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scxrlettwxtches · 4 years

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picture perfect | kim seungmin

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none!

Word Count: ~1.5k

Description: Seungmin hated weddings as much as any other estranged cousin, but that wedding photograph is really cute.

Author’s Note: hi everyone! because of school and other reasons, i’ve been on hiatus for a couple months. however, i’m happy to say that i’m writing again!! thank to everyone that’s been giving my writings so much love!! here’s a rather sloppy drabble to announce my return. :) more to come soon!!

Seungmin never cared much for weddings, especially the wedding of his rather wealthy, incredibly stuck-up cousin, but if he had to find one good memory to take home with him that day, it was that the photographer was cute.

Like really freaking cute.

Maybe he was biased, being a photographer himself, but his eyes were on you the whole night. It was captivating to watch you, someone who seemed to wholeheartedly love their job, someone who genuinely had a passionate spark in their eyes, and Seungmin found himself absolutely enthralled before the two of you had even said hello.

That was okay, though, because Seungmin was never one to act on his impulses. He was perfectly content with just admiring you from afar, sitting at one of the empty tables in the far corners of the banquet hall with his half-full glass of champagne. It wasn’t as if there was anything else he would rather be doing, or anyone else he could bear to be in the presence of.

As the banquet soon turned into a stuffy dance party, Seungmin lost sight of you, and he sighed dejectedly. Guess it was back to the depths of boredom for him. Glancing at his watch, he counted down to the hour that his mother had given him permission to legally leave without offending the elders of his extended family. He was so detached from reality by this point, he completely failed to notice that a certain photographer had made her way towards him, her heels clicking softly.

“Enjoying the festivities?” Seungmin feigned ignorance as he almost choked on his sip of champagne. Your voice was fuller than he had imagined, but it held this melodic quality that he made him want to cling onto your every syllable. Looking up past your fancy attire to gaze directly into your eyes, he gestured to his dark, secluded corner.

“Can’t you see all the fun I’m having?”

You only raised an eyebrow, hands still clasped on your camera hanging from your neck, “Not a wedding person, huh?”

“I prefer weddings that feel like the pair actually love each other.”

“How dare you insult the happy couple?” You said, sounding offended, “They’re infatuated with each other!”

“I’m pretty sure they’re more infatuated with each other’s money than the person themselves,” Seungmin retorted rather wryly. He wondered for a split second if he had genuinely offended you, but then your lips quirked up into a small, secretive smile.

“Touché,” Gesturing to the empty seat beside him, you asked, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Seungmin waved his hand, and you smoothed your dress from the back as you sat down, taking your camera off your neck and placing it on the table.

The man cleared his throat, “Um, I think you’re a really good photographer.”

You looked amused, “If you’re going to compliment me, don’t you think you should actually see the photos first?”

Seungmin panicked internally, “No, no, really! The angles you use are really creative, and I know the photos will turn out great.”

“Thanks,” you said sincerely, before you let out a bitter laugh, “The bride only asked me to be their photographer because she knew I wouldn’t ask her to pay me. You’d think someone with this much money to throw around could spare a couple hundred bucks for their wedding photographer.”

“Why wouldn’t she pay you?” Seungmin asked curiously, “Are you guys friends?”

“We were roommates in university,” you answered, shrugging your tired shoulders, “Though we didn’t really talk much. She was always out partying and I was always locked in my room, studying away.”

“You could still charge her,” he argued.

Your face grew thoughtful as you looked up to the crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room, “Maybe,” you said, before adding on with finality, “but that’s not me, and she knew that.”

Seungmin couldn’t help but feel a newfound admiration for you, a girl who’d stick to her morals even when dealing with people that took you for granted, “Well, the bride’s going to be in for a pleasant surprise when you send her those photos. She might just pay you because they’re too high quality.”

You laughed, a soaring, beautiful sound that made Seungmin’s heart flutter, “That would be nice. I just ran out of boba funds last Friday.”

