first look + my wedding!: cleveland ohio wedding photographer

Disclaimer: this post really does include my thoughts and feelings on what a "first look" is and the pros and cons that come along with that decision...but first, I have been wanting to share a few of our wedding day details...If you really could care less about our wedding planning, scroll down to the end for the juicy info on first looks :)

I am 100% in wedding planning mode and can fully understand what it is that all of my couples (especially the brides!) go through leading up to the wedding day. Mine and Rick's wedding day is almost 4 months (to the day!) away and there is so much to be done. So far, we have the following booked:

Venue

Vermilion Valley Vineyards

I am in l-o-v-e with our venue. It is the thing that my wedding dreams are made of. It is in the country. The middle of nowhere type of country where you hear nothing but birds, bugs and wind and at night you can see every star in the sky. When you pull in there is a long gravel drive where a rustic barn type winery greets you. It is so deceiving because the outside is so very rustic and indoors you feel like you stepped into a wine bar downtown. It's perfect. The only downfall is it's size which we have made creative solutions for. It is pretty small so we are going to use that to our advantage and our wedding day will go as follows: wedding ceremony and full dinner for 50 of our closest family and friends followed by a later "celebration reception" for another 50 of our friends. At the celebration reception we'll serve heavy appetizers and wine and have music and lawn games to entertain. Our day will be so different from the typical and that is exactly what we are after. For us, it will be perfect.

Photographer

Jenny Haas Photography

By a chance of fate, I met Jenny & Will from Jenny Haas Photography this past August and am so thankful that our paths crossed and that they will be capturing our wedding day for us. Jenny is insanely talented and her eye for capturing the moment is like none other. By the time that Rick and I are married, we will have been together for seven year. Yes, seven years. We have been waiting for this day for a very long time and I wanted nothing more than the best there to capture it for us and we got it! Also, in exciting photographer news, we will be having our engagement photos taken on February 13th so be on the look out for those :) I'm so used to being behind the camera that I'm a little nervous, but Jenny & Will will rock it and I can't wait to have wonderful photos of me and my love.

Videographer

Mystic Image Video

Another awesome meeting was a wedding that I photographed this past August where I met Paul from Mystic Image. There are very few vendors that I refer out to my clients because I only give referrals if I would trust and be thrilled to have them work at my own wedding. Paul is one of them. Any of my brides that are looking for a wedding videographer, Mystic Image is the real deal. We decided to hire them to capture our day through video as I could not think of any company more qualified for the position. I will totally be the cheeseball who watches my wedding video at any opportunity possible. I will always cherish the photos but there will be nothing like listening to us exchange vows and hearing the joy and laughter of our friends and family during our wedding day. We are so thrilled to have them capturing our day for us.

Silhouette Artist

Holman Arts

Because we are not having the typical "DJ dance your pants off" wedding reception we tried coming up with a few creative options for entertainment and fun throughout the evening. One idea that I found through searching the dozen or so wedding blogs I follow was hiring a silhouette artist! Not only did Rick and I have an absolute blast at our meeting with Jacalyn, we decided that we will have her do silhouettes of each guest in lieu of a guestbook. She makes two copies for each person and mats them on 5x7 paper with a cute victorian frame printed on the mat. We will have everyone sign/write a note on their framed silhouette and keep it for an album or possibly frame them in different black frames for our home. At our meeting she did silhouettes of both Rick and I and they were dead on! So detailed from our eye lashes to Rick's glasses and the layers in my haircut. So excited to have hired this vendor.

Cupcakes

Grandma Freda's - Westside Market, Ohio City

Not much else to say except hands down the best cupcakes in the city of Cleveland. Rick is not a cake person and he can't get enough. They are the bomb and you should want to come to my wedding just for the cupcakes. F'real.

Invitations

Renee Bradbeer Designs

Oh Renee, I could go on and on about you for days. I first contacted Renee at the beginning of 2010 to see if she could help me out with my branding and she did that and more. She created all the bits and pieces of my logo and it is so me and what I wanted for my business. When I asked her about creating my wedding invitations I knew she would deliver nothing short of amazing and she certainly pulled out all the stops. I can't share my invites yetbut within a week of mailing them out, I will be bragging all about them on my blog and facebook. They are really that gorgeous. She is another vendor I would happily recommend to any and all of my clients.

Whew. So yes, we still have a lot to do. We have to book our caterer which I think will just entail a tasting and if that goes well we're pretty sure of who we will book and we still need a florist...oh, and someone to marry us. But all of that is being worked on and should be firmed up in the coming week or two (minus the months of all the DIY'ing we have to do - which is the fun party). Yay!

And now what you all really came here for - The First Look:

Ok, so after all of that, this is how I feel about deciding on whether or not a first look is right for you. On my client wedding day itineraries, it asks whether you are planning to do a "first look". To date, I have not had one client that knew anything called a first look existed or why/how they would decide if it was right for them as a couple. Unless you follow wedding blogs, the concept of a first look may be completely new to you. A first look is when you and your hubby to be see each other prior to the ceremony fully dressed and done up. I know, it sounds crazy and completely non-traditional. But times are a'changin' and Rick and I have decided that we will be doing a "first look" and these are our reasons for it:

 My thoughts tends to move at 100MPH and I can't imagine how my thoughts would be racing before I walked down the aisle to see Rick for the first time. I'd be thinking about how I need to stop thinking so I can remember every moment and every word we say, I'd be wondering what he looked like and if he was nervous, excited and how his morning was, I'd be worried about how I looked and making sure everything was perfect...My mind would just be racing.

That is not how I want to feel before I walk down the aisle.

When we first see one another I want to be able to throw my arms around him, give him a kiss and tell each other how awesome we look. I want to feel that excitement and be able to share all of my crazy thoughts that will want to spout out of my mouth. If the first time I saw him was when I walked down the aisle, I would not be able to do that and not being able to how I would normally is not what I want and is not who we are. That's the most important thing. Seeing each other all dolled up for one another on the biggest day of our lives thus far and just standing there holding hands waiting for the end of the ceremony to plop a big kiss one each other is not us at all... And our wedding day, of all days, is a day for us to be 100% who we are.

Am I afraid that walking down the aisle will not be as exciting or romantic? Absolutely not! How could seeing each other beforehand take away the fact that I am walking towards my fiance who will shortly thereafter be my husband for the rest of time? That is just silly.

Now that is the romantic and emotionally tied part of doing a first look. The practical and huge benefits of doing a first look are ... drum rollllllll please! ... you can enjoy your day without huge gaps inbetween events! By doing a first look we will be able to get all of our bridal party photos out of the way and a few of Rick and I. This will only leave some family shots and some more of Rick and I alone inbetween the ceremony and reception. After attending and photographing so many weddings I know how it can feel like a hassle when you have to split away froms your family and friends for hours to take care of all of the photos you have to get. I don't want this either. I want to enjoy my family and friends for the entire time they are with us, sharing our day with us.

I hope that this was at all helpful to anyone out there. I am sure that a lot of it could be considered rambling, but those are my thoughts on the subject and I can't wait for my first look with Rick. To sneak up behind him in a gorgeous setting on our wedding day and share in the excitement with him on what will be the best day I could have ever dreamt of - bring it on!

If any of my clients have any questions on how this works into the schedule for your own wedding day, please please feel free to e-mail me or comment on this post.

Happy Wednesday!
Kayla

A photo to tide you over until the next post - how cute is this sleepy puppy?? :)