Category — {Engagement}

This space in my heart is in the shape of you.  No one else can fit in.  Why would I want them to?  – Jeanette Winterson

That quote is from the wedding stationery of one of the couples I’ve featured below.  And I adore it.

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Hello and happy Tuesday, peeps!  More on that beautiful bedroom scene above in a minute.  Now, listen up, my georgishmorgies!

As a wedding blogger, I read about and hear proposal stories all the goshdarn day.  And you know what?  I’m getting really sic… just kidding.  I quite like it.  No, I LOVE IT.  And it’s come to the point where I seriously want some more of it.

Which brings me to my first order of news: word of this has circulated around the Twittersphere quite a bit already, but I’d like to formally announce it today, on zee blog.  I’m planning to do a series on proposal stories from you guys – that’s right, my dear readers! – and submissions are being accepted, yo.  I am so excited about the stories I’ve received already, and I just KNOW there are some pretty amazing/fun/romantic/long-planned stories still sitting out there in your minds, waiting to be featured.  So, if you’d like to be considered for a proposal feature on The Knotty Bride, by all means, have at it!  Be as talkative/detail-oriented/short and sweet/foul-mouthed as you’d like.  (To the foul-mouthed: ye shall be edited, slightly… but not as much as you might expect.)

The bare necessities… the simple, bare necessities:

1. The story of how your lover proposed (yes, I just linked to that hilarity again, thank you very much).

2. Photos from your engagement session or, if you did not have an e-session, high quality images of you and your beloved.  Note: a photo (taken by anyone) of the site of the proposal is preferred, but not required.

3. Submit to theknottybride{@}gmail.com – I’m looking forward to reading them!

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And now, as promised, I present to you some things with which I’m OBSESSED:

This ruffled quilt from west elm… not to mention the ENTIRE BEDROOM DESIGN APPROACH going on at the tippy top of this post.  Oh how I covet all of what’s going on here.

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You remember that Winterson quote that started us off, today?  It’s courtesy of Laura and Dave, the couple involved in this wedding, which was photographed by One Love Photo and planned by Married & More with Michelle:

By the way, there are tall, slender trees on the beaches in Seattle?  Umm, that’s awesome.

Adore.

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Totally obsessing over this twinkle cuff and statement hair accessory, both from fashion designer and Project Runway finalist, Carol Hannah Whitfield.  (Check out her shop!)

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This wedding, by Audrey Hannah, for these ring-related reasons:

And this wedding, also by Audrey Hannah, for the beautiful crying, striking eyes and detail love below:

Note: this is so what would be going down between my Mom and me.  SO.  Except this bride’s crying face is cute.  Mine?  Not so much.

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This show.  Because she and I have the same first name.  And that’s the only reason.  By the way, Frank seems nice; I like his passion.  And I haaaaaaaaate the R.I. lawyer.  Haaaaaaaaaate.  Plus he calls her sweetie, like, twice, the moment he meets her.  He’s creepy and conceited and she shall not pick him. Also, Kasey sounds like he has a family of frogs in his throat.  WHAT IS UP with that.

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Aaaaand finally, this color palette (when I saw the below on Etsy, my mind went wild with wedding color scheme inspiration.  I cannot begin to tell you how perfect these colors are… please consider them… you will make my year):

Ok, let the proposal submissions begin!  Remember, send your stories/photos to theknottybride{@}gmail.com -  thanks!

By the way, I’d love to know what you think of these random finds… I just loved so much today, I couldn’t choose just one thing to share!  Any faves?

xoxo!  -Alison

Today’s fabulous e-session is a triple threat: we’re dealing with one incredibly talented photography team, a reDONKulously rad couple, and a particularly useful lesson in keepin’ it real, e-session-style.  Ya heard?  Ok, put on your raincoats.

