What is everyone doing tonight?
Neill's band, Ready The Destroyer, is playing the Double Door. They go on at exactly 9:45. Rumor has it that there will be burlesque dancers before and after their set.
Come say hi!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
iCream
I'll admit it. i was intrigued by the smoke and mirrors.
Well, really just the smoke. No mirrors to speak of.
Plus one point for having a "cream soda" flavor. Yum. Minus one point, however, because I was encouraged to pair it with pomegranate. Perhaps it was my mistake for following their advice? But, I was so overwhelmed by all of their options that I just followed their directions blindly.
The end result was light and fruity. The ice-cream was not very creamy or rich, so it was easy to eat the whole cup. And I felt their "small" size was very generous.
Downside? 5 dollars for a small!!! That is some expensive so-so ice-cream.
I am somewhat interested in finding out about the hot pudding though. I do love me some puddin'.
Well, really just the smoke. No mirrors to speak of.
Plus one point for having a "cream soda" flavor. Yum. Minus one point, however, because I was encouraged to pair it with pomegranate. Perhaps it was my mistake for following their advice? But, I was so overwhelmed by all of their options that I just followed their directions blindly.
The end result was light and fruity. The ice-cream was not very creamy or rich, so it was easy to eat the whole cup. And I felt their "small" size was very generous.
Downside? 5 dollars for a small!!! That is some expensive so-so ice-cream.
I am somewhat interested in finding out about the hot pudding though. I do love me some puddin'.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Secondprint Productions
My fiance and I met with Albert of Secondprint Productions to talk about photography for our wedding. When we were doing our research, he was one photographer that stood out to both of us. His pictures are simply striking. He does a great job catching the moment and the colors in his pictures really pop. To top it all off, he is extremely friendly and laid back! This is a huge plus when you think about how much time you actually spend with your photographer on the wedding day. Any couple looking for stylish colorful photos should check out Albert's work!
Kelli Ward Photography
My fiance and I met with Kelli to talk about photography options for our upcoming wedding. When I was researching wedding photographers, Kelli's website really caught my eye. So, even though she is definitely at the tippy tippy top of our budget (aka way above), I just had to meet with her to see if it was something I just could not live with out.
One thing that really stands out about Kelli is how professional she is. She came prepared with thoughtful questions, handouts, and lots of examples of her work. She was also very upfront about her policy of holding dates and what not. While sometimes its a bit awkward to talk about, I appreciate people being upfront about it. She has been a full time wedding photographer for years now, so she really has things down to a science. And I don't even want to start thinking about how beautiful her albums are. Swoon. Big thick pages. Beautiful layout. These things are DELUXE.
In the end, we didn't feel like our personalities and the sort of wedding we want to have would be a good match with Kelli. But, I still encourage others to check out her work. She knows what she is doing!
One thing that really stands out about Kelli is how professional she is. She came prepared with thoughtful questions, handouts, and lots of examples of her work. She was also very upfront about her policy of holding dates and what not. While sometimes its a bit awkward to talk about, I appreciate people being upfront about it. She has been a full time wedding photographer for years now, so she really has things down to a science. And I don't even want to start thinking about how beautiful her albums are. Swoon. Big thick pages. Beautiful layout. These things are DELUXE.
In the end, we didn't feel like our personalities and the sort of wedding we want to have would be a good match with Kelli. But, I still encourage others to check out her work. She knows what she is doing!
The Allerton Hotel
We had a walk through today at The Allerton Hotel with someone from their sales department to learn more about booking a block of rooms for our out of town wedding guests.
+Stylish lobby with a mod looking lounge (which they said they could keep open for us if we wanted to have an after-party)
+nice fitness center. Lots of brand new equipment. Lots of windows.
+Stylish rooms
+The Venetian room is breathtaking and would be such a beautiful location for a Sunday brunch
+Quoted us a very competitive rate for our block
-wireless internet is not complimentary in the rooms
-parking is about 45 dollars a day (to leave the car overnight)
-rooms are on the small-ish side.
-to reserve more than 15 rooms, we would become liable for paying 85% of the cost of any unused rooms. If you only do 15 and then try to ask more on later, you risk the hotel being full or the rate going up. its sort of a Catch 22.
Really beautiful hotel with a nice boutique feel!
+Stylish lobby with a mod looking lounge (which they said they could keep open for us if we wanted to have an after-party)
+nice fitness center. Lots of brand new equipment. Lots of windows.
+Stylish rooms
+The Venetian room is breathtaking and would be such a beautiful location for a Sunday brunch
+Quoted us a very competitive rate for our block
-wireless internet is not complimentary in the rooms
-parking is about 45 dollars a day (to leave the car overnight)
-rooms are on the small-ish side.
-to reserve more than 15 rooms, we would become liable for paying 85% of the cost of any unused rooms. If you only do 15 and then try to ask more on later, you risk the hotel being full or the rate going up. its sort of a Catch 22.
Really beautiful hotel with a nice boutique feel!
Monday, July 27, 2009
It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Now that I've shared with you where Neill and I will be exchanging vows and then partying away the night, I'm so relieved to finally be able to share our amazingly wonderful photographer with you. Meet Alix Klingenberg. Cue swooning.
