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Miss Pretzel, Seattle Age and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing Engineer Engagement Date: September 2, 2009 Wedding Date: July 2010 Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown Studios About Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I was born and raised in New Hampshire, went to undergrad and grad school at Purdue University in Indiana, had my career take me to Wisconsin, Atlanta, and then finally settled in Seattle. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married. Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. We love Chuck Taylor All Stars, holding hands, clever t-shirts, bacon, KEXP Radio, craft beer, buying local, cooking from scratch, gardening, mastering our new Gocco, and of course, each other. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
About Miss Pretzel

Engagement Photos As a “Trial Run”

October 30th, 2009 @ 3:44 pm by Miss Pretzel

Sure, e–photos are pretty and fun, but what about using them to try out vendors/your skills before the wedding? Mr P and I call this “getting the most bang for our buck”. Sure, we were “trying out” our photographer, but we were also trying out an Etsy dress maker, my DIY skills for a hair flower (more on this in an upcoming post!), a makeup artist, and our skills (or lack of) in front of the camera.

an illustration of the dress

my illustration of the dress

E-photos gave me the perfect excuse to order a 1950’s party dress from the Etsy dress maker who is at the top of my list for a custom wedding dress.

Back in the beginning of August, I started chatting with a dressmaker (more on her later) on Etsy about a wedding dress and possible e-photo/rehearsal dinner dress. I was 90% sure that I wanted a tea length 1950’s wedding dress but wanted to try the style on before committing. Also, it sounded like a great idea for a cool engagement photo/rehearsal dinner dress (can you say double duty!). We designed a grey tea length dress with a yellow and white cummerbund. The dress has a yellow petticoat to make it poof—oh, so much fun! I walked away with this fabulous dress and petticoat for around $200 including shipping. Before you choke, let me remind you that this dress will also double as my rehearsal dinner dress. (Plus, I got a steal on the shoes!)

Femia of porshesplace outdid herself! The dress is gorgeous. I’ll let our professional e-photos do it justice in a later post, but I can give you a sneak peek of the petticoat.

There is something about a petticoat that makes you feel girly

There is something about a petticoat that makes you feel girly.

Lovey love love the star stiching on the hem...

Lovey love love the star stitching on the hem…

So, what does a gal wear with such a kick a$$ dress? Some killer heels, of course. I figured that since I wasn’t going to wear these heels that much (e-photos, rehearsal dinner, maybe a time or two after that) I didn’t need to sink much money into them. I discovered Urban Original, where there was a wide selection of yellow pumps. I bought two pair, both for under $20—not knowing which color yellow would match the dress better.

Wild pa Erin: $17.99 ended up being too dark, but shoot- I am going to rock these to work next week!

Source

2

Source

The first pair ended up being too dark for the dress, so I went with the second pair, which were a perfect match for the dress. I should note that I didn’t expect these shoes to be exceedingly comfortable. I don’t wear yellow that often, so they just had to be pretty.

With all this fanciness, what was Mr Pretzel going to wear? Dark grey slacks with an off white button French cuff shirt and a light grey vest, similar to this grey vest. He also changed into a more casual off-white button down, grey vest, and jeans.

3

Source

Don’t worry, we also planned to change into more casual clothes (and some Chuck Taylors, of course) for a little variety. Planning our outfits was fun, but most of all we were looking forward to getting some coaching on how to take photos. We are truly awkward in this department. We’ve been practicing, and we’re doing better. (Thanks Tyra!) Just taking more photos together really helps. We’ve realized that Mr Pretzel squishes himself down to be my height (5′2 to his 5′11) and thus gives himself 3 chins, and that in fully body shots, I like to turn my widest parts square to the camera. Hopefully only 1 chin showed up for photos, and I kept my widest parts looking thin. LOL…

I can’t wait to share some of the locations in Seattle that we used as well as some super cool props… yes, I said props. :-)

Did you use e-photos as an excuse to try out some things for your wedding?

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24 Responses to “Engagement Photos As a “Trial Run””

1.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Joey (message)  829 posts, Busy bee

You don’t need me to say how much I love the yellow/grey combo. :)

 
2.
Gator
Member
Gator (message)  486 posts, Helper bee

Mrs. Joey you are so super cute! And yes, I agree with Joey, the grey/yellow combo is great and I love myself a polka-dot petticoat!

 
3.
gibbysgirl21
Member
gibbysgirl21 (message)  123 posts, Blushing bee

So fun! We didn’t do a lot of planning for our E-shoot since we are procrastinators- but also, Gibby broke his ankle the week before and had to have surgery during our original scheduled date.

I am still considering a trash the dress to get in my kicks for more pics. Our e-pics turned out great.

