Several months ago I asked for your feedback on my wedding album design and received some great suggestions. I’ve had the book in hand for a few months now and finally got around to taking some photos so you can see how gorgeous the finished product is. The album was designed by the company Albumesque, and assembled by the company KISS wedding books, both are companies that work exclusively with photographers. I chose both because I wanted a product that focused on clean and simple design elements that allowed the photos to really remain the focal point. All photos by Kelli Nicole Photography.

The album came with this lovely floral case, I store it inside whenever I don’t have it out to show it off to protect our big investment from accidental damage.

I decided to order the 12X12 with a black leather cover, and it’s HUGE. It’s beautiful, but I think if I could do it over I would scale it down in size.

The front page. I’m so glad Kelli Nicole took the time to take detail and establishing shots, as this shot of the Seattle skyline really sets the stage for the rest of the album.

I chose not to have any overlapping images or graphic elements in my design as I wanted things to be very clean and simple. It took me hours to narrow down thousands of images to just over 100, but I think those that I chose tell the story of the day really well.

My favorite part of the album? The full page spreads. At two feet wide they are absolutely stunning to view in person. The quality of Kelli Nicole photography really helps as well.

A few details…

The pages sandwich 2mm substrates that make them thick and durable.

The book lays flat when opened, and the small fold in the middle is hardly noticeable when opened.

Any my favorite, a yummy super-soft leather cover.

I’ll leave you with my favorite spread. Stunning, right?

Did you order an album through your photographer? Do you have any suggestions for companies non-photographers can use to get their album done?

Today marks the first of what I know will be many wedding anniversaries for us. How do I know? Because we are going to make it happen. We aren’t soul mates. We were never “meant to be”. We chose this, and we are going to continue to choose to make it work for the rest of our lives and beyond.

I’ve written a lot about our wedding, 29 posts to be exact. If you want a detailed summary of the entire experience visit my last post about the wedding experience and scroll down to see a list of links to all of my recap posts.

For this anniversary post I went through a few thousand photos (literally) and chose 5  that describe some of my favorite moments of the day.

I can remember the way I felt at our “first look” so clearly. The endowment ceremony and time together in the celestial room the day before had been so calming. Everything felt so right, and we couldn’t stop smiling at each other. I was so sure I wanted to be with him forever.

This was moments after we walked out of the temple as husband and wife. Right behind the camera stood a ring of our closest family and friends, clapping and cheering and waiting to come forward to hug us. We really did it! We were married!

I hadn’t placed a lot of importance on making sure we got a classic temple shot, but now I’m so glad we did. A year later and the scaffolding  on the spire doesn’t bother me at all. Pretty golden Moroni can still be seen and it’s truly what is inside that matters. Our sealing in the temple means absolutely everything to us. It gives us an eternal perspective when marriage is hard. It’s what will keep us from ever giving up.

The first dance was just one of the many my new husband showed me how much he cared about me, and what he was willing to do to make me happy. He took some lessons with me, practiced with me, and on our wedding day he got up and performed in front of everyone. One year later and he still continues to make sacrifices for me and for our marriage.

I think this photo describes the way we approached our marriage in the beginning. We jumped in head first, giving it everything we had and learning a few tough lessons along the way. I love my husband ten times more today than I did that night, and I expect that love to grow exponentially each year. When we welcome the baby into our lives next April we’re going to have to work even harder to keep our marriage strong, but I think we’re up for the challenge.

I chose him. He chose me. We’ll continue to choose each other, eternally.

I guest-posted for Natalie of The Bobby Pin today. I revealed a shameful secret about my wedding thank you notes.

On Wednesday night That Mom (AKA Denise Andersen Photography), That Sister, cousin Aubree, and myself went out toward the Utah Salt Flats for the most amazing shoot I’ve done so far. If you think these iPhone pictures look good, wait until you see the pro pics TM and I took!

This is the “set” That Mom came up with. Her creativity blows my mind.

Why is it necessary for me to have my legs in the air while shooting? I have no idea. The shot I got while down here there is absolutely one of my favorite! I think because my ridiculous position made That Sister laugh, a real laugh that looks great on film.

That Sister is a natural model and I loved taking her picture.

I was able to squeeze my chubby soft self into my wedding dress again for some sister shooting time! We posed, we leaped, we ran. Oh my!

P.S.-When I saw sister’s dress I admit I was jealous. I wanted it for myself. But then I put my dress back on and I realized how much I love it.

Then it was time for TS to have some more alone time in front of the camera…

and so I finished out the shoot in my own wedding dress. Evelyn (my dress) and I have been through a lot together!

You probably won’t be seeing the pro pics for awhile, as we are going to try to get them published. Think of the pitch “We did a shoot out in Utah with Mother and Daughter shooting Daughter, and Mother shooting Daughter and Daughter in their wedding dresses together.”

TOnight we are headed to That Sister’s second reception. Yes, she is having two. If you followed my bride blog you may recall that I had two as well. The first was much more fancy, with a full dinner, the second was rather informal and quite cold. (Though the cold was expected, since we were holding a party outside, at night, in the middle of October, in Washington)

We won’t talk about “cultural hall receptions” quite yet, though I think they are a unique phenomenon worth covering.  One of you has been asking me to write some “LDS Culture” posts (I’m sorry I can’t remember who), and I realized that this second reception is something that seems so normal to all of us but isn’t quite as common for those outside of our faith. Or is it? Do other cultures tend to routinely have a reception in her hometown, and then a reception in his?

Almost every LDS couple I know of has one. The couple gets married at the temple closest to where she is from, and then a second reception in his hometown follows either a few days or a few weeks later. Friends of ours had their second reception several months after the first. My friend from college just had three receptions, the first in SLC where she got married, then another in her hometown, and the last one in his hometown.

I’ve thought a lot about why this happens, and I do have one theory. Many non-LDS couples date for years, and live together for much of that time. They often feel established enough in a certain place to call it home, and that is where they want to have their reception. They are both working professionals and usually fund the wedding on their own. LDS Couples usually don’t date for very long, they are usually right out of high school and thus not very established in a new place, and because they are young their parents fund their wedding.

As for why the bride gets to have the wedding closest to her hometown, or at the location of her choice? No specific reason behind that, it’s just tradition, and a needed one. Helps to eliminate fights about what temple to be married in.

That Sister asked me to take pictures of the reception tonight so I will have lots to share with you. Several of the bridesmaids and groomsmen will be in attendance but last I heard we aren’t even supposed to dress in our birdcage veils and black knee length dresses this time. I don’t know much about it, I’m just the one taking the pictures.