Amy and I were fortunate to find a fantastically talented photographer for the wedding — his name is Teddy Wolff. You may have thought that it might have been difficult for me, being a topic I am so passionate about. It was actually pretty straightforward and simple.
Teddy and I met back in October, 2010, when he was assigned to shoot a photo of me for an article in The Washington Post Express (you can find the original article here, if you don’t mind the shameless plug =]). In any case, we got along from the get go and he did an exceptional job of making me feel comfortable on the other side of the lens. I’ll forgive him for shooting Nikon. =]
In any case, here are a couple of our favorites from the day — photos by and copyright Teddy Wolff. Make sure to check out the rest and his other work on his site!
Amy had to fly out of town for work (again), so I decided it was a great time to do a little coding and update the wedding/engagement site.
Besides a little css and banner tweaking, the main update went into the “wedding” page. It’s about time we put up a little more detailed info, right? =] We (well, mostly Amy) have made pretty good, or at least reasonable, progress over the last few weeks with locking in our venue, sending off rental lists, and prioritizing next-steps. For me, that entails a bit of design (invitations, response cards, etc)…to which you should look for an update soon…and some writing. I figured it was a good time to memorialize the progress on the site. The when, the where, the why, our photographer and musical guest are now all online. Most of that you already knew, but at least it is in the correct place now!
Ladies… I have a question for you: What is one of the most fun things about being engaged?
Left: Before complete annihilation. Right: After
Wedding magazines!!! Do I need a few more exclamation points to prove my point?
Before I met Dave, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t look at wedding magazines or think about my wedding day. As most women know, we spend hours, if not days, fantasizing about our weddings. If we are very honest, we would often drift to some of our favorite wedding blogs, just to see the latest trends and the fun DIY aspects of the featured nuptials. In order to not spend my time in that way and attempt to keep my heart in check, I swore off all of those very glossy publications with pretty, shiny rings and fun dresses.
That was, until Nov. 12, 2011. Then, it was “game on.”
Dave had no idea what to do with me as I walked to the nearest airport magazine stand in San Francisco to pick up my first wedding magazine. And, I’ve bought a few since.
What I found most mind-boggling about the whole wedding magazine craze is how anxious it can make a bride if they have no idea what they want for the big day. It can get incredibly overwhelming, so I wanted to share my strategy with you all.
1. Read through once, from cover to cover – without tearing out pages!
I can hear you saying “Really? But that’s the fun part!” I know and agree with you, but if you just start tearing pages out, you’ll inevitably shred some great nugget of wisdom in the copy that you might want later. You’ll also need to look at both the front and the back of the pages to make sure you’re not missing anything you might want to incorporate into your look book.
2. Rip it to shreds!
Take a page and tear it apart. It really does feel good to rip pages out of a book, even though we’ve been trained that it isn’t acceptable. I only have two pieces of advice here:
First, keep your clippings in one semi-neat pile. It makes step three much easier. You’ll see from the pictures that I sometimes broke that rule.
Second, if you’re in the beginning stages of planning, skip the bridal gown photos and advice in the magazine altogether…for now. It is incredibly tempting to look, but until you know where you want to have your wedding and what theme or colors you want, save the wedding dress pages for later.
3. Organize, organize, organize
In some circles, I’m known for being incredibly type A about events. Everything is labeled, all of my ideas are in their designated bins. I decided to use a portfolio folder and make my own wedding planner instead of buying one that was pre-arranged. It was a good thing too, because now I can simply put my magazine clippings in their own slots.
So, have fun tearing up those magazines, but do so in a way that doesn’t make you go crazy trying to find that perfect picture of what you want your table settings to be!
They say that every girl remembers the day she became engaged, but doesn’t remember any of the details. As I’m sitting here trying to put together this blog, I think that is entirely true. Thankfully, Dave took video of the whole thing, but more on that later. You can read more about his account of the proposal here, but below is my take on the moment he asked me to be his wife.
I had always wanted to go to Napa, Calif., for my 30th birthday. This started way before I met Dave, but since our birthdays are a whole week apart, we decided to take advantage of the milestone. We flew out to San Francisco with a few vineyard appointments and a dinner reservation for my birthday. Beyond that, I had no idea what to expect other than we’d have a relaxing weekend and drink lots of wine.
I should’ve suspected something when Dave said that he would meet me at the airport instead of suggesting that we arrive at Washington Reagan Airport together – I later found out that he was concerned that TSA would look through his camera bag and spoil the surprise by pulling out the ring box. However, it wasn’t too out of the ordinary and we arrived in a rainy Napa Valley that evening.
We planned to do our most favorite winery, Cakebread, first and pulled into their parking lot just in time for our appointment. The wines were exquisite and after our tasting, we walked around in the vineyard in a spectacularly sunny morning. Dave then decided that he wanted to do a lot of “couples” shots, which is also slightly unusual because we never have pictures of us together. He also seemed a bit fidgety, but I didn’t notice too much at the time. I started whining how I was getting mud all over my shoes, so we went to the next vineyards.
