Wedding Music

Today, February 20th, 2012, marks 6 months since Jon and I were married. I thought, since I haven't really written much about the wedding lately, I'd share our playlist for the reception.

We absolutely loved our DJ's, especially because they were so helpful with picking out songs. They sent us a huge list of recommended songs, and were also willing to use the songs WE recommended.

*All links on song titles lead to a youtube video, if you want to listen to the song.

Our first song was for the bridal party entrance. We chose Beautiful Day by U2, which was perfect because some couples walked in serenely, while some chose to make a flashier entrance. It was particularly memorable when my younger brother danced and boogied in with my friend K.

After we entered and posed for family to take some snapshots, we transitioned straight into our first dance together as husband and wife. (Side note - I am getting teary remembering it.) We had chosen our song shortly after we got engaged, but were able to keep it a secret from everyone up until then. We chose Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback because we both love the band, and this song has always been special for us. It truly vocalizes our relationship and how it developed over 3 years of dating.

For my dance with my dad, choosing a song was hard. Nothing seemed quite right... I was close with both of my parents when I was younger, but I was the only girl, so I am was the definition of Daddy's Little Princess, and I needed to find a song that portrayed that. I ended up doing a google search for "father daughter wedding songs," and I came across Always Be Your Baby by Natalie Grant. After listening to just the first verse, I was sobbing, which (to me) meant it was perfect. (And now I am crying again.)

For Jon's dance with his mother, he was originally going to use the same song that his brother used at his wedding. I wanted him to pick something that was more meaningful for him. He had an idea, but wasn't sure if it'd work... As soon as he told me, I knew it would be perfect! He chose Somewhere Out There from the Fievel movie because he used to sing it when he was little. So cute!

The next song on our playlist is our cake-cutting song. This was an easy choice for me; I just had to persuade Jon to agree with me. I wanted to use Sugar Sugar by the Archies. It is such a fun song! I might have been shaking my hips just a bit while I was smearing icing on Jon's face. (No cake on his face, just a dab of icing!)

When it was time to toss the bouquet, I knew exactly which song I wanted. See, I danced competitively when I was younger. 3 of my bridesmaids were in the same dance group as me, and we did the cutest little dance to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. It was only natural for that song to be playing while I tossed the bouquet.

Jon turned to google to find a good song for the garter removal. We didn't want anything that was too raunchy, or even slightly sexy for that matter. That's just not our style. So when he happened upon a recommendation to use the Indiana Jones theme song, he ran with it. He loves the movies, and it made for a great laugh for anyone who knew what it was.

The same dilemma occurred when we were trying to pick a song for the garter toss. We knew ahead of time that the majority of the males in attendance were either under the age of 10, or already married. I think there was 4 guys who came up for the garter toss. We went with The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy.

Besides these songs, our DJ's also asked us for a list of songs we wanted them to play while people were eating dinner and dancing. Jon contributed some, and I contributed some. Here is part of the list with links to youtube if you want to hear any of the songs:

Hang On Little Tomato by Pink Martini
When I'm 64 by the Beatles
Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Jason Castro
Give A Little by Hanson
The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra
The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel
Something by the Beatles
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole

Color Splash Sunday - More Bling!

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.

I have a selective coloring photo for you all today! Now, I know I already showed off a photo of my bachelorette bling here, but I found another pretty shot when I was editing self-shot photos of my rings. (I say 'self-shot' because I am not a professional, and probably never will be. So they are not high-quality. I also didn't want anyone to think I was illegally editing photos from the professional photog who shot my wedding.)

Anyway, here is my photo for this week:

Even though the subject -my bachelorette bling- is the same, there are two major differences between this photo and my previous one: This one was shot with my dad's Nikon D80 (which I borrow constantly... I want my own.) and edited with LR3 (which I got as a gift just after Jon and I were debating buying it for me during their sale a couple weeks ago). The previous one was shot with my Samsung point and shoot camera, and edited with pse8. I seriously love this photo SO. MUCH. MORE!