Now with a comfortable silence, you started again, wanting to get to know this mysterious man a little better, “So, why are you here, when you’re obviously not enjoying yourself? Blackmail? Bribery?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not too far off from the truth,” Seungmin said tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his right hand, “The groom is actually a cousin of mine, one that I don’t particularly get along with either, but I think my mom would’ve genuinely called a hitman to threaten my life if I didn’t show up. All about preserving the family respect, you know?”

“Yes, I sadly know too much about that,” you agreed, “Can I also be bold enough to say that your cousin’s family are probably the most wealthy relatives in your extended family, so everyone is flocking to this wedding so they can stay in their good books?”

Seungmin snickered, looking mildly impressed, “Do you keep tabs on my life?”

You smiled wryly, “I don’t need to. I’ve lived your life.”

“Ah, what dysfunctional upper class family do you come from, then?”

“My family owns a really big tech company in Korea,” you answered, although you looked slightly more uncomfortable than you did before, “I was supposed to inherit it and shit, but I didn’t want to, so I ran away to start a life here in LA.”

Frowning, Seungmin decided not to press more about your family history, since your eyes had grown sad and full of pain, an expression that he never wanted to see on your face, “What are you doing in LA now?”

“Oh, you know,” Gesturing to your camera, you shrugged, “Freelancing with photography, doing some art commissions, sometimes I produce songs, the list is infinite when there isn’t a parental figure clinging to your back like a hawk.”

“Lucky,” The man said rather bitterly, “I didn’t have the courage to leave, so now I’m stuck with a nine to five office job that I absolutely despise.”

You swallowed as you asked hesitantly, “D-do you like performing arts? You don’t look like a dancer, or a classical musician.”

Seungmin felt a smile creep on his face, “Nah, I’m a singer. Or at least, I want to be.”

“A singer,” the look in your eyes had changed, sparkling with interest, “Are you any good?”

“You wound me,” he reigned offence, pressing a hand to his heart, “Do I look like a bad singer to you?”

“It’s not about how you look, handsome,” you rolled your eyes, “It’s about how you sound.”

Handsome. Seungmin felt his ears grow warm. Without thinking too much about what you said, you reached for your camera and began looking through some of the photos, oblivious to the turmoil beside you. Seungmin watched as you posted into concentration, your hands working the camera and checking the details of every photo like a true professional.

She asked you if you sing well, a voice sounding suspiciously similar to his friend, Hyunjin, whispered in his mind. This is your chance. Shoot your shot, bro.

“Well!” Seungmin bursted out with more volume than he’d intended. Startled, you whipped up to look at him, eyes wide with surprise. Panicking, he stammered with a little less confidence, “Um—I sing pretty well.”

If you hadn’t expected him to say that, it didn’t show on you face, “I see,” you replied, and you sounded pleased, “If you’re up to it, I’d like to hear you sing sometime. Maybe we could work together on a song or two.”

You shot your shot, imaginary Hyunjin spoke again. Now just say yes, you idiot.

“W-wow, that would be good! Great, actually!” Seungmin yelped, his composure slipping, “Should we call and figure out a time to meet?”

Nodding, you opened your phone and passed it to him so he could write down his information. He put “Seungminnie” with a smiley face as his contact because he really was whipped, not that he’d tell anyone.

When he got home, completely worn out, his phone buzzed with your name popped up in his notifications.

hey seungminnie! thanks a lot for today, you were basically the only reason i had fun at this party. hope we can make that collab a reality soon!

oh, and here are some pics i took of you when you were daydreaming in the corner of the banquet hall hahaha :) you could definitely be model if you wanted to

If Seungmin’s face was flushed until he fell asleep, it wasn’t anybody’s business.

