Sweet memories

Every time I look at my wedding ring, I remember when my husband and I found it. We were not even shopping for wedding bands at the time, but we were browsing in an antique mall in Denver, Colorado off South Broadway. We had already purchased my wedding dress at the same antique store and I was very fortunate to have found a dress that was exactly the style I wanted and fit me perfectly.

We saw all the rings behind a glass counter and immediately I was drawn to one in particular. We asked to look at it and amazingly, it fit. Then we asked the price and my happiness faded. Compared to new rings from a jewelry store, it was quite a bargain, but to two young college students on a budget it seemed just out of reach. I tried on several more rings that were nice, but none made me light up like the first one.

Then my wonderful husband-to-be said, "Let's go ahead and get it, OK? We'll be alright." And you know what? He was right, and I couldn't be happier with our decision. I still sit and look at my ring several times a day and I just smile. When I am stressed about money, I can look at it and hear my husband saying, "We'll be alright." And I know that everything happens for a reason and it will all work out somehow.

Photo memories

I read an article today that brought back lots of memories from my wedding. It discussed the differences between traditional wedding photography and photo journalistic b&w wedding photography and also the importance of hiring good photographers. We were lucky enough to have both present at our wedding. One of our college professors agreed to take black and white photo journalistic photos , which are candid and not posed. They record the event as it unfolds, much like a video, but with photographs.

We were very happy with the black and white photos, but I wish I would've had this article to read before we hired our traditional photographer. He was a friend of a friend of a friend, so we didn't know him at all. His portfolio only had two couple's wedding photos and his personality didn't suit us either.

As a result, we got very canned-looking photos with "fake" smiles because he would say "ready", we would smile, then he wouldn't snap the picture for another few seconds. We had an interview with him before the wedding, but didn't ask much about his background or schooling. We were in a time crunch to find someone since our first photographer choice was already booked, so we figured it would be OK. As I read in the article, however, I realized that your photographer is the most important person hired for your wedding. They will capture the event for all to see in the future. How do you want to look back on your special day? I look back with regret that we didn't have a better photographer.