Star Gazing

Even since I was a kid, I've loved looking at the stars. (Fun fact, I went to Space Camp - but that's a story for another time) There's nothing quite like a clear sky full of stars. 

I grew up not too far from New York City so even on clear nights, stars were a bit harder to see because of all the city lights. I went on a church trip to middle of nowhere West Virginia once in high school and vividly remember how amazing the sky was. I couldn't believe how many hundreds of stars I could see. We all sat there in awe counting the shooting stars. I loved it. Truly something amazing.

 

See the rest of the Ten Feet Off Beale Shop here. 

First Look

Greetings, Ten Feet Off Beale readers!  I'm so excited that Alyssa invited me over to hang out today.  As a soon-to-be-bride, Alyssa told me she's thinking about "first look" photos with Jeremy on their wedding day!  I adore first looks but not everyone knows what they are, so I wanted to share what a first look is all about, why you should do one, and some of my favorite first look images.

Here's the thing about having first look photos: you have a moment to yourselves, instead of in front of your entire congregation of wedding guests, to see each other for the first time on your wedding day.  As a wedding photographer, I really love first look photos because it lets up on some of that pressure to take a ton of portrait photos in the crunch-time that happens post-ceremony.  This also means you get to your reception (and start to party down) a lot sooner!

Photo by Andria Lindquist

Here's a quickie list of awesome reasons for doing first look photos (and many thanks to The Things We Would Blog for helping me with this list).

• You'll still have the impact of seeing each other for the first time on your wedding day, but it's a bit more private.  You might be worried about losing the "wow" factor of seeing each other for the first time as the bride walks down the aisle, but you're still about to get married.  The moment is EPIC. 


• The two of you can have that moment in private and really enjoy it together.  A bride I'm working with for her September wedding said that, despite the tradition of waiting until the ceremony to see each other, she'd rather do some first look photos; she knows she'll feel anxious and excited, and thus might feel awkward once she gets to the altar to marry her groom, because she'll want to chat with him in the excitement of the moment.  You can't really do that with your guest list looking on as the ceremony begins, but you can do it with first look photos!


• You'll get to your reception faster (as I mentioned earlier), and as a result, you'll feel less rushed and less stressed.  The number of photos you have to take during the cocktail hour will drop significantly if you can take bridal party and bride-and-groom portraits before the ceremony instead of trying to squeeze them in with all your post-ceremony, pre-reception family photos.


• This is a somewhat lesser reason (in my opinion) in terms of the overall unfolding of the day, but your hair and makeup look fresher if you do portraits with your man before the ceremony instead of after!

Here are some of my favorite first look images; my truly ultimate favorites are the ones with tears involved (I LOVE an emotional groom!).  I was also recently introduced to the concept of a father-daughter first look, which I recently shared on my blog -- so sweet!

Just pretty pictures. Photos by Simply Bloom

I just LOVE this bride's dress and how she's swishing it behind her as she sneaks up.  Shots by Katie Day

So darn sweet!  Photos by Stacy Jacobsen

photos by Kym Ventola

I can almost HEAR this groom saying "WOO!"  Photos by Sweet Little Photographs

There's that emotional groom I was talking about.  :)  Photos by Brandon Kidd

And, if you still really, really want to wait for the ceremony to see each other for the first time, you can still take first look photos.  There is no shortage of cute ideas for taking photographs together without actually seeing each other.

Around the corner, by Lara Hotz

Blindfolded!  By Logan Cole

More around the corner, this time outside.  Photo by Captured by Kate

What is your take on first look photos?

Here's some more first look goodness on a Pinterest board I created just for pre-ceremony and first-look photographs!  Enjoy, and thanks again to Alyssa for having me!  :)

Love these pictures so much!! Thank you for sharing, Emily :) 

Did any of you take first look pictures when you got married? What are your thoughts??

 

Wore // Memphis in May

Whether you are attending Beale Street Music Fest or Barbecue Fest, any Memphis in May activity requires you to wear certain things.

For me, it's a tank top (from Target) with my all time favorite hole-y jeans (also seen here). I also wore my Rainbows since it wasn't supposed to rain. However, if you go to Music Fest, I HIGHLY suggest wearing some rain boots.

I'm sure you're also curious about my accessories... lanyard and wristband both courtesy of Too Sauced to Pork. A must have accessory at Barbecue Fest. :)

Funny and extremely embarrassing story? I'm wearing two different shoes in these pictures... and I had no idea. I have an old pair of Rainbows and a brand new pair. Sooooo I was wearing one old shoe and one new shoe. Even though they are techincally the same shoe, they don't look anything alike. The old ones are pretty beat up. I'm hoping nobody noticed my mismatched shoes.. haha oh, well.

Linking with The Pleated Poppy // Because Shanna Said So // Get Your Pretty On // Dear Abby Leigh // Style Elixer

The View: BBQ Fest

If you are going to be in Memphis for Barbecue Fest, you can expect to see at least one, if not all, of these things:

The Mighty Mississippi

Since the Memphis in May festivities mostly happen right in Tom Lee Park, which runs along the banks of the Mississippi River, the views really can't be beat. It's especially amazing to see at sunset.

Dapper Dressers
That gentleman in the purple was not alone. A few feet ahead of him was a man dressed entirely in blue and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there were more. You can definitely expect to see some people dressed to the nines while others seem to have forgotten some of their clothes. Seriously, there is some of the best people watching at Barbecue Fest.

Downtown Memphis
Not only do you see the skyline of downtown, you see the skyline through a haze of smoke. The smoke? It's from the hundreds of smokers found throughout the festival. Needless to say, it smells pretty amazing.

Mud
There is one thing you can rely on during Memphis in May. It will rain. A lot. Luckily, the rain doesn't put a damper on the festivities. As a result, there is mud everywhere. So watch where you step!

Extreme Tents
It seriously amazes me how in depth some of these tents are. I don't even think they should be called tents. Some of the teams literally build structures. I guess that's one way to get out of the mud.

Recreational Activities
People really know how to have a good time while down on the river. While some play golf, others play giant Jenga, or go for a walk. There are also countless drinking games going on. It's one giant party.

Too Sauced

It happened. Memphis in May Barbecue Fest 2013 and it was awesome. We spent two days on the river hanging out with the Too Sauced to Pork team and had a blast. We met a ton of great people, ate our weight in barbecue, and simply enjoyed this amazing time in Memphis.

I want to start off by giving a HUGE thank you to the Too Sauced to Pork team for inviting us to join them this weekend. Without them, we would have had a completely different (and probably less fun) Barbecue Fest experience. So, thank you. We really had the best time.

Ok, let's talk for a minute about the tent. The Too Sauced to Pork tent was probably in the best location. It was right on the river with an amazing view. They also had it set up with a huge kitchen area, dance floor, bar, dining room, and an area for the buffet. Oh, there was also a table fulllll of trophies they have won. Prettttttty impressive.

 

You can't talk about Barbecue Fest without mentioning the food. Let's just say, we didn't leave hungry. We had barbecue chicken, pulled pork, potato salad, coleslaw, beans, bacon wrapped cheese stuffed jalapenos, among lots of other things I can't even remember. They even had a crawfish boil. Well done, Too Sauced to Pork! Jeremy has not been able to stop talking about the delicious food.. and that's really saying alot!


Again, a big thank you to Too Sauced to Pork!! Thanks for having us!!!


PS. There will be more Barbecue Fest pictures tomorrow!!


Linking up with Meg // Sami // Leeann

Eating in Memphis (21) - Sakura

 

I love sushi. I've loved sushi for years and yearsss. My favorite kind of sushi? When it's deep fried. Imagine my excitement when I saw that there was deep fried sushi on the Eating in Memphis List!

The Joyce Roll at Sakura definitely did not disappoint. It was crawfish, shrimp tempura, avocado, sauce, and roe alllll deep fried. It was delicious! Definitely something I would order again (and again and again).

The Office

I can't believe I am actually about to write this post. Tonight is the season finale of my all time favorite television show, The Office. I have been watching for years and years and literally feel like I am best friends with all the characters. The past few episodes of actually brought me to tears, I am going to miss them.

