A Meaningful Wedding Series

I have a sweet spot for some traditions, but I truly love when a couple can create a day that is reflective of new ideas & some reinvented decor.
This styled shoot is full of vintage flavored style & yummy vegan eats!

A few months ago, I came across some vintage blue ice skates on Etsy, and I couldn’t pass them up. I e-mailed Caitlin, of Simply Photography & we knew we had to set up a styled shoot around them. After many e-mails & lots of prep, I’m so proud to share this collaboration. Katrina & Justin are engaged, {and he plays hockey}, so they were a perfect fit for this shoot! Keep in mind the high for this day was 23 degrees, so our “models” were incredible for looking so effortlessly gorgeous in the cold!

We were so honored to have The Look Dayton supply the wardrobe for Katrina. They are a charming vintage shop located on Brown Street in the University of Dayton Shops area. They carry an assortment of authentic vintage styles from the 30’s to the 80’s, as well as shoes & accessories. We were quite distracted when we met with them. Their three rooms brimming with vintage pieces could keep me occupied for hours! They have vintage jewelry, hats, shoes, purses, belts, scarves, hankies, etc. and a good selection of vintage designer wear for both men and women.

Caitlin & I were really inspired by rustic touches mixed with vintage elegance. She made this beautiful pine cone bouquet & it was so appropriate because it stood up to the freezing temperatures & wind better than fragile flowers! Amanda, from the lovely blog Ruffled, recommends using “non-floral alternatives in the Winter” and has some genius ideas in this post.

I give Caitlin huge props because she took care of the wardrobes from head to toe & they both look phenomenal! She even handmade his bow tie, boutineer, Katrina’s veil & all the fabric flowers!

We were so lucky to have the Bombshell Bake Shop make us some delicious vegan goodies. I used Katie’s Triple Threat Chocolate Cookies with a baby clothespin & brown bag as a favor. So easy, requires no penchant for art whatsoever! They were addicting, I’m surprised they lasted long enough to be photographed 😀

This cupcake shelf DIY was so fun, easy, and inexpensive! I covered two very cheap Walmart black floating shelves with burlap. I wrapped them like presents with the burlap & hot glued it into place. Rocky hung them from the tree, and I loved the effect. You could easily substitute a piece of wood for the shelves.

Katie from Bombshell Bake Shop, also supplied some Rockin Red Velvet & Plain Jane Cupcakes… they were moist, sweet, & very luxurious!

I actually made these pinwheels at Christmas time to go over my fireplace. La Belle Bride, a gorgeous blog written by Chantale, featured a DIY tutorial on how to make them by one of my favorites, Sophia of Brancoprata! You can see just how easy it is here. I fell in love with them and couldn’t bear to get rid of them. They became a big part of this whimsical winter inspiration. I made them using leftover wrapping paper. What you see probably cost less than a $1 to make! Some wrapping paper had writing or designs, so I just used the back of it for the pinwheels.

These Vegan Chocolate Coffee Patron Truffles were delicious & easy to make! Find the recipe & more of my photographs on a previous post here. You can easily substitute Kahlua & non-vegan ingredients to make them for Valentine’s Day. The bowl is from My Sweet & Saucy Supply!

For a centerpiece idea, I decided to use sticks from my yard held together with floral wire. I made pine cone frames {inspired by Martha Stewart ornaments} for guests to write well wishes. The idea is that even though this is not a traditional Christmas wedding, the couple would be able to use them as Christmas ornaments in the future. If you’d rather not have guests “sign” them with written words, you could always designate a friend to take pictures or use photo booth pictures to put inside the frames. Either way, awesome keepsakes!

Here is a link to the Martha Stewart Pinecone Frame Tutorial. It is very inexpensive and a beautiful winter DIY project! A few years ago I bought some glittered pine cones from Target, and they came in useful for our shoot. I dismantled a few of the gold pine cones to make frames & loved the results. I am kind of excited to see glitter & sparkles making a comeback 😉

These burlap bags were simple to make & obviously inspired from my Minnesota bride Sarah. I just hot glued the edges, then used some twine to tie them shut. They are favor bags for an Oatmeal Confetti send off. The idea presented itself at breakfast one day when Kevin (my four year old) threw his uncooked oatmeal in the air and called it confetti. I thought it was a genius idea for this friendly-green-shoot! The book boxes the burlap favor bags are sitting in resemble some you might find at Anthropologie, but I found them on clearance at Marshall’s {under $10 each}!

This next simple project was Caitlin’s idea- Vegan Hot Cocoa Mason Jar Favors! She put the ingredients together in these mini mason jars & I dressed them up with my pinwheel & paper lace obsessed favorites. It was fun to mix masculine & feminine touches.

This necklace can also be found at The Look Dayton.

We tried to incorporate a lot of DIY inspiration & ideas, but Katrina & Justin were so sweet too! I love photographing couples who look at each other like they do.

I hope you have enjoyed this intimate take on a winter wedding that we styled! As a wedding photographer, I am constantly exposed to fashion forward wedding design & reawakened trends. Through styled shoots like this, I want to inspire brides. If there is just one tip or DIY project that resonates with you, then I will be a happy woman!

Katrina’s Wardrobe: The Look Dayton *Check out more selections on their Facebook page & “Like” them for future updates!

Wedding Dress: 1980s Victor Costa

Ice Skates: Etsy.com

Cupcakes & Cookies: Bombshell Bake Shop *She ships her goodies! They are handmade from scratch in small batches… and DELICIOUS!

Truffle Bowl: My Sweet & Saucy Supply

Location: Dayton at Riverscape & my in-laws’ yard (Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!)

The font I used is Nelly Script, you can purchase it at MyFonts.com

You can find the wood doily coasters I made into ornaments on Etsy by the seller Uncommon

Justin & Katrina- Thank you both for coming down & standing in the cold for us! You were both so awesome to endure a cold Ohio wintry day!

To see more ideas, and a beautiful Garter that matches the headpiece, visit Caitlin’s blog here. It was so awesome to see our ideas grow & to work with someone who is just as enthusiastic about vintage blue ice skates as I am. Thank you so much for everything Caitlin, can’t wait to work with you again!!!

Finally, I must thank our husbands! Matt & Rocky put up with disheveled homes during our crafty obsessions & always watched our kiddos while we worked. Thanks for putting up with hot glue, glitter, & chaos! ♥