Sharing & Reviewing My Premier Lay Flat Wedding Photo Book from Snapfish

FYI: this blog post is serving 2 purposes... 1) to share with you my wedding book, and 2) to kind of give a review of Snapfish's Premier Lay Flat photo books since there are ZERO online with pictures. {I know, I looked.} So, this might be a doozy...get ready!!

Last summer, one of my items on my Summer To-Do list was to make my our wedding photo album. For various reasons {#1 being I'm a slacker} it just didn't get done. Fast forward ten more months, and summer is fortunately here again! I've been out of work for about 6 weeks and finally I can say that our beaUTIFUL wedding pictures are displayed to my crazy OCD standards in a photo book that I made my very own self!!

I have previously used Snapfish to make our wedding guestbook. I used pictures of me & Alex  from the very beginning {2002!!} to our most recent engagement pictures. Instead of having all our wedding guests sign a book with just their names, they got to sign our photo book and leave a note if they wished! It turned out wonderful and I still look at it from time to time. It makes my heart smile. It's a great little treasure of mine.

Wedding pictures were SUPER important to me. I had a great photographer, Kerri Crutchfield, and from the moment I saw her sneak peek on Facebook I just knew I was going to love my wedding pictures!

This is what I knew:

-I wanted a {nice} photo book

-I couldn't dare pick out "just" 100ish pictures for my book

-I am too particular and would be super annoying to someone if they were trying to make a book for me

-Therefore, I wanted to design the book myself

-I hands down prefer Snapfish's photobook-making software over any other company's

-I needed to make this happen for as cheap as I could... {do y'all know my husband?!?!}

So obviously the thing to do was make another Snapfish book. I knew I wanted a 12"x12" book. I wanted it bigger than my 8"x11" guestbook and thought 11"x14" would be a bit "much." Luckily for me, Snapfish just came out with their new Premier Lay-flat Photo Books, which apparently is different from making a custom book and upgrading to have the pages lay flat. This new book is described with the statement, "New seamless lay-flat binding, extra-thick premium pages, and a deluxe matte cover make these books perfect for celebrating weddings, vacations, and life's sweetest moments." Sounds good to me!! I just wanted thick pages and lay-flat binding in a 12"x12" book so this worked perfect for me!!

Anyways, I worked on my book when I felt like it and got it all nice & finished. I had a question because I was being super particular, wanting to make sure the cover would be perfect. I used Snapfish's "Chat with us Live" online customer service option {which I always use with companies...way more efficient than calling a toll-free number!} and after chatting with the representative, they gave me a coupon code for 50% off my book!! A previous rep had told me you can only get 20% off the Premier Lay Flat books, and typically 50% off coupons I see do exclude those. I was SUPER happy to see that the new coupon code worked and I saved **$82**!!

Don't tell Snapfish, but I would have paid the full price for the book, I love it that much. ;) I was happy with the 20% off coupon. So yeah, ecstatic about the 50% off!

Anyways, I ordered my book July 28 and received it in the mail on August 2nd... that is a FAST turn-around time! My tracking showed an expected delivery date of August 8th, so my package was 6 days early! Just another reason I love Snapfish.

So far, in looking at my book, there are only two tiny issues. One Snapfish can work on in the future, and one I am currently chatting online with a customer service rep about.** My one beef is that there's nothing to keep it in. I know that's not included in the price and they never said it did. I just wish I had something to kind of wrap it up in or keep it from wearing with time. Y'all know what I'm saying?! I might have to make something. {HAHA! Just kidding!}

And my other beef is that my book preview showed that I filled all the pages up, but when I received my book there is a blank two-sided page in the back (shown below). It doesn't look too bad, just looks like I didn't put anything on 2 pages. And I would have, had I had known the page was added. Just sayin'! {SEE THE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST REGARDING THIS ISSUE!}

Okay, so, now for the big reveal...

Happiness Within is right!!

the front cover

the back cover

A piece of tissue paper/vellum/whatever it's called in the front

Page 1 :)

One thing I will say is that I knew I was gonna be pushing it with fitting all my pics on 100 pages. {I am not crazy. I promise.} I didn't want to smoosh all my beloved pictures onto a small amount of pages. I wanted the photos enlarged so you could see all the smiling faces, little details, and the beautiful backgrounds. Surprisingly, I actually ended up fitting almost all my wedding photos on 85ish pages, which saved me a little bit of money! 

nice & thick :)

trying to get a good pic of the thickness of the pages

And here's just a couple snapshots of some of my favorite pages...

