We are big fans of the first look here at Heart Love Weddings! And because we love them so much, we’ve come up with some sweet-heart styling to create something new and fresh – A First Look Styled Toast! The debut of this feature marries sweet with salty, a combination that is always a favorite and sure to be a hit. We served up a wonderful, semi-dry, chilled Prosecco, champagne grapes (aren’t they the cutest?), strawberries and raspberries (a little something sweet), mixed olives (for something a little salty), a fresh crusty bread, a mild creamy Brie and a zingy blue cheese. Everything was simple but tasty and made a very pretty picture.

We love the opportunity for a quiet, intimate moment for the bride and groom before all the craziness of the wedding ceremony and reception. A moment just for two, for connecting together as a couple, for calming the nerves, and for igniting the butterflies that brought you to this moment in the first place. Very much like this sweet and tender moment below.

Photo by Shannon Kelley Photography

{See the full wedding here.}

We are excited to bring you some fresh new ideas on how to make the most of your first look, how to make it intimately yours, a part of your love story if you will. Each month we will be bringing a new First Look Styled Toast your way! Here’s to you, first looks, and creative deliciousness!

What do you think of our First Look Styled Toast? Are you as in love with first looks as we are? Why or why not? Will you (did you) do a first look on your wedding day? Sound off in the comments below!

Happy Friday!

xoxo

P.S. Did you know my husband and I were trend setters back in the day (thirty years ago)? Because we were having an evening ceremony, we wanted to make sure that we got our formal and family shots in before it became dark. But oh, the negative feedback that we received. The first look was definitely not viewed then the way it is now. Now, it’s one of the most popular and most touching moments of any wedding day. This makes me happy knowing I did something before it was cool. :)

*Photos by Karin Beauregard

Another day, another sweet engagement shoot and love story to share! This time from the amazing Valerie Demo Photography! We first heard from and indulged in Valerie’s work a little over a week ago with this vintage picnic themed engagement shoot. Today, we get to sigh over this sweet UNC Chapel Hill engagement session of a couple very much in love.

Kellie and Zach met in the spring of 2009. Zach had just graduated from college while Kellie was finishing up her third year of graduate school. In June of the same year, both Zach and Kellie went on the same birthright trip to Israel with their sisters. Nothing Earth-shattering or special occurred between the two during their trip. They were merely just friends by the time they returned to the States.

A few months after returning home, Kellie and her sister decided to plan a little reunion in Washington D.C. to reconnect with some of the people who had also been on the trip. Zach was extremely reluctant to attend the reunion with his sister, but eventually went along in the end (after much convincing on his sister’s part).

They spent the day exploring D.C. and attending a Nationals game before heading back to one of the attendee’s houses for drinks. After several hours filled with drinks and laughter, everyone but Kellie and Zach had fallen asleep. (What a lovely coincidence.) They started talking and didn’t stop until the sun came up.

It didn’t take them long to realize that what they’d found in each other was something special and worth holding on to. After just a few weeks of long distance dating and a series of visits between Virginia Beach and Chapel Hill, Zach came to visit one week and simply never left. (Awww!)

One year later, in the spring of 2010, Kellie’s entire family gathered on the beautiful Hilton Head Island for Kellie’s father’s wedding. This was the moment Zach chose to propose to Kellie (with her father’s blessing, of course). One night, before dinner, Zach woke his soon-to-be fiancée from a nap. She turned sleepily to find him on bended knee, asking for her hand in marriage. (THAT is what we call a wake-up call, friends. Possibly the best of its kind. No, definitely the best of its kind.)

{Behind the Lens with Valerie Demo Photography} Kellie and Zach asked me to join them in Chapel Hill for their engagement session. It was a chance I jumped at because the UNC campus is GORGEOUS. That, and they are getting married in Virginia Beach, so having their engagement session in Chapel Hill was a nice way to tie in even more about their love story and relationship.