Before you all link up, I want to thank the 6 of you who participated last week! It was so great to see all of your selective coloring photos. I know I said that I would pick a Top 3 anytime we had 6 or more participants, but I can't leave anyone out! I really tried, but it's too difficult. No one minds, right?!

And one more thing... I have a giveaway going on right now over at my book blog. I am giving away a finished copy of Traci Houston's debut novel, Blood Drive. It's a vampire novel, and it's not for kids/teens. It's got blood, gore, and adult activities. My husband and I both read it, though, and loved it! Click HERE for more info. Low entries, high chances of winning!

Okay, now you can link up. :)

Color Splash Sunday - Pink Sash

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.

My photo for today is another bachelorette party accessory:

It's hanging on my dresser mirror. My dresser has my jewelry box plus some trinkets on it. You can also see my husband's dresser in the mirror.

My TOMS shoes

I love my red TOMS shoes so much! My mom bought them for me as a wedding present because I wanted them for the reception. I knew I wanted a flat, comfy shoe for dancing, red was one of our theme colors, and I fully support their cause. There is a child somewhere on this planet that needed shoes, and that child was given a free pair when my mom purchased my pair. Awesomesauce.

Moving on, I mentioned last week that I had photographed my TOMS at the beach.

Well, I put together a little collage of my favorite photos from that mini beach photo shoot:

Here is a fun Before & After collage for Kelly's link-up:

Here's a shot that could be so much better, if not for my point and shoot camera's limitations:

And here's one that I decided to use for Laura's link-up:

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Color Splash Sunday - Pink Beads

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.

My photo for today is a bracelet and some beads that my bridesmaids made me wear when they took me out for a bachelorette party. My girls know me well enough to know that I am not into that whole "crazy-drunk, male-strippers, cakes-shaped-like-body-parts" scene. So, we went to a dinner theatre, just a small group of us, and I loved it! I couldn't have had a better bachelorette party.

iPhonography 9.10.11

How cool is today's date?!? It's 9-10-11!!

Simple pleasures.




Anyway, here is last month represented in instagram photos:

And here are some wedding photos that I took with my iPhone:

Clockwise from top left: my ring & band, Jon wore a kilt!, hairstyles of 2 bridesmaids, my tiara that used to be my grandma's, hairstyles of 2 more bridesmaids, 4 of my girls at their last dress fitting, my girls in the limo, my hair is long!, a gift, 2 of my girls at the last dress fitting, my dad in the limo, relaxing during cocktail hour, my bridal bling from the bachelorette party, and my hairstyle.

Linking up with the following blogs:

iPhone Photo Friday at Adrienne Rose Photography
iPhonography at One Mom's Perfect Imperfections
Phonography at Pasando
InstaFriday at Life Rearranged





And I have to end this post with a message for my husband even though he will only read it when I show it to him:

Happy birthday, Jonathan! I love you more than you think, and I can only hope to somehow be able to express it to you at some point in the future. I'm glad we have the rest of our lives together, because it really might take me that long to find the right words to truly explain how much you mean to me. I am so happy that we have officially started our married life, and I am uber-excited for all the possibilities that the future holds for us. ♥

Texture Tuesday - Lavender & Green

I love that color combination, lavender and green. When I was first starting to plan my wedding, I looked at pages and pages of color combinations until they all blurred together. Lavender has been my favorite color since I was 12, so I knew I wanted that for one of my wedding colors. I ended up going with a combination that is not used often, but looks much better than I expected: red and lavender.

Anyway, for today's texture challenge for Kim Klassen, we were supposed to use her new texture, crackerjack. I also used a bokeh texture from Shadowhouse Creations.

You can see the SOOC shot here.


Here are my layers:

I had the bokeh layer, then a warmer duplicate of the background, then a slight desaturation, then the crackerjack texture, and then a soft vignette. I had also done a Gaussian blur on the crackerjack texture.

August 20th, 2011

I am getting married today! To a wonderful man. The man who turned my life around, helped me find myself, and taught me how to be comfortable in my own skin.

As of 2:30 pm, I will be, forever and always,
Mrs. Jonathan Gallagher.

