Flowers: My near and dear friend Jennifer from Lush Floral. We were worried they wouldnt make it til Monday (the bouquet was made on Thursday night!) But Jenn’s flowers are so lush they still looked great 5 days later!

Makeup: Jenny Bowker. This girl works wonders! And all in less than an hour! If I could clone her and bring her to Cali for my brides I would.

The cameras below were my grandpas. Yep. It runs in the family. He used to be a photographer back in WWII and then did nature photography after that. Oh, and grandma worked for Kodak. Its in the blood I tell you!

During the ceremony our officiant Annemarie Juhlian had us put letters in a keepsake box (an old Kodak slide carousel) I love that she incorporated this into the wedding. The letters are one from me to Matt, one from Matt to me and one from both of us to the baby on the way. We’re going to read the letters on our anniversary next year… which in turn will also be our vow renewal. Yep, were having a BIG California wedding next year on our anniversary. Less than a year to plan it… we better get started huh?

To see more photos visit Laura’s Blog or check out even more on Facebook.

Since Matt’s whole family is from the East Coast and couldn’t make it out we live streamed the ceremony for them. There were a few hiccups and stressful moments getting it set up and working properly but it was so worth it in the end having them “there”

Matt SO wanted to do this pose. He knows how much I love Grace Ormonde Magazine and how they always have the guys hold bouquets. Thanks babe, for making the bouquet look manly.

Everyone that sees the wedding photos comments on this ring shot. LIKE EVERYONE!

First off: Cupcakes! A simple yelp.com search yielded crazy good reviews about a place called Trophy Cupcakes. When I looked at their menu  I was in heaven and wanted to go to Seattle immediately  to taste test every single one on the menu. When it comes to cupcakes Im not a simple girl. I like the “foodie style decadent” cupcakes. Not plain Vanilla with chocolate frosting. Dont get me wrong, if you put any cupcake in front of me it will be gone in 3.2 seconds! But doesn’t a snickerdoodle cupcake sound so much more enticing than a vanilla cupcake? The snickerdoodle is a “cinnamon and sugar swirled butter cake with cinnamon butter cream.”  YUM!

And not to mention Martha Stewart herself gives this place a thumbs up! Sold! Two dozen cupcakes please! We decided to go for an assortment of everything that was on the menu. I like cupcakes so much that when I buy a dozen I cut them in quarters to taste test. That way everyone there can try a little bit of each. It pains me to think that I didnt get to taste a cupcake flavor. Crazy addiction huh?

We will be serving these right after the ceremony with champagne… because its always cool to have dessert before dinner right?

For dinner locations we googled “seattles best restaurants” and landed on The Purple Cafe. No joking you it was the first place we looked at. The menu and their “private dining” area screamed Matt and Tiffany. Its kind of like an casual cafe/wine bar that serves small dishes (for taste testers like ourselves) and normal dinner entrees. Add in that this cool place has a “private” area between two wine walls that holds 12 (how many people will be at our wedding) people and we were sold. It was almost too easy! But then again, were such laid back people which I think makes decision making super easy…

Here’s where we will be having dinner. Has that Napa feel but in the city huh?

Ok, the wedding is tomorrow…. You’ll just have to wait and see how this all pans out! Wish us luck and Ill be back in the office replying to emails again on the 28th of June!

Well I’m not going to lie, that was something I started researching a few months ago, so it doesn’t really fit into my “how to plan a wedding in 30 days or less theme” I started doing research on all of the regular sites: the knot, weddingwire, projectwedding and just started bookmarking photographers whose work I knew we would both like.

Matt and I come from the same mindset that we wanted something that was timeless and classy, a mix of both photo journalistic and traditional portraiture (with a flair of course). We wanted someone whose work wouldnt look ” so 2010 ” in 20 years from now. Timeless.

So I bookmarked. And researched. Googled. And bookmarked.

And then I was on the phone with one of my friends Jeff De La Cruz last month and he said “oh, you should hire Laura Marchbanks, we went to school together with her at Brooks, do you remember her?” I said that name sounded so familiar. Did I bookmark her?

Then, the next day I was on the phone with one of my best friends Erica Hartman, also a photographer. She explains to me that she’s photographing another photographers family. Wee bit of pressure eh? I ask who it was… you guessed it. Laura!

All signs led to Laura Marchbanks! I finally contacted her. On May 28th. Yes, we waited until 3 weeks before the wedding to book our photographer, but to our defense A LOT has been going on and our wedding was on a Monday. She was available! We chatted on the phone and it felt like talking to an old friend ( not to mention she sounds exactly like my friend thats taking my underwater maternity portraits this Saturday! More on that in a few weeks)

It just felt right, and like I said, all signs led to Laura! Here’s a sampling of her work on her main site, and blog. One of the things I love about her website is her About Me page. You must scroll through and read them all, and make sure to watch the videos. Oh, her contract also states that she will eat cake at the wedding. When I read the “cake clause” I knew we were the right match!