My main goal is to always try to make sessions effortless. With Kellie and Zach, it was just that. They are so completely comfortable with each other… “it” just happened. I try not to lead the posing too much, giving only minimal direction so that the photos still look natural in the end. I think they hit it out of the park! Of course, having all the gorgeous scenery around Chapel Hill to work with didn’t hurt, but what made this session a success to me was just how well Kellie and Zach mesh with each other. That definitely shines through in the photographs.

Indeed it does. :) A very happy Congratulations to Kellie and Zach who tied the knot on August 14th! We wish you both a lifetime of love and laughter together! Thank you for sharing your love story with all of us! And a big thank you to Valerie Demo Photography for sharing with us her talent and behind the lens insight once again!

Happy Thursday!

xoxo

If you’re looking for that special handmade look for your wedding but just don’t have the time or the wherewithal to do-it-yourself, look no further than the wonderful world of Etsy! Etsy is one of the best places to get, well, just about anything handmade and wedding related. Dresses, veils, jewelry, bouquets, favors and decor galore! You could literally style your whole wedding with the fabulous vendors of Etsy on your side! There’s even a section devoted just to weddings, making it super easy to find all related items. We browsed around and found a couple (a very, very small representation, really) of some of our favorites to incorporate into today’s inspiration board! Take a look!

Starting at the top, real men wear pink custom ties! And carry pretty glasses of lemonade! :) (Yours doesn’t? I bet he would if you asked nicely.) How lush and pretty does that bouquet look? Can you believe it’s made of silk blend flowers? Because it is! Gorgeous, right? No wedding is complete without a fabulous set of invites – we love the two seater bike! How about a chic burlap pillow for your manly little ring bearer? Burlap is manly, sort of, and very chic! To top it off, how about some yummy salted caramels in adorable muslin favor bags? The result is heaven on Earth! And delicious too!

What oh-so-fabulous things have you found on Etsy of late? Have you found something for your wedding? Tell us in the comments below!

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo

Row 1: Men’s Ties & Lemonade via Handmade by Emy | Florals via Morgann Hill Designs | Invitation via Paper + Pinafore

Row 2: Ring Bearer Pillow via Krumpets Designs | Salted Caramels via The Caramel Jar  | Muslin Favor Bags via Crafty Clementines

Color Swatches: Kiss Me Pink, Butter Yellow, Chic Burlap, Salted Caramel

A few weeks back, we talked about the pros and cons of DIY-ing your wedding. You loved it! And since we like to take a fresh and real approach to wedding planning, we’re going to start our own DIY-ing adventure called Made With Love! For each DIY project, we’re going to include what worked, what didn’t, what was a super, duper idea and what were the worst. ideas. ever. So, here we go! Our project today was inspired by all those wonderful arts and crafts classes we took in school or at camp. We wanted our first DIY project to be simple as well as be able to reuse it later on. We call them Glamorous Pierced Tin Wedding Centerpieces! Not sure where we’re going with this? Follow along and we’ll show you!

Things You’ll Need:

• tin cans (like those full of vegetables in your pantry or lying empty in your recycling bin, a bunch of them)
• 2-3 nails
• hammer
• spray paint in the color of your choice (we chose Rust-oleum (Metallic) spray paint in Pearl Mist)
• ribbon in the color of your choice
• double-stick tape
• candles
• white twinkly Christmas lights (optional)
• newspaper
• clean workspace

First, you’re going to want to rescue a few of the cans you’ve tossed into the recycling bin (because you are, after all, doing your part to save the environment) after dinner this week. Make sure you clean them really well with hot, soapy water. Please do this. In the process, you will find that the labels will (usually) fall right off. Not the glue mind you, just the labels. Tip: Use Goo Gone (not Goo-B-Gone as I always thought it was called) to get the glue off. It’s like magic!

Second, you are going to fill the cans with water and freeze them. Why? Because tin cans actually bend, especially when you don’t want them to. The ice makes the can sturdy and not-bendable when you go to pierce your pattern in with the nail. Very important.

Tip: Allow at least a day to freeze the water and DO. NOT. OVERFILL. Otherwise, this will happen. Not so pretty.

