And wondering what dress to wear now.

As previously mentioned, time and money went into our engagement session. So, yes, this entire post is going to be on our attire, props, and preparation for our amazing engagement session with Chris and Erinn Austin.

Attire

My bright floral dress was a cheap find at Forever 21. Unfortunately, cheap can equate sh*t-quality, so I had to get the zipper replaced. Damn, so much for cheap. I wore this with my purple satin sandals from Nordstrom BP and a pink hair flower from h&m. mr. c wore this magnificant Matthew Williamson suit from h&m (the colorful detail is sweet, if you can see it) and white wingtips from ebay. This set of outfits was worn for the second half of our shoot, walking through various alleys and cool spots in downtown Seattle and Pike Place.

I had been dying to wear the black and ivory dress that I bought months ago from Anthropologie. I wore that with a black satin headband from h&m, my favorite red patent pumps from Nordstrom, and my yellow Charles by Charles David sandals from endless.com shown here. mr. c wore skinny black pants from h&m, white shirt, black and white Ben Sherman tie from Nordstrom Rack, and his dirty beat up chucks. This set of outfits was worn for the first half of our session, at Gas Works Park, a former gasification plant. It is amazing.

We only wore the first two outfits during the four hours Chris and Erinn spent shooting pictures of us. We love the sneak peeks and can't wait to see the rest.

Props

Okay, there's really only one prop to talk about and that is the balloons. Yes, I know that balloons have been used and used again in various engagements and weddings. I DON'T CARE. The red balloons have a significance to us. If you remember, mr. c proposed to me from inside a giant 6-foot round red balloon. If you don't know, then check it out here or here.

I love originality but I loved the idea of round red balloons to play on our engagement more.

Our ten 2-foot round red balloons (and one mini balloon) were delivered to the park and they were spectacular. Thank-f*n-god because they were pricey. The balloons themselves were $3.00 each and we purchased them from Mayflower Distributing Company in Garden Grove. They are a wholesale and retail store. Obviously, wholesale price would have been cheaper. mr. c mailed the balloons up to M&M Balloon Co to add the helium and deliver them to the park the day of. We won't mention the silly cost to fill them up.

After we were done with the balloons, we didn't let them go. We gave them away to kids in the park. Their parents probably had a hell of a time getting them into the car.

Miscellaneous Preparations

A couple of weeks prior to leaving for Seattle, I got my hair cut by my fabulous friend and hair stylist, Kylene, at Carlton Hair Salon at Westside Pavillion.

I got my makeup done at the MAC counter at Nordstrom in downtown Seattle (THE very first Nordstrom EVER). I got a wonderful tip about undereye concealer from my makeup guru friend at this fun blog. The MAC girl (unfortunately, I can't remember her name...I think it was Eunyce) was so lovely and helpful, unlike the rude-old-hag-curly-haired b*tch from the MAC counter at Nordstrom in South Bay Galleria.