Welcome...

With having a destination wedding that is pretty costly to get to, Mr. Mek and I wanted to have more than just the wedding for the guests to look forward to. Unfortunately we are on a tight budget and can't afford a great adventurous event for all the guests. Our first (and best) idea....a welcome BBQ!

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What a great, casual way to hang out, introduce and bond with family and friends.

Our next task was to find a location to have said BBQ. I was thinking something by the beach, that (of course) had easy access to some sort of grill. Knowing a lil' of Hawaii (being that I had lived there in my younger years), my first thought was Barber's Point; it's a military beach of sorts, they have cabins and camping. Which got me thinking of other military facilities. Bellows, another military beach....and a much nicer one at that (it's Air Force "owned", no offence to my brother branches). A cabin at Bellow's would be perfect! We'd have access to a grill, a kitchen, the beach (and showers for after the beach). Perfect, perfect.

In June (about 9 months before needed date) I called Bellows to find out their availability. They were booked. Till May of 2009. No joke. I was bummed, but no biggie. What were our alternatives? Well, I thought about just trying my luck on getting a picnic table on welcome BBQ day, but what if there weren't any tables available. Or what if I can't get access to some sort of cooking device? What's a BBQ without the cooked food? I also was looking forward to the option of cold beverages, the alcoholic kind, and I knew no beach in Hawaii was going to allow that. Our last resort was to have it at our rented condo, but a BBQ inside didn't sound appealing. I did ponder the thought of having an ice cream social instead and having that held at our condo...that was my last resort option.

Months later and still no plan. I was aimlessly looking at the Bellows website again and came across a link for "facility rentals"....they have rental pavilions! I called Bellows again, and wouldn't you know it, by this time their cabins were booked till September 2009, but for welcome BBQ day all 3 pavilions were free. So for $75 I booked it.

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Yes, it might be a lil' pricey for a BBQ venue, but I can relax and be stress free about having to find a place, it's by the beach, there's a grill, you can drink at the pavilion (no drinks on the beach), and for a $2 volleyball rental there are volleyball nets nearby. Sold.

My DIY "Air Makers"

I have been doing lil' wedding poop projects here and there, hoping to get most out of the way so when I finally am in the final weeks I'm not running around like a headless chicken. So my first project....palm fans!

inspiration knottie: Married2MrWright

My idea was to have these efficient palm fans sitting on every chair at the ceremony, so when the wedding guest sits down they have their own "air maker" for comfort during the ceremony. In "the knot" world it's not the most original idea, but I can guarantee that no guest attending our wedding had a palm fan waiting for them on their seat at any other wedding they've ever attended in the past.

So Mr. Mek's mother's friend (did you get all that?!) had a trip planned to the Philippines and I asked her is she could bring me back some palm fans. I originally looked online to order them and the cheapest I saw was $8.99 per dozen. Not too bad, but knowing that these are made in the Philippines, I was pretty sure I could get them cheaper. Hey, I'm on a budget! Sure enough, 25 fans were brought back for me. I actually have no idea how much they cost since mother-in-law Mek wouldn't let me pay for them, but I'm pretty sure it is somewhere around $5.00 for all 25 or some outrageous price like that.

Next step....make them puuuuurty.

My supplies: palm fan, scissors, glue gun, glue sticks, ribbon.

Step 1: Feed ribbon through fan, there should be a opening or a whole of some sort that makes this step easy.

Step 2: Wrap ribbon around handle and feel through opposing whole. Alright, so I'm not the best at giving directions! Hopefully my images speak volumes.

Step 3. Keep wrapping ribbon tightly around handle till handle is completely covered.

Step 4: Hot glue end of ribbon to fan. TaDa!

Pau!

Brings back some color to these natural fans. After seeing knottie eyeheartmike use colored fans for her wedding, I wished I would've gotten red fans instead. Oh well.

knottie: eyeheartmike

And this is the look I'm going for...

source: unknown

knottie: Mrs.Winter

knottie: plumeriapal

Forgive me readers...

For I have sinned; it has been 33 days since my last confession post.

