wedding ideas were not so great…. like covering the whole under side of the tent with HUGE teal tissue balls?… Yea…thank goodness Anna talked me out of that in a hurry. Between the dew and humidity, those poor things wouldn’t have stood a chance! And then I had another idea…. I wanted to hang different strips of vintage fabrics from the top of the garage and cover the WHOLE thing. It sounded cute on paper… but really, if I had done that, the garage would have looked like it had been a victim of a vintage toilet papering attack and it would have cost me a small fortune!
However! I did have a few great decisions when it came to planning my wedding! I decided to design and order an engagement guestbook. Now, I offer these to clients but I went ahead and upgraded to a Legacy album instead of a Coffee Table album. It’s definitely more expensive but I am here to tell you that it’s WORTH IT! So worth it! I designed this album around this time last year (crazy! that seems like ages ago!). I ordered it and we had it on display at our reception for all 400+ of our guests to sign! When the album first came in the mail, momma and I looked at it and said “Ohhh! It’s too PRETTY to let people write on it!!!!”…. but I’m so thankful that we went ahead and used it as our guestbook. Michael and I CHERISH this book. It’s full of amazing notes from all of our closest friends and family. Not only did I get a book full of wedding day memories… I also have an awesome way to display our engagement photos! Were there some pages that weren’t completely filled up? Yes. Were there some pages that didn’t have the same amount of signatures as the page across from them? Yes…..But does that matter? No. It really doesn’t matter at all. People signed all over this book and I love it! However, I did mark a few of my favorite pages “do not write” so that a few pages would be left untouched and that worked really well!
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There are SO many different ways to do a guestbook and really, there is no “best” way… this is just the option we chose and it turned out to be a fabulous decision! I highly recommend it to ALL brides out there!!!! Happy Wedding Wednesday and no I’m off to get a TON done….that’s the goal!
Thanks to Jasmine* for our wonderful images! Red Rock canyon never looked so good!
This week, Michael is sitting down with me at the microphone to join me on the podcast! When we started our Acton Academy journey, we had big dreams and very little idea of the practical challenges that lay ahead. Today, in year three of running our own Acton Academy, Michael and I are thrilled to reflect on the incredible transformation we’ve seen in our learners, our community, and even our own perspectives on education.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Erica and Jon, two incredibly talented photographers and educators who have redefined their business and life by embracing change. From leaving a corporate career to transforming their wedding photography business into a thriving brand photography venture, their story is full of inspiration for anyone looking to take bold steps and live life on their own terms.
I run a Facebook group with over 20,000 photographers, and something I see constantly are people sharing their editing struggles, asking for critiques, or seeking advice on how to fix issues in Lightroom.
This is going to go down as the wedding day were we got lucky over and over again. Blair and Ashley heard that there was a chance of rain on their wedding day but we all wrote it off as nothing and kept moving on with all of our original plans.
In the fast-paced world we live in, finding purpose and intention in everyday life can feel like a distant goal. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a parent, a creative, or simply someone searching for more meaning, this probably resonates with you! If you’ve been a longtime follower of the Katelyn James podcast, you know it’s always been about authenticity, growth, and family. So, we wanted the podcast to represent just that. Welcome to Doing Life Differently!
If you’re looking to build a personal brand that genuinely connects with people, you’re in the right place. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a creative, or just someone looking for more purpose in life, I think these insights will resonate with you.