Science Tip: Water expands when freezing. I forgot. Thank goodness I had the foresight to freeze multiple cans. You should too. Just in case.

Outtake No. 1 & 2: First boo-boo (the cracked can above), not so fixable. We discovered this second boo-boo (that the bottom bellied out) when we stood the can upright. It wobbled around like a Weeble, but like the toy Alexandra played with and loved as a toddler, didn’t fall down. But still not quite right. Totally fixable though, you’ll see later.

Third, make a template using a simple font for the wording you want to pierce into the can. Don’t go for anything too busy. You’ll rip your hair out. Go for simple. I used Courier, size 96. See? Simple.

Fourth, you’re going to want to attach or otherwise stick your pattern to the tin can. Tip: Neither scotch tape nor duct tape work on ice cold cans. Note to self. However, if you wait just a couple seconds for the can to melt, the paper (with your pattern on it) will stick to the can. All by itself. Cool.

Fifth, take your nail and hammer and starting in the middle (no real rhyme or reason, that’s just where we started) begin hammering or piercing the pattern into the tin can.

The depth of the piercing should be about an 1/8 of an inch, a half dozen whacks or so with the hammer should do it. Don’t be afraid girls – put some muscle into it! Not too hard though. The piercings should also be about an 1/8 of an inch apart.

Sixth, once you’ve completed piercing the pattern, you can remove it and voila! Looks pretty neat, right?

I am particularly fond of the gold insides of this can. Which by the way was Muir Glen tomatoes if you must know, which some of you will want to, I’m sure.

For the bold and brave (also our Outtake No. 3): Feeling pretty confident with your piercing ability? I was too. So I decided to free hand my next design. A heart. Thought I was being pretty smart. Turns out, I wasn’t. See what happened here? Not the prettiest heart I’ve ever seen. Stupid ridges – whatever happened to smooth cans?

Alexandra suggested marking out the pattern with permanent marker. Smart cookie, she is! Tip: Permanent marker is NOT water proof. HA! Work quickly (and carefully) so the ice doesn’t melt away your pattern. Or, if you prefer the slow and steady method, just reapply your pattern with a marker as needed. (FYI, I prefer the former.)

Seventh, once you have the patterns all pierced, remove the ice. If you are a patient person and have a little extra time on your hands, feel free to leave the ice to melt on its own. However, if you’re like me and want it done yesterday, just run the can under some hot water. Presto! Ice melted and you can move on to drying the cans thoroughly.

Fixing Outtake No. 2: Here’s how to fix the bellied-out-bottom: take your hammer and lightly tap at the bottom after the ice is removed. Just a couple whacks should flatten that sucker right out. Easy Fix. Didn’t even break a sweat.

The Fun Stuff: Now you can add things like ribbon (or rhinestones or glitter, if you’re into that sort of thing – you’ll need glue though) to dress the cans up a little. The color of the ribbon is completely up to you (or your wedding colors). We used what we had lying around and attached with double-stick tape. Pretty, right?

Stick a candle in there and you’re done!

Oh, but that’s not all…

Let’s glam ‘em up a little, shall we?

The Glam Stuff: We decided to spray paint the cans with Rust-oleum (Metallic) spray paint in Pearl Mist. Shimmery and pretty – love it!

Crumple some newspaper and insert into the can, leaving enough hanging out to use as a handle. Less mess on your hands (although I did wind up with a lovely, shimmery manicure) or anywhere else for that matter. For best results, always read the directions on the can, use even strokes, and spray in a well, ventilated area. Let it dry thoroughly, preferably 24 hours between coats. (Did I mention that DIY projects take time and the patience of a saint? Because they sometimes do.) After all is dry, use one of the nails to clean out any paint that gets stuck in the little holes.

When you’re done, you are left with one beautiful, made with love, glamorous, pierced tin centerpiece.

What You Can Do With Them:

Well, first of all, you can fill them with fresh cut wildflowers and use them as the centerpieces for your reception. You could pierce words like let’s eat or forks + knives and fill them with cutlery for a backyard BBQ (wedding or otherwise). Like we stated above, you could just pop a candle in each one for pretty lighted effect. You could also dress them up with various garlands and twinkly Christmas lights and set them up on a favor or escort card table. Later, you could use them as part of your Christmas mantle display. They are completely versatile, and so, so pretty.