 
4.
Miss Pretzel
Bee
Miss Pretzel (message)  333 posts, Helper bee

@Mrs. Joey: OMG I totally should have mentioned that your wedding colors totally inspired this outfit! :-) I think I had just finished readying one of your posts when I started to brainstorm what I wanted it to look like . Lol… you totally get credit!

 
5.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Peep Toe (message)  1,636 posts, Bumble bee

So flippin cute!! Can’t wait to see it in action.

 
6.
tea
Member
tea (message)  2,610 posts, Sugar bee

that is so cute! i can’t wait for your epics. i hope that post is coming soon. yes?

 
7.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Joey (message)  829 posts, Busy bee

@tea: Yay you! Yay Me! Yay Yellow and Grey!

 
8.
HarleyQuinn
Member
HarleyQuinn (message)  69 posts, Worker bee

oh I’m so excited to see these photos. Loove the 1950s inspired looks!

 
9.
TerraWellness
Member
TerraWellness (message)  10 posts, Newbee

i LOVE that you are wearing a petticoat with your dress! I cant wait to see how the photos come out :)

 
10.
Guest Icon
Guest
erin

oh! i was thinking of ordering a dress from that same seller - what was your experience with her?

 
11.
Miss Pretzel
Bee
Miss Pretzel (message)  333 posts, Helper bee

@erin: She’s my new best friend. Anytime ordering a custom dress online though, you’ll want to budget for minor tweaks locally with a seamstress. I spent $25 on very minor tweaks with my dress once it arrive. Oh and you want to order well in advance so if you do need a quick tweak you won’t be rush rush rush.

 
12.
Guest Icon
Guest
Sarah

You and your photographer is going to have a blast!!! I so wish I was one of your trial photogs!!! Enjoy!

 
13.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Moonbeam (message)  1,328 posts, Bumble bee

I can not wait to see these!

 
14.
Jessie516
Hostess
Jessie516 (message)  3,976 posts, Honey bee

Wow, you’re going to look adorable! I love the grey-yellow combo. Since Mrs. Joey’s wedding, I’m in love with that combination.

 
15.
Member Icon
Member
msgirard (message)  228 posts, Helper bee

OMG I have two dresses by Femia and I absolutely love them. She does exceptional work and is one of the sweetest persons. I am trying to think of another occasion I have so I can order a dress from her. I feel as stylish as Betty Draper in my dresses.

I can’t wait to see your pics!!!

 
16.
Member Icon
Member
LittleWit (message)  51 posts, Worker bee

During our engagement shoot I kept changing up my hair. I figured that would give me a decent idea of how I really want to wear my hair all day. I also took some photos with my glasses on and some without. I don’t actually need them to do much other than drive or watch tv from across the room, neither of which I will be doing on our wedding day - so the glasses may get the boot for the day.

 
17.
Member Icon
Member
dille_dalley (message)  45 posts, Newbee

TOO CUTE! :) Can’t wait to see the pictures.

 
18.
Guest Icon
Guest
erin

@Miss Pretzel: even better, she’s local to me! i’m so stoked to hear good reviews from people, she keeps sounding better and better. i have a custom idea that, at this point, i’m pretty sure she could pull off.
i can’t WAIT to see pictures :)

 
19.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss French Fries (message)  732 posts, Busy bee

LOVE that combo! Super cute. Can’t wait to see it in your e-pics!

 
20.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Lightning (message)  128 posts, Blushing bee

I can’t wait to see the dress!! What i wouldn’t give to wear 50s inspired dresses for the rest of my life… sigh…

 
21.
alishaneva
Member
alishaneva (message)  1,524 posts, Bumble bee

That’s such a smart idea! I can’t wait to see that dress - the petticoat makes me swoooooon!

 
22.
kmattso2
Member
kmattso2 (message)  990 posts, Busy bee

Such a cute petticoat!! It looks like she stitched that star hem by hand…if so, that’s amazing!
I can’t wait to see what the dress looks like in your pictures.

 
23.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Parfait (message)  582 posts, Busy bee

Ahhhh, I love the petticoat! I love when couples wear bright clothes or shoes in engagement pix.

 
24.
Miss Poodle
Bee
Miss Poodle (message)  3,015 posts, Sugar bee

That petticoat is AMAZING!! :D

 


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Miss Pretzel
Miss Pretzel Miss Pretzel, Seattle Age and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing Engineer Engagement Date: September 2, 2009 Wedding Date: July 2010 Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown Studios About Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I was born and raised in New Hampshire, went to undergrad and grad school at Purdue University in Indiana, had my career take me to Wisconsin, Atlanta, and then finally settled in Seattle. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married. Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. We love Chuck Taylor All Stars, holding hands, clever t-shirts, bacon, KEXP Radio, craft beer, buying local, cooking from scratch, gardening, mastering our new Gocco, and of course, each other. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
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