weddings.
It was only, what, four years ago that we were worrying about what amazing things we were going to do for our 21st birthdays and what gifts we were going to get each other, right? Fast forward a bit to now and you have us at 25. Or almost there. And what comes with that? Obviously being older, but instead of worrying about birthdays anymore (well, I'm still worrying about what I'm doing for 25 for myself and others), we now have a clear sign of getting older. That is weddings, marriage, and engagements. The biggest qualms we find ourselves in are what is the appropriate gift for a wedding/bachelorette/bridal shower/engagement party. At least, a few of my friends and I have had this discussion as of late.
I was first made aware of this blatant getting older thing when my sorority big sister got engaged last spring and asked me to be one of her bridesmaid. So not only is there the onset of gift costs, but also the price of the dress, the shoes, the hair and the whole responsibility of being in a wedding. I was a bit hurt when one of my line sister's hadn't asked me to be in her party, but after saying yes to this one, I'm kind of happy I'm just invited. It's getting expensive!
I had to order our bridesmaid dress recently, and the down payment on it was half of the cost of the dress, or $150. Ouch. And it's not even completely paid for yet!
It's a nice dress, I'll give you that. You can look at it here: http://watters.com/Product/WattersWatters/2251/
Next is the decision of shoes. Not to mention the gifts. And how much you should spend, but also, how much can you afford to spend. A friend was invited to a friend's friend's wedding and was asking me what was the appropriate gift. I really had no idea, considering he's not really a close friend. There should be a guide book for these things.
I received another save the date in the mail for an old suitemate back in April, followed quickly by a never mind, we're eloping and spending money on our vacation! Good for them, I thought, though I was excited to potentially fly out to Alabama for the affair.
Besides being in one wedding, I will probably be asked to attend about two more in the near future.
Then, I was working at the museum when my coworker/friend asked me to photograph her sister's surprise proposal. "You know I'm not THAT good, right?" I told her. She didn't care, she just wanted a nice quality camera and to not have to take them herself.
The proposal was all set up. We lied and told her sister the museum was receiving a nonprofit award from the borough president at the South Finn Grill. It was fancy and we were to be fancy, and it explained me being there.
On the beach, her fiance to be set up chairs and scraped "Will you?" in the sand. It was actually really funny to shoot because I saw the question immediately from the boardwalk, but her sister didn't notice at all. Then she proceeded to make it really difficult to get her down on the sand. She had her heels on, they were going to break, the sand was going to make her feet ashy. Finally, when we coaxed her onto the sand, she saw the writing, but couldn't really make it out and said to me, "What does that say? SOS? Someone save me? That girl over there needs saving." I started laughing hysterically. Then, the above pictures, were her face and reaction when she finally realized what it was and who was standing out there. In the first one, she is checking on her broken heel.
I had a lot of fun shooting the pictures and editing them and seeing her reaction and happiness.
As well as seeing two fellow Stony alum/Seawolves get engaged.
Later, I was told I am invited to the wedding. Slowly, getting poorer and poorer.
And also wondering when I'll find such love (ah, cliche!)!
But here are some of my favorite shots. This is getting older, and this is our priorities changing, and this is what love looks like:
