Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Photobooth Pictures
Well, shoot! Here are the photobooth pictures from our wedding. From Love Shack Photo. They are amazing and you should hire them to do your wedding!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Now That It's Over - The "Do Again" & "Ditch" Post
A link to a gallery with our Wedding Photobooth pictures came back yesterday. It was really exciting to look through them all. And it got me thinking, If I had to do it again, what would I do again & what would I ditch?
DO AGAIN:
1. Photobooth - we considered DIY'ing the photobooth, but DANG are we SO glad we hired Jackie from Love Shack Photo instead! Worth every penny! Here's why:
- Entertainment - it provided our guests with entertainment the whole reception. It was SO so SO fun to watch (and to participate) and Jackie was such an amazing "host" for the booth.
- The Photos! - they came out looking like a magazine photoshoot (the quality is fantastic) and we get to have proof of everyone being silly even if we missed it at the party.
- The Photos! - AND our guests get to have these super high quality amazing photos of themselves. They look gorgeous and they are fun, sweet, glamour, ridiculous...it is as if we've just given our guests a great gift!
2. Power Plant (VENUE) - our venue was twice the original budget we had hoped for set aside for the venue, but it was worth it. The space was unique, perfectly sized, convenient, had a great event planner (thanks Chris!), and was a blank canvas. Bonus: it is used for professional photoshoots, so our photobooth pictures came out extra rad.
3. Carolyn Weeks (Dessert) - if you need a wedding baker...she is amazing (contact me, seriously, I'll get you her info). I had 6 different dessert options (here's a pic of some leftovers) for my guests, all beautiful, all delicious, and all tailored to the vibe of the event.
4. Pig Roast - here's why: we got it from the Italian Market (through our caterer Chef's Table) and it was fun, laid back, Philly, delicious, local, and the presentation was excellent. We had vegetarian options, too of course, but it was great to have a center piece main.
5. Chef's Table (Caterer) - we chose the right one, partly luck, partly research. They had also worked in the space before and had done a pig roast with Cannuli's in the Italian Market.
6. Vibe - no wedding party, 3 months from start to finish, greeting our guests as they arrived, homebrew (huge hit) , postcard invites & programs, DIY decor, toys/games on the tables - resulting in ridiculous photos!, no DJ (Spotify). It felt like us and was really fun.
7. Open & Full Bar - I believe this to be self-explanatory.
& I'd CHANGE:
1. DRESS / myself :
- I would not make my own dress and certainly not in six weeks and most certainly not while trying to use parts of four other vintage dresses. That was a mistake. I ended up not finishing in time to think about if I liked it, to accessorize the way I would otherwise have, and it was REALLY really REALLY stressful since I finished it the week of the wedding & was sewn into my dress that day. I wasn't really sure how it was going to work out.
-I would have given myself more than 5 minutes to do my make-up. Ha. I really don't like myself in pictures anyways (I know this about myself) - I have a very tiny heart-shaped face and I hope I look better in person than I do in pictures (please gawd!). I was glad I looked like me that night for my guests, but would have preferred to look over-made-up that night & like the pictures now better.
- I should have also done real flowers in my hair and lots of them. I guess I thought it would have required me to get my hair professionally done and been a lot of money. I also shoulda sprung for extensions because that would have been really fun & I didn't get the good hair genes.
2. Communication - we were not really 100% sure what we were doing about a ceremony until the week before the wedding and as a result, some of our guests didn't realize the ceremony was a private one and the event was dinner/party/celebration. People were disappointed and we should have done better about managing expectations.
5. Timing - it coulda been a little better timed (when we got married), but I was really impatient and completely underestimated the amount of work it was going to be. Luckily, we mostly pulled it off somehow.
6. Guests! - I felt as if I didn't get a chance to visit with anyone! The night went so quickly! But perhaps that's how it always is?
In the end, we made good guest-centered choices for dinner/reception & spent our money/resources fairly well (we had great help!!), but somewhere along the line I discredited or never prioritized some things that I really wanted. Regardless, I still had a great time and in the end, the wedding, dinner, reception all felt like our personalities too.
DO AGAIN:
1. Photobooth - we considered DIY'ing the photobooth, but DANG are we SO glad we hired Jackie from Love Shack Photo instead! Worth every penny! Here's why:
- Entertainment - it provided our guests with entertainment the whole reception. It was SO so SO fun to watch (and to participate) and Jackie was such an amazing "host" for the booth.
