It takes a village...to raise a wedding

A 3 month engagement is not a lot of time, I've come to find out, to plan a wedding. I've worked a little bit in the wedding industry, mainly as a photographer and just had no idea how cut-throat this world is. I am barraged daily with stupid catalogs coming to my door, advertising keepsakes that I can't live without, and deals on men's tuxes. I'm not a primadonna, a princess, none of this white taffeta, foamy crystal encrusted crap really interests me. I don't want a list of a hundred different vendors coming to my door and taking my money. My parents have generously given us an amount of cash to budget with, and we have had to really figure out how to prevent that devil industry from seeping into our magic day. And I think Aaron and I have found the answer. It's called "FRIENDS!"

We are blessed to have probably some of the most talented, dedicated, beautiful friends and family that anyone could ask for. In fact, they're so awesome that they are doing everything for our wedding except for a couple things that we have to rent. From the planning, to the decor, to the potty pimping, to the invitation design, to the day-of setup and tear-down, to the dessert design, to the accessory crafting, we are mostly relying on the creativity of the people we love to make this happen.

Here are the things that were most important to Aaron and us about planning our wedding:

1. That it would be simple. Simple=not complex, extravagant, ka-boomy crazy
2. That it would be inexpensive. That we don't start our lives in debt.
3. That it would be earth-friendly and natural. Recyclable decorations, invitations, food, etc. We are relying on local farmers, cooks, friends to supply the food+flowers. Cut out the corporations as much as possible, except for Sam's Club.
4. That we would make only a few people do all the work. Spread it around to all.
5. That it would be FUN! and not too serious, meaningful yet Happy!
6. That it would make us celebrate God's gift of love to all of us, encapsulating who we are as a unit.

That being said, we are getting married on October 18 in a big field that belongs to some dear friends of ours'. There is no way we could've made this happen by ourselves, and what we have found is that people have been thrilled to help us. We don't really need physical gifts from them-their presence is "present" enough.

The 2nd greatest help in planning this wedding has been the Internet. I seriously have no idea how people ever did it without. It's helped inspire, give ideas, correspond with guests, pretty much everything.

So for you people out there who are trying to figure this whole planning thing out, I'll stick in some of my favorite resources. We're 33 days away, and hey-no worries mate! We're ready to go!

For budgeting, planning, negotiating: Martha Stewart "My Budget" tool: This helped us a lot, because with the lump of money, we had to pay for all the food all weekend, the wedding, our honeymoon, a trip to California after wards, as well as our plane tickets to Taiwan.
http://tools.marthastewartweddings.com/wedding/UserMyBudget


For keeping track of blogs, to keep a steady stream of ideas, Get Google Reader today!
www.google.com, click above on "reader"
My favorite blogs are and


While we're on the google topic, my planner and I have been collaborating and organizing using GoogleDocs, it's Awesome!


Save yourself time on putting on mascara with Latisse Lashes. See Dr. Gary if you're in Chattanooga! http://www.affordable-botox.com/


Get your very own free website at wwww.mywedding.com
See ours here: http://www.mywedding.com/aaronandrika


Find really cool crafty anything at www.etsy.com

I think the most frequently asked question of any female involved somehow with the wedding is, "so what colors are you going to have?" And I couldn't choose and just said, "i don't know, i guess every color". My dear friend Victoria did the same thing and her wedding was beautiful so I don't think you have to be constrained to one idea. Let it be wild, let it be everything, everywhere!

In closing, as much as I am embracing and getting into this event planning, I can't wait until it's over. When I don't have to always be making lists in my mind, or worrying about things going wrong, or hoping that everyone's okay that weekend. I love being engaged to this hot hot man and talking about how our life adventure is going to take off! 33 more days!

Engaged!

Yes, it's true. I'm engaged! Aaron fought the good fight, slaying dragons, riding waves and long plane rides, surviving awkward family conversations, grandparents, slave labor, and made it through to finally propose and ask me to marry him late last Sunday night.

Everyone who knows our relationship has known that it's been anything but ordinary. Every day is filled with adventure and surprises and sure enough, Aaron surprised me out of the blue.

We'd just spent the week in California seeing family, playing, exploring, seeing all sorts of people, and it was really fun. Before the trip, Aaron and my dad had discussed that they were going to have the "man-talk" on our trip. Each day went by, and it just wasn't the right moment and then finally, on the last day, Aaron instigated the conversation and my dad told him it was ultimately my decision. But then my mom had to jump in and decided that she wanted to have "man-talk" with Aaron too, and then my dad had to have father daughter talk with me, (and all of this was throughout the day, as we were making my cousin's wedding happen-it was crazy busy/emotional!), and finally late that night the 4 of us sat down and explained why we wanted to be together and why we love each other. The parents prayed with us and told us good bye because we were leaving early the next morning to fly back to Tennessee.

