Theresa Scarbrough Rocks!

Who is Theresa Scarbrough, you ask? Why, our wedding photographer, of course!

While many of you know I've got nothing but mad love for Jeremy Lawson, and I was hoping he would be our photographer, it just wasn't meant to be. For one thing, he was already booked for the 27th of March, and for another, even though I think we would have splurged and booked him, we really couldn't afford him. Our budget is 10K for EVERYTHING in a BIG CITY. Yikes! His cheapest collection was $3600. And while I truly believe he is worth every penny, I know someone somewhere was just trying to let me down easy when I found out he was booked. Because otherwise I know I would have proceeded with booking him, and felt guilty about it the whole time, and probably for years to come.

I was pretty bummed when I found out he was booked. I almost wanted to postpone the wedding and pick a date when he was available (maybe even a month or two after the 27th so that we could save up some more money to hire him), but with my work the way it is, I really can't just take off any old time, especially since this is my first year. Gnome sayne? (Read that out loud for it to make sense). Anyway, I searched and searched and searched, and finally found our saving grace. Not only is her photography amazing, but her style is incredibly similar to Mr. Lawson's! And the decision was cemented for me when I was perusing her blog and I got to the first post, and guess who I saw a picture of? Her and her friend JEREMY LAWSON.

I'm a big believer in signs, and things feeling right. This feels right, and that was my sign from whomever that I had found our photographer. Seriously, the more I look at her photography, the more excited I get to see our wedding photos. Plus A.P. and I have decided that she's a total steal! We predict that, like Lovely, Theresa Scarbrough will cost more money in a few years. They'll both realize that they're undercharging for their awesomeness! I secretly hope that they don't ever change though. Finding these two gems has made us feel more confident about our wedding, because we know we're getting great deals for amazing services. I would never want to rob other brides who are trying to DIY stuff, take it easy, and have a beautiful wedding but not blow a down payment on a house on a wedding (though some might argue 10K is that much, but in a huge city, it's a super, super low budget for a city wedding - read: actually in the city, and not the far, far suburbs). I hope that everyone feels as lucky as we do to have found their vendors, photographers, etc. It's always nice to know that you're working with good people, especially on a day when you just want to sit back and have fun.

Friday, er, Saturday Dance!

photo by me!

So...here it is...the super belated Dance Friday post! There's so much to post!! This is why you don't take a blogcation!

First up is another Jeremy Lawson wedding. If you haven't yet figured out my intense love for Jeremy's photographs, take a hint! This is not the first Dance Friday he's been featured in! I know there are a lot of famous wedding photographers out there who get a lot of love, but I always come back to Jeremy. I like how he captures emotion, and it never seems like he's trying so damn hard to be arty. Anyway, the latest of his creations that I have fallen for is Ashley and Brian's wedding. They were married in Iowa, a state with which I have a special love affair, and even had part of their wedding shoot at the Field of Dreams! So cool! I'm so jealous! Haven't been there in ages! Check out some of the photos below, and for the rest, go to Jeremy's blog (because we all know my polaroids don't do his beautiful photos justice)!

photos via Jeremy Lawson Photography

The only thing missing from Ashley and Brian's wedding is perhaps the use of a some good vintage bicycles. They should have asked Kortney and Jason to borrow their bikes.

photo via Green Wedding Shoes

Okay, let's talk dresses for a moment. Do you guys read Chuckle's Blog? She was one of my first readers, and though her blog wasn't ever intended to be a wedding blog, it became that for a little while as she put the finishing details into planning her own wedding. Lately she's been posting pictures of the event, and while the whole affair looked very personalized and lovely, it was her beautiful vintage dress that caught my attention. Now for the part that'll make you hate her like hell...she only paid $75 for it!!! I know, I know. I'm jealous, too. Check it out:

photos via Chuckle's Blog

That's my dream...to find a cheap little vintage number that flatters my body and makes the other girls sigh both based on its wow factor and the fact that I got it at such a bargain. Don't get me wrong...I'll take expensive and sigh-worthy, too. I still don't know about veils though. I love birdcage veils and think they're so cute and chic if done right, but this girl's hairpiece made me rethink my birdcage veil aspirations. Perhaps I'll trade in a birdcage veil for a bird in nest hairpiece? If so, I'll have only Vintage Glam to thank!

Now for the reception. My big thing in wedding planning more than anything else are the tiny details that really personalize the wedding. These are my recent favorites. First up are the swizzle sticks from A Field Journal. How cute would your initials be on these pretty little sticks? You could also adapt this pattern into cute name cards!

photo via A Field Journal

My other favorite is from Parcel Post who is subbing in for Brooklyn Bride. She posted on artsy indie finds and included this simple string of yarn with hearts paperclipped to it. How cute! It's so simple and inexpensive and it's so cute. You could even glam it up a bit with pretty craft paper and pretty gold paperclips. A great idea for escort cards, too! Such a simple thing with so many possibilities.

photo via Brooklyn Bride

Finally, this video which I found over at A Cup of Jo is the most adorable thing ever. Check it out, and most of all, enjoy the rest of the weekend! Make sure to come back next week, I've got great invites from Felix and Liz, and some other cute stuff saved up!

