Checking In

I haven’t been writing too often over here mostly because now that we’ve booked our venue, we don’t have anything pressing to book for another few months. The next priority is to book a photographer and officiant.

I’ve started looking at photographers in the Hudson Valley. I’ve found one that I really like, one that I like and a lot that I really, really don’t like! The one I really like is Kelly Vasami Photographer. I really love her style and her ability to capture moments. I also think she’s really successful at capturing the atmosphere of a room, rather than using flash the highlight the subjects in the photo and letting everything else darken in the background. The only problem? Price. I’m concerned that the starting fee is just too high.

The photographers I like are Candeo Photo. It’s two guys who I believe are just starting up their wedding photo business and again, I like their style. They capture color well. I found them, because they photographed at my venue. They capture color really well. They haven’t updated their blog recently and I’d really like to see more pictures! They’re significantly cheaper than Kelly Vasami, but while I like what I see on their website, they don’t have a lot of experience yet, so I’d definitely want to meet with them and look at full wedding albums.

But, as I said, much of the photographers I’ve seen are disappointing. Way too dependent on light flares, skewed angles and fisheye lenses. I’m looking for someone who can capture moments. Paul and I have the type of relationship where we steal kisses and whisper jokes to each other. I want someone who will be paying attention to those moments and capture them on film.

The officiant is Paul’s job! I’m hoping for a judge of some sort. We considered having a family friend ordained to conduct the wedding, but unfortunately in New York, you have to be ordained as a clergy member or a member of government. I believe you can get ‘ordained’ online by one of those online churches, but I don’t want that. I want a secular ceremony and even if the minister or reverend can conduct a secular service, they’re still a minister or reverend. I’ll have to start bugging Paul about that soon. We have a couple of recommendations for town clerks and judges from the venues. We’ll see how it goes.

Anyway, I’m planning on trying on dresses at the end of the month! Once my maid of honor, Kelly, finishes her semester and before she start her summer semester (which I’m also doing, but at a different school and significantly less classes, crazy lady..) we’re going to head over to a bridal salon or two to get an idea of what I like and don’t and how the whole trying on dresses ordeal works. I’m also planning to go to a hometown bridal salon with my sister at the end of the month when I go home for another friend’s bridal shower. Should be fun!