The Office has inspired some new embroidery hoop, too :)

Wore // Quick Trips

 

This past weekend I was lucky enough to go up to New Jersey and spend a few days with my family. Living far away from them is hard, however, quick trips like this really help. Even though I felt like I was there for about five minutes, there's nothing quite like spending quality time with your family.

Do any of you live far from your families? 

What I Wore:

Shoes: Target (similar & similar)

Skirt: Old Navy (last year // similar)

Tank: Target

Sweater: Old Navy (similar)

Linking with The Pleated Poppy // Because Shanna Said So // Get Your Pretty On // Dear Abby Leigh // Style Elixer

Barbecue Sauced

BBQ Fest is the biggest thing to happen in Memphis since Elvis left the building. For those of you who don't know, Memphis is the barbeque capital of the world! Every May there is giant food competition called BBQ Fest in which teams from all of the country (the world?) bring their best barbeque recipes and compete.

Tom Lee Park, which is right on the banks of the Mississippi River becomes tent city. Each team that competes sets up shop with temporary kitchens with ginormous smokers in tents. There are multi-story tents, themed tents, and then just plain simple tailgate-ish tents. All award winning teams proudly display their trophys and other recognition they might have received for their cooking. There are hundreds of teams! In order to get into a tent though, and actually eat some barbeque, you have to know somebody on a team, or follow the rules outlined in this article.

Lucky for me, I can proudly announce that this year I will be a member of an official Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest Team! (phew, that is a mouth full)

The team:

Too Sauced to Pork

(They definitely get some creativity points in my book for that name.)

 Now, I just want to point out a few things:

1) I don't actually eat barbecue!!! The only meat I eat is chicken (and that's a relatively new thing), so all this pork barbecue talk is sometimes lost on me. I can appreciate, however, appreciate it and at least I have my trusty sidekick (aka fiance, Jeremy) to do all the pork eating for me. I also appreciate a great coleslaw. 

2) I have never met anyone on this team. I have only ever exchanged emails! I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing how it all works from the inside. Last year I was just a visitor in a tent, and only briefly. This year I'll be spending more time at the competition so look for some follow up posts. 

3) You should all read this article right now. It was written by a member of my team and it is incredibly informative and helpful!

Can you tell I'm excited? I feel like this makes me a real Memphian. I'm sure I'll be instagraming and tweeting along the way, so feel free to follow along!

I also want to say thank you to the To Sauced to Pork team for letting me join them this year. Really looking forward to it!!

(Does this post sound familiar to you? Parts were taken from last year's post that I wrote about BBQ fest)

Blog on the Go

Hey Ten Feet Off Beale readers! I'm Dana, and I blog over at Wonder Forest.  I write fun tutorials, beauty tips, inspiration, business stuff, and style posts.  I am a graphic/web/blog designer who is pretty much busy creating something all the time.  I can't help it, doing productive things and staying creative is what I live for! It's what I love!

 

I wanted to share with you my latest creation of blood, sweat, and (almost) tears, which is an app for iPhone/iPad called BlogGo.  It is an alternative to that official Blogger app (that nobody seems to like), and is packed full of features and ease for Blogger users to post from literally anywhere.

 

The creation of this had been a long time in the making, but I am a firm believer that if you want something, go out there and get it, sister! What is stopping you from doing whatever it is you have a passion for? This app all started with an idea to develop something that us bloggers could really benefit from... and if you're as serious about blogging as I am, it's just nice to have your blog at your fingertips, no matter where you are!

After months of mockups, development, testing, and all of that good stuff, it feels great to say that BlogGo has launched! I will not lie and say it has been easy. Being that this was my first app ever, there are tons of things I've learned along the way and am continuing to learn every single day. From marketing to dealing with customer service... to having to use a Mac for everything (PC girl over here, through and through!!!). But if there is one thing I've learned most importantly, it's that if you have a goal you shouldn't be afraid to try to reach it. People may tell you that your idea is silly, or not even understand it at all, but what matters most at the end of the day is that you can say you tried. 

I hope you will visit me over at my blog and check out my app if you are a Blogger user! 

xo Dana