Headbands of Hope

In a time when there's so much hate in the world, it's refreshing to see people and companies who are devoted to spreading love and joy. Headbands of Hope does just that. For every headband purchased, they give one headband to a child with cancer. It's so nice to see a company stand up and make a difference in this children's lives and give them a reason to smile. So sweet! They offer headbands, flower crowns, and clips and have even started a boy's line so they don't get left out! I love positive organizations like this. How awesome is it knowing that when you purchase something, your brightening a little child's day? Check out how I styled this flower crown below but also make sure to checkout their website and read more about their history and see all of their products!

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Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Pictures

Today's post is all about engagement pictures... dos & don'ts, tips & tricks, and basically my whole experience with taking them! They're one of the first things you do as a newly engaged couple. Jess and I got engaged May 8 and took our engagement pictures August 12 which is quite a gap but I've only been home to GA once since I started the summer semester at school so it's been quite hard to schedule a time!

We decided to take them at Jess's parents house so we were more comfortable. I originally wanted it to be in the late afternoon near sunset because that's the best lighting of the day! But turns out you always need a plan B (or at least need to be flexible) because it was 40% chance of rain right around the time we wanted to shoot. We ended up not being able to capture that sunset glow, but the clouds casted a perfect diffuse lighting which ended up being perfect.

Tips:

Research photographers and find one that fits your style and budget. The photographer I wanted to use for our wedding pictures offered and engagement session package so we chose that as well!

Plan outfits ahead of time. Don't wait until the last minute to pick what you want to wear. I did this and had to rush ship my dress, but thankfully it got here in time. 

Bring more outfits than you need. You may find that one color or outfit suits a particular shooting location over another. 

Coordinate your outfits without looking too matchy-matchy.

I love the idea of the girl wearing at least 1 white outfit or dress in pictures!

Bring water (& maybe towels) if it's hot outside.

Take breaks if you're getting too hot/cold. We definitely had to do this because it was SO hot and muggy outside. That's south GA for ya!

Relax and don't act too seriously. Our photographer gave us a lot of direction and was super quick so there weren't too many awkward moments of staring at each other for 5 minutes.

Joke with each other while taking pictures to bring out real laughs. I love candid shots and think they will always be the best of any taken. I'm hoping we have a few.

Feel free to include children (if any of you already share or have a child) or dogs. We included Lily (our german wire-haired pointer) and I definitely can't wait to see those photos.


Here's a sneak of our engagement pictures from Amanda Sumner Photography!

I can't wait to see the rest of our photos! I'll write and updated post with more photos when I get them back. I loved this shot and you can't even tell its 800 degrees out with insane humidity. It was literally raining all around us this day. Btw, this dress was perfect for photos & I'm thinking about wearing it to the rehearsal dinner because it's stunning!

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Easy Outfit That Transitions Into Fall

Long time, no blog post ya'll. With my semester ending, I've been super busy. But no worries, I'm back today with a super easy outfit that transitions into fall. If you're from the south, you know that it pretty much stays hot until late September. It's hard to wear layers and not sweat through your whole outfit so that's why I love this green utility vest. You can throw it on over a tee and instantly get the look of fall. Plus, if it's still too hot to wear jeans, wear it with shorts like I did. You can throw this vest on over a striped tee, or even wear it over a printed dress with tall boots. I'm telling ya'll, this vest is a fall must have! The striped tee I'm wearing under it is really long (long enough to wear with leggings) so I knotted it up in the front so you could see my shorts! 

Utility Vest: Thread & Supply // Striped Tee: BP // Distressed shorts: Articles of Society (here & here) // Booties: Treasure&Bond // Purse: Tory Burch // Necklace: similar // Bracelet: Kendra Scott

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