Engagement Photo Preview

Yesterday's shoot went really well. Jay and I had a ton of fun with Jimmy. We started off in the auditorium at our high school. Jimmy tried to get some dramatic shots of the two of us on stage. We sang a little and posed a lot.

After we shot in the high school, we went to Boardman Park and goofed around for a while.

About halfway through the shoot, I started to feel really self-conscious. I guess it's that I like being in the spotlight, but only for short periods of time. Jay tried really hard to keep me relaxed--I think it worked for the most part.

I can't wait to see the rest of them!

DIY Apparel

I'm continuing to finish some-scale DIY wedding projects.

I just finished a honeymoon nightie:

I bought the silk-screened slip, then adjusted the fit with black and white polka dotted ribbons.

I also bought my wedding shoes! I plan to make clips with peacock feathers and pearls to cover up the striped ribbon on the toes.

Photography Crush

A few weeks back, Mom, Jay, and I met at Panera with Kristy and Jimmy Taafe of Limelight Images. We hung out for about an hour and a half, while they showed us their portfolio and asked about our plans.

We'd had every intention of shopping around for photographers, but Kristy and Jimmy seemed like a perfect fit (personality and price-wise)! So, as soon as we got home, Mom emailed Kristy to say, "YES! YES! Please shoot my daughter's wedding!" Okay, she may have phrased it a little differently.

What I like best about Kristy and Jimmy is that, while their photos are fabulous, their personalities fit us perfectly. I love that after every event--consultation, engagement session, or wedding-- one of them hops on Facebook to write something nice about the couple:

"It was great to meet up with Katie and her mom Jenny and her fiance Jay Yesterday. You take a theater major and an English teacher, throw in Deep purple and shades of green, a little star wars and some Iris, and what do you have? A kick butt wedding next July. Looking forward to it guys!!!! Thanks!"

Our engagement session is Sunday, so check their Facebook page for previews early next week.

And for a good, not completely off-topic laugh: Off Beat Bride: An open letter to wedding photographers regarding their websites.

"God's Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage"

Yeah, the retreat went about as well as I had anticipated.

I got a lot out of some of the sessions. It was interesting to talk about marriage as a metaphor for Christianity. Also, there was one session devoted solely to what I wanted to know: how do I make sure that my marriage "counts" in the Catholic church?

The afternoon consisted of three talks all pushing the abstinence/natural family planning perspective. Lucky me, I had heard all of this during my confirmation classes, so I didn't feel too bad about zoning out.

What upset me was that my worst fear about the retreat came true: the leaders made Jay feel judged. Not intentionally, but he still felt uncomfortable for most of the retreat.

We tried to stay positive and open-minded, and we did get some great things out of the day. Still, every time we had a break, I found myself doing Catholic-Methodist damage control.

Our religious differences never seem so complicated when it's just the two of us and God...

"Everyone has a vocation to love. What's yours?"

Tomorrow, Jay and I are going to our Church marriage retreat. To prepare, the retreat coordinators (one of whom was my 7th grade CCD teacher) sent us a DVD produced by the Knights of Columbus called Everyone Has a Vocation to Love. What's Yours?

Yesterday, we settled into the family room to watch the marriage section of the DVD. And while I didn't have high hopes for the movie (I mean, just check out the title screen!), I was surprised by just how uninformative it was.

Maybe it's just that Jay and I were raised in fairly traditional Christian families, but I thought there would be more to it than a bunch of couples saying how great their marriages were because they prayed together, were open to children (read: no birth control), and saved sex for marriage. That was it. No history of marriage in the Church. No expectations of engaged couples. Not even an explanation of the very detailed requirements for a Catholic wedding.

The only thing Jay learned was the term "beatify."

I'm glad that I know one of the retreat coordinators so well. I just hope she's prepared for some intense discussion from me. If the Church is going to make me jump through hoops to get married, they had better make it informative and thought-provoking.

My questions are, "How do we develop a spiritual relationship as a couple?" "Why are openness to children and the use of birth control considered mutually exclusive?" "How does a 'mixed marriage' couple integrate and honor their different traditions?" "How does the Church support couples and families?" "Why is Church culture so obsessed with having children when the Catechism itself says that childless couples have spiritually fulfilling and valuable relationships?"

Bridesmaid Dresses!

Over the weekend, I started looking for bridesmaid dresses. Unfortunately, Katie was moving to Michigan and Nicky was teaching in France, but I had my trusty sister, sister-in-law, and Sara by my side.

Admittedly, I was a little nervous because this was the first time Sara would meet Heidi and the rest of Jay's family. Fortunately, they caught on pretty quickly to the fact that she is, in fact, made of awesome.

The four of us hit the three stores I'd looked at for wedding gowns. I'm not sure how torturous the trying-on was, but I think the fact that I'm not a "okay, now put the other one back on" type of person might have improved things.

We found three dresses that we all really liked.

We also found a bunch that were just plain pretty.

And some...