If you waited this long, you probably REALLY wanted to see our Wedding Photos.

Hey gals, I'm back! I took a long break from this blog to come down from the high of wedding planning -- oddly enough, that high lasted roughly a year and a half. I wanted to share my wedding photo slideshow, and to sing the praises of our wedding photographer, Fiona Sarn, of Walnut Creek, CA. Fiona was a perfect match for our personalities -- great sense of humor, flexible, really easygoing and fun. Her photographs really reflected the joy we experienced on August 9, 2008.

Here are some of the best photos:

You can file many wedding photographers under "ridiculous" when it comes to pricing, but not Fiona. She worked with our budget and made everything happen, including two big items we really wanted but didn't think we could afford -- engagement photos and a photobooth at the reception. If you do enough research (you know me, I'm my father's daughter, I am all about spreadsheets), you can definitely find someone good within your budget.

Things to think about when interviewing a potential photographer:

* Are there any hidden costs? Travel, hotel, meals, and sometimes gas and mileage can add to any package pricing.

* Are albums included or a la carte? Photographers make a lot of their money by keeping albums separate from the package costs. Some provide proof books, which are bound books of all the photos taken with their file names, but these are still gorgeous to look at and have actually served as our albums for the last two years.

* Don't go on web portfolio alone. Ask to see full galleries. This is like watching a whole game, not just the highlight reel, so you can see ebbs and flows of a photographer's work throughout one day.

* Personality goes a long way. If you don't feel comfortable around your photographer, it will show up in your pictures. Don't underestimate the importance of that initial face-to-face interview.

* Even if you LOVE the photographer, get references. These will really help confirm your decision -- after all, photography prices can be right up there with dress prices and catering costs. So choose wisely, grasshopper.

A preview...

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Originally uploaded by Matt and Melissa

Here's a teaser photo of my gorgeous little niece, Tory (we call her Toto, just for fun). She was a perfect little flower girl!

Bachelorette weekend at the Cape :)

I had a blast at my bachelorette this past weekend on the Cape! My BM Liz put together such a fun time. We went to the beach on Saturday morning, then had pedicures, wine and cheese at a spa called "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," then capped it off with a night of dancing and wildness at a bar in Chatham! It was the perfect sendoff for California - we are flying out in a couple of hours as I write this.

Here are some highlights:

ladies on the beach
dinner at JT's in Brewster

starting the dance floor ... the pictures after this are a little too wild for the web ;)

So fun! The weather, the food, and even the dancing and drinks were perfect! Now ... off to California!!!

I am in 10-DAY FORECAST LAND

I will be praying every day that this forecast remains as I saw it today:



Nothing like worrying about things you can't control. For some reason I have yet to master that skill.

But the seating chart is done, the playlist is made, the programs are folded, and the table numbers/drinks menus are printed. What to do with all this spare time.... HA.

Let me just say for the record that moving two months before getting married out of state was not the greatest of our ideas, but we did it anyway. And now I don't know where my pearl hairpins went, but at least we unearthed the rings to pack into our bag yesterday. I ordered a spare hairpin set yesterday, just in case.

My work is throwing me a lovely lunch tomorrow, but tonight, I'm focused on what has been titled "MELISSA'S LAST STAND." At 7pm the festivities begin with my lacrosse girls, and who knows where we will make our mark on this fine city ...

16 little days.

I just looked at the countdown on my Knot profile and it says plainly, without fanfare: 16 days.

I almost fainted.

See, I've been on the road for most of the week for work, doing this:



(I'm waiting for my turn to go on as one of the three Dixie Chimps. Yes, that's a puppet. Yes, this is my job.)


We are touring with the show in New England. Touring = no wedding planning of any kind whatsoever.

Um, I think I have a lot to do, and I think if I even try to think about it I'll start to freak out. So let's not. I'm going to focus on my banjo playing.

16 days. OMGOMGOMG.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I just found these on my work computer - I forgot to post about the day we got our marriage license! It was so official -- swearing under oath that we weren't married and all that ... but we did it!





We also finished all the favor boxes!! I had my own little hot glue sweatshop made up of my aunts, cousins, and cousin's kids at my surprise shower :) (sorry the photos are all turned around)




mmm... cake .... thanks Mom!


Matt loves him some bridal mags

Engagement Picture Session: Boston!

We got our engagement pictures back from Lisa Richards, our wonderful friend who is just starting out in the photography business, and she sent us a slideshow of the pictures. Here are some of our favorites:

This pic is one of my faves because the shirts are from when we coached girls' basketball at different schools and met at an all-league coaches' meeting....

Fenway Park, OF COURSE




We went back to the Green Dragon, the site of our first date!


Had to take a picture outside Mike's Pastry in the North End.

Then this random lady came up and yelled, "Are ya gettin' married? You need a kiss from THE QUEEN!!!" Who was that lady???


And, of course, had to get a shot on the playground. Matt and I had this really serious talk on the swingset at the park across the street from my apartment, where we officially decided we would try to make a go of it.




I highly recommend getting pictures of the places that are meaningful to you!! It was so great to go back to the Green Dragon -- neither of us had been since our first date!

Huge thanks to Lisa for her great work! We can't wait to display these at the reception!