Pictures of Me, Pictures of You.

Photography rated high on Mr Big and my list of “things we wanted” for the wedding. As every bride, blog, and bee has said before me, once all the décor is packed down and the guests slowly drag themselves home, all that’s left are the memories and the pictures.

And Mr Big and I have pretty shoddy memories!

For us, our search to find just the right photographer was a hard one. We wanted to find a photographer who took photos that were able to not just capture the moment and the people, but understood our personalities and provided everything we needed. This was emphasised further by the fact that Mr Big and I aren’t very photographic (we like being spazzes).

Case in point. / Personal photo.

The ‘sane’ thing to do would’ve been to look locally.

I’ve posted numerous photographers on the ‘Bee who are Hunter Valley/Central Coast locals. Photographers like Something Blue Photography, Cavanagh Photography, the quirky Popcorn Photography (careful, has music which plays when you click!), and my personal favourite, Photography on Hermitage, all made it on to my “should possibly contact” list. But the reason I didn’t pull the trigger?

Price.

You see, Mr Big and I didn’t really want an album. Just digital prints and unlimited access to said prints. “Paper” prints would be great, but weren’t ‘necessary’. You would’ve thought that would lessen the price at least a little bit, but it wasn’t the case. The search for our photographer frustrated us to no end. Mr Big was suffering from sticker shock and I was attempting to find anyone who could provide us with all we wanted without the excessive price tag.

What made it even more frustrating?

We wanted a photobooth and a videographer as well. That meant we had to pocket away some money to afford a photobooth, a photographer, and a videographer. Mr Big and I tried to get ourselves to stop. Loving. The photobooth. But it was too hard. We wanted it.

We wanted it bad.

And we weren’t willing to sacrifice a videographer either. I remember watching my parents’ wedding video as a kid, my uncle’s wedding video as a pre-teen, and thinking it would be awesome to have a wedding video when I were to get married. Mr Big also has a saying for this wedding, “we’ll only do it once… let’s make it the best thing ever!”

So what could we do?

Well, hive, we gave up. For about a week at least. We just didn’t touch or even poke at the subject of the wedding. We enjoyed being engaged, we stayed in and watched movies, and cuddled on the couch. We just didn’t, want, to handle it.

And then one day, after stumbling across a particular post on Polka Dot Bride, I found StudioSomething. Curious, I clicked on their link and flicked through their photos. Impressed, I went to their information page.

The first line of this page?

It’s a little small, but it reads: “You’ve heard we’re awesome, right?” / Taken via Studiosomething’s information page.

Now, if you know me, or if you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll probably have realised I use the word ‘awesome’ a lot. Like, a terrible amount of lot. I am “awesome”-addicted.

Barney knows where it’s at.

To see those five word emblazoned on the information page was enough to make me turn to Mr Big and pronounce, with wide eyes:

“I WANT THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS.”

(I kid you not, hive. Mr Big was alarmed at my enthusiasm.)

What’s more than their spectacular use of the word ‘awesome’? They take amazing photographs and the team are quirky, intelligent, and amazingly skilled at their work.

They’re not just amazing, but they understood our personalities. They know we’re not really the typical couple. They tailor their shooting styles to the personalities of their clients, they collaborate with the couple, and most of all, they have fun! Their photographs capture more than just the couple and the wedding. They capture the love, laughter, tears, and sheer beauty of the moment!

Our first meeting with them was at a café in Bondi where we bonded over coffee and the traditions attached to our wedding. They asked us what we wanted, what we liked, why we wanted to do the wedding in the Hunter, and basically just got to know Mr Big and myself.

We emailed back and forth a lot after that. Despite the fact that we loved StudioSomething, however, we knew we needed to do some shopping around. Mr Big is all about ‘choice’, so he and I wanted to see what else was out there.

However, after finding another photographic outfit that seemed like a good fit, meeting up with them, and falling into the Venus Flytrap Effect (dubbed by the wonderful Mrs Waterfall), we hurried back to StudioSomething. No other photographer made us feel as comfortable as StudioSomething’s Ellen and Phu, the two we had met up with that day in Bondi. They treated us like people, not like customers, and we definitely didn’t feel like we were being swindled simply because the word ‘wedding’ was attached to our particular event. They were still professional with us, but friendly and conversational as well!

And their photos are. Absolutely. Magical.

I love the way they shoot in black and white, as well as colour, and put so much emotion into their photographs. They’re extremely talented and bonus –

They do photo booths and stop motion.

Check it out for yourself:

Love it!

