Ye Old Bridesmaids, Photographer, etc.

Bridesmaids.
Big things are happening to all my bridesmaids! And they're now all in different states than me :(

Caitlin is just getting back from a well-deserved trip to Costa Rica; she just turned 22 (happy birthday, dear!) and is about to graduate from MIT! What's even cooler: she already has a job for the fall at Bain Consulting. That's my baby girl. 

Ellen left today to move to Arizona for the summer while Chris interns with Make a Wish Foundation (SO awesome). Thank goodness it's only two weeks until I see her again; I don't want to think about after Camp Kesem.

Elisabeth is a grown up, plain and simple. She's basically graduated from BYU, and Ben has a REAL LIFE job in Cincinnati. I keep thinking she'll come back to Utah soon, but I have to remind myself that isn't how it works. 

I like how my bridesmaids all represent different aspects of my life. It's hard for Brian to understand how I can have three girl best friends (something about the superlative best throws him off, but I prefer to think about it in terms of a function with multiple peaks), but I love them all for different things. They have the shared qualities of being amazingly good listeners and truly compassionate. I learn how to serve from them. But Caitlin was my cross country buddy, my Tamora Pierce co-reader, my partner in crime through grade school. Ellen is my musical inspiration, my wardrobe adviser, my shoulder to cry on in college. And Elisabeth, well, we've done it all: scum competitor, phone confidant, cruise companion, and something about both being Earnshaws mean we just get each other :) I'm thrilled to be getting married knowing I'll have these three beautiful women by my side.

Photographer.
This was one of the more stressful parts of wedding planning, but it could not have turned out better. I originally contacted Glenn Pearson arbitrarily (sort of) after just coming across him online and liking his portfolio. He was already booked for my weekend, but he gave me an extensive list of other photographers. After a lot of blog searching and phone calls and price comparisons, I finally chose a photographer whose goal it is to capture the emotion of the day without effects--as is. Kate Pease immediately wanted to skype and get to know me better, catch the vision of what I want my wedding to be like. I love her work, and I love how she wants to capture the story of my wedding through pictures: Ellen helping me get ready, Brian's first look, us by the lighthouse where we got engaged, details of the reception, family and guest pictures at the reception, and the wedding day itself. I'm thrilled to be getting married knowing I'll have all the moments I'll cherish most captured by this talented woman.

Slideshow Preview.
I just got some pictures from Brian that his mom scanned for the slideshow we'll have at the reception, and I cannot stop looking at them! He's adorable, especially with the bowl cut. I had to put up a couple of us. I'm thrilled to be getting married knowing we'll have kids this cute :)