#stray kids #stray kids reactions #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids drabbles #kim seungmin imagines #my fics

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vapormaison · 4 years

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2019 Best Press 3/4: カタカナ・タイトル + Kanji Title by TANUKI

While for many vaporwave vinyl is doubtless equal parts collector’s item and audio source, I don’t want to lose sight of the goal of this blog here: developing a canon of the genre for high fidelity enjoyment. That said, when I come across something remarkable or noteworthy about a particular piece of wax, even if it is not a “purely audiophile” object, I want to make mention of it.

And TANUKI’s カタカナ・タイトル + Kanji Title wax release is not only noteworthy, but contends for hi-fi consideration despite it’s status as a picture disc.

But let’s back up slightly.

Going back to the previous thesis on why we buy records, sometimes you just want to own a vinyl just because. Just because you’re a collector trying to compile a discography on wax — or, better yet, just because you truly love the album art. For me, カタカナ・タイトル + Kanji Title (Double EP) was undoubtedly all of the three “just be-causes”.

A while back, I noticed that the LP was going into its 3rd press, and decided to snap up a copy because I like Tanuki, I like Lum, and because of those other just becauses. Unfortunately the only format available was not the pink vinyl, but the picture disc. As I’m sure is well-known (because audiophiles are very loud about things they dislike), picture-discs are a big no-no in the audiophile community. This is because while a beautiful objet d’art, a serious listening session of a picture disc release will usually produce greater amounts of surface noise than any other type of vinyl. You can, of course, with the right system, neutralize and mitigate this process slightly, but true-blue hi-fi heads pursuing that elusive muse of “pure sound” would never give a picture disc a second look.

I’m not one of those people.

Tangentially, I’ve heard whispers of ghosts of rumors from when I was living in Shenzen, China — that various record suppliers (small batch Makers) are working out manufacturing and material processes that minimize these issues on pic discs to create appealing records that cover all the bases: hi-fi suitability, collector oriented visual esoterica, and price. I should also admit I have no idea where those companies are in terms of R&D and/or producing these. I end up catching a lot of very fast talk from extremely motivated enthusiasts, but Chinese is still as elusive a language to me at times as “pure sound” can be. With that in mind, however, it’s logical to surmise that advances in technology will eventually render the differences between picture discs and traditional black wax undistinguishable. So long as the world isn’t destroyed in some cataclysmic climate disaster (very real possibility), or -- as we are watching evolve now: World War 3. My view is that it’d be pointless to dismiss the format out of hand when there are active attempts to innovate it as we speak.

That all said, I know what to expect when a contemporary, big-label picture disc plays. During my college days, I used to spin wax at the university radio station. One of the previous catalog managers had a fetish for this “collectible” format, and was convinced he was doing the station a favor by purchasing all these vinyls, noting a pre-supposed resale value later. I remember throwing these on the well-worn Technics SP-10 we had as our main turntable, and listening to the occasional scratch, frequent popping, and constant surface noise, that for the uninitiated (bless you), sounds like a sustained “cracking” in your Rice Krispies — or for those born in the analog age, CRTV static.

So when I sat down with the Tanuki picture disc, I had this laundry list of preconceptions and prejudices about the format. I thought that I could listen to a moderately scratchy record once or twice, keep it as more a visual boutique item and then eventually include in an article where I bemoan the poor quality of the genre’s releases.

But then, I actually listened.

And it sounded… well, I won’t get ahead of myself. Here’s the full review:

THE MUSIC

BABYBABYの夢 — is doubtless the reason why many of us have bought the EP from a sonic perspective —especially if the band-camp reviews are indicative of trends. I still maintain that this is the Mariya Takeuchi sample/remix work par excellence. Tanuki hits all the essential notes here, a genuine respect and love for the sound-staging of its original source, Yume No Tsuzuki. I still get echoes of the original arrangement in my system, (ever so slightly) with a bright and dance-infused collection of unique sounds — particularly in that delicious, wide mid-range — that flesh out the track into its own sort of masterpiece.