So with all of that, we were a complete and total goer for StudioSomething.

What do you guys think? Did we make the right choice?

(All photos and video copyright to StudioSomething unless otherwise stated.)

Pictures worth a thousand words

Yesterday I talked you through our very ‘cool’ (haha, see what I did there!) Winter engagement shoot in central Christchurch. Well, last night, while I was chatting to my ma, I got an email which resulted in this:

Guys – WE HAVE OUR PHOTOS!!! *FLAILS AROUND WILDLY*

Now, I knew from the get-go that our photographers were awesome, but I’m the kind of girl who just can’t stand looking at herself in photographs. There’s always something wrong in every photo I see. But when I opened up that webpage to see my photos, I was enamoured.

Seriously you guys – LOOK AT THIS.

(All photos copyright StudioSomething)

MIND = BLOWN.

I’m so glad we chose these guys to photograph our wedding!! I know they’ll do such a marvellous job. I can’t tell you how happy we are. And because I love you guys, I’m leaving you with my favourite image (which just highlights how incredibly silly my relationship with GP can be).

A Winter Engagement Shoot in a City Full of Hope

On a FABULOUSLY sunny day, at 11AM on Wednesday 24th July, GP and I headed out to New Regent St in central Christchurch to meet up with our photographers of the fabulous photography group StudioSomething. Prior to that we each had respective appointments to get all ‘done up’. GP had a professional hair trim and shave from the fabulous people at ManScape, and I had my nails done at Wonder Nails.

Observe:

SHINY! (Personal Image)

Yes guys, I’m eating a cookie. A choc-chip-macadamia cookie from Mrs Higgin’s Cookies. It was DIVINE. Also, can someone spot the rose in the apothecary jar. I got that for my 25th birthday from my awesome friends ❤

Can you also see how AWESOME the weather was!? We totally lucked out, especially when the weather was looking rather hairy previously.

Our photographers experienced the typical Cantabrian confusion of trying to get around Christchurch through the maze of road works currently choking up the streets. Luckily, GP knew the way and was able to direct them to New Regent St where we finally met up with Ellen, Phu and their ADORABLE 6-month old baby. After some cooing with Lewis and chatting about both the shoot and the city, we decided to grab a coffee. We ended up in ‘Shop Eight & Rekindle’, a café attached to a ‘pop-up’ art shop which recycles wood taken from the demolition work happening around the city.

There, we took the first photos of the day.

Now, for those of you who haven’t see StudioSomething’s work, they do ‘stop-motion’ videos. Which means they take multiple photos using a fast-shutter speed and capture photos that, when stitched together, look like a movie! This meant that, when they wanted to capture GP and I kissing, we had to do it slowly at times.

I may have been rather happy to continue kissing on my fiancé… (This girl has no shame loving on her fiancé!)

We also had to slowly stir our hot chocolates, which made me giggle a heck of a lot.

After our photographers had a bite to eat, we moved on to an Astro-Turf space-filler close by. Does anyone remember this photo?

Space-filler Astro-Turf project! (Personal Image)

Unfortunately, there were SO MANY PEOPLE when we got there with our photographers. In the shot above, there was barely a soul around, but with our photographers, people kept flooding in and out – kids, people with dogs, families. So our photographers were able to improvise and asked us to sit in the big couch in the centre (see that Astro-Turf on the right of the image above? That was a HUGE couch). While we sat there, relatively still, they captured the movement around us.

It was an AMAZING shot and I wish I could show you guys, but we haven’t gotten the pictures back yet.

From the Astro-Turf project, we moved to Cathedral Square. These shots were a lot more sombre (considering the damage done to the Christchurch Cathedral in the earthquakes), but we were also able to use the space around us and have some fun with it. By the time we were done with the Cathedral Square we moved on to the famous “Container Mall”, otherwise known as the RE:Start Mall.

The RE:Start Mall on a busy Sunday. (Personal Image)

That picture was taken during our tour with GP’s dad. During the e-session on Wednesday there was barely a soul! It was fabulous. We were able to get awesome pictures of us in the main square, among the colourful containers, and we even got some pictures of our disappearing Fritz’s Wiener lunches! (I recommend Fritz’s Wieners for those who like hot dogs).

At about 4:30PM, the sun started setting and our photographers got snap-happy with the lighting. We got a lot of kissy-photos during that time, and as I was saying – I was more than happy to kiss on my man!

By 5PM, we finished our shoot, giving us a whopping 6 hours with our photographers!

