Adventures have been on my mind a lot lately, and I think that's because until recently I haven't allowed my adventurous side to live up to its full potential. This was all brought into light when my sister and her boyfriend & 2 dogs embarked on one hell of an adventure, driving from Chicago in a wet noodle shaped loop around North America, from Canada to Maine, Washington DC to Memphis, Arkansas to Texas, Santa Fe to the Black Hills, our hometown of Sioux (Sewer) City here to KC and then back to Chicago. Granted this was quite the trip that warranted good reasoning and planning, but it was very much an adventure! Then, just days after my sister & co. left KC to go back to their home city, two of my greatest friends went on their own adventure, moving across the nation to Portland, OR. Well that did it. A fire inside was lit! Dan and I had a mini-adventure planned, a wedding in Columbia, MO. Sure it may not have been as grand as what my family & cohorts had accomplished, but it was a start, especially since I've never been to Columbia.
Well, the wedding setup went great, all except for me forgetting the flower girls' flowers at home (still upset about that, never having happened before), and everyone was happy. So Dan and I ventured from the safe confines of the winery in Rocheport that the wedding was being held at, and found ourselves going out to a great dinner in Columbia... on an MU game night. Now, life inside the restaurant was great. The food was great, wine was great, service was great, but once we left... things were scary. Getting out of there certainly qualified as an adventure! At times of sitting and waiting for droves of Columbia fans to clear the streets for the patient (and not so patient, tee hee) vehicles to pass through the treasured green lights, I had fleeting daydreams of monster-trucking my Nissan Pathfinder out of there, but alas, I refrained. After 20 minutes & four blocks we finally made it out of the throngs & back to the winery to clean up.
Upon returning to our scary little hotel room late that night Dan offered the most brilliant observation I've heard in a long, long time: we were only half-way across the state from our nearest beloved Trader Joe's grocery store in Chesterfield, MO, and we probably wouldn't be back there anytime within the next year. So that was it! We set our alarms and set our brains, headed out an hour late the next morning and drove nearly 2 hours to Chesterfield, MO to go grocery shopping! If anyone has ever gone to Trader Joe's and doesn't have one nearby, I'm sure you understand our logic! If anyone has never gone to Trader Joe's and doesn't have one nearby, trust our logic! Go on an adventure!
We squished all of the wedding stuff to one side of the car, including a custom-made arch of Curly Willow on wrought iron stands, vases, flowers, candles, etc. and filled the other side with oodles of delicious healthy food and 2 cases of cheap wine! On our way home we ate cheese and crackers, tiny champagne grapes & juice and took in the lovely mid Missouri scenery, stopping again in small town Rocheport to see the great old buildings, then stopping back at the winery to buy a bottle and take in the view one more time. We may have gotten home 6 hours later than planned, but having a decent adventure of my own was well worth it.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The importance of a good wedding photographer
Some time ago I had this discussion with my boyfriend and have decided to blog about it. Being a Floral Designer you'd think I'd tout the importance of having wondrous incredible expensive flowers and decor for your wedding, but if I did it'd be in conflict with what I truly believe. When it comes to weddings, my belief in all of my experience is you shouldn't limit what you spend on a photographer. Now that's not to say that you have to skimp on everything else just to put all of your budget in your photography selections, nor is it to say that just because they're expensive you should hire them. What I'm saying is that choosing a photographer should be ranked up there as one of your most important decisions in planning your wedding and you should be prepared to pay for it.
Think about it; besides memories, the rings and maybe the occasional momento, the photos are what are going to last forever. They also often inspire the memories, the ones you forget until you look at the pictures again. They tell the stories that maybe you're not able to. How often do you hear your grandmother talk about her bridesmaid dresses, the number of tiers or style of frosting on her cake, the options the bar had, hell, even the table centerpieces? Now of course, all of these are important if they mean a lot to you, but how will you truly remember all of these minute details if you don't have good pictures to look back at 50 years later?
Photography has literally shaped the world we live in. It tells us stories, tells us facts, makes us feel, makes us learn. What does your cake do for the world? Sure it's delicious, but it's gone by the end of the night. Your wedding pictures will last through the years and will have more of an impact on not only you, but anyone who looks at them, than say your programs or the little gifts that most of your wedding guests leave on the table anyway.
