Engagements Part 2 -How To Coordinate Outfits

Cakes: @kennascakes // Photos: Cecilia Harvard Photography // Outfits: Me, Skirt: c/o ChicWish // Top: Express // Mitch, Top: American Eagle // Pants: American Eagle

Hey guys, here comes Part 2 of our lovely engagement session with Cecilia! I'm sure you're all going to be sick of seeing engagement photos by the time I'm done sharing them but Cec did such a great job and there were just too many to cram all into one post. Anyway, buckle yer seatbelts because we've got Part 2 today and Part 3 later this week. :) 

With this post I thought I'd share some tips on choosing the perfect engagement outfits! 

PICK AN AESTHETIC OR FEEL FOR YOUR SHOOT THAT REFLECTS BOTH OF YOUR STYLES

The biggest thing is probably to decide whether you're going to go for casual looks, semi-formal, or formal. This totally is dependent upon your own styles and whatever makes you both feel the most comfortable and yourselves. These photos are all about reflecting your unique relationship! If, like me, you're all about long flowing dresses, then floor-length dress that ish up! If you're more about jeans and a white pair of converse, then do you babe and rock them sneakers!

CHOOSE YOUR COLOR PALETTE

Once you know if you're going casual or dressy, it's time to pick a color palette. A good thing to keep in mind is your complementary colors. These are colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel. For instance, for Part 1 of our session (here) we were wearing more color. Mitch was in varying tints and shades of blue and I was in a burnt orange kind of color. Blue and Orange are complementary colors. For our looks in today's photos we were going for a more muted palette so we kept our colors to whites, beiges, and grays. 

DON'T BE TOO MATCHY-MATCHY

As great as the 90s were and as awesome as their comeback is, I sure am grateful we're over the all in denim or matching sweater-sets phase of photography, haha. If you're all in black don't put your beau all in black, you don't want to be wearing the same exact colors top and bottom. Doing this will make you both look like conjoined twins or an awkward blob in your snuggly or smoochy photos. Ain't nobody got time for that. ;) It's ok to be in similar colors but just as a rule of thumb, if you're wearing a white top put him in a colored top or something a little bit darker and vice-versa. 

DRESS FOR YOUR LOCATION

This is one thing I completely over-looked doing and I really regret it. Mitch and I picked out our own locations so I thought I had planned outfits that would work. However, I somehow forgot that the foliage in our locations would be very tall. Although I was wearing a floor-length dress and skirt, I should have brought leggings to wear underneath because trekking through those tall grasses with exposed legs got me some pretty bad poison ivy rashes. Therefore, if you're able to stake out your locations before-hand, DO IT and plan your outfits accordingly so you're not at risk for rashes or any other elements! 

Well, friends, that's all I've got for you today. If any of you are newly engaged and planning your photos, I hope this helps! 

Much love!

Engagements Part 1 -Marriage Here We Come!

Me- Dress: Bohme // Extensions: Laced Hair // Mitch- Button Up: American Eagle // Pants: h&m

PHOTOS: Cecilia Harvard Photography

Oh. Ma. Goodness. You guys, we got our engagements back and I am obsessed! Cecilia shot them for us and wow she did an amazing job! The only set-back from our session was that I got an INSANE poison ivy rash from our trek through these greens. I'm talking up and down BOTH legs. I was freaking out for a whole week thinking I had some form of herpes or something, haha. (Google is not your friend when you're trying to search for causes of hideous rashes) Thankfully, it was just poison ivy and I am now on proper medication that has brought down the swelling and itching. Yippee!

Anyway, I originally wanted to post the story of how Mitch and I met for this post but I'm currently working on getting a website up with wedding details and such that will include our story so for this post I will just get all sappy and talk about how flipping excited I am to get married! 

Love is such an interesting thing. You talk about it basically all of your life but you never really know what it feels like or how you will react to it personally. It's such an incredible thing. One minute you're bopping around in life just doing whatevs and having a blast and then next thing you know you're head over heels for someone you've basically just met and planning out the rest of your lives together. Crazy, right? I think I find it so interesting because I'm such a slow-going person that I'm shocked that I was all for it and that I'm so insanely confident about it. Just blows my mind, haha. 

Also, this last week was just such a wonderful testament to me that I chose the absolute BEST person for me. Mitch came to serve with me in my calling as a ward missionary and it was so great to have him there with me, working alongside me. I don't know, something about seeing him working to reach out to others just floored me and seeing how he so happily rushed over right after 8-hours of work to help me with my calling just gave me such a wonderful vision of what our married life could be like serving in the Church together. 