We enjoyed each and every single moment with them and were able to not only get fantastic photos but enjoy their company. They got a pretty good tour of the city centre as well, so I’d have to say it was a win-win! 😉

We can’t wait to get our photos back. I’ll definitely be sharing some of them on this blog!

Our Lucky Break.

In a previous post, I explained our initial ideas. We were desperate to have the wedding in Christchurch, and I won’t lie, disappointed that we couldn’t. Our Hunter Valley wedding, however, has worked out phenomenally, however, and we’re so very happy to be celebrating in such a significant place with our nearest and dearest.

However, our Christchurch story doesn’t end there.

You see, this year, Mr Big turned the big 3-0. He wanted a “low key” celebration, but I wasn’t having that. He had previously thrown me a dress-up-as-a-superhero-surprise-25^th which lead to pictures like this:

I didn’t have costume. Hulk sad. I was wearing a jumper with an Assassin’s Creed hood though!

(I would put more up… but I don’t want my friends to kill me.)

But I digress, Mr Big was turning the big 3-0 and I wanted him to celebrate in style!

And so, I forced prodded him to have it in Kiwiland. He finally caved agreed and we started planning our trip! At the same time, Mr Big and I were thinking of what to do for our engagement shoot with our wonderful photographers. We originally were thinking of going to Cockatoo Island for the e-session, a little island in Sydney harbour, and had originally intended on having it in August.

The industrial part of Cockatoo Island. There are also convict areas and underground tunnels that were used to shelter people from falling bombs during WWII! The tiny people in this photo are: Mama Bighorn, myself, Groom’s Homie Oddball, and Mr Big. I know… I’m short. / Image taken by MoH M&Ms during a trip out to the beautiful spot.

I shot an email to Ellen and we back-and-forthed for a little bit. The months between September to December would be busy for them (wedding season!) so that left June, July, and August. It’d be winter in Australia, but that would be fine for Mr Big and I. We love winter more than summer.

With that, we tried to narrow down a date. I remember mentioning in passing that we would be in New Zealand in July, and hence, August would be best for us. To my surprise, we got this reply back from Ellen:

We’re also heading to NZ in early July – when are you going and where? We fly into Christchurch I think on the 14th! Would you like to do the shoot there if we’re in the same place at the same time? Haha!

I can honestly say my hands were trembling with excitement.

I quickly called Mr Big to ask if we would be able to (and was met with voicemail; he was in a meeting at work) and then waited anxiously for his reply. I tried to be realistic about it, for example, we might not be in Chch (Christchurch) during the same time as them, Mr Big might not like the idea, etc. but then he called back.

He was as keen as I was. (Probably even more so!)

WOOT!

After back-and-forth emails with Ellen, we decided on an approximate date and time. We’d be meeting up with them in Christchurch at a particular spot, assigned during the week leading up to the date. We’d also grab their mobile numbers to communicate accordingly.

So it was settled.

We’d be having our engagement shoot in Christchurch, during the winter. What’s even better? We’d be having it the day before our third-year anniversary together! During the lead-up we scouted out areas and spent an entire day with De-Papa Big in doing so. He also gave us the ‘Quake Tour’, which he does every time we visit so that we can get an idea on how the city is progressing every visit.

We started off in Avonside, a red-zoned area that was particularly damaged in the 2011 February earthquake. The last time we drove through Avonside, Mr Big mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if zombies came shambling out of the houses. The whole neighbourhood is in relatively disrepair, with houses sagging down sadly or some even burnt (that’s what upset me the most).

We felt it disrespectful to take photos, especially engagement ones, in Avonside, so we vetoed that idea. Instead, we simply drove around to have a good look at the neighbourhood which, to my knowledge, will be turned into parklands. De-Papa Big mentioned that they may even keep some houses up in memoriam to the damaged houses and changed lives of the quakes.

With that sombre mood, we decided to move on to a more populated part of Chch. Enter, the Cathedral Square:

Mr Big and I posing for a photo in the Cathedral Square. This place used to be surrounded by tall buildings.

For those who don’t know, the Cathedral Square is named for the Christchurch Cathedral which sat in its centre. And for those who are curious as to what it looks like, this is what it used to look like:

The Christchurch Cathedral. / Image taken via Wikipedia.

And this is what it looks like now:

The damage done to the Cathedral after both 2010 September earthquakes, several aftershocks, and the massive 2011 February earthquake. You can’t see it from here, but the spire is in rubble to the left of this picture. / Image via Chris Hewitt, A Kiwi at the Camera.

