Photographers and Downtown L.A.

Man, it's felt like a long week! And my computer cable (that Andrew gave to me) got FRIED...so, I've been "working" off of my iPhone the past few days.

Our photographer meetings were interesting...and good. In the end, we chose Jill Thomas. As I mentioned last time, Amoré just didn't seem to match our style as we had originally thought...and the connection with the photographer just wasn't there! While he seemed like a nice guy, he was a bit stand-off-ish and didn't really seem to even try to connect with us.

I emailed my contact, Candice, at Amoré to voice our concern. She replied apologizing for the lack of connection, and assumed that perhaps he was nervous since his boss (Candice) was right there. She went on to explain her reasons for matching the photographer with us. Those reasons being that he had the most experience shooting nighttime weddings -- especially coming from the east coast. Funny that we never knew he was from the east coast, because when he asked about us, we told him that we were from the east coast. That could've been a good way to connect with us, but he didn't take it.

In contrast, when we video chatted with Jill, we made that connection that we had both lived in the D.C. area! Okay, I was the one to butt in and say that I used to live in Arlington, but that's what meeting people is all about ~ making that connection. The conversation was open and honest, and she was very easy to talk to.

The only question we had for Jill was getting copies of the raw files, along with the jpgs. Once we chatted again yesterday, all was set straight, we were on the same page, so we hired her! We're even going one package above from what we planned, but it will be well worth the extra money! She's going to be a blast to work with!

Funny enough, while we were on the phone with Jill, Father Brian from Good Shepherd Catholic church called. We returned his call to let him know that we will schedule a meeting with him when Andrew returns from Europe. Till then, he has our wedding penciled in! From the brochure we received, with information on the church and Father Brian, and from talking to him, he seems very personable. I can't wait to meet him!

Friday was my first trip to Downtown L.A.! I joined my friend, Rita, who was shopping for her baby shower. It was a long day of checking out the many types of AMAZING fabrics, buying spools upon spools of ribbon (Cinderella blue for ME!), perusing several floral shops, and hitting pretty much *every single* bridal store that carried tiaras! I found my tiara at the very first store we visited. Murphy's Law, isn't it? Well, my tiara had an original price tag of $129, it had been priced down to $99, and they sold it to me for $80. Woohoo!!! And it's gorgeous!

My other great find was some Cinderella glass slippers! I thought they would be great as table decor, but I may use them for my place cards. Rita had a great idea as to how to set them up in a great little display involving shoeboxes, fabric or cardstock, ribbon and/or crystals ~ it'll be fun to put it together!

Lastly, I'm looking at makeup and hair services. I've had quite a few offers...the last being friends of a friend. I was asked to email them with my info ~ wedding size, etc. One week later, and I haven't heard back. So, I checked out a place that Disneyland Brides have been raving about: Something Blue Stylists. Their online portfolio and the photos I've seen from Disneyland Brides have been great! And the prices...wow! From the preview to the day of, it totals the cost of JUST getting my makeup done by other makeup artists!

Oh, and did I say that we officially decided on using Brian Bosche as our designer/florist? Check another off the list! :-)