- The Photos! - they came out looking like a magazine photoshoot (the quality is fantastic) and we get to have proof of everyone being silly even if we missed it at the party.
- The Photos! - AND our guests get to have these super high quality amazing photos of themselves. They look gorgeous and they are fun, sweet, glamour, ridiculous...it is as if we've just given our guests a great gift!
2. Power Plant (VENUE) - our venue was twice the original budget we had hoped for set aside for the venue, but it was worth it. The space was unique, perfectly sized, convenient, had a great event planner (thanks Chris!), and was a blank canvas. Bonus: it is used for professional photoshoots, so our photobooth pictures came out extra rad.
3. Carolyn Weeks (Dessert) - if you need a wedding baker...she is amazing (contact me, seriously, I'll get you her info). I had 6 different dessert options (here's a pic of some leftovers) for my guests, all beautiful, all delicious, and all tailored to the vibe of the event.
4. Pig Roast - here's why: we got it from the Italian Market (through our caterer Chef's Table) and it was fun, laid back, Philly, delicious, local, and the presentation was excellent. We had vegetarian options, too of course, but it was great to have a center piece main.
5. Chef's Table (Caterer) - we chose the right one, partly luck, partly research. They had also worked in the space before and had done a pig roast with Cannuli's in the Italian Market.
6. Vibe - no wedding party, 3 months from start to finish, greeting our guests as they arrived, homebrew (huge hit) , postcard invites & programs, DIY decor, toys/games on the tables - resulting in ridiculous photos!, no DJ (Spotify). It felt like us and was really fun.
7. Open & Full Bar - I believe this to be self-explanatory.
& I'd CHANGE:
1. DRESS / myself :
- I would not make my own dress and certainly not in six weeks and most certainly not while trying to use parts of four other vintage dresses. That was a mistake. I ended up not finishing in time to think about if I liked it, to accessorize the way I would otherwise have, and it was REALLY really REALLY stressful since I finished it the week of the wedding & was sewn into my dress that day. I wasn't really sure how it was going to work out.
-I would have given myself more than 5 minutes to do my make-up. Ha. I really don't like myself in pictures anyways (I know this about myself) - I have a very tiny heart-shaped face and I hope I look better in person than I do in pictures (please gawd!). I was glad I looked like me that night for my guests, but would have preferred to look over-made-up that night & like the pictures now better.
- I should have also done real flowers in my hair and lots of them. I guess I thought it would have required me to get my hair professionally done and been a lot of money. I also shoulda sprung for extensions because that would have been really fun & I didn't get the good hair genes.
2. Communication - we were not really 100% sure what we were doing about a ceremony until the week before the wedding and as a result, some of our guests didn't realize the ceremony was a private one and the event was dinner/party/celebration. People were disappointed and we should have done better about managing expectations.
5. Timing - it coulda been a little better timed (when we got married), but I was really impatient and completely underestimated the amount of work it was going to be. Luckily, we mostly pulled it off somehow.
6. Guests! - I felt as if I didn't get a chance to visit with anyone! The night went so quickly! But perhaps that's how it always is?
In the end, we made good guest-centered choices for dinner/reception & spent our money/resources fairly well (we had great help!!), but somewhere along the line I discredited or never prioritized some things that I really wanted. Regardless, I still had a great time and in the end, the wedding, dinner, reception all felt like our personalities too.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Labor Day for the [f]Unemployed
Looking through jobs posting (being [f]unemployed as a friend says) is a frustrating experience. Anyone who's followed/read/etc. any type of employment news knows that there are very few full time positions and fewer which pay a realistic wage. Further, most of the jobs postings are in retail or hospitality. Retail just doesn't pay enough to be worth it and I have no (or disastrous, depending on how you look at it) experience in hospitality.
Here's the thing: I am smart, a fast learner, educated, super hard working, and a huge score for whoever I work for. I've always been underpaid because I have always been so good at my job and so efficient that I clean up after other people, take on tons of side projects, and add to the overall discussions on vision and direction. Sorry, it's just the truth. I can do whatever is thrown at me, take good notes, and am not afraid to ask questions.
HOWEVER, my best skills are somewhat intangible (that's the last paragraph, folks), and any interesting posting wants you to have direct experience in that specific field. AND, since I've been on a self-imposed break from full-time employment (mostly any employment), it makes it doubly difficult.