We also had such a great experience at Target, the other day. While we were waiting in the checkout line I got a phone-call that I had to take so I stepped away for a while and left Mitch in line. When I get back to him he's checked out but holding a cart and chatting to an older aged woman. I come up to him and with a big grin on his face he tells me, "I offered to help her take her groceries to her car and load them up for her, is that ok?" Of course I say it's more than ok and we head over to the older woman's car. As we're chatting we find out that her name is Helen, and apparently while I was away, Mitch had told her that we were engaged so she was enthusiastically asking us about our wedding plans. Anyway, we load up her car give her a warm goodbye and head on over to our car. As we're about to back out, though, we notice that someone's parked right behind us. Before we get a chance to even start wondering about it there's Helen at the driver-side window, handing Mitch a Target gift card and saying, "Thank you. Happy wedding!"

It's just moments like those, when I get to see Mitch's character shine that really just make me fall more in love with him than ever. He isn't perfect, no one is, but he is perfect for me. I read a talk on lds.org once that said that when we focus on the good of our spouse (or future spouse) the not so good things become less evident. I truly believe that. As I see all the ways that Mitch is the best choice for me, our little differences don't seem as important or as big a deal anymore. But hey, what do I know? I'm not even married yet, haha. Anyway, yeah, love, it's amazing!

Much love!

Carnival Days - Fourth of July Activities in Utah

Our shoes totally don't match, ha! His look so fancy and mine look so casual. :)

You can call him the horse whisperer, haha.

I don't know about you guys, but nothing says 'Summer' to me more than a good Carnival. I'd been wanting to go to the Strawberry Days Carnival for the last couple of years but I could never wrangle either of my sisters into coming with me. This year, though, I have a fiance! Which basically means I have a built in, 'come-with-me-to-all-my-random-activities' partner! ;) Heeheehee. I'm telling you guys, this night was so much fun. We had to wait in line for about 15min to get on the Ferris Wheel but it was well worth the wait because by the time it was our turn, we got to watch the sun start to set as we went around and around. PURRRRRfection.

Also, I have never EVER been much of a ride girl. I just always felt like they gave me way too much whip lash to be worth it and I just never really enjoyed the sinking stomach feeling, ya know? But I didn't want to have dragged Mitch all the way to this carnival with me and not ride any rides with him so I told myself I'd warm up with the kiddie rides and then we could try a few of the 'grown-up' rides that I knew he'd be dying to ride. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself for pushing myself out of my comfort zone, haha. I will say, though, that surprisingly the kiddie dragon ride in that last photo was the most terrifying. It was so jolty, and rickety. Not to mention, it was straight up like the ride that never ended. We went around that thing, no joke, about twenty times. I seriously started sobbing, haha. At first because it was sort of funny that it wasn't ending but by the end because I was seriously starting to panic that it was never going to end. 

Anyway, with the Fourth coming up this weekend I thought I'd simplify your lives a bit with a list of local carnivals/activities by city. You're welcome. ;)

Holiday: 

When- July 4, 6 p.m. 

What- Food booths, concessions, Crash Pontiacs, Salt Lake Symphony, fireworks, 

Where- Holliday Elementary, 2300 E. 4600 South, 272-9450.

Murray: 

When/What- July 4, 6:30 a.m. Lion's Club breakfast; 7 a.m. program with Murray Concert Band and Donal Snarr, Murray Park Amphitheater; 8 a.m. 5K race; 8:30 a.m. parade, Fashion Place Mall; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. food, games, military exhibits and entertainment, Murray Park Gazebo; 8:30 p.m. Remembering the Fab Four Beatles Tribute; 10 p.m. fireworks, 264-2664.

Riverton: 

When- July 3, 6:30 p.m. 

What- Parade followed by Jazz Band concert; movie in the park, food and drinks, 

Where- 12800 S. 1400 West. 

When/What- July 4, 7 a.m. 10K race and fun run, chuck wagon breakfast, bike ride; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tour De Riverton bike ride, men's softball tournament, food, vendors, games, ATV Rodeo, 7 p.m. Mark Owens Band country music, dusk, fireworks. 208-3101.

Salt Lake City: 

When- July 4, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 

What- Liberty Days

Where- This is the Place Heritage Park, 2601 E. Sunnyside Ave., 582-1847.

Sandy: 

When- July 4th, 7 a.m. -6 p.m. 

What- 5K fun run and 10K Sandy Classic; booths, rides, activities, live music, arts; parade; concert by Eclipse, followed by story-teller Sam Payne, fireworks at dusk. 

Where -Centennial Parkway at 10200 South, 801-568-2900.

Sugarhouse Park: 

When- July 4, 10 p.m. 

What- fireworks, 467-1721.

West Jordan: 

When/What- July 1, 2, and 4, Western Stampede Celebration, see www.jordan.com. July 4, 10:30 a.m. parade, 7000 S. Redwood Road; all-day events with craft booths, inflatable rides, kiddie rides, games, pie-eating contest, arts, crafts, BMX Tricksters and stage performances from bluegrass to country to rock 'n' roll, plus a special performance by the Phoenix Rising Tour, featuring Pat Tucker, fireworks at dusk, 569-5100.

Hope the list helps some of you find some fun activities in your area to celebrate the Fourth!

Much love!