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Before the big reveal, check out what Doug and Courtney had to say about the couple and the plan:

For Sara and Dustin, they approached us in spring after their friends signed on with Blue Dandelion.  They are instantly excitable (in the good sort of way), and Sara has this ability to glean laughter from the most subtle points.  When we discussed their engagement shoot, they really wanted to take it in a different direction.  She said, “Dustin and I, while totally in love, are not the overly romantic type.  We were hoping our pictures could highlight our ‘goofy’ side.”  What could be more fitting than balloons, be it filled with air – or water!  We simply had a blast doing the shoot, including dodging cars (unsuccessfully) early on, crawling around storm drains and down railroad tracks, and concluding with our waterworks.

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Ok, here’s the money shot!

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Ok, first things first: thank you guys SO MUCH for all the rad feedback on yesterday’s post.  I don’t know if you realize this, but when you comment and tweet (and even email me!) with your individual doses of love re: an idea I’ve shared or story I’ve told, it just makes my freaking day.  Don’t think I don’t check the comments and click my Twitter name to see who’s mentioned me, because I do.  And the great thing is that each time I do, I’m reminded yet again how lucky I am to be a part of such a positive, supportive and inspiring community of people.  If you were here right now, beside me, I’d kiss you full on the lips.  Nothing weird.  Just a passionate kiss between friends.

Ok, on to the main event…

Want a beautiful, heartwarming e-session?  Awesome, I just happen to have one right here.

Vania and Christine, the fabulous femme photography duo that make up SimplyBloom Photography have returned stateside, and seem to have picked up right where they left off…

And that’s in superior-quality-picture-taking town.

Here are some words from Vania and Christine on Whitney and Mike, this absolutely darling couple they had the pleasure to photograph:

Whitney and Mike came to Huntsville, AL for their SimplyBloom “Perfect Match” session a few weeks ago.  Whitney and Mike both work with and love children, and this fact shows in their spirits.  They wear genuine smiles for one another and for the world around them.  They retain that childlike spirit that everyone should embrace.  And what’s more is that outwardly they are just as beautiful as they are inside.

↑ What a shot!  And isn’t it fantastic how one photograph can capture an entire personality? ↓

Silly, playful boys are the best kinds of boys.

By the way, I just have to mention here that I AM OBSESSED WITH HER BOOTS.  They are a grey slice of boot heaven, and I wanna taste – err, pair, I want a pair.

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I would, one day, like to sit down in a field of purpleness.  I can’t be sure, but it seems like it could quite possibly be the most awesome thing a person could do, based on these photos.  The MOST awesome.  Add a lover, and you’re golden.

How cute is this couple?  And how PHENOMENAL is that field they’re in?!!  And finally, how much do you love the ladies of SimplyBloom?

My answers:

-the cutest
-the phenomenalist
-this much (arms outstretched)

Lemme know what you think!  Or just say anything that comes to mind, like usual.  (:

xoxo!  -Alison

I love Jose Villa and everything he ever does at any time with his camera.  But what makes this shoot extra special for moi is the fact that I also love rompers, 50s bathing suits AND all over wetness in my photography.  Ehhem, all over EXTERNAL wetness.  No that doesn’t make it sound any less sexual, does it.  In fact it just makes it sound MORE sexual, like, at a more sexually advanced stage.  I should probably hover, highlight and delete everything I just wrote BUT I’M NOT GON’ DO IT.

Let’s hear it for stream of consciousness, unedited blogging!  Getting otherwise verbally appropriate young women in trouble since the early 2000s.

I think I’m going to tell my Dad to stop reading this blog.

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A couple more things I love, since I’m on such a roll: her attitude and his everything.  WORK. IT.

Here’s a fun fact that may or may not totally piss you off: I *thought* this was an inspiration session, because I didn’t realize two people as hot as this could actually find one another and become a real couple.  AKA live the dream.  So, just so you know, these two are really together, in real life.  (I know, right?!!  I can’t believe it either.)

By the way, I seem to see some sort of vintage camera in every single e-session I’ve seen for the past six months.  But you know what?  I don’t hate it (yet).

Ok, STOP.  How awesome is that ROMPERRRRRR!

See the rest of this romper-tastic e-sesh on Jose’s blog.