Whenever I look at pictures of the Cathedral, I still feel sad. I could go on about why, but I won’t bore you guys with the details. We decided we needed to move past the sombreness from both Avonside and the Square, so we decided to explore the ‘space-fillers’ surrounding the Square. We found this one:

Surf-Turf chairs! We look like two little kids, haha!

From there, we moved to New Regent St which is just.so.charming! Here’s a picture pre-e-session of my being a retard on New Regent St:

I know you’ve guys seen this picture before. It’s the best picture I have of New Regent St…

We decided to buy coffees and chat for a little before we moved on. Our next stop was the RE:start mall, also known as the “container mall”.

Mr Big and I – I’m still drinking my coffee. And yes, that sign does say “lingerie”, since we were right next to one!

It’s a shopping mall made completely made of shipping containers. It’s such a nice spot to rest, relax, and shop around. We even managed to buy a “ring box” (it’s not really a ring box, but we made it one!).

We also scoped out the cardboard Cathedral in front of Latimer Square, but felt it didn’t really capture what we wanted.

The cardboard Cathedral at Latimer Square, still under construction.

So with our location scouting done, we put a plan into action!

In the next post, I talk about a something that’s pretty important in e-session shoots. Clothing!

What do you guys think of these locations? Did anyone else get a ‘lucky break’ in your wedding plans?

(All photos personal unless otherwise stated.)

Rain, Rain, Go Away… No Seriously, Rain, GO AWAY!

Guys, I’m freaking out!

The weather forecast is looking pretty hairy for GP and I on our engagement shoot.

Lookie here:

Weather forecast on Wednesday 24 July in Christchurch, New Zealand // Image taken from metservice.com

As you can see – it’s raining on Wednesday. “Showers. Light winds.” to be exact…

I LOVE the rain, but if it does rain on Wednesday, it means we have to find an alternative place to do our photoshoot! I don’t know if our photographers can photograph in the rain, and don’t want to push them into a situation they’re not comfortable with!

Before we checked out the weather forecast, we were fairly certain what we wanted out of our shoot. You see, on Sunday, we toured Christchurch with GP’s dad and were able to get a good feel of the place. The tour was originally to check out the progress of the city two years on from the February 22 quake, but an email from our photographers also turned the tour into a “where to go for an interesting photoshoot” day.

GP’s dad was an awesome tour guide, and took us through the residential red zone of Avonside. Last time we went through there, GP mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if zombies came shambling out of the dilapidated houses. It’s sort of sad to see, but the city is getting much better.

From there, we moved to the Cathedral Square, which has finally opened up, and were able to get a glimpse at the Christchurch cathedral. GP’s dad mentioned that it would probably be good to get some pictures of the cathedral, and we agreed. It is a quintessential part of Christchurch’s history, and therefore, GP’s history as well. As we continued to tour through the centre of the city, we formed a good plan for the shoot.

We would start the photoshoot in the Cathedral Square, in front of the Earthquake-ruined cathedral there – to pay remembrance to the Earthquake that shook GP’s city. From there, we wanted to move to another (happier) area – the space fillers surrounding the square. Like this:

GP and I on the Sunday, being big kids on the space-filler armchairs and couches set up next to the Cathedral Square // Personal Image

 

From there, we’d move to a street called New Regent St which is just. so. charming. (Side note: the Rendezvous Hotel is there, where we’ll be staying for GP’s 30th birthday 🙂 ). I (unfortunately) don’t have any pictures to show you guys since all we did there was buy coffees, chat and move on. We then wanted to move on to the RE:Start Mall, which is otherwise known as the “Container mall” – a shopping district made out of shipping containers (very cool and creative place).

A busker (‘The Mullet Man’) performing in the RE:Start Mall square. Can you see the shipping container café in the background? // Personal Image

There’s also the infamous “Cardboard Cathedral” in front of the Latimer Square. (Ironically enough, the Latimer Hotel was one such venue we were potentially thinking of having out wedding). But that’s not really ‘complete’ as such and GP isn’t too happy to be taking a picture with it!

Alas, if it rains heavily, we may not be able to do the shoot outdoors. And we’re both RACKING our brains on where to go for an indoors shoot. As you can see, our Sunday tour was absolutely GORGEOUS! The sun was out, and it was a nice, cool day. I’m just hoping the forecast is wrong…

We could potentially travel out of town to do the shoot, which may be an idea if the weather decides it hates us in Christchurch. I don’t know any places to go though, so GP will have to take charge.

Does anyone else have ideas for an indoor shoot!?

