My Sister's Getting Married!

I love my big sister. She's just shy of two years older than me, and although we've certainly had our arguments and differences because of our very different personalities, she's still one of my best friends. I tell her pretty much everything and I know that she will never judge me for anything I do or say or any question I ask, regardless of how embarrassed or ridiculous I might feel for asking it. Our relationship was somewhat strained when she first left for college, but in recent years we've become much closer. We still have our issues, but don't all siblings?
I remember the first mention of Patrick. It was over spring break of (I think) her junior year in college. I remember getting super annoyed with her because she was so distracted texting Patrick and some other guy (who ended up being Patrick's roommate and will be the best man) that I felt like she didn't care about what I had to say at all. And since she went to school in San Diego and I didn't see her very often...that made me a little angry.
It was an emotional roller coaster. They got together and then broke up and then got back together and then broke up again.
About a year ago, I was hanging out with some friends in Einsteins, the coffee shop connected to CNU's library, when I got a text message from Patrick.
It read: So I hear you might know about these rings with shiny rocks that your sister might like.
I flipped out. Like...jumped up out of my chair and ran outside to call him immediately because I didn't have a good signal in the library. I dialed and as soon as he picked up yelled into the phone, "OH MY GOSH! ARE YOU GONNA PROPOSEEEEE???"
You see, at this point, they weren't together. They had been talking about it but nothing was official. Christina had joked about wishing he would just show up on her doorstep and propose. Knowing the conversations they'd been having and knowing Patrick...that was a legitimately distinct possibility. So when he sent me a text message that was theoretically asking me opinion on engagement rings, I almost had a heart attack.
As you might've guessed, he wasn't proposing, but they had just gotten back together. Over the next several months conversations about marriage came up here and there. We knew a proposal was coming, it was just a question of when.
In October, he came to visit. We thought he might propose then and got all excited. But he didn't.
She went moved down to Florida in November. We thought he might propose one of the first times they were together. But he didn't.
He came to visit her for Thanksgiving. We thought he might propose then. But he didn't.
They spent time together right before Christmas. We thought he might propose then. But he didn't.
I was antsy. My mom was antsy. Christina was antsy.
Fast forward to December 30. I was up at White Sulphur Springs for a day trip with a friend. My purse was on the main floor near the welcome desk as I was upstairs having fun taking pictures of the beautiful decorations with my SLR. I heard my phone go off downstairs.
That's strange, I thought. Who's texting me? Everyone knows I'm at the Springs today.
I headed downstairs and pulled out my phone. It was from Christina. There was a picture of a hand with a ring and "Guess what?"
I kind of freaked out. My words might have been something similar to this:
"Oh my gosh! I think my sister's...I just...I need to call but I don't have a...Karen! Is there a phone that I can use?! I think...oh my gosh!"
I used the landline to call but she didn't pick up. I grabbed my cell and jumped/leaped over things in my way and ran out to the section of the porch where I typically had a good signal. I called and I got her voicemail.
"WHAT THE HECK CHRISTINA?! You can't just send me a picture of a ring with a 'Guess what' and then NOT pick up your phone! Call me back, woman!"
She did call back. She is indeed engaged. And now with a date set, wedding planning is in full swing. She has the dress. The reception and ceremony venues are booked. The photographer has been chosen. Bridesmaid dresses are picked out. All the details are coming together.
Now, I'm no photographer. I enjoy photography a lot and I've been told I have a fairly natural talent for it, but it's not a skill I've ever honed. I've never taken any classes in it. I know far too little about my SLR. But my sister knows that I enjoy it, so she and Patrick asked if I would do their engagment photos for them.
So a couple of weeks ago, I flew down to Florida and spent the weekend with Christina and Patrick taking some lovely photos. If you're a legit photographer, pointers are always welcome, but know that I know very little about photography. I definitely got some pose ideas and such from the wonderful Katelyn James though.
These are some of my favorites. I couldn't resist showing off my gorgeous sister and her fiance.















And then comes my favoritest part. My sister also knows that on top of photography, I love design and I eventually want to get into graphic and web design full time. She's not a big design person. She likes prettily designed things, but that's not her forte. So she said I could take the design stuff and run with it. Which means I get to design the Save the Dates, the wedding website, the invitations, the programs, the guestbook...all of it. And I'm stoked.
I've been working on Save the Date options this week and I'd love your opinions. All of these designs were done using Adobe InDesign.





Sorry for the major picture overload on this post, but I couldn't resist. Hope you're all having a totally fabulous Thursday! Much love!
-- Shayes.