We were driving to my grandparents house to sleep for a couple hours when Aaron asked if I wanted to talk about the week. So we drove over to a river with a bridge and talked about everything; my parents, the week, how we felt about each other, how we really felt like we were stretched, what we wanted in life, etc, when he said, "well, would you want to spend the rest of your life with me?", and I thought, is this the real question; did he just pop the Question?

And then he was down on one knee and pulled out a box that he'd had in his pocket all day long and searched for my hand then put it on my wrong hand because he was nervous and over-thought the whole thing, but we eventually figured it out. I got all weak in the knees and squatted down with him and we cried happy tears for a while and giggled then prayed, and it was pure magic, and I wish I could put it into words!

Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night, and got up at 3:30 that morning to drive to Sacramento to catch our 7:00 am flight. I know the word "amazing" is super overused, but that's what it was. We amaze each other. And can't wait to spend forever together.


*the ring is beautiful-it's over 100 years old and is a solitaire sapphire from Kashmir, India. We wish we knew the story behind it, but we don't. I hope i don't lose it!

That Job Market is Such a Playa!

The more jobs I apply for and look into, the more I am thrown into that unlucky, negative, whirlpool of rejection. Job hunting feels like dating. I was pretty sick of dating, too, and have been relieved to find someone who makes me never want to date again.
Bygones.
So here’s the situation. My boyfriend and I have been looking for jobs for roughly 6-8 months. He’s been a lot deeper into it than me, because I really want him to find something first and then I can get one in a similar area. There have been several jobs that he has had that have strung him along to the very last minute and then cut him off. They played games. They fed him lies. They made him get down and beg. Anyway, here’s just a little sample of what we’ve been through the last few months.

Thursday, April 23:
Well out of the 4 options that Aaron just sent his resume to, this one looks really promising. It’s an all boys school about 7 hours from here. They’re asking 2 of the candidates to come up to interview, so we just found out and will Monday off work to drive up there. I’m looking at “work from home” ads that promise that I will make up to $500 a day! We’re really excited about this one.

Tuesday April 28.
The interviews went really well, they probably talking for about 7 hours between all the teachers and administrators. I think Aaron would be best for the job, it would be so good and the school is about 30 minutes from a city. I’m looking at jobs at tv or radio stations nearby.

Wednesday, May 6
Well, it’s been over a week and we haven’t heard anything from that school yet. I had an interview yesterday and it didn’t go so well. We were talking about my life story and I got so into the drama and stress of my life that I started crying. Note to self: Don’t cry in interviews. They might see it as a sign of weakness.

Friday, May 8
Aaron called (finally!) the school this morning. They picked the other guy. I found out from a friend that he got the job I was interviewing for. I wish I were more surprised. We’re going to City Café tonight, to go eat lemon cake and cry some more.

Wednesday May 13.
I’m going on vacation with my family next week. I’m going to take a break from the job search. Aaron’s helping a school with a backpacking trip and is sending his resume to several nearby schools. We are praying everyday for jobs.

Monday, June 1
I found a list for all school leaders in North America and Aaron sent his resume to every principal and superintendent. He heard back from many who gave them his regards. The Canadians were really nice. They all wished him luck and one offered him a cafeteria position. I looked into selling my plasma. If only I weighed 8 more pounds.

Tuesday June 9
Aaron got a really promising call back from a Principal looking for a boys dean. He’s really interested and wants to fly out here to meet Aaron
June 12,
Principal decided to send out the head boys dean out instead. Aaron had lunch with him today and they got along great. I’m looking for jobs around the school, and trying to figure out the most efficient way to pack all of my stuff. I’m starting to say all my goodbyes to my Tennessee friends, and told my boss I was leaving at the end of July.

June 19. 9:00am
The school board met last night to make a decision on the boys dean position. It was aaron or some other guy. You’d think they’d have called by now. I called aaron to tell him that he needs to email the principal. And then call to see if he got the email, and then call again to see if they made a decision. And then call to tell him good morning.

June 19, 1:00 pm
Aaron told me the principal finally called him back. They chose the other guy.

There’s always Asia, I told him. Let’s go teach overseas. This recession stinks and we need jobs.

And that’s where it is. An endless string of job dating. First they want you, and pursue something with you and just at the point where you’re starting to really start to get to know each other and become open to the idea of spending life together, they throw you out. Some new young thing comes along and grabs their attention.

But we can’t give up. We have to believe that there is something, anything out there, somewhere. We have to just put each rejection behind us and move on, full throttle. So now we’re scouring monster.com and the idealist.org, and local craigslists, and contacting more overseas agencies, and doing this process all over again.
It takes a different kind of trust in the Almighty. A trust and belief that He has it in His hands and will see us through. It gets harder every rejection and let-down but we can’t let that waver us. We choose to go on, to keep trying, to be open to more and more possibilties.

Donnie and Rachel's wedding!

