The Fix by Jasmine Star.

I sat staring at my computer screen. Frozen in fear with my mouse hovering over the 'purchase' button.

Am I enough of a photographer to warrant going to this?

Jasmine Star was going to be in Phoenix putting on a speaking event. And yes, I was crippled with self doubt and extreme nervousness at the thought of being in a room with a hundred or so other photographers who, cleary, would all be more talented and further into their business than me.

In the end, my creepy blog stalking love of Jasmine Star and the desire to hear what she had to say won out. I bought a ticket.

I am so glad that I did.

The Fix was so much more than I could have ever expected. My mind was honestly blown. Jasmine shares her knowledge so openly and challenges you to push yourself and not settle. Plus, I got to give her a hug. In real life. She official knows that I exist!!


Thanks Sarah for the photo's!

The Fix was about identifying the weaknesses in YOUR own business and setting out ways to change that. This wasn't a one solution fits all - do what I do - type of talk, it was really about finding what works for you & your business.



Another large component to The Fix that Jasmine stressed as very important is making friends and allies within the photography industry. Banding together to make each other better. And honestly, that was my favourite part of the night. Other than the hug from Jasmine ;) I surprised myself by breaking out of my self conscious habits and actually going up to people and introducing myself.

I was so honoured and lucky to meet many great photographers and walk away with new friends. Amy, Jordan, & Vanessa - thank you for being so wonderful. I am so glad that when I had to start a new table at P.F. Changs, and feel like a total loner, you were the ones to sit next to me. I loved spending the evening with you all!



Oh, and sorry again Ashley & Sara for creeping hardcore. I really am not a stalker. I promise.


Thanks Ashley for taking a photo with me!

I left The Fix feeling motivated,inspired, and really - just high on life. There is so much more to come about what I learned at The Fix and changes I hope to implement; but, I have to sort through all the craziness going through my head first!


Yes, I had Jasmine sign my Exposed magazine - I felt like such a groupie! But it was totally worth it.

Film.

I remember my mom's special camera. Her good camera. The one that only came out for certain special occasions.

I remember being entranced by it. Sneaking into her room to look at it and sometimes even take pictures with it. Which, clearly, she would always find out about. There was - literally - photo evidence.



My first photo shoot was with this camera. I was probably 10 or 11 and I made my brothers pose in our backyard - by the tree, on the swing set, by the fence. I remember thinking there wasn't actually film in the camera so we were just playing around. Oh, but there was film. We still have those photo's.

This camera was my mom's first big purchase after graduating University. She wanted a nice camera. Something I didn't realize we had in common. So this camera, now considered 'vintage' I'm sure, has been in our family for a long time.



I asked her to bring it out when she came to visit. Film photography has been something I've wanted to try out for a while now. And I just happened to know someone with a nice film camera ;)

To be honest, film photography scares the crap out of me. Not being able to check the lcd display to see if you got a good shot. Only having one chance. But, it makes you really evaluate the photo you are wanting to take. To put more thought in before you click the shutter.

I don't know if anything good will come of this adventure with film. I'll just have to wait and see what develops ;)

Our Wedding Vendors: Part 2

And now for Part 2 of the vendors who made our wedding so amazing! Catch up with Part 1 here.

Attire:

Scott & the groomsmen all wore tuxes from Tip Top. They were so great to deal with - especially since all of the groomsmen were from Winnipeg and were picking them up in Lethbridge! I'm so happy with our choice - they guys all looked so dashing, especially my groom ;)



I actually ordered my dress online! I lucked out big time and loved it :) Not for everyone but for the price it was worth the risk.



My hair piece was made by the fantastic Amanda from Add Love Accessories. I gave her a rough idea and she custom made exactly what I wanted. I loved it so much that I had her make a hair piece for the flower girl and a boutonniere for the ring bearer! Seriously, love her and her amazing products!



Remember my shoe glitterizing adventures? They were a big hit at the wedding! Also, my mom made my veil 5 days before the wedding - SO much more affordable then buying it from a bridal salon! My friend's mom lent me the crushed velvet cape she wore at her own November wedding twenty some years ago and it completed my outfit perfectly.



Transportation:

We were referred by a coworker to Executive 4Star Limo. They have such nice limo's and it was the perfect way to get around on the day! Dave, the owner, was great to work with and made sure all the details were taken care of. Our limo was even stocked with complimentary champagne! Cheer's to that!