I'm in a great position where I only need apply for positions I feel would benefit the company and myself. I am seeking an organization whose mission statement dovetails with my own. So, it's not as if I'm applying to 20 jobs a week and not getting calls, but it is frustrating to see that there are not 20 jobs out there that I'm interested in. I'm not sure if I'm setting the bar too high - that there are just not that many companies that I feel aligned with, or if they are really not out there as jobs (just as volunteer positions?).
I read an article (Times?) some months ago that talked about how people who were unemployed were not hireable because their skills had gone soft. I'm not buying it. Since I've been unemployed, I've been writing, designing/sewing/art-ing, managing projects including outside personnel, taking the odd shift in retail, volunteering, recovering (truth), reading, blogging, swimming, and other such tasks. If anything, my writing skills have improved, I am more focused and together, better able to handle stressful situations, and was still dealing with negotiating and wrangling multiple strong opinions against one central vision.
Sometimes I'll look at the stats for my blog and think, wow! 4 people read my blog today. Okay, I'mma gonna get some sponsors and advertising soon and I'll be a writer, or some such other ridiculous idea such as: I can make wedding dresses (definitely not because I'd likely kill myself or the bride) or I'm gonna write a novel (I know, get in line). Sometimes I look at my family and think, shoulda been a teacher, I guess. There are a lot of those in my family.
So on this Labor Day, I salute those who work to better the system, those who have found meaningful and positive-impact work, but I also salute those who work some shitty job for less pay then they deserve or at a boring, mind-numbing job for a huge corporation who keeps outsourcing as much as it can (and those people are probably working today). I salute those who are looking for a job or a second job and will take anything to help pay their ever-mounting bills.
I'm going to continue to hope for a position which will utilize all my strengths. One day, my new organization and I will ride off together into the Making The World A Better Place Sunset.
Here's the thing: I am smart, a fast learner, educated, super hard working, and a huge score for whoever I work for. I've always been underpaid because I have always been so good at my job and so efficient that I clean up after other people, take on tons of side projects, and add to the overall discussions on vision and direction. Sorry, it's just the truth. I can do whatever is thrown at me, take good notes, and am not afraid to ask questions.
HOWEVER, my best skills are somewhat intangible (that's the last paragraph, folks), and any interesting posting wants you to have direct experience in that specific field. AND, since I've been on a self-imposed break from full-time employment (mostly any employment), it makes it doubly difficult.
I'm in a great position where I only need apply for positions I feel would benefit the company and myself. I am seeking an organization whose mission statement dovetails with my own. So, it's not as if I'm applying to 20 jobs a week and not getting calls, but it is frustrating to see that there are not 20 jobs out there that I'm interested in. I'm not sure if I'm setting the bar too high - that there are just not that many companies that I feel aligned with, or if they are really not out there as jobs (just as volunteer positions?).
I read an article (Times?) some months ago that talked about how people who were unemployed were not hireable because their skills had gone soft. I'm not buying it. Since I've been unemployed, I've been writing, designing/sewing/art-ing, managing projects including outside personnel, taking the odd shift in retail, volunteering, recovering (truth), reading, blogging, swimming, and other such tasks. If anything, my writing skills have improved, I am more focused and together, better able to handle stressful situations, and was still dealing with negotiating and wrangling multiple strong opinions against one central vision.
Sometimes I'll look at the stats for my blog and think, wow! 4 people read my blog today. Okay, I'mma gonna get some sponsors and advertising soon and I'll be a writer, or some such other ridiculous idea such as: I can make wedding dresses (definitely not because I'd likely kill myself or the bride) or I'm gonna write a novel (I know, get in line). Sometimes I look at my family and think, shoulda been a teacher, I guess. There are a lot of those in my family.
So on this Labor Day, I salute those who work to better the system, those who have found meaningful and positive-impact work, but I also salute those who work some shitty job for less pay then they deserve or at a boring, mind-numbing job for a huge corporation who keeps outsourcing as much as it can (and those people are probably working today). I salute those who are looking for a job or a second job and will take anything to help pay their ever-mounting bills.
I'm going to continue to hope for a position which will utilize all my strengths. One day, my new organization and I will ride off together into the Making The World A Better Place Sunset.
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