lookin' for a win:)

i got an email from Minted recently and they are giving away a $200 Gift Certificate for a super cute couple with a super cute engagement photo. SO I posted a few on their Facebook page and apparentlyyyy it helps if you get a few people to 'like' your photos!

SO if you have the time...hit Like:)

PS. i have no clue what I would even do with $200 from Minted BUT I find our engagement photos perfect...and so I had to share. Thanks to Courts for a job well done:)

the look back.

and not that I need another excuse to con Jacob into taking more Love Photos...but these photos are too pretty not to duplicate.

photos courtesy of Adele Cabanillas

the almighty look back....I'm going to try this and hopefully it'll be less awkward then I envision it being:)

forget me. not.

i was in need of a wedding fix and found it on Forget Me Knot Weddings....bare with me:)

UP/DOWN a beauTiful dress. I mean...I may have actually tried this dress on and secretly took a sweaty picture in the dressing room wearing this dress. I did not get this dress. It's still beauTiful. I'm okay with that;)

UP the most adorable cupcake, topped with the ring of ALL rings and a bride with gorgeous hair and a dress with a back to match!

DOWN i'm SO anxious to have Courts and Mom take more love photos of me and Jacob. I can imagine he's not quitttte as excited as me...close...but not quite;)

but the following pics only get me MORE excited to think out outfits for me to wear for this next photo shoot:)

UP...and now I want boots. Those exact boots and tights. Those exact tights with those boots. And then some love photos in that exact look.

UP/DOWN okay...I am a huge sucker for see through shirts. It's VERY SJP if you ask me....some may think it's a bit risk-ay and I'm really not doing it to attract the 'wrong' kinda attention. I just like a good bra peek!!!

POINT: great top with great detail and if it were any sort of appropriate to have my bra make an appearance in my cubby..I'd be wearing this outfit to work tomorrow!

and now I'm fixed:)

bring on the snow and x's and o's.

now that we've gone off and been bitten by the love photo bug...or should I say...I HAVE....I want more!!! And MORE!!!;)

There are soooo SO many amazing ideas out there and not only would it give Courts a chance to practice, find unique locations and get us comfy in front of the lense in preparation for the upcoming wedding (338 DAYS PEOPLEEEE!!!;)...but...well, that's that. It would be all those things and fun...mostly for me;)

at the moment I'm thinking winter. We wait till the snow flies and then get comfy cozy with soem boots (which are on my wish list - see here:), mittens, rosey cheeks and some coffee.

PS. Just thought of a great location - Courts...can you read my thoughts...coffee...scarves, mittens, picking up some coffee...?!?!

carden photography

frosty weddings (all links to photographers are at this site)

PS. I've never wanted to get married in the winter MORE than I did after looking at that site. The idea of wearing some adorable fozzy boots under my dress and having any excuse to wear faux fear on the day I get married....yes. I'll take a winter wedding please:)

love. love. and a fake smile;)

yesterday me and Jacob ventured into unchartered territory...and that was TRYING TO LOOK GOOD ON FILM!!!! This is no easy feat for the 2 of us. But surprisingly enough, out of 600 photos, we found a few that made us look almost presentable;)

my oldest sister, Courts and my mom, Mom (serving as the 'wing man') took some amazing photos. I wasn't sure what to expect and whatever it was that I was hoping for...these photos exceeded that! I'm SO excited about what they were able to do! And mostly I'm sooooo SO excited for Courts cause this is a passion of hers and I hope that someday...soon....she can actually quit her current job (that she makes very little doing and doesn't enjoy - to put it mildly) to take pictures (and possibly make very little at but ENJOY).


and a HUGE thanks to mom for coming along! My mom has always had a knack at taking photos and maybe that's where Courts gets her talent from but either way...I'm already itching to try it again...maybe with snow this time!!!!!????:)





and no photo shoot of ours would be complete with out Jacob looking like a total RA-tard...or possum in this case!!!;)


check out more photos at Courts site HERE and my Mom's site HERE! Enjoy:)

no birds needed.

inititally, when the whole planning a wedding business started, I thought for.sure I wanted to have a bird cage for our 'card box'. And then it morphed into wanting a hanging bird cage and then somehow we ended up with a vintage suit case. This is our process, don't ask!

i knew that I loved the bird cage but didn't feel like it suited me and Jacob. I don't necessarily think the suitcase does either, at least not 100% but I think that's mainly because it's a highly used idea here in the blog world. For our teeny hometown...this will be brilliant;)
BUT even though we moved away from the bird cage idea (which is obvious because 4 out of 6 of my immediate family members are scared of birds...not just a pretty bird singing a song...groups of birds. Birds hanging out with 127 of their close friends for NO good reason in the tree outside my front door. HELLO. I've SEEN the Movie 'Birds'. I knowwww what they're capable of!!!) I knew I still loved the birdcage idea and now I know why and besides knowing why...I know now I can finally get one of those hanging bird cages I've wanted so badly and I have a picture in mind of how it'll fit into our lives:)

lights. Lights, bulbs...IN the birdcage.

erin hearts court

here's to you:)

photo via Tulips & Flights Suits courtesy of Andrea Crabb

Shannen Norman Photography

just a few tid bits to help my sister, Courts, and my mom, Mom, become inspired for me and Jacob's engagement-ish pictures.