Next post up… food!

Shoes were another ballgame all in itself. I will be the first to admit… I am awful at walking in heels, so I scoured online for what seemed like forever to find the perfect shoes. All I knew was they had to say me and have straps around the ankles so that I could walk somewhat like a normal human being! After asking fans of Adeline & Grace Photography on Facebook I ended up on Endless.com and found these shoes by Chinese Laundry. Totally me and totally fit the dress!

And lastly, I’m a total sucker for birdcage veils! They are so much fun and have the 50s flair that fits the dress so well. So I ordered the Marilyn Veil (aptly named) from Something Bold and a feather hair fascinator from Powder Blue Bijoux on Etsy. I wanted to buy everything in this Etsy store, just for the record.

What’s Matt wearing? He will be pulling from his expansive suit collection from his closet. No kidding you, he has more dress shirts hanging in the closet than he does everyday regular clothes!!!! Its just a part of his East Coast DC vibe. Like I am a sucker for things like birdcage veils and cupcakes, he can’t resist a nice tie. I remember when we first started dating and my friends would come over to his apartment I would bring them straight to his closet and point out how he has nicer shoes than I do! (I have several friends that can vouch for this. ) He’s got style and cleans up nice.

Tomorrow’s blog post… who does a wedding photographer hire to photograph their wedding??? You’ll have to come back to find out!

And the million dollar question will be answered too. Who does a wedding photographer hire to photograph her wedding?

Stay tuned.

Next time I write I’ll be Mrs Walker!

So where oh where are we getting married?

Grandma’s house! Ever since I was a little girl I have LOVED my grandparents house. When my moms side of the family moved out from Wisconsin my grandpa designed the house himself. It sits on top of a hill overlooking Puget Sound in Seattle. The backyard is like an evergreen forest. It was Matt’s idea to get married in Seattle for my grandparents since they are up there in age and dont really travel too much anymore. When he brought this up I started sobbing saying “thats the best idea ever! I love it!” Serious brownie points for real.

We have learned in the few short weeks of planning our wedding that you should go with your gut and when something feels right just do it. There really wasnt any time for second guessing either! We shopped for wedding rings in the span of two days, found our “reception location” online through recommendations and website reviews. The good ole internet is such an invaluable tool to planning a wedding from afar. In this process I also learned myself about how brides look at sites and look for vendors, what worked for me and what didnt work. Adeline & Grace might be seeing a few changes based off of this invaluable “market research”

Check back tomorrow for some pre-canned blog posts about the rest of the wedding planning process. My dress, THE PHOTOGRAPHER, food, etc.

I’m so excited for you Jennifer. Only a few weeks left and the baby is here. I get dibs on the first baby photos.

Special thanks to La Tavola Linen and Classic Party Rentals:

And then a few days later we went out to shoot some belly shots. I was bound and determined to find cherry blossoms that day. We drove around for 30 minutes and then as we heading back to the freeway there were some near the on ramp. SCORE!

So where am I going? Why could I possibly want to spend two weeks in frigid cold temps? Its the people! And Fausnaught day!

Yes, that does sound like my last name. Fausnaught was the original spelling of Fosnight before we came over on the boat and they changed it on Ellis Island. So when the Fausnaught’s settled in Pennsylvania and lent came around they decided to make donuts out of all of the butter eggs and fat they would otherwise waste during lent. Leave it my ancestors to make donuts!

And funny enough my late best friends family is from PA where Fausnaughts originate. So thats my first stop.

Then its off to Erica’s neck of the woods! Its been way too long since I’ve seen that girl and I think I’ve gone through Mancini with drawls. (if you know their family you know what I’m talking about!)

So wish me luck. California girl treks into East Coast Blizzard. Stay tuned.

Hope ya’ll are having a great day with your families!

I’m happy to announce that 15+  toys were donated from guests to Toys for Tots that night. Ren Robinson, the incredibly awesome person that painted the studios 20 foot walls won the iPod Shuffle! The turnout was awesome and I cant thank everyone enough for all of their love and support! This has been one heck of a crazy year and I thank everyone who was there for me through the thick of it. I say this every year but it bears worth repeating. I have the best clients ever!! EVER. You make my job not a job and you sometimes laugh at my corny jokes. Sometimes.

Click on the photo below to be taken to the rest of the photo booth photos!