When choosing a photographer you should look thoroughly at their portfolios as well as meet with them. Don't choose one just because so-and-so used them at their wedding, and don't choose them because they're the hot new thing or because they advertise everywhere. That doesn't mean they're good or more importantly, a good fit for you. And don't choose them because someone else wants you to, tell Mom to back off, you love her but this isn't her wedding, nor is it your sister's or friend's or cousin's, etc. A wedding picture should inspire emotion, and you'll want to love the pictures after 50 years as much as you do after 5 months. Your photographer and their style should suit you as well as your dress suits you. When you meet with them, do they talk about themselves the entire time or do they ask questions about you? When you look at their pictures, can you see yourself in them? Why? What features do you recognize about their photos; do you see a lot of similar poses, any you like? Do you seen any poses or does it all seem as though these were just amazing passing moments? Does the feel of the picture change with each couple? My judgement of a great photo is when I look at it I feel as if I was there, I feel as though that's my memory. Ask around about them, find past references that they didn't give you. How were they on the wedding day? Were they on time, polite, unobtrusive?
I once went to a wedding of a friend who wanted to save money so she went with the photographer that a friend of a friend of her mom suggested. The lady showed up in in shorts, a t-shirt and tennis shoes and was a major distraction to everyone attending the stunningly beautiful ceremony. When I visit them, I don't see their prefessional wedding photos out on display, I see the shots that their moms and friends got that were more realistic, true to the moment. That's because they didn't research or really choose this photographer. The pictures that their moms & friends captured were great despite the fact the lighting was off or maybe they're a little blurry, but the emotion you get is great and that's because the people taking the pictures know them, recognize their emotion, recognize the important moments. A good photographer will be able to recognize those important moments, take your photos tactfully & gracefully, and it will be reflected in your wedding photographs so in 50 years when your grandchildren ask you about your wedding, you'll happily pull your album out and remember all of the emotions and details as if it was yesterday.
Think about it; besides memories, the rings and maybe the occasional momento, the photos are what are going to last forever. They also often inspire the memories, the ones you forget until you look at the pictures again. They tell the stories that maybe you're not able to. How often do you hear your grandmother talk about her bridesmaid dresses, the number of tiers or style of frosting on her cake, the options the bar had, hell, even the table centerpieces? Now of course, all of these are important if they mean a lot to you, but how will you truly remember all of these minute details if you don't have good pictures to look back at 50 years later?
Photography has literally shaped the world we live in. It tells us stories, tells us facts, makes us feel, makes us learn. What does your cake do for the world? Sure it's delicious, but it's gone by the end of the night. Your wedding pictures will last through the years and will have more of an impact on not only you, but anyone who looks at them, than say your programs or the little gifts that most of your wedding guests leave on the table anyway.
When choosing a photographer you should look thoroughly at their portfolios as well as meet with them. Don't choose one just because so-and-so used them at their wedding, and don't choose them because they're the hot new thing or because they advertise everywhere. That doesn't mean they're good or more importantly, a good fit for you. And don't choose them because someone else wants you to, tell Mom to back off, you love her but this isn't her wedding, nor is it your sister's or friend's or cousin's, etc. A wedding picture should inspire emotion, and you'll want to love the pictures after 50 years as much as you do after 5 months. Your photographer and their style should suit you as well as your dress suits you. When you meet with them, do they talk about themselves the entire time or do they ask questions about you? When you look at their pictures, can you see yourself in them? Why? What features do you recognize about their photos; do you see a lot of similar poses, any you like? Do you seen any poses or does it all seem as though these were just amazing passing moments? Does the feel of the picture change with each couple? My judgement of a great photo is when I look at it I feel as if I was there, I feel as though that's my memory. Ask around about them, find past references that they didn't give you. How were they on the wedding day? Were they on time, polite, unobtrusive?
I once went to a wedding of a friend who wanted to save money so she went with the photographer that a friend of a friend of her mom suggested. The lady showed up in in shorts, a t-shirt and tennis shoes and was a major distraction to everyone attending the stunningly beautiful ceremony. When I visit them, I don't see their prefessional wedding photos out on display, I see the shots that their moms and friends got that were more realistic, true to the moment. That's because they didn't research or really choose this photographer. The pictures that their moms & friends captured were great despite the fact the lighting was off or maybe they're a little blurry, but the emotion you get is great and that's because the people taking the pictures know them, recognize their emotion, recognize the important moments. A good photographer will be able to recognize those important moments, take your photos tactfully & gracefully, and it will be reflected in your wedding photographs so in 50 years when your grandchildren ask you about your wedding, you'll happily pull your album out and remember all of the emotions and details as if it was yesterday.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Uh oh, long time no post...