The boys with our driver, Carl.

Flowers:

I am so lucky to have an Aunt who is a retired florist. I was able to cut costs drastically by ordering growers bunches of flowers from Grower Direct & Costco. My Aunt did such a good job - I loved all the florals!



Stationary:

Another huge cost cutting for us was ordering all of our stationary - invites, programs, menu's - from Vistaprint. I loved the simple design we chose that fit with our colours and that we were able to customize everything. I was impressed with the quality of the product as well.



Cake:

We ordered our cake from Edible Elegance Cake & Bake Shop. I was a little disappointed with their customer service and we had to do a last minute change of design because of a miscommunication. So, I didn't get exactly what I wanted but we did have a beautiful cake that tasted amazing.



Rings:

Last, but definitely not least, a super big thank you to Corrie from Heavy Metal Design for designing our rings! The wedding rings are the outward symbol of your marriage and VERY important. I fell in love with my custom designed engagement ring and it was so great to work with Corrie to design our wedding bands. She made sure we got exactly what we wanted and was never annoyed with all of my emails :)




We had a lot of people come together to make our day amazing and I am so thankful to each and every one of them. We were blessed with such a great wedding.

I hope this helped even one bride; but, if not then I am just happy giving a shout out to those involved! THANK YOU!! You are all very, very appreciated.

Our Wedding Vendors: Part 1

Our amazing wedding wouldn't have been nearly as amazing if it wasn't for our wonderful vendors!

I hope that this helps even one bride planning her wedding; but, if not then I'm okay with this serving as a shout out to all of the people who we worked with. They deserve a HUGE thank you!

This is only Part 1 - there were a lot of people involved in making our wedding happen!


Venue:

Our ceremony was at the Galt Museum & Archives. I loved all the natural light and the view - we got many compliments from our guests! Also, big thank you to Scott's cousin Ron Hermes for marrying us :)



The reception & dance was at the Coast Hotel and it was so perfect. We fell in love with the beautiful ballroom with its amazing chandelier but it was really the staff who made choosing this location so great. Tracy was so great to work with and they made sure every request was met. It didn't hurt that the food was UNREAl as well!



Sidenote: We were able to bring our own alcohol into the Coast and so we ordered everything from Petris Liquor and the service we received was amazing - Michelle was very knowledgable and helped us decide what and how much to order. The big plus for us was that it was all delivered - so stress free dealing with them!


Decor:

Lily from Everything Beautiful Events is the best. Ever. She has many rental options and I was able to bring in my own decor elements as well. She made my vision for decor come to life and the best part - she did ALL the set up and take down. It made our day SO stress free and I didn't have to ask any family members to do it! I really cannot give enough praise to Lily for the amazing work she does. Any Lethbridge area brides - you NEED to get in touch with her! This by far the best decision we made regarding the wedding.





Photography:

I am very lucky to call Genevieve Renee a friend and was even more lucky to have her capture my day. I just got my photo's back and they are so wonderful. All photo's in this post are her's!



Photo Booth:

Early on in the wedding planning Scott & I decided that we really wanted to have a photo booth at the reception and thanks to Shannon Pratt Photography it was a HUGE hit! All of our guests got to take home both photo strips from their trip into the booth and then we received a disc with ALL of the photo's taken! So much fun!



Videography:

I am also very lucky to know a talented lady - Tremaine - who was thrilled at the idea of using my wedding as a chance to build her videography portfolio. Win - Win! Documenting the day on video was very important to me as there is so much happening and everything goes by so quickly that you can barely commit everything to memory! Also, thanks to her friend Steve for helping out.



Music:

I bullied Scott into hiring Karin from Simply Harp to do the music for our ceremony and we are both so happy with our choice! Yes, even Scott. It was the perfect, simple, lovely way to add music to our ceremony. Karin was so great to work with and made sure we got exactly the type of music that would fit our personalities and the feel of our wedding. And HUGE thanks to Cairo for doing an accompaniment on the violin :)



It was an easy decision to hire Sounds Unlimited to DJ our wedding reception. Cary & his team do everything they can to make sure your reception is exceptional. From our very first meeting I knew we were in good hands and they didn't disappoint. Definitely worth the investment. Our guests were on the dance floor the whole night!



More vendor love coming - Part 2 on Wednesday!