Saturday, May 18, 2013

It's Wedding Season!!! Photo Ideas

Wedding season is upon us and no one loves a wedding more than me!  I love everything about weddings.  The dress, the flowers, the cake, being with all your friends and family; it's all awesome!  But one of the things I love the most about weddings is the photography.  When you get married, it's a great opportunity to show your creative side with photos.  We had a blast taking our wedding photos and it showed; they turned out great!  So, if you need some inspiration for your wedding photos, I thought I'd give you some ideas.  All of the following photos were found on Pinterest. 
 
This is a fabulous idea for a photo!  I love the contrast of the black and white photo with the color of the bouquets! 
 
This is an interesting shot!  I also love that the groomsmen are wearing tennis shoes.
 
 
This is so creative! 
 
 
Cute!  Love how the focus is on the wedding party.
 
 
This photo was texted to the groom right before the wedding.  Awesome!
 
 
Ask your photographer to do this! It's a long exposure shot with sparklers. All they had to do was stand there very still and someone else ran around them with a sparkler. It's like a fairy tale!
 
 
What a great idea!  Take a shot of the happy couple through the ring!
 
 
Look for ways to make your wedding photos unique.  Argyle socks on the groomsmen, fabulous!
 
 
Love the attitude in this one!
 
 
Absolutely gorgeous!  Look for backgrounds for your photos that will really make them pop.
 
 
Another great background.  The rain in the back makes this photo.
 
 
So darn funny!  Don't forget to add some humor to your wedding day photo session.
 
 
Props can be used to create unique photos. 
 
 
Mr. & Mrs.  On a sandy beach, beautiful!
 
 
Have your guests create a heart with the wedding couple in the middle. 
 
 
Are you inspired?  I hope so.  When you go to take your wedding photos, just remember to be unique and most of all, have fun.  As long as you're having a good time, it will show in your photos.  And remember, it's your special day, so don't be afraid to ask your photographer to work with you on the shots you want.  Our photographer was great with this.  She totally let us express our creativity.  In case you are wondering, our photographer was Ashley Athey of Ashley Athey Photography and she's from the Bloomington, Indiana area.  But for all my Hoosier friends, she will travel around Indiana.  So find a photographer that will work with you the way Ashley worked with us.  For my the first blog post with our wedding photos, click Here, and for the second post with our wedding photos, click Here !  So what will you do to make your wedding photos unique?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Viva Las Vegas Open House Ideas

So my latest idea for Joe's high school graduation open house has to do with the entertainment for the party.  Since the open house is Las Vegas themed, I figured we would need some casino games.  Party City had exactly what we were looking for!  Check out the table covers for blackjack and craps:
The craps table cover can be bought HERE and the blackjack cover, HERE.
Party City also had a roulette wheel...perfect!

Then they had cool looking Vegas style poker chips:
 
I thought it would be cool if we had dealers so Bill (my husband) and his buddies will be the dealers, complete with visors!


Now what will be traded in for chips?  "Joe Bucks"!  I designed play money with Joe's picture on it in different denominations.  This way it will be more like a real casino and guests can keep some Joe Bucks as souvenirs!  I used Microsoft Publisher to design the Joe Bucks.
 


What do you think?  What games would you play at a casino party?

 
 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Viva Las Vegas - A Themed Graduation Open House - Invites

My stepson, Joe will be graduationg high school this month!  When I was thinking up ideas for his open house, I thought he might like some sort of themed party other than the traditional "Class of (insert graduation year here)".  That's when I brainstormed the Vegas theme!  Joe loved the idea, so now I am off and running.  I thought I'd share some of my ideas and inspiration here.  This is the open house invite design:
 
I wanted something fun, so I designed it myself using Microsoft Publisher.  I wanted the focus to be on Joe, so I didn't include too much about Vegas other than the saying "Viva Las Vegas" to the left. I printed the invites on brown kraft paper 5X7 flat notecards purchaed at Hobby Lobby (50 for $9.99, on sale for $4.99!).  They turned out looking like this:
 
 

This will go in a 5x7 brown kraft envelope (they came with the notecards) and then Joe's fancy graduation announcements we ordered from school will be enclosed too!  Finally, a gold seal will go on the envelope and the names and addresses will be written in gold Sharpie marker on the envelopes!