{excuse the blurriness of my photography!}

the details

the dress

"what might have been" / our "Plan A" ... thanks, rain! 

Pawpaw got a full-page spread!! ♥

me and my beautiful bridesmaids

love the pops of yellow all throughout the book!

special moment with my Dad

the kiss

Will cherish these pictures of my Pawpaw crying happy tears forever ♥

"and they lived happily ever after..." ♥

As you can tell, I ended up not going with any single picture full-page spreads. That's probably the purpose of the lay-flat books, but I did not necessarily have any picture I wished to enlarge to 1 ft by 2 ft. Haha! I did do several pages with just one picture, and that was big enough for me and my book. I personally just wanted the lay-flat pages to keep it clean and professional looking, as well as to be able to see all of any page that had pictures right up to the edge. 

**UPDATE: I chatted with "Yeshwanth" online, telling him/her about my issue. At first, they said it was "just the cover" or something like that. I was politely adamant that no, this was an error. I did not ask for anything specific, just wanted to make them aware of the issue and see if there was anything I could do about it. Yeshwanth had me upload pictures of my issue with the book {shown above} to confirm it. After confirmation, the conversation went a little something exactly like this...

Yeshwanth: Nicole , I have just now checked the snap shots and i see that the extra page has been added to the book . Please accept our sincere apologies for the extra page.

Yeshwanth: Shall i resubmit the order for you for free of cost?

nicole mullen: Would I need to send the 1st book back
nicole mullen: ?

Yeshwanth: No need of sending the book back to us.

nicole mullen: Oh my gosh, well then Yes, that would be marvelous!

Yeshwanth: Please give me a moment.

Yeshwanth: Just now I have re submitted your order with 2 day shipping to the above address at free of cost.. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from us within few minutes.

nicole mullen: I appreciate it so much

Yeshwanth: It was a pleasure assisting you. Is there anything else I can help with today?

Now how is THAT for customer service??? 100% customer satisfaction is what I am talking about!! That right there is what keeps customers coming BACK. Can I get an Amen?! 

So, as you can see, the photo books are definitely worth their price, especially to commemorate such a special occasion. I think the cost right now is $79.99 for the Premier Lay Flat photo books. However, that's just for their standard 20 pages! I think it's $2.79ish for a set of two extra pages {so 4 pages including front & back} after that. My book ended up being like $164 in the end, but remember, there's usually a 50% off coupon you can find/use! {Try retailmenot.com or chat online with a customer service rep ahead of time to get a code!}

Hopefully this post will give future photo book makers a better idea of what they're doing and investing in. If you have any questions, leave a comment! :) 

At the end of the day, I just loved the thing & wanted to share my great experience doing this! Now, onto the next thing on my summer to-do... only 2 weeks left of summer! {OMG!}

♥,

Nicole

Oh, and in no way did Snapfish ask me to do this or pay me to say these things. But I'd so advertise their stuff {obviously} ;)

Our Wedding Day Video

Well, the day is here. And it's about time! Over four months later, I am completely finished {as much as I'm going to be for now} with our wedding video. Cut me some slack, please. I know I've been talking about it since we got back from our honeymoon in the beginning of May. But it wasn't until mid-June that I was introduced to some amazing video editing software from my lifesaver, Travis. I don't know what my plan was before I was introduced to the software {Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum} but I am just thankful to God above that Travis saw that the software was being offered on Groupon and gave me the heads up. I didn't get the software in the mail for another three weeks....so really I have been holding on to this project for only like, two months, right? I did have a LOT to learn, teaching myself the new software. I am so thankful for Google and YouTube tutorials. Without them, I would have been completely dumbfounded. And going back to work a week earlier than I had planned really threw a kink in my summer plans, which was to not do anything all summer and complete my summer to-do list in the last week of summer. Duh. But anyways, two months isn't bad, right? Right! I am busy working 40+ hours a week, juggling two to three positions at work right now depending on the day, and still adjusting to being / attempting to figure out how not to be the world's worst wife ever. Oh and doing crazy things like taking sewing  classes and being consumed by all things Jen Hatmaker and adoption. But the wait is over!

First of all, I want to say that I cannot take the credit for this video. Yes, I put it together. But of course I did not video our wedding day. The ever-so-gracious Preston Springer {husband of the fabulous Deedie Springer, owner of Springvine Design- check her out} videoed the day for us. Bless his heart. I also incorporated pictures from our special day that helped tell the day's story. Our photographer was the awesome Kerri Crutchfield with Lillian Grace Images.