Tip: If you’re going to pop twinkly lights in them, be sure you remove the bottom of the can as well as the top with a can opener.

Don’t they look glamorous?!

We had such fun bringing you our first DIY project and can’t wait to hear what you think! Questions, comments, concerns and future DIY project requests are all welcome! And while you’re at it, tell us what (if anything) you DIY-ed for your wedding? Or what you’re considering. We can’t wait to hear all the details!

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo

*Photos by Alexandra Beauregard

Hello again and happy Monday! I have a sexy urban engagement shoot from Light Love Laughter Photography to share today! Laura and Orlando are an undeniably gorgeous couple. Their passion for each other literally sizzles right off the page screen. But more than that, it’s obvious just how much fun they have together. And not just the day of their engagement session, but every day. So, let’s learn a little more about their love story, shall we?

Laura and Orlando met at a bank. Laura’s mother, a regular customer, had seen Orlando many times and was convinced he was the perfect man for her daughter. (Gotta love a mother’s intuition.) One day, Laura accompanied her mother to the bank where she was promptly introduced to Orlando. The attraction was immediate. But they were both much too shy to venture past the usual pleasantries of a first meeting.

Recognizing that the two might need a bit more than a nudge, Laura’s mother took matters into her own hands. She casually mentioned the name of a really great Columbian restaurant she thought Orlando would enjoy the next time she was at the bank (sans Laura). She told him that she didn’t know the specific directions to get him there, but that her daughter did, and she’d have her call him with them.

When Laura finally called Orlando at the bank with the directions to the restaurant, Orlando told her her directions were much too confusing and she’d just have to accompany him to lunch to ensure he didn’t get lost. This impromptu lunch date became their first unofficial date. (Mother’s always get what they want.)

After nine wonderful months of courtship, Orlando proposed to Laura at Chateau Elan. Just before he asked her to be his wife, Orlando gifted Laura a book he had made of memories. It was filled with poems, photographs, and songs he had written just for her. It was a truly touching and memorable moment.

{Behind the Lens with Tessa Swarthout of Light Love Laughter Photography} I love engagement sessions! It’s a great way for me to get to know the couple outside the pressures, emotions, excitement, and craziness of wedding day. I love making them more than just “pretty pictures in a park” by taking the time before the session to get to know the couple. I try to bring out some of the unique details of their love story to incorporate into their engagement photos. Laura and Orlando are both wine lovers (in fact, he proposed in a vineyard), so having a little picnic and some wine in the park not only made for super cute pictures, but was also a nice reminder of that very special day when he asked her to marry him.

I was really excited from the very first conversation I had with Laura – she was SUPER excited about her wedding and about having me as her photographer. When we met for their session, I let them know that they didn’t need to worry about how they looked. That they should focus on enjoying the next couple of hours together – flirting, kissing, hugging and laughing. This session was about them spending time together. It was MY job to make sure they looked amazing. The pictures I took not only reflected that but the love they share for one another.

It took a little bit of time for the “camera jitters” to fade (as it always does), but before long we were all having such a great time. We nearly forgot it was an engagement session and not just an afternoon out, having lots of fun in the park. Their love is raw, natural and overflowing. The emotion in the pictures isn’t made up. It’s real and something they enjoy sharing every. single. day.

Laura and Orlando renewed their vows this past March. (Their first wedding was a spur of the moment, courthouse thing.) They waited three whole years to declare their love for each other (and say I do once more) before their family and friends. It was a day neither will ever forget.

Congratulations Laura and Orlando! We wish you an abundance of the love, laughter and passion you already share, in the many years still ahead of you! Thank you for sharing your love story with us! And a big thank you to Tessa of Light Love Laughter Photography (don’t you just love that?!) for sharing her talent and behind the lens insight today!

Happy Monday!

xoxo

*Photos taken at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia