Maria and Kyle's engagement pictures

Hi, Let me start off by saying that I love your blog, I came across your blog a little before I knew I was going to be proposed to... I know it sounds silly but Fiance and I had been dating for about 6 months and I knew that he was the man for me! :) Kyle and i met through mutal friends, we live in the DFW area, I live in Arlington, he lives in Venus, TX (about 30 min away from ea other.) He proposed on the 30th of November 2009! We will be getting married (God willing) Oct 23, 2010

As any plus size gal i alway knew that when my time came I would deal with the issue of finding the right dress, and SIZE! I would go online and always see skinny women in bridal gowns and think how would this look in a size 22???

I have so much to say and comment, I have tried on so many dresses its unbelievable!!! I knew that when I set off to find "my" dress I wanted something with lace, but somehow everything I came acreoss was well...for petite slim women, which I was NOT...LOL so my mission was to find a dress that was flattering for me and had lace. (And of course, not too pricy) I even considered renting... So viola'! Through my lovely cousin I found this place in Mansfield TX (about 3 minutes from where I work) called Classy Concepts. You can buy or rent formal gowns AND WEDDING GOWNS!!! I found my dress!!! I will be renting it. I got a great bargin, I have yet to get alterations so no pics yet... :( Once I do I will send you pictures!!!!

For now I would love to share our Engagement pictures!!! These were taken by our wonderful photographer and friend Lisa Hause http://wwwlisahause.com She will be doing all the photography at our wedding!
Enjoy and Thank your so much for this wonderful site of yours!!! :D

Maria Torres


Maria!

I am so excited to share your engagement pictures! I kinda held off an extra day or so to post them on your wedding day! I hope the storm blows through fast and that you two are RANGERS FANS! LOL
Have a beautiful wedding day and I can't wait to share your wedding pictures!

Carla

FREE IS GOOD!

Well....almost. We had to buy 2 new tires since the old ones were shot. Here are some more pictures.

I will be posting a reader's engagement tomorrow.

A question from a reader....

I received this email a while ago but now that I am back I thought it would be a good one to share to see what kind of advice you had for her as well.

Hello,
I hope you don't mind me emailing you. I got your email address as i was searching on the net for pictures for Pics of real plus size brides and came across your blog site which was very helpful and helped inspire my confidence about being a plus size bride.
The reason why i have contacted you was to say all of those you listed on your introduction about why you made the site i.e What are some poses that I could have had my photographer take that would have been more flattering? How big does my bouquet need to be so it looks proportional? are all exactly the questions i have at the moment and also just generally how to forget about your inhabitions enough to enjoy the day as i am very unconfident about myself and do give myself a really hard time!! I hear people who would read this and say why doesn't she do something about it then but i have tried i done weight watchers last year and lost just over a stone in 8 months but it was a really bad struggle not to stick to the diet as i found that easy and good to understand, but to get the weight to shift as i have high hormone levels and severe pco's so it all works against me!!!!!
If you would be so kind as to be able to give me some good confidence boosting tips and advice on all you can think of i would really appreciate it.
P.s no the size of the bouquet thing is exactly the question i would ask too!!
Thanks Janine x

Janine,

I am so sorry to have taken so long to respond to your email. Oh and I think I found that stone you lost! LOL...

Even though I LOVE taking photographs of other people I alway feel like I look terrible in pictures. I freeze up and look all stiff and uncomfortable in most pictures. What worked a little for me was to have a stiff drink. It definately took the edge off my nerves. I still think I looked stiff and uncomfortable but it was better than usual.

I think if I had it to do over I would have treated myself to a mani and pedi the day of the portrait shoot (and also the day of the wedding!) and had a nice bottle of wine or champagne to celebrate (or in my case...loosen up with). I did have a couple of drinks beforehand and it definately relaxed me but I still looked a little stiff in the beginning. I finally decided just to be OK with it because, after all, that IS what I look like. So after about 5 minutes it seemed a lot less painful to have my picture being taken. LOL

Some of the ways that they pose you will seem silly and feel a little weird but just trust that the photographer knows what they are doing. As the shoot went on I did loosen up and get used to being on the other side of the camera. But I have to say....the best picture they took of us was the one we were laughing at ourselves. Totally spur of the moment.

There are always going to be people that think we should be thinner. Whatever. It is what it is. Don't beat yourself up about it so much. If losing weight is important to you then keep working at it. You can alway have some pictures taken later on your anniversary, on a birthday or just because you are having a good hair day.

A few of things that I wish I had done........

1.) have my eyebrows groomed professionally (I can never get mine even), it really does make your eyes look their best. And then

2.) a manicure. Even if you don't like to wear polish they can do a nice buff on your nails. Everyone will be looking at your hands and they will be in A LOT of pictures!

3.) I also wished I had worn some lip gloss in some of the pictures because my lips looked kinda dry. Oh well.

I still worry sometimes that my bouquet was a little small....

Relax and Enjoy!

How do you....

I've been obsessing a lot lately over the whole (lack of) pregnancy thing to the point that nothing else really mattered. Which is NOT GOOD.

I realized it was kind of the same way when I was planning our wedding. I was obsessed with the dress and the dishes and a million little details (even though my wedding was really low key it felt like there was a million things I didnt' get done) And that got me wondering....

How do you stay in touch with your relationship? Do you have a project you work on together? Do you just veg out on the couch together? Does your significant other understand what you are stressed out about? Mine is fairly good at getting it once I explain what I'm thinking/feeling but sometimes I want him to read my mind. That never works and we just get a little frustrated with each other until I realize...DUH....COMMUNICATION!!!!!

My darling husband and I have started working on a new project together.

It's been a lot of fun because I like to play with power tools and this gives us a good excuse to buy more of them! It's been a great way to refocus on us and what we as a couple are all about. We are deciding together how we want to handle each decision. Good thing we think a lot alike! LOL

Yikes! I don't think the ventilation is supposed to be THERE!

It's fun to tear something up just to bring it back to life. My husband knows I love the demolition phase so he stood back and filled the trash bags with all the stuff I pulled off.

We are like two kids in a candy store these days and it's just like when we first started dating. We are learning all about each other again.

So what are you guys doing for non wedding related fun?

I'm still here....

It's been a rollercoster ride since I was last here.

I'm up to my 4th miscarriage but trying not to let the losses and the IF struggle take over my life. I am slowly getting back to the things that matter to me the most, one of which is y'all. So I'm making a pledge to myself to post the times I think about posting or at least once a week.

One of the things that I've been doing lately is taking LOTS of pictures, learning how to really use my camera and I've been helping my neighbors photograph at a few WEDDINGS! I even shot one by myself....wow! Talk about stressful! I made some mistakes and missed a couple of shots that would have been great but it was for free so I am trying not to beat myself up too bad.

SNOW!

We are getting LOTS OF SNOW in DFW! I can't wait to get off work to go take some pictures of it. I took these pictures with my cell phone. The first picture was taken...while driving...with my arm stuck out the window...just praying I got the shot.

Vintage wedding...

My best friend posted this to her facebook the other day and I was torn between cracking up and cringing. And no, I'm not the bride but I'm next to her...did you find me yet?

It was January 1986 and I have to admit we did a dang fine job on the wedding for as little as we all had to spend back then. The dresses were made by Sabrina's (the chick to the right of the bride) grandmother. We wore them in her wedding too. Ann and I spent several evening gathering up the skirt and adding little floral accents to them so they wouldn't be "exactly" the same (in our minds) and then to change the look a little more we wore the sleeves pushed up. Ahh the 80's At least we didn't have "mall bangs"!

I remember sitting in Ann's living room the morning of her wedding sewing her veil. It was down to the wire ladies! But we managed to pull it off! I don't remember much about the wedding. It was held at her family's church in our tiny hometown and the reception was at City Hall. We decorated it with crepe paper and ate off of paper plates. No fancy schmancy catered event, just a "hometown weddin".

Ann and Robert just celebrated 24 years of marriage in January and not a single person could tell you what their cake tasted like, what designer they wore (none) or who caught the bouquet, but anyone that knows them knows they are still in love and they are a great team. THAT my friends is what matters. Happy Belated Anniversary Ann and Rob.

Oh yeah, And I guarantee you I never wore that dress again. We all hated them but it was what we could afford so we worked with it.

Hot stuff!

Hey, y'all are you in need of a new camera bag? Go check out this hot pink number that is being given away this weekend!

Arlington Texas Goodwill

I was in the Goodwill store a couple of days ago and they have a beautiful white David's Bridal size 20 wedding dress available. It was in a dress bag but from what I could see it has a fairly full tulle skirt and the bodice is a larger floral lace pattern. It had cap sleeves, I couldn't see if it had a train but it looked like it was in great shape.
I couldn't find a price tag on it but the gentleman said the wedding dresses are usually $40-$70ish. It was closing time so I didn't want to bother him too much and I haven't had time to drop by again to get more info on it. He said their location has been receiving quite a few wedding dresses in the last few months.
I have seen wedding dresses at the other Goodwill store locations when I was buying up china plates for my wedding but they were usually from the 70's and 80's. It was nice to see a more current dress style in a normal size that is just waiting to make some bride's day.
Go and check it out!


Goodwill
7351 S Cooper St, Arlington, TX 76001
(817) 465-4500 Website

A HUGE THANKS!

Just wanted to thank all of you who voted for Radney Foster's Angel Flight. It made the charts last week at #17 and this week made it up to #9!!! Let's keep voting for it and see if we can help raise even more money for the Texas Air National Guard Family Support Foundation.

Oh, and for you Hootie fans out there I copied this little nugget of trivia from here.

"Darius Rucker lends his distinctive harmony on "Angel Flight," a moving tribute to the pilots who fly their fallen brethen home to their final resting places. Radney's co-writer, Darden Smith, started writing the song after talking to a pilot of the Texas Air National Guard who mentioned he flew the "angel flight." Smith asked Radney to finish the song with him, and the pair are donating proceeds from the song to a charity that provides assistance to military families beset by tragedy. "

A country wedding

Have you been over to Southern Weddings lately? They are featuring the BEAUTIFUL country wedding of Jane and Pete.

You can also go to Cook Images for even more amazing pictures.

The Final Four

Hi Gang!

Here are the final four pictures of Lindsey and Matt's engagement pictures.

I have really enjoyed these photos. I hope you have too. One of the things I hope all of you brides-and-grooms-to-be will take away from Lindsey and Matt's shoot is how the focus is on their love and happiness.

I know when I was trying to figure out what to wear for my engagement pictures I didn't have a clue how to dress or what to expect. The last time I had engagement pictures taken of me I was 19 and we had a coupon for the Dillard's portrait studio. Yuck!

I love how they are both dressed nice, but still comfortable enough to try out different poses. Think about that as you are shopping for your engagement portrait outfit. And did you notice the subtle stripe in Matt's shirt? Think about how the pattern in your outfit will photograph. If you aren't sure then have someone take pictures of you in a few different outfits so that you can see what will work and what won't.

Carla

Finally "bug free"

I'm soooooo tired of being sick. I take a handful of vitamins every morning and during this time of year I'll even add Airborne to the mix for the extra vitamin c boost. I know I'm stressed and run down which doesn't help but I also work with some of the sickest people I've ever met.

Since Christmas I've had 5 count them 1, 2, 3, 4, freakin 5 DIFFERENT BUGS because these people come to work hackin and coughin and spewing germs everywhere (and yes some of them had just spent a week at home with their children who had the swine flu) instead of staying home and using their sick days for SICK LEAVE. Argh. I've never seen so many people in one company use their sick leave for hangovers, extra vacation days and my favorite...a cut and color. It's so frustrating.
So TONIGHT I will be posting the last installment of Lindsey and Matt's engagement pictures....even if I have to drink a dozen Red Bulls to keep myself awake and coherent.

Round Two of Lindsey and Matt's engagement pictures

Are you ready for more? Here is the next group of amazing pictures! And a little more from Lindsey....

As a bride on the plus side, I actually found it harder to find an engagement outfit than a wedding dress! I went all over town and couldn't find anything that fit right. I finally found 2 shirts in the Kohl's women's section and jeans at Old Navy. I felt good in them and that's what matters. After all, I wanted to look content and in love, not uncomfortable! :)

I completely understand! I didn't want to go crazy and buy an expensive outfit for our engagement shoot that would just sit in the back of my closet so I bought a pair of nice jeans that looked nice with the jacket that I already had. To finish off the look I wore a tank under the jacket that I've had for more than 10 years. I felt good and and that is all that matters.

Introducing Lindsey and Matt's engagement pictures!

Hello dear friends!

A few weeks ago I received some really great engagement pictures from Lindsey and Matt's engagement shoot. She sent me several pictures and since they are all amazing I will be sharing them with the rest of you over the next few days.

She said...

I love your blog and the idea behind it! I've recently had my engagement photos taken and wanted to share them. They were taken at Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island by Jaclyn and Bill of Robinson Studio and Design.

Thank you Lindsey and Matt for allowing me to share your pictures!