何がGoin' On — the curatorial and conspiratorial side of my brain tells me that Goin’ On will probably go down as one the under-appreciated vintage bangers of this era of future funk. I can envision hipsters two or three decades from now sussing out a neophyte with pretentious questions about this track’s pitch-shifted sample draws from. It has that sort of vibe that you know hits with a certain subset of electronica fans — rich & vibrant, making the tweeters on your system work out in all the best ways — it’s just great.

がんばれ — Tanuki is at his best when he gets playful with brass samples. I firmly believe that the titans in this genre each have their go-to piece in their best arrangement — like Dan Mason’s creative vocal array, or greyL’s manipulation of micro-samples. For Tanuki, it’s whenever her gets a horn — synthesized or otherwise, into his production workflow.

ファンクOFF — continues Tanuki’s magic act, taking another city pop track more iconic for its soulful electric guitar riff and turning it into the most slap-worthy single on this EP. I prefer it when Japanese pop samples are fundamentally re-imagined, although I can see how the perfectionist tweaking of someone like Yung Bae is more appealing for some. Tanuki is undoubtedly one of the innovators of this genre, and there’s no more solid evidence of that talent than this track.

腕の中でDancin’ — if I ended up hosting a sort of mythical vaporwave grammies or something like that, (I’m available, folks!) I would probably go off on a Ricky Gervais style rant on how artists aren’t in touch with “the people” (read: me) because all we really want are more remixes of Meiko Nakahara songs — who given her impact on City Pop should have way more play in this genre than she does. This one, like most of the Meiko mixes I’ve heard, is a banger with an absolute fire bass riff punctuated throughout.

Radiant Memories — this might be my first certified “hot take” in the publication (they’ll be many more, I imagine) — but as far as I’m concerned this is the superior Plastic Love edit. I’ll just leave my thoughts there, so they can soak in with a portion of the fanbase who split my reddit account on an open fire of downvotes for suggesting that other artists than Macross 82-99 (Praise be upon him!) are allowed to touch this song as well. While Macross’s mix is definitely the more up-temo of the two, and that for some is the very essence of the genre, this slightly down-mixed version is both the perfect conclusion for the EP and ideal antithesis.

THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE

Signal to Raise ratio on the following albums:

カタカナ・タイトル + Kanji Title: ~61.9db (1 db MoE)

Tron Legacy, Daft Punk: 58.4db

Love Trip, Takako Mamiya, Kitty Records Press: 65.8db

(ratings based on averages 5 minutes of sustained play on the testing unit, the machine actually complied this data on its preset, which is another fascinating part about this sort of vintage press-testing tech). The margin of error is because the machine, according to my mentor Dr. Juuso Ottala formerly of Harman International, informs me it was never meant to give accurate readings of picture discs, and to add about a dB of error margin.

One of the benefits of growing up in New England and, subsequently, New York, is that there are no shortage of heritage professional audio brand HQs in operation around a 200 mile radius from Manhattan to Boston. Off the top of my head, there’s Harman/Kardon, Boston Acoustics, Bose, NuMark, Marantz, and Rane headquarters within an hour’s drive from my two hometowns. Early on in my audiophile quest, I got my hands on some cool vintage gear — vinyl lathe testing equipment that has collected dust in both an old Harman technician’s storage unit, and now my parent’s basement. Over the holiday, I recently brought it out to do some surface noise testing on it to get a rough confirmation of what I was explaining in yesterday’s hi-fi guide. The innards of the machine looks eerily like a plinth-less linear tonearm and plate pair attached to a monitor. After making sure I’m not violating some kind of Harman International trade secret, I’ll post it on instagram.

Wanting to also get a firm idea on just how good my ear-test sounded, I grabbed another picture disc vinyl I had received as a gift a few years ago from my brother — the Tron Legacy OST. While I found the film passably enjoyable, my own preconceptions about pic discs, and a general exhaustion with french house — left me with no discernible desire to spin the thing. I hadn’t even broken the seal on the plastic wrap, so it seemed like as good as a blind test as any. I also grabbed what my ears tell me is a “good”, “heavy” press, a 1982 original dead-stock copy of Takako Mamiya’s Love Trip LP pressed by Kitty Records Japan. I’ve played it maybe a half dozen times since I bought it, so it’s as close to “new” 80s audiophile pop record as you can get. The Japanese are infamously anal about low SNR on their vinyl.

And, well, the results speak for themselves. The sweet spot for most black vinyl records is between 60-70db depending on age, weight, and a host of other frankly uncontrollable factors that aren’t worth getting into detail here, as I’d go on forever. The main takeaway here is that Neoncity’s and Tanuki’s record sat at the low end of the audiophile vinyl reference spectrum. Which in itself is a remarkable achievement for a pic disc. It’s worth taking a look at Tron Legacy, which just barely scratches 8db above a cassette tape, and 7db a Japanese vinyl from 1982.

This is all in an effort to say: damn, this is pretty good.

This also somewhat counters the usual “picture discs sound like shit” narrative that’s prevailed pretty consistently in the audiophile community. Tron Legacy? Yeah, that probably sounds like shit if I could bother to suffer through a listen. But whoever Hong-Kong based Neoncity is using actually makes “good” — if such a qualifier needs to be attached — image-pressed records. And that devotion to audio fidelity should be rewarded.

It might be time for me to re-asses picture discs on the whole, and that mind-expanding moment is something I owe to the fine folks at Neoncity.

#bestof2019 #bestpress

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biofunmy · 4 years

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3D Effects Are Amazing For Influencers. Not So Much For The Influenced.

tech

The wearable camera’s first-person footage is wonderfully — and surprisingly — personal. But Snapchat’s new 3D effects don’t add much.

Nicole Nguyen BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on November 12, 2019, at 5:00 a.m. ET

Snapchat’s Spectacles are like GoPros for your face. The sunglasses’ two embedded cameras immediately capture photos and videos when one of the discreet buttons on the temple is pressed. Released today, Spectacles 3 is Snapchat’s latest model, and can now produce three-dimensional photos and videos with animated augmented reality effects.

For the past week, I’ve been testing the company’s new, quite pricey $380 face camera, which is currently available in limited quantities on Snapchat’s website. The new Specs seem to be the ultimate ~influencer~ wearable, designed specifically to create eye-popping imagery that will stand out in a social media feed.

For normals, the first-person footage captured by the Spectacles is wonderfully — and surprisingly — personal. But the new animated AR video filters don’t add much and, in fact, distract from intimate scenes.

The new Spectacles are unquestionably hip. They have steel, rounded frames like the kind that Natalie Portman wears in Léon: The Professional — and that typically only people with angular, Portmanesque faces can pull off.

The sunglasses snap elegantly into their case, which is also their charger. The Spectacles can capture up to 70 separate 10-second videos on a single charge. The case holds four full charges — enough for a “long weekend,” a Snap rep said.

Unless a passerby looks closely at the glasses, or the LED light is blinking, they wouldn’t notice that there are two cameras onboard, which is largely the point.

Previous versions of Spectacles had a camera built-in on the right side and an LED light on the left to indicate recording. The Spectacles 3 have two embedded cameras on each side, with an LED ring around the lens that lights up when you capture photos and videos. Snapchat’s software combines the footage from the two cameras to sense the scene’s depth and project 3D effects, which can be applied to videos using the Snapchat app.

While you need the Snapchat app to import media from the Spectacles, sharing isn’t limited to Snapchat. The default capture is a circular video, but it can be exported in a variety of orientations and sizes, including a portrait (for Instagram stories), square, or 16:9 ratio.

I added one of Snapchat’s new AR filters to a video of my husband, Will, performatively biking across the Golden Gate Bridge. The filter is supposed to add neon arcs over what it detects as a road or pathway. The software did a good job of applying swirling lasers in the right places — but I genuinely can’t imagine ever adding these effects in earnest. They’re reminiscent of the heavy-handed Hipstamatic filters people used in 2010, to make the then-low-res smartphone pictures look good.

