busy that day...: photographic memories.

Before you ask, no, we still have no wedding plans. Things for us have been crazy lately. We are waiting on word regarding J's financial aid for fall 2012 before making a decision on where and when to get married, at this point. We had started to toss some ideas around but realized we might have to make some dramatic changes if J will be in college come fall-- we'd obviously have very few dates to choose from around the academic calendar, and we'd not have much money to contribute ourselves to the wedding if we had to continue on as a single-income family. So, stay tuned. Hopefully in the next 4-6 weeks, we'll know more!

One wedding-related task we DID manage to do was have our engagement photos taken. We were excited to work with the very talented Rachel of Rachel G Photography for our shoot. The weather was amazing, as it has been here in Chicago for most of the winter. Though it was mid-February, the skies were sunny and the temperatures were in the 40s. We managed to do most of our shoot outside, which allowed us to incorporate Chicago into the pictures-- exactly what we wanted!

Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE the way they turned out? As a plus-size bride, I was intensely worried that I just wouldn't stack up to the gorgeousness of all of the other shoots I've seen. I obsessed over my clothes and hair for weeks, trying to find the right look to showcase my best assets AND finding things that were in the same color palettes for both J and me. In the end, I returned 90% of what I bought and ended up wearing things I've had for awhile. Our pictures are perfectly us; laughing and in love. We tried hard to be serious in some photos, but it's just not who we are, and that's ok!

We received over 350 pictures back from Rachel, far too many to post here. Instead, I'll leave you with a few of my favorites from the session. All photo credits to Rachel G Photography. Please do not share without permission.

Set 1: Downtown Chicago-- Chicago River, Merchandise Mart, Kedzie Bridge.