Wedding Blog

Confession of the day: I was completely and utterly unprepared for our engagement/casual shoot.

We originally planned to have our photo shoot with Cly Creations right after the holidays, but we’ve been so busy with other things that we didn’t even schedule it until just a few weeks ago. Jiyee from Makeup Blush was to do my makeup for the shoot, so it took a little time to find a date that was good for all of us.

Our first dilemma was the location. Actually, it was just my dilemma. Mr. Martini knew exactly where he wanted to take pictures - By the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park, where he proposed to me at the end of the scavenger hunt. As for me, I loved the West Village, but where in the West Village? I didn’t know my way around the area, and since our time was limited, I didn’t want to waste time walking around looking for a good place to take pictures.

But why was I so dead set on the West Village, when I’m a Jersey girl who’s hardly even ventured there? For Mrs. Bee’s birthday one year, we did a Scavenger hunt through Watson Adventures. The hunt took us all over the Village area looking for strange clues that I would never have noticed in passing. There was just so much history there, and I completely fell in love.

When we got engaged and it was time to think about our engagement session, this area immediately came to mind. There were a few places where I just felt I had to go to take pictures, but my problem was that I just couldn’t remember the exact locations. In a last moment of desperation two days before the shoot, I called Watson Adventures and…. well… asked. Luckily, they were just so nice! I tried to describe the street the best way that I could and she immediately knew where it was. She did warn me that the area is a private street, and she wasn’t too sure about the policies for taking pictures there. I thanked her and jotted down the location, fingers crossed.

Our second dilemma was the clothes. Actually, it was just my dilemma. Again. Mr. Martini knew exactly what he was going to wear, down to the cufflinks. I didn’t have any clothes, and didn’t have time buy anything! I tried to borrow some clothes a week before from one of my MOHs, who is always so fashion savvy. I was hoping that after losing a few pounds I would be able to squeeze into her tiny clothes, but I was seriously mistaken. I did borrow a few tops as a backup and went through my closet again and again. In a last moment of desperation, I called Mr. Martini and… well… asked (seeing the pattern here?). He told me his planned outfits - brown for the casual pictures, and a navy suit for the dressier pictures. He recommended I wear the blue dress he bought for me, which was the dress I got engaged in. I wasn’t too sure at first because it was also the dress I wore to our family engagement dinner, but I did love it, so I agreed. For the casual pictures, I decided to wear a brown coat that my brother bought for me, along with jeans. I had to laugh. I finally knew what I was going to wear only the NIGHT before the engagement shoot, and both outfits were not only bought for me, they were bought by men!

I went to bed thinking, hmm… not bad so far…

How hard was it to get everything prepared for your own engagement shoot? How long did it take you to find outfits?