I really enjoyed watching the video clips and stringing them together to tell our very special story. So much in fact that I got the notion that I might want to attempt to try videoing other brides' special days! I bought the camera for Preston to use on our wedding day. I bought the fancy software. I figured out how to use it as much as my brain will comprehend. So I thought I am already invested so I might as well give it a try! Therefore, I now have two other videos to show you... as soon as possible! I promise! ;)

So... if you have 16ish minutes of time to spare, please take a look at our wedding video! It's a behind-the-scenes or an in-case-you-couldn't-make-it look at our special day.  I worked very hard on putting it together. And it's my first video baby. I know it's not perfect. But it's my wedding video and I will cherish it forever. I am so grateful I have footage of our day. Photography was top on my list but videography adds that special something extra.

Please let me know how you like it! Or that you watched it! Ensure me it was worth taking the time to figure out how to compress the file size and upload it online! It's something personal, of course, that I want to keep for myself, but I also wanted to be able to share the joy of the day with you as much as I could! And I'd love any positive, constructive feedback you have to offer because like I said, this is my first video and I still have a lot to learn.

I hope you like it!

♥,
Nicole

Hello, I'm back!

Well guys, it's been a while. Almost three months actually. Believe it or  not, I've been busy. I went and got married and then worked on winding down my first year as a school-based therapist. As I type this, I'm officially enjoying my first of eight weeks off this summer. It's my first time since high school that I've had a summer off. I've spent my summers working, in school, or in Costa Rica, and I can't tell you how happy I am that I get this opportunity to get things done. Normally I'd joke about how I plan on doing absolutely nothing this summer, but realistically, I plan on doing all the things I already needed to do. I plan on catching up on some projects. I plan on doing housework on a regular basis. I plan on making our wedding album and working on wedding videos. I plan on organizing all the crap we've decided to keep in the house. I plan on going to the gym about every day. And don't get me wrong, I plan on getting tan. I also plan on seeing the ocean at some point. And spending some time with my mister mans. And at some point I need to catch up on Grey's Anatomy! So you see, I'll be busy. ;)

I am really really really working on simplifying everything around here. I've been super anal about getting rid of random paperwork laying around, donating clothes I we never wear, and finding a home for every little random thing I find. As you can guess, Alex has really been enjoying it. Haha!

I do plan on getting back to blogging. I really enjoy it...not quite sure why. I don't know that anyone really reads this thing, so sometimes I feel like I'm blogging for nothing or no one. But then every now and then I'll hear from a friend or stranger who comments about something I've blogged about. So, what the heck! I'll just keep on keepin' on and see what happens. I have some stuff I want to blog about, but I've learned from the past not to make any promises.

Until then, enjoy your summer day(s)!

♥,
Nicole

My Summer To-Do...

There are so many things that I've put off, pushed aside, or legitimately not had time to do. I've lost focus on a lot of important things and really just let a lot of things go. No matter what goes on in life, the world doesn't stop. It'll just keep on going without you & you'll miss it all if you're not careful.

As of right now, I do not have an agency counseling internship lined up. Lord willing, I will find the perfect one {for me} soon. If I don't, I might be in trouble and risk not graduating on time. :/ But I am trusting that the Lord provides, as He always has in the past. :) I also am not planning on having a summer job for the first time EVER. Okay, since I was like 15, but still. It's been a while! Not knowing if where & when I'll be interning, it's hard to commit to something. I also have said that I've run myself crazy for the last two years, filling up spare time of mine, and for the first time in a LONG time, I want some spare time! I don't want to intern full time, and then work all weekend every weekend. I don't want to intern all day then work all night. I mean really, something's gotta give!- and I vote a minimum wage job that relates non whatsoever to my Masters degree I'm completing! Sounds fair enough.

But, the bills will still be rolling in, so, I must do SOMEthing. So, I definitely will be working my Mary Kay business. I haven't been able to do that as much this semester {but I knew that going into the business} but this summer I will, and I want to! The multiple benefits from selling Mary Kay cosmetics are there and waiting on me to go get them!