That day, we traveled to four wineries. We visited Rubicon Estates after Cakebread, and Dave tried to take pictures and sneak up to see Francis Ford Coppola’s house behind the winery showroom. The third winery was Robert Mondavi, a popular spot among the tourists and incredibly packed on this beautiful day. At both of the vineyards, they were a bit more particular on their policies and we were unable to roam throughout the vines or estate property. So, we went to Domaine Chandon as the final stop for the day.
We needed to take a break and get something to eat, but the restaurant was booked solid and we decided to have a cheese plate and a flight of their sparkling wines. After about an hour, watching the sun starting to set, Dave spied a group of visitors who seemed to be walking toward the vines. Seizing the opportunity, he suggested that we completely ignore the “no picnicking, no trespassing” sign and follow their lead. Was I supposed to say “no?” Nope… I followed.
It was beautiful and we were being a bit adventurous, so we walked over some rocky terrain and reached the vineyard. At this point, I was in awe of the sun setting and all of the colors in the valley – completely oblivious that Dave was now setting up his camera and putting down his camera bag. He took a few minutes and we told each other how much we loved the other as well as how glad we were that we took this trip. And then he said “ I have something for you.” I still thought it may have been a birthday present (which would have gotten him in trouble), but then it clicked and my head cocked to the side with that look of “oh my gosh… it really is going to happen!” He knelt down and grabbed the box out of his bag and handed me the entire box… I was shaking so much that I couldn’t even unwrap the bow and open the box. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
And as they say, the rest is history… well, that and a lot of really loud squealing from me because I was so excited! I bet they probably heard me from the restaurant at the vineyard!
I don’t have many suits, two in fact. And that has very recently increased from one.
We happened upon it while doing a bit of shopping for Amy out in VA. I asked her if I could try on a Hugo Boss suit and she agreed. The first one we saw was perfect. Just the color I was after (grey), and when I tried it on it needed absolutely no tailoring. It’s called the sweet3/sharp5 from the Boss Black line. Oh, and Amy approved. Simple.
It took a reasonable back and forth, but as of 2/13 we locked in our reception [and possibly ceremony] venue.
Back in 2010 Amy and I visited Costa Rica. We first stopped in Manuel Antonio, then took a van service to the cloud forests of Monteverde. After six days in these two amazing locations we took bus-boat-bus trip to Arenal (a location famous for its volcano). It was an exceptionally quick, but wonderful week of vacation.
Fast forward 1.5 years, and we decided that there was no better way for us to do a wedding than to share such a wonderful location (and vacation) with family. On Monday we reserved a villa in Manuel Antonio called Casa Paraiso. It is a beautiful 8500 sq ft villa overlooking the ocean. There will be a lot more to show and tell as time goes on, but we are very excited that things are in motion.
Here’s a teaser video of our trip in 2010. It shows what an amazing area it is. Entirely cut and assembled by Amy!
NOTE: if you have any trouble with the embedded version, try here instead.
Bienvenidos a la blog de la boda de Dave y Amy (Welcome to the blog about Dave and Amy’s wedding)! Dave and I wanted to use it as a way to keep everyone up-to-date with the latest plans and give you some insight into the prep process for a destination wedding. Throughout this season in our lives, we’ll update the blog with posts about the location, ceremony details and the people involved who are making this celebration extra special. We also know that not everyone will be able to be there in person, and we want to keep y’all in the loop.
As engaged couples know too well, the first questions that come from people after they congratulate you is “Ok, so when and where is the wedding?” When we tell people that we’re going to Costa Rica, their eyes get really big and generally respond that, if they were to do their wedding over again, they would do a destination wedding. We’re really excited to do something a bit non-traditional…simply because that is a part of who we are!
Dave can tell you all about our love for Costa Rica in another post. All I will say is that once you experience true relaxation, you never want to leave. I cried when we left Manuel Antonio, the beach and the monkey that we named Manuel (pictured above).
So, again, why Costa Rica for a wedding? There are a few reasons. First, no matter where we have the ceremony, our families would have to travel from across the nation to be there. With Dave’s family primarily on the West Coast and my family spread all over, there is no good central location that was “us.” Sure, it could have been in Washington, DC, but one simple fact deterred us from having our wedding in our city: cost. In Costa Rica, we are able to give our families a valuable gift that we treasure: international travel. And, we’re able to do it reasonably. The third reason is that it can be an event that is truly about us and celebrating the One who brought us together.
As true to our nature, we’re keeping the event small and intimate. While we wish that we could invite everyone, we are excited to have our immediate family and lifelong friends there. Because of the small venue, we’re hoping to set up a webcam and broadcast the ceremony online through this website.
So, as we plan a wedding in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica for August 4, 2012, we are grateful for the excitement, anticipation, well wishes and overall merriment that is taking place. Take a look around the site and keep checking in on the blog!
