So, I was planning on doing this oh-so-long-ago, but my time has been totally consumed with a whole bunch of work and an occasional splash of wedding planning, so this got put on the back burner. Since I am going through this whole wedding planning process, I thought it would be really helpful to share my vendor choices with everyone, including you future brides out there Being that the wedding is only two weeks away now (AAAAAAAHHHH!!!), I’m certainly not going to be able to post everything before it happens, but I will continue to do vendor spotlights on not only the vendors I chose, but also those vendors that I’ve had the pleasure of working with and whom I totally recommend to my clients!

I didn’t have to think more than a second about which vendor I would spotlight first. I mean, come on, the MOST important thing to me naturally is the photography. I’ve always knew that the photos would come first. I love looking at old pictures of my parents/grandparents, and realizing that there is NOT enough to tell the full story that I’d love to know about, I definitely want to be able to pull out a wedding album for our grandkids that will really show what our wedding day was all about… and this album is going to be our first family heirloom, so it HAS to be special.

So, my search for our perfect photographer started with realizing that our budget did not support the kind of photography that I really wanted. Being in this business for 8 years now, it’s obvious that you get what you pay for, and I really would regret if I went with a budget photographer. So, I started a savings account in December (when we were engaged) that I poured every extra dime into that I could spare. This meant lots of dollar menu items at McD’s (I really can’t stand McD’s, so this was a big step!), and pushing leftovers to the ultimate limit. I knew that by the time I had enough saved up, there was bound to be somebody I LOVED still available for my date. In the meantime, I came up with a list of 11 photographers that I would contact once I could afford them, which included some of my favorite photographers on this side of the country. I was really hoping that by the time I got to #11, someone would be open and willing to travel for our wedding. The time came, and so I began with #1. I knew it was a long shot, and just too perfect to work out. #1 was in Annapolis, which was one of the closest on my list, and I have grown totally hooked on her blog. I sent the email before we left for a wedding in New Jersey, and when we got back…. she had emailed me that she would do it!!! Jon was in the room when I got the email, and I just started laughing and doing a little happy dance. I LOVE this girl. She totally rocks, and I feel SO lucky to have her as my photographer. She did an engagement session with us in Chesapeake Beach, and so I’ll share a few images that she created for us.

So, the very first vendor spotlight is my insanely talented photographer, Shelby Martin of Shelby Leigh Photography…

Didn’t she do a FABULOUS job?!? I’ve already forgotten those six months of extreme saving, and now I have a whole bunch of images that we are IN LOVE with, and I’m sure we’ll be cherishing these for the rest of our lives. I can’t wait to see the wedding images she captures for us!