Dance All Night

photo by me!

As promised, here's a Dance Friday post for you! This includes stuff from last week, too, since the FILs were here visiting. But some stuff is just too good to not post even though it's a little, tiny bit old. Like Liz's chocolate mustaches and noses:

photo via avoision

Liz is Felix at avoision's fiancee and though I've posted about her awesomeness before, she really has gone above and beyond this time. Check out the latest favors she made! Chocolate mustaches and noses for her candy bar! How cool are those? Plus how freaking adorable is that picture of the two of them with their little chocolate face accessories? Liz=kitchen genius!

Speaking of genius, I'm loving Miss Bunny at Weddingbee's homemade place card holders. She's got a great attitude about not spending money and she fashioned these out of old cookie cutters and wire. And though that might sound a little too MacGuyver-ish to you, they totally rock. Check them out here.

Little details like the place card holders are my favorite thing about wedding planning. I know when people show up to my wedding eventually most of them probably won't notice, but I know there's always those two or three people who appreciate the little quirky details, like my friend Mimi's post about this totally unique cake topper. Although A.P. isn't the tall one, I am. I'm thinking we'll need a bride ostrich. Haha! Mimi was really on a roll, too, because she also posted these pictures of her arrangements from her own wedding. I'm loving all the different white vases. Fantastic! But I expect nothing less from someone who came up with such an awesome guest book.

I'm loving all the Save the Dates that Brooklyn Bride has been posting lately. But I adore these and those. These because I love photobooths, and those because I heart The Little Prince! So much so, I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate him into our invites! No such luck yet, though. And though Brooklyn Bride also featured these, I saw them first at Once Wed.

So, as many of you know, I'm a city girl. A big city girl, born and raised. And with the city life comes the train. If you're from Chicago, it's the "L". Anyway, as many of you also know, I heart me some Jeremy Lawson Photography. And if you live a hop, skip and a jump from Logan Square, then these pictures will make you swoon. I've told A.P. a million times that I want to take train photos on our big day. He doesn't get it at all, but I'm hoping these photos will convince him. Look at that train rushing past behind them as they kiss! I love it! (Btw, go check out the original...my polaroid doesn't do it justice!)

photo via Jeremy Lawson Photography

Speaking of wedding photography, you heard it here first: Fuck balloons, shopping carts are the new trend. Seriously.

Good God this is a long post! That's why you don't ever stop blogging! But it's worth it, right? Especially if you didn't already catch these weddings: Bowen & Brett at Green Wedding Shoes, Emily & Chris at Snippet & Ink, and Wren Handmade's wedding as featured at Once Wed. Part of what drew me to all three of these weddings were the clothes. Chris gives good suit, and I'm in love with Laura from Wren Handmade's dress!

photo via Once Wed

photo via Snippet & Ink

Finally, since A.P. and I will celebrate our three year anniversary in a month, this post with all it's sparkler fun reminded me of our first date, when we made a cake and lit sparklers on my back porch. It was fantastic, and I, like Something's Hiding in Here, am looking forward to the next set of adventures!

photo via Something's Hiding in Here

Have a greet weekend, everyone!

Nothing Left for Me to Do But DANCE!

photo by me!

That's right...it's the return of Dance Fridays. Not that I'd really gone that long without them. This one is short and sweet. First of all...look at this photo:

photo via Awkward Family Photos

Isn't it awesomely hilarious?? If you follow my twitter at all (and you should, in fact, just click here and make yourself feel better), you would know that at around 2:30 in the morning, I couldn't get enough of Awkward Family Photos. Entertainment Weekly featured the site in this week's issue, and then one of my favorite blogs, Avoision, had a post about it yesterday. Anyway, it's freaking hilarious. I could post so many more that had me dying laughing, but then this post might as well be a part of Awkward Family Photo's blog. So just go there...and die laughing. It'll make you rethink your shot list for your wedding!

Then for a more grounded photography experience, check out these two beautiful weddings. I love Jeremy Lawson's beautifully shot wedding (at University of Chicago! I love it!), and Green Apple's lovely hued wedding (via The Wedding Chicks).

Finally, in order to prove to A.P. that wedding planning is intensive and requires lots of time and discussion (that can't be done at the last minute), I made a list of all the things we will have to deal with. OH. MY. GOD. It's five pages long, SINGLE SPACED. I'm in over my head...I know I am. After all, even though our wedding will be our own, wouldn't it be nice if it were as dreamy and as beautiful down to the details as this fake wedding as featured by C. is for Charmed (there's that pesky blog crush again!). Who doesn't want a tree filled with memories??

photo by Tec Petaja via C. is for Charmed

Happy weekend, bloggers! Dance it up!