Author Archives: Liz

Our Wedding Video!

Posted in Wedding Planning by

Our amazing videographers, Ashley and Brian Newman, finished editing a montage of our wedding!

(I’d suggest watching it full-screen to avoid ads popping up at the bottom.)

At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted/needed a wedding video. It wasn’t really in the budget and I despise seeing videographer’s ruin weddings with their crazy lighting and excessive crew.

But then a few of my friends told me they were really happy they had a video to remember the moments from the day. So I used my resources and reached out to Jeremy Lawson, my photographer, and he suggested I connect with the Newman’s who were just starting to do weddings.

I’m so happy I did, because they offered to film and edit our wedding for FREE since it was their first one! They were a dream to work with…no crazy crews, no appearing in the background of all my photos, no bothering me during the day. They are the biggest sweethearts too.

If you’re in the Chicago-area and are looking for budget-friendly videographers, Ashley and Brian are tops. Their rates are $500 (WELL below the normal $2,000-$3,000 most videographers charge) and they do a wonderful job capturing and editing the day into a montage.

Here’s their email if you’re interested! bnewman269@yahoo.com Tell them Liz sent you. :)

To Post or Not to Post

Posted in Liz's Life by

If you’ve been paying attention to the news this week, you may have caught wind of an article in the NY Timesthat caused heated debate about privacy on Facebook and other social media sites.

It got me thinking about sharing and over-sharing online. What’s ok to talk about and what’s private?

When Facebook first came out, I jumped headfirst into posting about my life with my “friends.” Being an angstful teen at the time, I didn’t think twice about sharing details about my relationships, grades and escapades with my friends.

My family couldn’t understand why I would want to “broadcast my life” to people. Of course, they were only concerned for my well-being (I definitely needed to censor more), but I remember having several heated arguments defending why I was on Facebook. Of course now they all have profiles and are catching on to Twitter.

When I decided to take it to the next level and blog about my life, I was happy to get mostly positive remarks about my sharing. People have told me that they’ve identified with my posts and have gotten some good ideas for meals or wedding resources. However, there has been the occasional comment about how I “share too much,” or “should think twice about posting details.”

Honestly though, I think writing about my life online has been a wonderful way to connect with like-minded people who have identified with what I’m going through. Nothing is better than a comments from an old classmate\colleague\or even stranger to find out that they read my blog and my posts has helped them in some way.  

I do have some guidelines though. When thinking about whether or not to write about something, I typically ask myself these questions:

  1. Is there a chance a reader will positively benefit from what I’m writing?
  2. Would I be embarrassed if my mother (or mother-in-law) read it?
  3. Is there anyone mentioned in the post that I should get approval from?

In general, I think that I err on the side of sharing vs. with-holding (like when I wrote about my underwear). I’ve seen people dealing with cancer, death, infertility and other life-alterning things, share their stories online and receive tremendous support from the community.

There is a fine line though, and I don’t intend on crossing it.

What do you guys think? What will you share or not share online? Do you think people need to censor their posts or do you want to read more?

Our Pictures Are Up!

Posted in Wedding Planning by

I’m sooo excited! Jeremy Lawson emailed me today to tell me our pictures are up on his blog. Click here to see them. It’s a sampling of Jeremy’s fav photos. When we get the rest, I’ll be sure to post more on here.

Love that Abattylife.com got a shout out! Be sure to leave Jeremy and me lots of comments…us bloggers like that. :)

NEWJLPA82965

Where We Go From Here

Posted in Party Ideas by

Since my wedding, I’ve been asked several times if I plan to keep blogging  and what I will be blogging about. I do plan to keep blogging, but what about is still yet to be worked out completely.

I really enjoyed finding adorable gifts, decorations, dresses ect. as they related to weddings, but now I feel like my scope needs to broaden.

So in addition to writing about my day-to-day life and adventures in cooking, I plan to continue to share some of my favorite party finds. For example, I came across this “Vintage Toy” child’s birthday party theme on www.thoughtfullysimple.com and had to share.

The party was designed by Bella Grace Party Designs and has to be one of the most adorable themes ever! I need someone in my life to have a baby so I can have a reason to buy one of those vintage radio flyers. Any takers?

Anyway….expect more of this from me.

Also, if there’s topics you’d like me to tackle, (like how I snagged a good man or how I am eating like a caveman or what it’s like to be taller than your teachers in 5th grade) let me know.

Now that our wedding is over, I will be looking for content to keep you all reading. :)