So I’m sitting here…

…in my parents’ house, listening to my dad’s band playing outside (yes, my dad has a band) and thinking, “hm, what can I do?”. Then I realised, “hey, I haven’t written in my blog for a few!”

So here I am.

Not really that exciting, but there you have it. Anyway…

HELLO ALL!

I’ll start off with some exciting news. I recently signed up and was accepted into a blog called “Polka Dot Bride”. It’s not HUGE news, because it’s basically a blog that anyone can sign up for, but it’s been rather successful! My first (and so far, only) post can be found here:

http://www.polkadotbride.com/2012/12/and-we-open-the-door-and-step-inside/

So, yay for me! I know what you’re all thinking, “that’s a HORRIBLE picture of you!” but… it was the only picture I found where I didn’t look: a) horrible, and b) like I had an eternal wedgie. I will write more in Polka Dot, but it’s a minimum 750 words, so I thought I’d wait until I had substantial news which I could waffle on about. (Edit: Was just told that it’s not 750 min. YAY! I can write more without waffling)

I DO, however, have substantial news which I can post into this blog!

The other day, GP and I had a meeting with the fabulous Marlon and Redge of Onsight Films. We’ve seen their work and knew they did SDEs – or Same Day Edits. We loved what they did, and after meeting them, were even more set on having them as videographers for the wedding! GP’s so excited that he spent most of yesterday mulling over music to send the guys to potentially play during the SDE. Needless to say, after the excruciatingly long search to find an awesome, well-priced videographer who did SDEs, we are extremely happy with our choice!

Now all’s we need to do is book both the photographers and videographers in and we’re DONE! (with those components anyway)

In other wedding-related news, we’ve been thinking about a place for a rehearsal dinner. I’m not 100% sure if the Hunter Valley Gardens will let us do a ceremony rehearsal at the location, so I’ll have to check. However, the celebrant we intend on using includes the rehearsal into her fee and GP’s excited to have a rehearsal dinner at a particular place he’s been telling me about since we first went up to the Hunter Valley together. The rehearsal dinner will be vastly smaller than the actual wedding reception, but we’re excited to have one.

I’ve also had a sudden fascination with hydrangeas. They’re beautiful, big flowers and would cheapen bouquets a lot while still looking lush and awesome. I’ve decided I want to use them, though I still don’t even know if I want to give my bridesmaids bouquets. Ah well – I still have a little over a year, so here’s hoping I make up my mind!

I’m going to sign off now!

Ta-ta for now 🙂

– Eileen

Let’s talk…

Wedding stuff.

Bet you didn’t see that coming.

GP and I have been getting more active with the wedding thing (and the domestic thing – the garden is looking MUCH better). We’ve been going through the early wedding things: invitation, guest number and information, etc., and it’s going pretty good. So in this post, I’ma mass-list all the things we’ve talked about/started 🙂

Let’s talk…

Invitations:

Through the help of a friend, let’s call her Miss S, we have our invitations designed and all pretty. We’ve gotta wait until we have addresses from all of our guests before sending them out, but they’re looking marvellous. Most might think it’s too early to be sending out invitations this far out from the wedding (more than a year) but since we’re having it in the Hunter Valley, we want out guests as much time as they can to decide on whether they want to attend and book accommodation. We’ve also got a tonne of other things we want to do for the guests which means specific numbers, so early invitations are a good thing.

The invitations turned out beautiful and I can’t wait to print them out and start assembling them (with the help of my bridesmaids!). Our invites will have inserts/enclosure cards with more information (accommodation, the ‘treasure chest’, etc) and we’re juggling on whether or not to seal it with a sticker-like wax-imitation seal. All good things to ponder.

Photography:

There was a post before where I was agonising over this little tidbit. Photography is something that ALL brides and grooms need on their wedding, but the prices are usually very hefty (and for good reason – who would want to lug around equipment for a measly fee?). We have, however, found the perfect photographers. They’re Sydney-based and go by the name of StudioSomething (www.studiosomething.com). They’re a quirky, awesome bunch of easygoing, friendly people who’re just so easy to talk to (which is important, because I am socially awkward). We’re getting them for (what I think) a really good price. We’re in talks with them now, but GP and I are certain we’ll be using these guys.

