I'll See You in Pictures: A Tale of Umbrellas and Balloons

Yesterday was a day I'd been waiting for for a long time - our engagement pictures! We were initially supposed to do them a few weeks ago, but a dasterdly spring storm thwarted our plans.

As cool as pictures in the rain with cute umbrellas and galoshes can look:
Photo by Catherine Hall
Photo by Charlotte Leonard

And, as fun as splashing in puddles in the rain can be:
Photo by Clayton Austin

I was concerned, because:
1. I don't own a cute umbrella or galoshes
2. I didn't want to end up looking like this:


So, yeah, we rescheduled. And yesterday the rain held off long enough for us to get in a couple of hours of pictures!

It wasn't until yesterday morning that I finally picked my outfits. I brought the original inspiration outfit, a casual outfit with jeans, T-shirt and jacket, and another dress/sweater combo I recently got. And bright yellow sandals, because how fun are bright yellow sandals??

My two dresses. Sorry for the poor-quality photo. I was running late, and didn't have time to pose them nicely! I was already wearing the jeans outfit, so it isn't pictured.

I was running late getting ready, because I spent over an hour in the early afternoon traipsing around party stores in Sacramento looking for the perfect balloon! I had decided that I wanted a big, round balloon. Yes, I happily hopped right aboard the balloon e-pic band wagon.

Fun!!

I finally found the big, round balloons at Party Concierge in Sacramento. Unfortunately, big round balloons are not only HUGE (like won't fit in my car huge) they also cost $25. Hmm. I chose the 24" balloon-shaped balloon instead, for $7.61, a much more appropriate prop-price in my mind. And still so big it barely fit through the door of the car!

We used a couple of the spots I'd picked out in my scouting mission. I was glad I'd taken the time to do that, as the location was a new one for our photographer, and he hadn't had time to scout the area very thoroughly himself.

Having your picture taking can get kind of exhausting. And, let me tell you: it is hard to make jumping in the air while holding a balloon look pretty. Or natural. Gives me a whole new respect for the models of America's Next Top Model. Is it just me, or do they seem to be jumping a lot this season?

In the end, I didn't change into my fun 40s outfit, because I was tired, we were running out of light, and I kind of decided it wasn't the right outfit for the setting. I now picture it in a big city setting, or a cafe, etc. Anyone want to volunteer to take e-pics of me and Marc in the city one day? I'll totally rock the outfit then.

We should get to see the actual pictures some time next week. Until then, here's one last parting shot of us post-pics getting some dinner. We brought our own flowers to dinner last night, from our garden. It was supposed to be another prop, but we forgot about it!
I think my make up held up pretty well, which I'm happy to see. I'm not sure whether to hire someone to do my wedding day make-up or not. And Marc was thrilled to both long hair and beard for the shoot. Not to mention the hat!