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(this one is by me, all the rest by Matt)

After our Blackberry Nuptials, Garrett didn’t really feel married. I don’t blame him at all, it’s hard to feel married when no one would recognize you as such, except for the room service guy who referred to me as “Mrs. Cummings”, which was delightful and made me quite giddy.

The morning of the 14th, we waited around for our overnight package with Garrett’s passport in it and got ready for the day. I ditched the long dress for the short Jessica Simpson number I purchased the day before we left for San Francisco, with the intention of changing into it after our ceremony to go to lunch on the 13th. I left my hair down, straightened it with my new straightener (apparently appliances go bad right before you get married, because my hairdryer passed on about a week before the reception), and opted for the same makeup with subtler lips. I was a little more incognito, and Garrett dropped the tie and jacket.

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(We were just at the point in our saga when it was discovered that Garrett’s driver’s license was expired)

When someone finally came out to talk to us it was to tell us no. Nothing they could do, this kind of thing had happened before, they couldn’t make exceptions, blah blah blah. Our only option was to make an appointment for the following day, have Garrett’s passport overnighted, and try again. Garrett’s parents were out of town and the passport was at their house so they had a neighbor get it for us and ship it off. I wasn’t really satisfied, I’d put on a full-length wedding dress, Garrett’s aunt had flown in from LA, Olivia was heading back to Chicago, Garrett’s uncle and his best friend had taken off work and this wasn’t repeatable for tomorrow.

I still wanted a ceremony. That day. Not to mention, my wedding invitations included an announcement that we would be getting married on August 13th! We weren’t going to have them reprinted. Garrett had a tie on that said 13! I wasn’t going to spend the rest of that day single, no way.

We had plans for lunch at 12:30 so we decided to head that way. I’d intended to change before lunch but we only had so much time after sitting in the City Hall for so long. So we made do and headed towards the piers where the restaurant was. We stopped in a wine shop and split a bottle of champagne between all of us, which definitely made the morning more bearable. I’m a lightweight, and two glasses was plenty enough to give me rose colored glasses.

(photography by olivia leigh photographie)

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Ahh, where were we? Olivia had just arrived, we finished getting ready, and we were off.

-I had Garrett wait in the bathroom while I put my dress on since he’d never seen it and I wanted to have that moment. Then, I tried to have him help me bustle it but the hook was all but invisible and I ended up taking the dress off, finding the bustle, and putting it back on. I was glad I practiced tying the sash before we got there, I was able to get a decent bow by myself and I really like the look of the sash.-

(all photos in this entry from olivia leigh photographie)

It was only about 5 blocks to the City Hall so we figured we would walk and get some pictures along the way. Little did I know one of my shoes was prone to slide off my foot (When I first got the shoes they were too tight but apparently my attempts at wearing them in had some negative side effects, and I need to buy some kind of inserts before our reception), so I was slow and annoyed.

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Subtitle: Why people usually don’t try to get married on the 13th.

All images are from Olivia Leigh Photographie

I couldn’t sleep at all on the night before our wedding day. I had thought about getting flowers when we got to San Fransisco but it seemed like too much trouble (I can’t get around the city at all) and I called the florist too late to get a delivery. It bothered me. I wanted a bouquet. And then I talked myself out of it (what’s the point of a bouquet? I had fantasies about throwing it to a stranger post wedding, but outside of that I couldn’t see the point. Plus, ranunculus was out of season and would’ve required 2 weeks in advance to order from Holland). I eventually got to sleep and had a nightmare about my mom making me wear some flower wreath around my neck. Ick.

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(author’s collection)

So, about 2 months ago Garrett and I talked about eloping. This isn’t the first time we’d talked about it, and based on the many occasions I see engaged people blog or comment about just wanting to elope and get rid of the stress, we weren’t alone. Because of the intimacy and privacy that elopement entailed, we were planning to become official the day before our “wedding” at the courthouse anyway. I really liked the idea of it being just the two of us and Garrett liked the idea of not being in front of so many people. Garrett thought we could just elope to the courthouse early, when I said “no, no, no. you don’t elope to the city you live in.”

We’d been talking about going to San Francisco for a few months; his uncle and best friend both live there. I thought that sounded like a great place to get married and I’d never been to California. Once I saw how gorgeous the city hall was I knew it was a much better deal than being gawked at in a line at the courthouse here in Birmingham (of course, the courthouse here has some gorgeous art deco architecture that I would’ve taken advantage of). So, we made plans, booked a photographer, made an appointment, and added an announcement to our invitations (to be posted soon, they just went out!). August 13th, 2009 would be our official wedding day. I would wear my dress and he would wear a suit we got for a mere $200 on sale at Banana Republic. I freaked out a little about taking my dress on a plane (for those considering it, I used a garment bag that folded up into three sections and unfolded part in the overhead bins, and because of my dress’s material I really didn’t have any wrinkles and didn’t even get it steamed).

We decided to let the next few days be our honeymoon, opting for a longer trip for our anniversary when we would have time to save up (because, hello, getting married is super expensive). We didn’t make too many plans, except that we would have lunch right after the 10:30 ceremony with Garrett’s aunt from LA, uncle, and best friend. I knew I wanted to include a few touristy sites and eat great food.

Stay tuned for our very eventful adventure. I’ll just say we didn’t get hitched without a hitch.

Last March, like Kasia, we had the good fortune of winning a free engagement session with the lovely and talented Jessamyn Harris. The contest called for a unique idea for an engagement shoot, so I sent in the story of how the boy and I ate noodles at 2 in the morning while we were still getting to know each other. It was a really dirty hole in the wall, the kind of place where the smell sticks to you and you have to wash your clothes afterward. I loved it.

Unfortunately it got torn down, so as a commemoration to that first night, I thought it’d be sweet to take pictures at another noodle joint. We met Jessamyn in San Francisco Chinatown, and she was ready with her cameras, some sample albums to show us, and FOOD!

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I am just loving these engagement photos taken in San Francisco by Steve Koo, a fabulous Chicago-based photographer.  Amanda and Matt are marrying in Chicago but reside in San Francisco and wanted their engagement photos to reflect their home.

You guys, all engagement sessions should be this fabulous.

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