I have been extremely busy lately; with seminars, work, a lil' freelancing. I'll even prove it! Remember those wedding invites I did for my friend, Wendy a few months back? With planning a wedding on such short notice she was on a major budget, so I helped her out by being her wedding photographer for the day. My co-worker Palermo was a great help to me by being a second photographer.

She had a laid back, relaxed wedding despite the hardships she went through the last 15 hours before the wedding. Could you believe she stubbed her toe on the eve of her wedding soooo bad that she could barely walk, let alone walk in heels. On wedding day morning, she was to meet the hair stylist at 9am; the hair stylist had totally forgot about the appointment and didn't show till after 10am (the ceremony started at 11am). That gave the bride about 20 minutes by the time she got back from her hair appointment to get dressed and put her face on. Needless to say everything went on without a hitch after all the morning drama. Here let me show you...

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I do not claim to be a wedding photographer by any means, but for a friend on a budget I can make do. :o)

Family Olympian

This post is totally not wedding related, but I had to brag! My cousin, Jamie Beyerle, had the honors of representing the United States in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. How awesome is that?! While she did not medal, she came very close, twice and got a personal best. I am very proud of her! Here are some news clips about her and her sport (I know nothing of her sport, so it'll be more accurate coming from the news than from me):

BEIJING, China (August 9, 2008) The first day of the shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China was contested Saturday with Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) and Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.) turning out impressive performances, each finishing in the fourth spots in the respective events.

In Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Beyerle claimed fourth place, barely out of medal contention, shooting a qualification score of 397, a final score of 102.8 for a total of 499.8.

This is the best I have shot since the World Cup USA last year, so I am really happy with it, Beyerle said following her fourth place finish.

BEIJING, China (August 14, 2008) Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) barely missed out on earning a spot on the medal podium today in the Women’s 3 Position Rifle event. Beyerle entered the final with a score of 586, just three points out of first place, which was held by China’s Du Li. Despite shooting an excellent final score of 100.9 and standing in second place overall going into the final shot, Beyerle fired a score of 8.7, which wasn’t enough to land her on the podium and she finished in fifth place with an overall score of 686.9.

It was a great match. I am disappointed, but to finish in fifth place isn’t bad and its really been a great experience overall shooting at the Olympics Beyerle said.

Some random site also named Jamie one of the top 26 Hottest US Olympic Women: Campus Squeeze

Keep an eye out for this girl in the 2012 Summer Olympics! I know she'll be kickin' some arse! Hopefully I'll be in London to watch it!

Must Take Photo - Take 2

In continuation of "must take photos"...

Must Take Photo - Take 1

KIDDIES! How cute are kids?! With our guest list being itty bitty, we don't have many children attending our wedding, but there will be one or two.

knottie: mrslaker

knottie: msmoore27

See the lil' boy in the upper right corner...yikes! If ya gotta go, you gotta go!

knottie: Mrs.Schenkertobe

photographer: Stefanie Riedel
I absolutely love this, German and Japanese garb.

I only have one more request for my "must take" photos...but it's a biggie and can be broken down into sub topics...

DETAILS!
Invitations. I worked sooo hard on these, there better be a good photo of them, damnit!

knottie: Mrs.Veroni

Rings.

unknown

knottie: MauidAims

Venue. I picked my venue because it is beautiful, I want to reflect that in my wedding photos.

knottie: girlinthemoon

knottie: Mrsailinamei

knottie: MrsJohnny

Decorations/Ceremony Set-up.

VintageGlam

knottie: ksirish

knottie: Mrs.Veroni

unknown

knottie: MrsNFB


knottie: Mrs.Schenkertobe

And that's what I call a "must take photo" list.