Re-Post of Proposal Story

Today, being only 5 short days away from my wedding, I thought I'd re-post the proposal story (with a handful of minor edits). It is so sweet and perfect, so us. And all of the photos in this post are from that day! (As a bonus, you can even see one of my first few ugly attempts at a watermark in the corner of each photo.)


The college campus where Jon and I both went to school, and where I used to live, is utterly gorgeous. It has sweeping views of the Hudson River, scenic areas with beautiful trees and flowers, and quiet gardens full of romance and charm.

On June 15th, 2010, Jon and I were lounging in my dorm, getting ready to meet some friends for dinner. He was in an exceptionally affectionate mood. A little while before we needed to get in the car and go, he says to me, "Let's take a walk." Sure, why not? It wasn't hot out, we had time, and campus was very quiet, due to it being summer break.

So we meandered around campus, me with my camera taking pictures everywhere. We were slowly walking up around the small building that I work in, and I was chatting with a coworker that was passing by. Jon started to get a bit... pushy, but not in a bad way.

He nudged me up the hill and up some stairs that I knew led in a couple different directions. One little trail off the stairs led to a quiet garden tucked away behind another small building. He pulled me into the garden and I promptly got distracted by some flowers. So, I squatted down on the trail and starting taking pictures. I was facing away from him, and he was suddenly very quiet behind me, while I chattered on about the flowers and how pretty they were and how awful the light was.

After a few minutes, he says, "Why don't you come take pictures of these blue and purple ones over here?" Immediately, I got so excited! I thought, Jon is seeing photos like I do! I quickly turned around and walked over to him.

Hang on... "What are you talking about?? There's no blue flowers! They are pink and purple!"

"Look closer."

I practically shoved my face in the flowers, and then almost fell over. There, nestled inside the flowers, was a black box with a ring.

I started sobbing and laughing, all at once.

The rest is a bit of a blur. I know I shot right into his arms, and we hugged and kissed a lot. I know we both said some stuff, but all I remember is staring into his eyes and seeing myself, my future, my love. I never knew how amazing this could feel. With that little ring, our relationship took on a whole new level. Our love for each other strengthened and deepened to become something new, something magical; I never could have imagined it would feel like this, not in my wildest dreams.

Since then, I've felt myself changing and developing as I take on this new role - "fiance," soon to be "wife." Even through the wedding stress and disagreements that we are already having, I know my heart has doubled in size. Rather than making room for him, I've designated him as my sole love, and made room on the side for everything and everyone else. No matter what we go through, I know he'll always be there for me, and I'll always be there for him.

Color Splash Sunday - Bridal Wishing Well

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>
Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.

There will not be any top 3 favorite photos during the summer.



Your turn to link up!

iPhoneography - 7.2.11

Dude... I haven't linked up to Courtney's meme, iPhoneography, since April 9. And before that, it was March 19. Considering I take more photos with my iPhone than with my point and shoot, I decided I need to get back into this!

Be forewarned, there are LOTS of photos in this post.

Here are some of my favorite before-and-after's using instagram (because I am simply obsessed with it):










And here is my app of the week:



This week, I am going to tell you about Camera Plus. I do not have the pro (paid) version of this app, just the free version. Also, this app is not to be confused with Camera+, the wildly popular app that costs $1.99. That one has many more fun features and filters.

This app has very few editing or camera options. There are 2 editing options if you open a photo from your camera roll: black and white, or crop. I really don't like their b&w conversion because it has very low contrast, no bright whites, and no absolute blacks. Here is one that I converted to show you:



When you use the camera part of the app, you are able to use flash or self-timer, and you can zoom in on your subject. I experimented with the zoom here by keeping the camera in the same spot:



Here is a photo of our kitchen with flash and without:


(Side note - the kitchen is a mess, always and forever. Working on sprucing it up a little bit with curtains and pretty things. That window opens to the breezeway, so we keep the blinds mostly closed, hence the darkness.)

I guess that's about all I have for you this weekend. Come back next week for a new photography app review and more of my iPhone photos! Click the button below to visit Courtney's blog.