By Jose Villa + Joy Thigpen // via weddinggawker

Remember that fit I said I was having over an upcoming blog post?  Well, here’s the culprit.  That is, aside from the Nutella which a dear friend so helpfully pointed out was contributing to the twitches.  Now’s as good a time as any to admit that I was essentially free-basing Nutella for the better half of yesterday.  It was my first time, and I overdid it.  I learned my lesson.  No biggie.  No big whoop.  Who caaaaares?!!  Ok, WHAT THE F IS GOING ON.

Enough.  Let’s get straight to it…

When I visit sites like LuLu’s, I get a little overwhelmed.

Now, when you go check it out, you’ll notice that yes, some of the dresses on there are decidedly slutty.  Like, for example, the fact that they’re selling this as a “top,” in the “tops” section.  Yes, just put those aside.  If you can do that, there’s seriously not much more muck to trudge through on this site.  Which leads me to the overwhelmed thing I started in on a few sentences ago.  I tend to have this combined physical and mental response – I get all discombobulated – and it’s the result of seeing a bazillion adorable frocks, all at extremely fair prices.  When the two chemically react with one another they cause my mind to blow up in ecstasy.  Pure, unadulterated, magically delicious (and oh how perfect would it be if it was also sexual) ecstasy.

But putting aside my only recently surfacing unfulfilled desires for fashion-sex, I have some advice for you.

Wear one of these for your engagement photo session.  If you do, you will like the way your pictures turn out.  Trust.

Moon Terrace Dress

Souvenir Dress

Divine Approval Dress

Take It Slow Dress

Deft Precision Dress

Femme Fatale Dress

Boston Fancy Dress

Double Cross Dress

Sweetest Thing Dress

Paint the Roses Red Dress

Guess what?  You can find all that yumminess over at LuLu’s.  You’re welcome. 

So, I’m really curious… which ones are your favorites?  Let’s talk fashion, people!

I saw this PHENOMENAL e-session on Wedding Chicks the other day and couldn’t believe my eyes.  Let me explain.

There have been a LOT more risqué photo shoots on the internets these days.  But just because they’re becoming more prevalent, it doesn’t mean I’m getting used to them.  Each time I catch a glimpse of a brand spankin’ new butt, or the side-most section of a titter-tatter, I feel like a peeping Tom.  It’s like I’m seeing something I shouldn’t be seeing…

But then I scroll down – because you can’t look away… I mean, right? – and I’m usually met with a bevy of absolutely stunning, evocative images that prove to me, almost every time, how beautiful and important these sessions truly are to the subjects involved.  Of course, there’s the obvious drive in pretty much all of us to capture forever on film the smooth, supple skin of our youth… the fleeting, all over “perkiness,” if you will.  But there’s also a deeper, less superficial purpose to these sessions, and it involves the unique bond between these couples.  It screams off the page in sessions like these.  That electric love experienced by both partners charges these images, and who doesn’t want that etched in something that lasts forever… say, film?

Well… Joyce, Joey and Ellen of Hong Studio: this is what I consider a mission accomplished:

I should note here that the shoot wasn’t wholly scandalous.  I mean, even the finest couple needs a few shots to take home to Grandma.  So, Grandma’s shots:

Precious.  Touching.  Totally innocuous.  Grandma will never catch on that they were just sexing it up, naked-style half an hour earlier.

Umm… s’cute! as my baby nephew says:

Here’s a fun fact: the breathtaking bride-to-be has her own eyelash studio in Vancouver, Canada.  Uh, wow, Joyce.  I’m impressed.  It’s called Noir Lash Lounge Inc. Sadly, I couldn’t be farther from Vancouver, and I don’t have a good enough reason to take a trip out there any time soon.  (My bank account doesn’t consider eyelashes a good enough reason, and I have to agree with it.)  Oh, and by the way, she’s not just the owner… she’s also a client!  HAHAHAHHHH yeah I’ll be here all week.

Photos: Hong Photography Studio // via Wedding Chicks