Believe me, this was a hard thing to keep from you. But I really really really wanted to tell you about Volo first and so I had to keep my lips sealed. You know how hard that is for me. But now I can squeal to my hearts delight! Through this post I'm going to dazzle you with her delightful and beautiful photographs so you can see for yourself how great of a find she is!
Now, from the top!
I knew from the beginning that our wedding photography was one of the most important things to me. I was willing to compromise on my dress, but I was NOT willing to go with a photographer that I didn't feel 100% confident in. So with this in mind, Neill and I gave each other a homework assignment. Mission? Go our separate ways and do as much online research on photographers as we could stand and then present our findings to each other at a designated time. This worked for us for two big reasons. It gave us time to each develop our own opinion and it was very helpful to have a scheduled meeting time to talk wedding. Our final compiled list had 15 people on it!
After looking at so many pictures we decided that we wanted a photographer with a photojournalistic style. Someone who could capture what was going on and not just rely on posed moments was definitely important to us. But, we also knew that very few people look good in true candid shots. So, we wanted a photographer who could help people look their best while also letting their natural smiles and personalities shine through.
As much as we wanted pictures of the ceremony and our guests having fun at the ceremony, it was equally important to us to have a photographer who took beautiful couple shots. Again, we wanted to look like a naturally beautiful version of ourselves.
Another quality that was important to us was the post-processing style. After doing so much research, it became evident that the perfect shot was only half of stunning wedding photographer. The other half? Post processing. With each photographer having a somewhat different style, we wanted to make sure to pay attention to what styles we liked. Some photographers over-saturated all of their colors to really makes things look edgy and pop, other photographers made all of their photographs looks old and vintage, and others went for a more natural look. I tended to like a mix between the natural looking and more whimsical or vintage pictures and so that is something we kept an eye out for.
Of course, we could not ignore price. Some of the photographers on our list would have cost us almost 6,000 dollars for everything we wanted! Umm . . . no thank you! And while these photographers had slick websites, we didn't feel heir pictures were noticeably different than the less expensive options. So we set out looking for a photographer who offered a package of 10 hours of photography, a second shooter, all images on a DVD for us to use as we please, an engagement session, a big flush mounted photo-album. We also asked about what the rates would be to make a photo-album for our parents as well.
Even considering how important all of these factors are, perhaps the deciding personality was personality. Both Neill and I really liked Alix upon first meeting her. She came prepared to the meeting and was professional, but also at the same time completely down to earth and friendly. We just *clicked* and I felt like I could be myself around her. I definitely picked up some hippy crunchy vibes from her and you know how much I lover the hippies. She is fabulous and I might have a friend crush on her.
So there you have it friends! I can't wait for our engagement shoot!
Believe me, this was a hard thing to keep from you. But I really really really wanted to tell you about Volo first and so I had to keep my lips sealed. You know how hard that is for me. But now I can squeal to my hearts delight! Through this post I'm going to dazzle you with her delightful and beautiful photographs so you can see for yourself how great of a find she is!
Now, from the top!
I knew from the beginning that our wedding photography was one of the most important things to me. I was willing to compromise on my dress, but I was NOT willing to go with a photographer that I didn't feel 100% confident in. So with this in mind, Neill and I gave each other a homework assignment. Mission? Go our separate ways and do as much online research on photographers as we could stand and then present our findings to each other at a designated time. This worked for us for two big reasons. It gave us time to each develop our own opinion and it was very helpful to have a scheduled meeting time to talk wedding. Our final compiled list had 15 people on it!
After looking at so many pictures we decided that we wanted a photographer with a photojournalistic style. Someone who could capture what was going on and not just rely on posed moments was definitely important to us. But, we also knew that very few people look good in true candid shots. So, we wanted a photographer who could help people look their best while also letting their natural smiles and personalities shine through.
As much as we wanted pictures of the ceremony and our guests having fun at the ceremony, it was equally important to us to have a photographer who took beautiful couple shots. Again, we wanted to look like a naturally beautiful version of ourselves.
Another quality that was important to us was the post-processing style. After doing so much research, it became evident that the perfect shot was only half of stunning wedding photographer. The other half? Post processing. With each photographer having a somewhat different style, we wanted to make sure to pay attention to what styles we liked. Some photographers over-saturated all of their colors to really makes things look edgy and pop, other photographers made all of their photographs looks old and vintage, and others went for a more natural look. I tended to like a mix between the natural looking and more whimsical or vintage pictures and so that is something we kept an eye out for.
Of course, we could not ignore price. Some of the photographers on our list would have cost us almost 6,000 dollars for everything we wanted! Umm . . . no thank you! And while these photographers had slick websites, we didn't feel heir pictures were noticeably different than the less expensive options. So we set out looking for a photographer who offered a package of 10 hours of photography, a second shooter, all images on a DVD for us to use as we please, an engagement session, a big flush mounted photo-album. We also asked about what the rates would be to make a photo-album for our parents as well.
Even considering how important all of these factors are, perhaps the deciding personality was personality. Both Neill and I really liked Alix upon first meeting her. She came prepared to the meeting and was professional, but also at the same time completely down to earth and friendly. We just *clicked* and I felt like I could be myself around her. I definitely picked up some hippy crunchy vibes from her and you know how much I lover the hippies. She is fabulous and I might have a friend crush on her.
So there you have it friends! I can't wait for our engagement shoot!