Must Take Photos

Most brides seem to have a loooong list of "must take" photos for their photographer. It usually looks like this:

Zipping up or buttoning the wedding dress
Bride looking into a mirror
Bride and bridesmaids putting on makeup
Groom tying tie
Groom looking into mirror
Portrait of father and bride
Portrait of mother and bride
Outside of ceremony site
Bridesmaids walking down the aisle
Flower girl and ring bearer walking down aisle
Groom waiting for bride
Close up of bride, just before she makes her entrance
Bride and father walking down aisle
The back of bride and father walking down the aisle – with the groom waiting in the distance
Shot of the audience from the bride and groom’s point of view
Close up of bride and groom saying the vows
Wide shot of bride and groom saying the vows
Close up of hands
The kiss
Bride & Groom walking up the aisle
Guests throwing confetti/rose petals/birdseed
Bride alone
Groom alone
Bride with Maid of Honor
Bride with bridesmaids
Bride with parents
Bride & Groom together
Bride & Groom with parents
Bride & Groom with families
Bride & Groom with entire wedding party
Bride & Groom with flower girl and ring bearer
Groom with parents
Groom with groomsmen
The getaway
etc.
etc.
etc.

I'm sorry, but as a photographer, paying a photographer thousands of dollars for his expertise in shooting weddings, this should be common sense for him. "Bride and Father walking down aisle, Bride and Groom together, Bride and Groom with families....." duh! Please don't insult your wedding photographer by giving him a list like this. Now, if he asks for a list, that's a different story. I also believe that you are paying money for your vendor's experience and expertise and I feel that a long list like this deteriorates the artists creativity. Now don't get me wrong, if you've see a photo you've seen another photographer do and would like to mimic it or are inspired by it, that's a different story. For example, my list of "must take photos":

First sight: I plan on seeing my groomie before we officially wed and would like to capture our "first meeting".

Knottie: MrsPinkAJV&M

Knottie: Jen&Len

Fun group photos! Instead of everyone just standing on the stairs of the church.

Knottie: Daffodil_Jill

Knottie: MrsPinkAJV

wedlog

Knottie: RR&RB

Knottie: ilovemycoastie3

Group shot of the WHOLE wedding, guests and all! Since I'm having a small wedding I would like to have a group photo with everyone in attendance. Great for thank you cards later!

unknown

Knottie: MrsNFB

Knottie: cassiopia610

to be continued...

Picture time! Picture Time!

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I know I've been MIA for awhile, but I'm back into the wedding planning. Wedding Hiatus is done...for now. So onto one of my favorite things...Photography! I researched wedding photographers before we even knew where we were getting married. Honestly, that was one of the reasons why I wanted to get married in Hawaii. The wedding photographers in PA just weren't cuttin' it for me.

Before I begin with all things wedding, let me give you a background in my photography expertise. I've enjoyed photography for as long as I can remember. I actually can remember being in a dark room at age 8, not really knowing what I was doing, but it was fun. As a young kid in the 80's my photography skills was pretty much how to push a button on a point and shoot camera. Growing up in a military family, I got the opportunity to see many (and live in many!) countries as a child. My dad was an intermediate-novice (oxymoron?!) photographer and had a manual Minolta SLR camera; he would document our travels. His camera would end up to be my first SLR camera.

I took photography classes in high school and LOVED it. My senior year I went to a full-time vocational school and studied photography and videography. I continued to study photography at Antonelli Institute after high school. I have worked in a photography studio, a lab, even worked at my old vocational school as an assistant in the photography program there. I went into the Air National Guard, at first as a graphic artist but later changed AFSC (jobs) to photography. So, photography is one of my main priorities in my wedding planning (besides marrying Mr. Mek, of course!).

Now I must admit, I am being very picky about my photography. I've done my share of weddings in the past and let me tell you, it takes a special person to do wedding photography! Just because someone knows photography, it doesn't make them a wedding photographer. I personally hate shooting weddings, as do most of my photography friends. Things I am looking for in my wedding photography: leading lines, interesting angles, depth of field, vibrant colors. I wanted someone who can take great candids (photojournalism style) but could also direct posed shots. I wanted something more than the poopy family photos inside a church.

I had narrowed it down to two photographers.
Frank Amodo

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and Shawn Starr

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Both photographers have an impeccable eye for art! I had a hard time choosing between the two..who did I pick for our special day?! Guess you'll have to wait till March to find out!

What factors did you have in choosing your photographer?