What can I say? I've been busy! I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a good blogger. I'm most certainly a busy bee, to the point that normal conversation with live humans can even be a challenge, let alone sitting me down in front of a computer long enough to type something other than an email or a proposal. But alas, that's not your problem!
I recently celebrated my 25th birthday, and we did this by inviting a slew of friends from all of our various factions of our lives because, well, they're our friends, and also for a bit of a social experiment. We all have friends from various places, school, work, old jobs, friends of friends, etc., but how often do we get the chance to put them all together? And you wonder, would so-and-so get along with so-and-so? Would they even mingle? Would they see new sides of us once they got to know our other friends, and would they like that side? Dan and I took that chance, and you know what? It went great! We couldn't believe it! We didn't even need to be there!
Honestly though, I think I discovered the secret, the ultimate key to making people mesh. You know what it was? Cheese. Really good cheese. A lot of it. We had probably 8 kinds of delicious cheeses, from mozzarella and Wisconsin cheddar to crazy spanish ones that no one can spell nor pronounce. It's true of any great comfort food recipe: use cheese as a binder. It was one of the greatest, most comforting, fun and delicious birthdays I've had in a long long time.
I recently celebrated my 25th birthday, and we did this by inviting a slew of friends from all of our various factions of our lives because, well, they're our friends, and also for a bit of a social experiment. We all have friends from various places, school, work, old jobs, friends of friends, etc., but how often do we get the chance to put them all together? And you wonder, would so-and-so get along with so-and-so? Would they even mingle? Would they see new sides of us once they got to know our other friends, and would they like that side? Dan and I took that chance, and you know what? It went great! We couldn't believe it! We didn't even need to be there!
Honestly though, I think I discovered the secret, the ultimate key to making people mesh. You know what it was? Cheese. Really good cheese. A lot of it. We had probably 8 kinds of delicious cheeses, from mozzarella and Wisconsin cheddar to crazy spanish ones that no one can spell nor pronounce. It's true of any great comfort food recipe: use cheese as a binder. It was one of the greatest, most comforting, fun and delicious birthdays I've had in a long long time.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Workin' on the house...
So this weekend has been the first in a long slew of weekends that we've had a chance to work on ye olde house. It's been quite fun, and let me tell you, a long time coming! Have I mentioned previously that my boyfriend Dan and I bought an 82-year-old house in Waldo? Well, we did. We love it, and all of its trials and tribulations!
Our tub faucet has decided to spring a leak, so we rushed out to our favorite collection of hardware stores- check out Habitat for Humanity's ReStore- and got a new fixture, rushed home, realized it didn't fit, rushed back out, got another, realized that it didn't stop the problem... damn! We've done our research and come to the conclusion that we have to replace our mixer valve- wish us luck :\
...to be continued!
Our tub faucet has decided to spring a leak, so we rushed out to our favorite collection of hardware stores- check out Habitat for Humanity's ReStore- and got a new fixture, rushed home, realized it didn't fit, rushed back out, got another, realized that it didn't stop the problem... damn! We've done our research and come to the conclusion that we have to replace our mixer valve- wish us luck :\
...to be continued!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
I finally did it...
I finally did it, I finally created a blog. Thank you Mary! I just came home from a long and very rewarding conversation with my friend Mary, of Blue Window Creative, about how I need to diversify my stocks capitalize my assets- haha, just kidding, I don't actually try to understand what all of that mumbo jumbo is! Honestly though, we talked about how it's time I create a blog and show all of you dears and darlings just what exactly I'm all about, which can be difficult to explain on a website as it's more stagnant than a blog is. So here you go! I will be working very hard to get on here frequently to post some pictures and explain more about myself and my business. I wish all of you bloggers best wishes and good reading!
Bridget Kelly
Ornamental Petal
www.OrnamentalPetal.com
Bridget Kelly
Ornamental Petal
www.OrnamentalPetal.com
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