I had the privilege of shooting the wedding of Donnie Keele and Rachel Hopkins a few weeks back. Ben Stitzer and I colloborated on it. It was absolutely beautiful. Donnie and Rachel have unique and creative styles on their own, but with their powers combined, they produced a really bright, colorful, laidback event that people will be talking about for a long time. To read the newspaper story of how these two got engaged, go here)

Congratulations, Kids!

(to see the full album, just leave me a comment and i'll send you the link and password.)

More Senior Portraits!

Hello all. These are some already-graduate senior portraits of people I love. Chris Mateo and Matt Turk are good dressers and roommates. They are super cool and all the girls have crushes on them. Now they are pursuing the dream, getting hired, and taking on the world. Congrats to you, fellas!

I'm finding that I'm the worst blogger ever, but i'm trying to got more up to date with photo work. Enjoy!

April Fool's on all ya'll!!!

This was the best day ever! After going forward with what seemed to be a dumb little idea at the time, turned into hundreds of comments, concerns, and fans of our fake facebook wedding. I never ceased to be amazed at the power of online social networking to spread gossip!

Here's how it all went down:

Last night, Aaron and I were just talking about April Fools' day and trying to think of jokes to play on our families when he said, "maybe we should just get married", to which i said, "absolutely fabulous". Before he could retract his suggestion, I started blurting out ideas and the plan was birthed.

We met the next morning (april 1st) at Collegedale City Hall. I dressed in a kneelength white skirt with a white blouse, and he wore pants and a big buttonup plaid shirt. Unfortunately, Collegedale Municipal building was busy with court day and no one felt like helping us with our scheme. (those guys have NO sense of humor). So at about 9:05, I told Aaron to follow me, because I had a trick up my sleeve. We went to James County Courthouse, about 2 miles down Ooltewah/Ringgold Road and saw that there were some people there. I walked in and started talking to a man named James, who turned out to be the photographer of the little wedding venue. He was more than delighted to help us out and play the part of the preacher. He grabbed one of the cooks to hold the digital camera and even lit the unity candles for us! He was great! We tried hard not to laugh through the "ceremony", and James guided us through quick snapshot poses for the fake wedding photos.

We made sure to make it cheesy, and low budget looking as possible.



We left the building about 15 minutes later, and I went to work to quickly edit the short video, add some beautiful Celine Dion music, and post it to youtube and facebook. It was live online by 10:00 am.

Within seconds, we had comments. At first, only 10 or 15, and by the end of the day, hundreds! People were shocked, some (mostly my friends) didn't believe for a second that we had eloped, while others (mostly aaron's friends) believed it unquestionably and gave best wishes for our happy marriage.

I've never spent so much time on facebook!

My favorite/scariest reaction was my dad's.

I called him after lunch to talk about something else, then casually asked if he's seen facebook yet, then told him to scroll down. Here's how our conversation went:

Dad: Rika, What's this? (music playing in background)
Rika: Dad, it's just something we did today, it's pretty cool, huh?
Dad: *dead silence, for about 8 minutes* Rika, you'd better talk to me. Say something.
Rika: Well, I mean, you always said you wanted me to elope. Yeah, because big weddings are so expensive and eloping saves so much time and energy and it's actually all the rage right now and....*rambles on*
Dad: "silence* Talk to me Rika.
Rika: and well, Aaron and I have been dating a while now, and we just thought it would be really fun and spontaneous and crazy, so we just did it because we needed some excitement....*rambles*
Dad: *more silence*
Rika: APRIL FOOL's!!!! Dad...Dad? Are you okay? You still there?

So I thought I killed my dad. Or at least gave him a bit of a heart attack. Man, I didn't think it was that believable, I mean, we used my graduation diploma for a marriage certificate for goodness sake! But when my dad started freaking out on the phone, I started feeling really bad and I had to tell him the truth.


I loved the reactions and the attention from everyone, but now I'm trying to figure out how to tell long lost relatives of Aaron's that, no, we aren't family now, no, I won't add them to my relatives' application on facebook, and the worst story was that Aaron's grandmother found out from his uncle that we were "married" and cried because she didn't know about it. She had a really bad day. I hope some one told her it was a joke. I feel bad about that. We'll send her a card or something.


All in all, I would love to thank everyone for their wishes of wellness to our fake marriage. It was really good while it lasted. And I apologize to all those people who left comments that got deleted for spoiling the joke for the others, And I would like to give a special thank you to those precious friends of ours' who believed us and didn't think we were liars (although they learned their lesson now).

We love all of you a lot, and want you to know that when/if that special day comes, we want you to be a part of it and promise that we will let you know as personally as possible. Aaron and I spent a whole day giggling and talking about all of you, and we do hope that we'll spend many more days laughing. At each other, and at you too. Thank you for a memorable April Fools' Day, ya fool!

Senior Portrait pt. 2

Shanel is a former child actor/model. She really knew what she was doing and i wish i could accessorize like this girl. I warned you of rockstars, didn't I? Shanel and I hit the shoot in early afternoon, on the brightest day I've seen in a while. A bit of a shoot, and now we're friends. She's pretty stoked to be graduating.