Capture The Moment 4

The GTB and I made our first Saturday stop at 1Fine Day‘s studio in NE Minneapolis. We met with Brett who was so fun — she works as a sort of coordinator for the studio (which is under the umbrella of Serendipity Photography.

We chatted with her for a while. It’s funny, I completely followed everything she said. We got into the car and the GTB was like, “She was just throwing numbers at us! I couldn’t keep up!” He’s a brilliant man, but get two girls talking and throwing numbers around in a somewhat non-logical way and “look out!”

Anyway, we checked out some images and got a feel for what our day would look like, time-wise. It was weird, this is the only studio that offered this information.

Capture The Moment 3

We met Kristian of KOFoto on Friday night as well (wow — we are exciting! Looks like we traded the bar scene to peruse other peoples’ wedding albums).

We met at his in-home studio and were impressed off the bat. But, who wouldn’t be if they were invited into a room with some key photographs displayed on the wall *hello gorgeous 3’x4′ gloss wedding photo* as well as a comfy, contemporary couch, yummy wall colors and a 42″ tv displaying a 1000+ image slideshow. It was all very welcome and inviting.

We spoke with Kristian for over an hour about ideas, thoughts, our ceremony/reception details and ourselves.

He was so easy to talk to, and was brimming with super-memorable ideas.

Right now, he’s on our short list. We’re estimating him to meet all our needs at around $3,400 for 6 hours (his basic package starts at $2,500).

For the quality of work he does (and the care he takes in his photography), I think the price is totally fair.

The question of whether we are comfortable spending that amount (really, about 1/5 of our attempted budget — remember we are trying to do this without incurring debt, but we are realisitic) is now being mulled over.

Who knows, Kristian may be our guy. We’ll let you know 🙂

Photographer World Tour

OK, this has officially gotten out of hand. I’m in over my head and I’m burning out on wedding crap.

Last weekend I had some errands to run and I was none too excited about it. Little did I know, that was nothing. This coming weekend we’ve got a small tour of the state planned and all we’re planning to accomplish is finding a photographer.

This is all because the BTB is a researcher. You give her a topic and she’ll know everything about it in a matter of minutes. I swear she could find your name without you even telling her. I should have known I’d end up reviewing every web site devoted to weddings before this was over.

So, after hours of research, we’re visiting with 5 different photographers. FIVE. We’re going to Shakopee, Roseville and Lakeville. If you don’t know where any of those places are, don’t worry, neither do I. I shouldn’t have to. I live in Minneapolis. Everything I need is in Minneapolis.

When my friends ask me what I did for superbowl weekend, I’m going to lie. I have no other choice.

The Next Step

I know the ring is not coming for a while… weeks, maybe months.

What’s a girl to do in the interim? If I were any normal girl, I’d probably relax, basking in the thought that someone loves me enough to put a ring on my finger and ask me to be his wife.

But me, what do I do? Create spreadsheets — dozens of them. With information on florists and dresses, caterers, reception halls, photographers and linen-rentals.

Then, I research and tick them off the list. Its pretty refreshing to have a list of 40 potential reception sites whittled down to 4. But… I can’t rightfully start calling places, I mean, he is not my *fiance* yet — and to call him my *boyfriend* would be like dragging nails against a chalkboard.

You can be assured I will assess these and more (and share them with you) in the coming months.

So, I create lists, and I research, like any good trendy-yet-nerdy girl would do.