropping business cards an attainable amount of money for you to spend. They might be higher than Kinkos, but trust me, you’ll reap the benefits when whoever you hand it to decides it isn’t destined for the bin.

5. RESOURCES GALORE

They keep up on design trends, it’s kinda their job. They know what the latest and greatest promos look like, they know what promo is going to be original and wow the Art Buyer when it lands on their desk. They’re also extremely well connected with their industry peers. If you’re looking for something in particular that your designer isn’t familiar with, they probably know someone that is.

Now go get um Tiger!

I should have written this in reverse and had it overflowing with sarcasm, but I think Pi Design Blog did it better than I could have dreamed. Check it out for a good laugh.

©Kristine Johnson, photos courtesy of Cognition Studio Design.