And I love a good snap filter. They give you long eyelashes! They make your skin look amazing! They make presidential debates more fun! Kids love ’em! But these new Snapchat AR effects, which include confetti that drops from the sky, an overly-energetic bird that follows you around, and big blobs that float in space, don’t feel as interactive or clever as those face-focused options (though perhaps that’s because I’m a selfie-obsessed millennial). A Snapchat representative said new effects will be delivered regularly.

Snapchat had professionals — actual video directors and photographers — shoot with the new glasses (their videos below). The AR effects looked so artistic and clean in those pro videos that I couldn’t believe we were using the same devices. When I added the filters, the animations often appeared shaky and pixelated, like in this slightly overexposed scene of Will hanging laundry.

The 3D pictures, however, are a different story. They’re very cool. In the Snapchat app, you can wiggle your phone back and forth to get a sense of the depth. The exported version of the photo is a video that moves the image on loop, like a GIF.

Snapchat’s pro examples obviously look way better than mine. Again, this is a device that’s seemingly ideal for influencers, professional creatives, and the like. I could absolutely see a fashion blogger sharing 3D #outfitoftheday pics on Instagram.

Normals/non-creatives, like me, will find the new Spectacles’ 3D wizardry less compelling.

The Spectacles can only capture video in 10-second spurts, which is fitting for a typical social media browser’s short attention span, but unsatisfying for those reliving intimate memories. Another downside is that the Specs’ video quality is good, but not quite as good as my iPhone’s, especially when it comes to camera stabilization (or lack thereof). Unless you keep your head very, very still, Spectacles videos look shaky.

Yet another limitation is Spectacles’ nice weather–only form factor. I took the sunglasses out for a morning bike ride and, as is typically the case in San Francisco, a dense fog layer had rolled in overnight. While it was neat to capture parts of the ride I would never be able to with my phone, the Specs’ dark, tinted lens made it difficult to see. I ended up stashing the Spectacles in my back pocket for most of the ride.

Snapchat’s headquarters are in Santa Monica, a beachfront city about 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles. So it’s no surprise that the Spectacles are sunglasses, and not eyeglasses, and work best in bright, well-lit conditions. (As I write this, on a mid-November morning, it is 81 degrees and sunny in LA.)

I also hesitated to wear the Spectacles in public, aware that people might think that a discreet wearable camera could film them at any time and invade their privacy. In 2014, a woman was attacked for wearing Google Glass, which were lensless glasses with a camera. A few months later, another Google Glass wearer had theirs smashed to the ground by a stranger.

But for private moments with close family members and friends, the Spectacles were delightful.

I was surprised at how personal the footage is. It’s all shot from a first-person perspective and, because the recordings are nearly identical to how you experienced and remembered them, they feel incredibly intimate.

Because the capture is hands-free, you can record many things you wouldn’t be able to with your phone: hiking, playing with kids, drawing, cooking, or virtually anything that requires working with your hands. Sure, you can strap a GoPro to your chest or forehead, but that requires a lot more gear and effort. With the Spectacles, you just put on the sunglasses and tap a button. You can capture moments without having to look at a screen.

Best of all: You don’t need the latest Spectacles to do that. The Spectacles 2 (much cheaper at $150) can do the same, plus they’re water-resistant, which the Spectacles 3 aren’t.

Sahred From Source link Business

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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mainemanus-blog · 6 years

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How to Save Money on Proposal Expenses

This is the first in a four-part series with our partners Rare Carat, on how to save on the most expensive parts of your wedding. To read the next blog in the series, visit Rarecarat.com

The first thing you think of when people talk about budgeting for the wedding is the actual day— the dress, the venue, the flowers! But what about BEFORE the big day? Stakes are high for creating a memorable proposal these days. Just ask the people at howheasked.com, they’ve got over 53 thousand subscribers on YouTube. Maybe you’re not planning to hire a marching band, but even the most humble proposal can come with some big costs.

