Photos, makeup, and invitation - details and decisions

Somehow, the last few months have flown by and now my wedding website countdown clock is reminding me that it’s less than two months away from the big day. Yikes! Perhaps it snuck up on me because I am fortunate to have my family handling most of heavy lifting. But now all of the decisions regarding the details are coming out of the woodwork. I thought it might be helpful to recount a few things that are going on at this stage.

Engagement photos – we took them about a couple of weeks ago in San Francisco. Overall, I was very pleased with the photos but did learn some useful things regarding hair and makeup which I had professionally done for the shoot. It’s good to have a very specific idea about what look you are going for. In retrospect, I would have asked the makeup artist (at the MAC counter) for more natural eye makeup with a focus on having a flawless face. Also, for any Bay Area locals out there, make note that it can be extremely windy in lots of prime SF locations so my hair was whipping around. We took photos in two different outfits at The Marina (super windy, fun beach shots), Presidio (cool, stylish backdrop), and downtown (classy, urban) to get a good variety.

Photography by: Elle Jae Weddings

Skincare – I’ve been listening to these great podcasts on iTunes called You Look Marvelous. The podcasts are not terribly recent but they are still really helpful. Each one features a different beauty expert giving advice for the wedding day (e.g. use a highlighter, waterproof mascara, blotting papers) and more importantly, getting your face ready the weeks and months leading up to the wedding (e.g. get regular facials, do trials). Celeb makeup artist Shalini Vedhera of Global Goddess Beauty gave some wonderful tips from her global travels on one particularly informative podcast. I’m curious to check out her book Passport to Beauty.

Invitations – Yes, that’s right. It’s less than two months from the wedding and we still don’t have our invitations! One of the biggest learning experiences from this whole process is that you don’t screw around with Save the Dates or Invitations. I completely underestimated how important it is to have all of the guest information organized in one place. Also, you can’t finalize your invitations until you have your schedule of events locked down. But probably the silliest issue I ran into is that my parents really wanted to put “No boxed gifts” on the invitation. Apparently some people in their social circle feel it’s ok to regift. After much assuaging, I think we finally convinced them that it would be tacky. Whew.

Next up is finalizing our first song, scheduling a dance lesson, and buying my bridal shoes. I’m considering splurging for a pair of Louboutins. My lehenga is super long and heavy so I’m worried I will trip and fall during the first dance if I don’t have a pair of sturdy high heels. And hey, it’s the one day when you want to be absolutely fabulous right? On that note, here’s a crazy cute pair that would be a knockout.

Source: www.christianlouboutinbridal.com

Our e-session is just around the corner

I’m a sucker for e-session photos. Silly smiles. Charming coordinated outfits. Cute props. I’m always intrigued and often find myself getting lost in photographer blogs. The fiancé and I are getting ours done in 3 weeks and I am super excited. There’s even a small piece of me that’s more excited about the engagement photos than the wedding photos. (gasp!) E-sessions allow couples to capture intimate moments of a very special time without oodles of guests swarming around them. Our wedding day is going to be amazing, no doubt. But the truth is, everyday feels a little amazing when you’re getting ready to spend the rest of your life with someone, right?

We’re going to get ours done in San Francisco – so much charm and character packed into one little city. Since we’re generally pretty casual and easygoing, I’d like to get some taken in a rustic, natural environment like Golden Gate Park where we can stroll around in our jeans and be relaxed. I hope to follow these up with some city shots wearing dressier clothes to get that cool, urban vibe. It will be nice to have some photos taken in our normal everyday Western attire since all of the wedding pix will be in Indian clothes.

These are some of my favorite images.

Casually chic and coordinated, in the Marina District

Dressed to the nines, on a SF pier

How stylish and clever are these shots!

Wish I could rock that white strapless dress - check out all of the photos on the photographer's site, really great shots

Source: Tyler Vu Photography

That settles it. I need to go shopping!