Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Getting Ready

Now that you guys have already seen my awesome wedding video, I'll start the recap of the day in photos.  All the photos below are the work of our wonderful photographer, Linda Wallace. I've spoken before about how I chose my photographer and we were really happy with Linda's work. We got over 1,000 photos!  And for the price...I feel like we got the steal of a century. 

Much like my preferences with video, I really wanted a more photojournalistic style.  Not that I don't love all those photos of brides jumping in the air (actually I hate those) or everyone standing in a wheat field (yes I do like these), but I wanted more of a journal of the day as it actually happened.   I just feel that these photos will stand the test of time better.  

That's not to say we don't have posed photos...just not a ton.   

Of course it all begins with the getting ready....

Remember you can click to enlarge!

^Here I am with my great and incredibly affordable Charlottesville based hair & makeup artist, Daphne Latham.  She was so much fun to have around. 

^Daphne's kick-a$$ tattoo

^Talking with bridesmaids/family as I get ready

^I wanted a lot of curl since it's the opposite of how I normally wear my hair.  Daphne made the curls very tight so that they would loosen the closer we got to the ceremony. 

^I had a room all my own to get ready in that was next to my bridesmaid's room, my sister's room, and my sister-in-law's room.  I liked this cause people could come in and out and chat but everyone had their own space to go back to and get ready. 

^Here I am checking out the makeup in natural light. That's my dress behind me!

^There is my beautiful Vwidon dress from Promise for the Savvy Bride that I blogged about forever ago. To my knowledge this is now the only picture of this particular style anywhere online.  

^And here are my awesome Red Satin Vera Wang shoes (if you remember, I got these brand new on Ebay for a steal)

^ I got so many compliments on my shoes all night long.  If you are on the fence about colored shoes then all I can say is "DO IT!" It was so much fun.  And remember, your guests don't read wedding blogs all day, so they have no idea that this is a huge trend.  So many friends and family members thought I was so "original." Ha...if only they knew how un-original I really was!

^Now I've slipped into my dress.  And I got into my dress all by myself! I never really understood why it takes 8 bridesmaids to put on a wedding dress. Mine was easy to get in and out of.  

^Here I am putting on my wedding bracelet from Carolee that I loved. 

^Getting ready to put on my shoes.  

^ Look! I could put my shoes on all by myself too!  Though I did have proper bridesmaid supervision. 

^And now it's time to put the veil on

^Daphne getting things just right 

^I wouldn't say all that fretting I did over veil length was worth it, but I was pretty happy with the length of my Occansey Designs veil.  It was long, but not so long I felt like I had to keep up with it. 

^I must not look too shabby if I got looks like this from my bridesmaids. 

^Here I am...all done....ready for the big reveal.  

 Next up: the total look and seeing soon-to-be husband for the first time.