Here are some money saving tips for a few of the classics: the ring, some flowers, and pictures to save the memory. You’re on your own with the marching band…

The Bling

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Unless you are planning something extraordinary, the ring is the most obvious and probably your biggest expense. There is a huge range in price when it comes to engagement rings, anything from a couple thousand to a couple million dollars. Knowing what a diamond is worth isn’t always cut and dry. It can be overwhelming even if you know what you’re looking for.

If you want something special, unique, and beautiful, but you don’t have millions of dollars to spend, the good news is you don’t have to.

Technology has evolved to solve all our comforts, and now that includes shopping for diamonds! Tech company Rare Carat takes the guesswork out of this important purchase. The site lets you search and compare thousands of retailers to find the perfect ring for the best quality at the best price. Think of it like Kayak but for diamonds.

Not only can you peruse thousands of options from the comfort of your couch, but they offer tons of free information about what to look for, how to find the best deals. Brush up on your 4 c’s (cut, color, clarity, and carat) and let this smart AI help you save time and money on the centerpiece of your proposal.

The Blooms

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Nothing says romance like flowers. Whether it’s an elegant bouquet, an extravagant arrangement, or a romantic sprinkle of petals, using flowers is a great way to set the mood.

The most obvious choice is to go with your partner’s favorite flower. Even the most exotic blooms can usually be found with a little research. However, if you don’t know their favorite flower or they simply don’t have one, consider some classic options or choose based on their meaning.

Tradition won’t steer you wrong with red roses, but cheerful sunflowers or a delicate pink peony can be just as romantic. Think about your partner’s personality and style, and even check out what certain flowers mean.

For the best price on flowers, go wholesale and don’t be afraid to DIY! We love showcasing new trends and bouquet breakdowns to make the process easy and fun. Buying seasonal bundles means you get the freshest blooms and the best deals. For the same amount of money you would spend on a lavish premade bouquet, you’ll be able to do something truly memorable with all those extra flowers. Have fun and get creative! Imagine surprising your partner with this DIY hanging floral display. We go the extra mile for the one we love, right?

The Pics

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If there’s no picture, it didn’t happen, right? These photos are priceless when you think about preserving memories, but they can also be practical. Engagement photos are a great way to try out a photographer for the wedding— most wedding photographers have deals that include the engagement photos. They can be used to announce your engagement on a website or the old-fashioned photo in the paper. You can use them for your decor and for save the date or thank you cards. When you think about the value you get from a professional set of photos, it can put that cost into perspective.

If you want to have photos of the actual proposal, you’ll need to line up someone for the event. If you also want video, make sure you have at least one person for each so you don’t miss a single moment. This is great for candid shots, to document that fantastic setting you worked so hard on, and to capture the natural giddiness of the moment.

If you don’t need or want photos on the day, plan out a photo shoot within the first month so you have them back in time to use for your save the dates or invitations. Shop around and get recommendations from friends. If you have a friend or family member who knows what they’re doing and can take great photos that’s wonderful! Don’t do it just to save a few bucks though. You can’t ever get that moment back, so we think it’s worth spending a little extra for photos that will last a lifetime.

We’re not here to tell you to play things small. If you’ve got a big idea planned for an amazing proposal, then go for it! Hire that string quartet, go skydiving, produce a professional music video— just be sure it’s in your budget. Nothing kills the romance faster than a huge credit card bill hanging over your head before you even walk down the aisle. With the deals you got on the ring and flowers, you might be able to add an extra trumpet to the brass section.

Laurel Nakai is a writer and editor who writes content for everything from tech to lifestyle, but has a special place in her heart for flowers.

How to Save Money on Proposal Expenses published first on their blog, reposted for me

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