SOMETHING TURQUOISE FEATURED THIS EVENT ON THEIR BLOG! CLICK HERE TO SEE IT ON THEIR SITE! 

Being a wedding & event photographer, I absolutely love taking pictures. If you are a consistent reader of our blog, I’m sure you’ve been able to pick up on the fact that we absolutely LOVE…. ALL THE DETAILS! One thing that we truly love, but might not always show, is how much people show love for one another. It’s so obvious at weddings that brides and grooms are madly in love, affectionate, and are so happy! But there is so much more to a wedding than the ‘Wedding Day’ and all of the pretty decor. I’m so excited to share Ellie’s vintage styled bridal shower!

 

The more that I strive to be a good wedding photographer, the more I fall in love with what marriage is about. Marriage is about two people committing to one another AND marriage is about family and friends standing behind that commitment! Wow! It’s so amazing that I get to stand behind all of our clients and say that I truly believe in what you are doing. I believe in your marriage, your long life together, your hope for a solid and committed future!

With all that said, I wanted to introduce my sister’s Bridal Shower. Ellie (one of our esteemed photographers) is getting married on June 28! It’s coming around the corner and as the maid of honor, I wanted to do something special for her. So, I got my pinterest board together… http://pinterest.com/sunandsparrow/ellie-s-bridal-shower/ and I went to town. Really, I went overboard. Because I see so many awesome weddings and awesome details, I decided that this was the moment to create a masterpiece (which was to say the least, a little ridiculous). The more that the details came together, the more creative I became.

 

The whole day began with the idea of a citrus inspired day. So, I thought of all the things that we could include into a CITRUSY INSPIRED DAY! Of course I immediately began with food!  Grapefruit & Feta salads, mint lemonade, peach iced tea, fruit, lemons, limes and all the like! From there, ideas of colors came into mind! Colors that coordinated with the food (of course), lime, orange, peach, and then beautiful florals. So, from there, I made cute banners & streamers. I purchased KRAFT-COLORED BUTCHER PAPER for all of the banners & even for the table coverings! I used that butcher paper everywhere! After that, I thought that doilies would add a cute & feminine touch to the day, so I got clear plates and put the doilies under them. But I didn’t stop there, when I realized that I had purchased too many. Once again, I got creative. We hung doilies in everything starting in the streamer-banners and even hung them from the trees.

I ALSO WANTED TO GIVE A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO CHOURA EVENTS FOR HELPING US WITH OUR RENTALS!

 

These are all DIY projects that are absolutely doable for anyone. If you read below, I have explained how to do 3 DIY projects so that you can style your bridal shower just like ours!

 

I honestly wanted Ellie to have a beautiful and memorable day. Beyond all of the decor, the whole point of making a bridal shower is to make a day that the bride can drink in all of the love and support from family and friends. We had so many wonderful people who came and showered her with gifts and praise. My favorite part about the whole day, when all was said and done, was that Ellie had been so moved. She cried most of the day and smiled the rest. I couldn’t have asked for a better sister! And I couldn’t have asked for a more deserving person to share this special day with!

 

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 DIY PROJECT #1  : DOILIE BACKDROP FOR A PHOTO BOOTH! 

This doilie backdrop was a fluke that just happened when I realized that I had too many extra doilies. We just strung twine through 8-10 doilies on each strand. It was super easy to hang each strand on a different tree branch. I brought chairs from my own living room and VOILA, we had a free and super cute place for a photo booth! Make sure to ask a friend to be in charge of the photos, though. You don’t want to have a photobooth without a person to encourage photo taking.

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DIY PROJECT #2:  MAKING STREAMER-BANNERS

For me, it’s extremely important to tie your decor together. Make sure that if you have one idea, that you have a place to repeat that idea. It makes your day and your decor feel complete. I made two of these banners, one for inside & one for outside. Both used the same color ribbons & doilies and both were strung up by jute-twine. Making these were super easy! Ellie & I went to our local swap meet and bought colorful ‘citrusy’ fabric. We just cut a few notches in the fabric, then ripped it all apart. We didn’t need to hem every piece because we loved the torn & rustic look of it all. Then we tied the strips to the twine & hung it up.

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DIY PROJECT #3 : HOME MADE FOOD LABELS 

This is where our DIY creativity, got difficult. One of my good friends, Claudia (who is also my second shooter), came over with her Cricut paper cutter. She and I had a field day cutting new shapes and trying to figure out how to make these labels. They turned out awesome, but I have to say that these labels cost the most to make AND took the most time. We had to cut 3 different sized papers with our cool Cricut machine, then glue them all together. If you are going to take on a project like this, definitely take some time to figure out exactly what you want first. Then you and your friends can execute it all.

Another cool food label that I put together were the paper straw flags! For those, I used kraft paper and just cut little strips with “e&p” printed on them. When I glued them onto the straws, I cut a triangle out from the edges. It was super easy to do and made Ellie & Peter’s logo shine!

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OK, This is where it gets special! After all of the decor was made and after all of the guests had arrived, I wanted Ellie’s bridal shower to be super special and memorable. Here are some beautiful moments from the day! Friends and family got to share about how to be an amazing & Godly wife. Ellie even was blessed enough to get some family heirlooms. I’m so jealous and excited that she gets to have a wonderful wedding super soon.

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Since we had the opportunity to style this amazing bridal shower, I thought it best to give my sister an official ‘BRIDAL SHOWER PHOTO SESSION.’ So, here it is, a beautiful day for a beautiful lady, styled from head to toe! Don’t you love the matching bow in her hair? It matches the decor!  { A special shout out to one of our brides, Stacy Gibson, for making Ellie look so awesome! }

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