But there's other things I want to do too....like:

1. Join a small group/Bible study.
2. Attend church on a weekly basis again
3. Get back into the Word more, reading my Bible & doing daily devotions again-- something that should have never slacked to begin with.
4. Posting to ten minutes to get you through your day & Fabulous Fulfillment. It really makes my heart smile to know that people actually read those things! :)
5. Turn old and scratched up pieces of furniture into newly painted love pieces of furniture :) 
6. Read for pleasure
7. Visit the beach at least once
8. Start running again
9. Two words: Weight Watchers
10. Get and keep a tan...something that's been hard to do in summer's past when I'm cooped up in an office!
11. Reconnect with some people...
12. Connect with some new people...
13. And just make sure I embrace each day, not worrying about the million things on my to-do list, what has & hasn't been done, deadlines, paperwork, responsibilities...

 I know that sounds a little far off into fairtytale land, but is that really too much to ask for? Ok, ok... I know I'll still have responsibilities, things to do, places to be... But I really just want to focus on DEstressing. & I think it's possible if I have less things on my plate!

I am looking forward to Summer 2011 for many reasons...But enjoying the beautiful Spring season while we have it! :)

I am back! {Totally random update}

So, if you know me, you know that summer school kicked my butt this summer! I have been either been working at the gym or working on school work literally almost all summer! It has not been fun. I am grateful for my $job$ though because it gave me an opportunity to get some school work done.

A lot has gone on since I last really got to blogging...I can't go into too too much detail right now, but pray for my family!

Soon I'll be finding out where I'll be doing my practicum {job shadowing} for the Fall. Either way, I recently met and discussed high school counseling with the fabulous school counselor at Maiden High School. I would love to do both my practicum and my internship in the Spring there, but if not, it will be at North Lincoln High School, so, no complaints there! I've heard great things about the counselors there. It's where my brother went to school. It's a new facility with a low turn-over rate...so either way, the Lord is blessing me! I never thought I would say this...but I think I might want to be a high school counselor!! Eek!! We'll see how this practicum & internship go...

Doggy training's doing well! We go to lesson #3 tomorrow night. My dad said you can't teach an old dog new tricks but, we'll just have to prove him wrong! ;) I love Lisa at PetSmart in Hickory who's doing the training. I highly recommend their training program with her there!

I got my Isenhour roster this week for the Fall. We are going to be a PACKED HOUSE! Every room is filled, every spot is filled...even the old show room! This is going to be an interesting year....I can see it now! I have faith in my staff though! Hopefully it'll be another fun year!

happy 4th of july!

The day has come & I couldn't be more happier about it. I am THROUGH with Psychopathology! I've moved back to Hickory & am attempting to get settled back into my apartment, which I'm doing a major "clean out" of in my spare time! I need to catch up on my other class I've been neglecting as well as start two more classes this week. I will so so glad when this summer is over. I'm taking four classes in the Fall as well, but spaced out over 15 weeks will make me much happier than cramming everything into 5! I don't think I could have made it without the constant support & venting sessions with Caren and Jodi! Girls...WE DID IT!

Alex & I had us a nice little 4th of July! We went to the early service {which I enjoy} & then had breakfast with some friends of ours & his brother! Then we spent the day lounging by the pool until time to head to the lake to cook out and hang out with some friends from church! It was fun!

Look at this VIEW! Love it!

Look at my "special friend" haha ... he always finds a way to make me laugh :)

Vacation + I am a Godmother!! :)

I had a GREAT time during my MUCH needed vacay to "Wilmington" to stay with Lindsey & Rhine! I am absolutely in love with their house & all their home decor. Not to mention being so close to the BEACH! I had such a great time...they were the best hosts! Not to mention I was asked to be their future child's Godmother!! During breakfast on Friday they gave me a present and it was the cutest Godmother coffee mug with an adorable quote on it (I'll have to take a pic & post it)... as I opened up the present I cried!! :) Then Rhine preceded to tell me how large of a responsibility being a MARINE Godmother was, and then why they were so glad I accepted!! I am so blessed to have such great friends who think so highly of me. I just wish Alex could have been there with me. {Somebody's gotta stay home and make that money though, I guess!} I got some really cute stuff $hopping in the cute local stores and got to work on my tan for two days while laying out on the beach! I also attended their church Sunday morning, Scott's Hill Baptist Church-- which I LOVED! They are doing a series on FAQ {Frequently Asked Questions about Christianity} and it was hilarious, educational, Biblically based, and intriguing....all at the same time! The worship service was AWESOME too...I felt like I was at a Christian concert!!

Needless to say...the drive home was a long one! :( I can't wait to come back and visit them and my new baby Godson!! I would say his name but, I don't think they've entirely agreed on one quite yet!