Videography/Cinematography:

Ah, cinematography… the elusive one. GP and I are STILL trying to find a reasonably-priced, but awesome, videographer. We had four in mind: 1) Paper Cranes, 2) Memory Road Media, 3) White Designs, and 4) MMG Photo+Cinema. We’ve ruled out MMG simply because we have to use both photo and cinema and it blew out budget into smithereens. They’re so, so very good at their jobs (seriously, look at their Facebook page), but my gosh we just didn’t have that sort of money. Paper Cranes is another major expense and puts a huge dent in our savings accounts, though their cinematography is just MIND-BLOWING. Memory Road Media is more within our price range, and Dave (the owner) has even said he would waive the travel fee to the Hunter if we were to use his all-day packages. I just found out about White Designs and have contacted them. Hopefully I get a response tomorrow.

Makeup, Hair & Beauty

Just as an FYI, makeup and hair will be done on 7 people – my momma, myself, and my 5 bridesmaids.

Now to begin – I am stunned at the fact that some of the people I’ve contacted are already booked out on our date. It’s more than a year and they’re fully booked. I was shocked! I’ve so far got three others who’re on my option-list, but one of them is taking the lead due to the fact that her services are so inexpensive and she comes highly recommended by former Hunter brides. She’s also SO accommodating to the fact that I have sensitive skin and is giving me the option to have a touch-up service between the ceremony and reception to freshen my face, which is just fantastic for my stupid-ass skin.

I also have to start thinking about facials, manicures and pedicures. I’m thinking manis and pedis get done a few days before the wedding, so that shouldn’t be a problem. A facial, however, is best done as early as possible to make sure my skin doesn’t react badly to it. I just have NO IDEA where to go! Seriously, where do you go for one of these? I’ve NEVER had it done before! I know I want to get a facial at least 6 months before the wedding as a sort of trial run. That way, come wedding day, I’ll know whether or not to have one. I’m not too sure about the cost of these things either, so I guess I should start looking around…

Flowers

There were a few basic flowers I wanted:

– Roses (duh!)

– Tulips

– Orchids

– Flox

I’ve now added the Lotus onto the list, but I don’t know what to do. I guess the first thing to do is contact a florist, but it’s still pretty early in the game. I’ve read that orchids are pretty expensive flowers, so I might not be able to use it. The good thing about flowers is we’ll only need it for a few things, since GP’s not going to have any button-holes. I’m thinking of giving two of my bridesmaids parasols too, but this is still up in the air.

And finally,

Cakes

I haven’t got much to say about this but that the cake shop we were hoping to use might not be making wedding cakes any more! 😦 No matter, there are heaps of other places we can look at. We just hope that they can make cookies and cream flavoured goodies.

And that’s it kiddoes. I’m sleepy.

Night all!

— .the eichanist

Things seem to be on the up & up…

GP and I recently got in contact with a vendor, StudioSomething (www.studiosomething.com), who do wedding photography (including photobooths and stop motion video). They’re an awesome trio of people who take awesome photographs and are generally… Awesome.

We’re in the middle of discussing through things, so nothing completely settled yet. But so far, things seem to be going pretty smoothly! Wish us luck that they’re available once we finally get a date!

*ZOMBIE GROAN*

My brain hurts.

I have a test to study for, an assignment (which I haven’t started) due in two weeks from now, and I’ve been wracking my brain on wedding stuff. What wedding stuff? Two to be exact:

Photography and Videography.

The main problem is money, that oh-so-important thing when it comes to weddings. Weddings are expensive. And I’m not going to lie, GP and I have had our fair share of arguments over the extremely sensitive issue. I’m a Masters student, focusing on my studies. I work once a week at my old university. I don’t make a hell of a lot of money. I wish I was the career woman, but I probably wouldn’t have met my fiance if I were the career woman type, so I’m kind of glad I’m not. I do wish I had a full-time, even a part-time job, but even that comes with issues. He’s the money-maker between the two of us, but a wedding in Sydney is IMPOSSIBLE to have under our budget. Especially when you don’t want to have it in Sydney.

You see, we’re having the wedding in the Hunter Valley, which gives us two options: get a photographer and videographer from Sydney and get them to travel down to the Hunter for wedding photography, or get a photographer and videographer from the Hunter. Both options are expensive.

We’re hoping to pay a combination of $5000 on both, which means $2500 allocated to one, and $2500 allocated to another. I’ve found wedding videographers who are within out price range (and pretty good to boot), but I cannot for the life of me find a photographer who is within our price range. GP has said that it might be hiring out a photographer and videographer from the same company, but… well… even they’re expensive.

I’m at the point where I’ve given the fiance all responsibility over these two options, because obviously he knows what the price range is and what he wants. I have no fracking idea…

Why did I agree to have an all-out wedding?