I should actually come up with a cooler name for that too. We aren't really doing anything with these pictures...except maybe to blow them up for our guests enjoyment. BUT maybe they're more like 'happy to be together pictures', 'we're not mad today pictures', 'I ate chewy sprees the whole way to this cabin and now I'm sitting on the dock pretending to smile while my stomach does flips that the Olympics have NEVER SEEN!!! pictures'...something like that.

they're coming up. October is the month we've decided on and then we're going from there...can't wait to see what we can make happen!

boat. boat. boat. boat.

Christine Farah Photography

we are SO boat people and so far we've decided that the engagement picutres, IN a boat, must happen. We just want any and all engagement pictures that we take to reflect our personalities. SO we're thinking:

- the boat situation

- possibly an antique store cause that's where we spend most of our time when we visit our wedding site in La Crosse, WI
- besides that...we've got nothng...maybe w/ the dogs...ONLY cause Jacob loves them so;)

and how cute are these from 100 Layer Cake!? They're gorgeous. My favorite has to be of the picture from inside the boat. Just adorable. In.Every.Way!

please make us look pretty.

SO...is it bad engaged couple etiquette to tell the engagement photographer how to do her job?! To tell her that ALL our pictures must be somewhat artsy, completely candid...that I feel that that best captures me and Jacob?! I mean, honestly. We're just not straight on camera people. We're not actors, we're not posers...it is what it is. And the more I TRY to look cute and posed the more POSED I look. Tis' seriously annoying.

i adore this picture. God. Crying in the cubby again!!!!...but maybe it's just the fact that I see this in me and Jacob. Just a cool as cucumbers shot...possibly not even aware of it happening. It's just us:)

check out Heather P. King Photography. VERY good stuff. And this shot was actually helped along by One Love Photo, where Heather was attending a photo workshop. One Love Photo is beyond anything I could ever imagine...just beautiful. Speechless is what they leave me. If only!:)

we could handle this.

even Green Wedding Shoes refers to this engagement session as 'Hip'. And are me and Jacob NOT the definition of Hip?! Yes. I will answer that for you....and quickly;)


just simple and relaxed. Feels good to me. Feels good for us:)

photos courtesy of Braedon Weddings via Green Wedding Shoes

oh, and not so much the random room ones. I'm thinking just the standing w/ hands in the pocket kiss, super snuggling going for it kiss and hippy style colorful shot.

andddd we're also boat people.

boats are super cute - check. there should be a boat or 2 in the area where we have our engagement pictures taken at...I'll have to do some research on cute little boat rentals- check. Jacob loves fishing and boats and being on the water...as do I - check.

so yes. We're hoping an adorable little paddle boat will be involved in our engagement session:)

photos courtesy of Polka Dot Bride via Tea Lily Photography

photos courtesy of Green Wedding Shoes via Sarah Yates

we're dock people.

photo courtesy of Kellie Kano Photography

photo courtesy of Ben Godkin

photo courtesy of Curt O'Neil Photography

photos courtesy of Snaptacular Photos

docks are super cute - check. there are lots of docks in the area where we'll be getting our engagement pictures taken - check.

so yes. We've decided to go ahead with engagement pictures sometime in June of next year and there will be docks involved:)

water frolicking.

photo via Liga Photography

honestly...I could never get Jacob in a body of water for the sake of engagement pictures...BUT if I could....this would be happening!

perfectly simple.

photos courtesy of The Bride's Cafe via Justine Ungaro

seeing as the cost of our photographer for a Thursday night ceremony (3hrs....ish - total) would only be $50 cheaper ($500) if we cut out the engagement photos, we are thinking it may be smartest just to go ahead and spend the $550 and get the whole package. I don't think anyone's ever complained of having TOO many great pictures together?!

so my thoughts on the pictures above are:

- i love the poses...relaxed and natural.

- i love being barefoot

- i love the simplicity of the outfits. This feels like something me and Jacob would feel most comfortable in. Instead of putting all that pressure on making sure our outfits completely jive without being stiff or too matchy matchy or make us look slim....and still being US!

- and I can do anything with a white top....accessorize...or....accessorize. So I CAN make it all me with just a few minor adjustments to a blank canvas.

and besides all that...we are not actors. We can not fake anything. So we're hoping that this doesn't turn out to be an awkward disaster....And I don't mean to say that we'll be faking whatever comes out on film but it's hard to see that camera going and not freeze up. Don't get me wrong...me and Jacob are adorable...we definitely have the fun, adorable, fun loving, happy thing going for us....but I think the right photographer can put us at ease and make magic happen. IF it's possible for us to be more magical than we already are;).

my hair.

photo courtesy of Julie Harris Photography

all I hope for my hair on the big day is that it look natural and this IS my hair in these pictures. My dream hair. I've been growing mine out since I can remember (last year sometime...Butttt it feels like forrrrrEVER!!!) and I just want it to look natural.

come the end of July I'm scheduled to have it colored and I'm soooo looking forward to getting a rich, warm, solid color back into it. This would be my ideal.

engagement boots.

i was BEYOND excited to see this post on Erin Hearts Court, a photography site. Beautttttiful work!

the most important part of these pictures is the boots. Obviously the pictures are super cute and laid back and this I love for me and J. BUT those are MY boots. The $160 Wedding Aldo's that J agreed to let me have:)

I guess I'm just pumped to see them with a summer-ish outfit cause I was worried that mine might be Justttt for winter and I just think they're too awesome to leave in the closet for 4 months!

And again...getting more and more excited about the possibility of getting some engagement pictures done. We still have to do some math and see if we can swing professional ones and they'd really only be for our benefit anyways...otherwise we plan to have mama do it. But I'm tempted. More and MORE tempted!