I miss the breezy beach already!!

Our trip to Atlanta for Memorial Day weekend

Last weekend, for Memorial Day weekend, Alex & I drove down to Atlanta to spend the long weekend with our friends {and soon to be newlyweds!} Meredith & Brandon! We got to check out their new house & their "new" town & experience a little Atlanta! It was such a great weekend. They were such great hosts!

We didn't get to leave until around 5 that afternoon but the Memorial Day traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be! When we got into town, Alex & I went to visit his college friend, Charis. She has an awesome apartment with a great view. Her apartment complex reminded me of the beach {which I can not wait to go to!} and I think it'd be awesome to pack everything I own up, and move far away from everything! I envy her for that. If I didn't feel the need to be close to my family at this point in my my/our lives, I would have so done that a couple years ago. I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways! ;) He wanted me "here" ... or close by at least!

Anyways, we got to Meredith & Brandon's late & just chit chatted til the wee hours of the morning. We spent the weekend $hopping, eating at some YUMMY restaurants, & hanging out with each other! We attempted to go to a Braves game together but the weather was iffy & the radar showed a huge storm heading our way so we didn't go. {We went to the movies and finally got to see Date Night, which is HILARIOUS by the way!} The boys made it to the Braves game the next day while Meredith & I had a girls day! We shopped, did a couple touristy things, and then went to babysit. We BOTH made $100!! Talk about worth it! We all went to Brandon & Meredith's church Sunday morning, which was HUGE by the way. We heard a great message too! :)

It was such a great trip and I can not wait until their wedding in Mississippi in July! I am also super glad Alex and I "have to" fly in because of his work schedule....Sorry guys, I love ya both but I was not looking forward to that drive/ride there!

Here's some of my favorite pics from the weekend ::

Meredith & I in our Atlanta Braves colors :)

his hugs are my favorite ♥

having fun in our crazy photo shoot

Meredith and Brandon, a match made in heaven :)

Funny story: We saw this guy getting on his motorcyle, and he had a full blown skeleton-looking biker's outfit on! Gloves, glasses, and all! It looked pretty cool, until he was riding behind us and I realized how scary/creepy it looks...haha...

The summer is beginning....

So here I am....the semester is over! All Almost all of the residents have left. My duties are complete. It feels good to say that! Today was the day I could head home for "the summer" but I'll be back & forth all summer. I'm working at the gym on campus and tried to work it in my schedule to only work on the days I had class, that way I could potentially save myself some trips to Hickory gas money! Today's the first day this semester I'm working here...11-7pm...sitting at the desk, trying to keep myself entertained. I've already caught up on Modern Family {which is my new favorite show} & ordered some Dominoes Pizza {I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning, and did you think I'd wait til 7pm to eat for the first time today?!} I have a to-do list of things to get done around the apartment when I get off work, just so I won't have to worry about things while I'm away! I'll really only have a week off until I work again, and then another week off until I work again and summer school starts {which I'm dreading by the way}. Not much of a break, but I'll take it!!

This is the first summer in a long time I won't be working ALL the time {except my month-long trip to Costa Rica in 2007, but I worked before I left & worked when I returned} so I'm hoping to at least get a TAN! I'll be taking four summer school courses throughout the summer, so I'll have lots of studying to do...hopefully I can handle it poolside!! :)

I actually have a bit of stuff I want to do/complete this summer. A "bucket list" of sorts, if you will...

I want to:

• Get a tan! 
• Make all A's. Okay, okay, I'll settle for a B in Psychopathology! {Eek!}
• Not procrastinate with my school work
• Continue working on & hopefully complete my 2009 scrapbook
• Post devotions to "ten minutes to get you through your day" at least once a week
• Work on a Bible study of my own
• Read for pleasure...haven't decided what to read first yet! 
• Go see my friend Lindsey in Wilmington
• Have a wedding shower for Caroline
• Exercise at least three times a week
• See Sex & the City 2 in theaters
• See Eclipse in theaters on opening night...ya know, get that fanatic experience {even though I'm not a die-hard fan}

Cristina's Computerized Painting of Our Summer in Lincolnton

Cristina Leon was so incredibly bored one day in the summer of 2006 that she created this amazing masterpiece via Paint, yes.. the rinky dink accessory from Microsoft Office. A-MAZING! check out the detail, and the descriptions! hahaha. this is why i love her... (click the picture for more details!)