{Funny V-day card from the ever witty Wit & Whistle}

Hey there sweeties, I hope you’re all having romantic Valentine’s Day plans today. Noel & I will be having an extra “foncy” dinner consisting of pepper salami, a variety of gourmet cheeses, delicious olives, and decadent wines all in the comfort of our home . I very much look forward to it! 

As always, thank you for being wonderful supporters of Love Olio and Swoon.  We love you guys!

P.S. I have a special Valentine’s Day style shoot to unveil to you soon! Me and the girls of Sun Swept Studio along with a bunch of amazing OC vendors collaborated on this shoot. I even shot with film. I can’t wait to share….hang tight.

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Are you ready for outside the box? Something truly unique and unreal? Then check out this super cute and imaginative Archie Comics engagement shoot by the ever creative photog, Jervy Santiago. I love that the shoot is not just “inspired” by Archie, it literally takes place in Archie Comics!

This is one of the most unique ideas I’ve seen in awhile and I think it would make such a fun photo book too. 

Lots of creative kudos to Jervy, who is the pioneer of the “cinematic” style photography. Every one of of his shoots has an incredibly unique angle or story (remember the Zombie engagement shoot he did?).

How does Jervy come up with these quirky engagement shoots and where does he find these uber cool couples? Find out soon…Jervy has agreed to do an interview with Swoon…so stay tuned for more to come!

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Dearest Swoon readers – I’m back! Thank you so much for your patience while I was away. I had an amazing trip to Vietnam (photos and stories to come soon), followed by a rather brutal return trip with an uncomfortable 20+ hour return flight and 14 hour layover in Beijing (which by the way is freezing and has no Facebook). It took me a whole week to recover.

All of your wonderful emails and comments have meant a lot to me and is doing loads to make me feel at home again. Thank you thank you thank you!

Now, onto what this post is really about…In celebration of Valentine’s Day, I am giving away a free love shoot! Yes, that’s right. Yours truly  is giving away a free photoshoot.

So what’s the story? Well, aside from my full time job and my blogging gig and co-managing Love Olio, I am also a part of a wedding photography studio (yeah I know I’m crazy, I lose a lot of sleep and live off black tea and now you know why I’m such a slow blogger). If you’re curious about my work, I posted a shoot I did here and please also check out Sun Swept Studio to see all of my team’s past work (they are amazing and uber talented).

If you like my style and you’d like a free shoot, this giveaway is for you!

The prize is a $250 photoshoot from yours truly. You’ll get: 2 hours of photography, a disc with 50+ gorgeous shots, and 6 months online proofing! You can redeem the shoot any time from the winning date until May and the shoot can take place anywhere in the Southern California area. So are you ready to put in your entry?

Here’s how you can win a $250 photoshoot:

• Send a photo of you and your loved one to sunsweptstudio@gmail.com
• “Like” us on Facebook – Sun Swept Studio Facebook page
• We will post all the entries here, where you can have your friends vote on your photo and support your entry by “Liking” your photo. 
• The couple with the most photo Likes wins!

Already, got all that? Good luck on winning sweeties! Looking forward to seeing your lovely pictures on Facebook and hopefully I get to meet one of my wonderful readers in person and give something beautiful back .

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It’s difficult to explain Vietnam…but I think Ryan Ortega’s gorgeous engagement images come pretty close. Come join me on a visual journey to the far east…

  {All images courtesy of Ryan Ortega. See more on Ryan’s blog}

That’s where I’ll be for two weeks! Yay! I’ve been anticipating this trip for months and so glad the count down is now only 2 days. I plan to go photo crazy and bring back lots to share. So stay tuned for more stories about Vietnam.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! May your new year be filled with ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other, LOVE [hope you caught the reference ]. 

*Special thanks to Ryan Ortega for all the beautiful images of Vietnam. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Ryan in person a couple months ago. He’s a hugely talented Philippines-based photographer who creates amazing photographs. Keep up the great work Ryan and looking forward to seeing your new site!*

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s has got to be just about every girl’s source of inspiration and daydreams. It definitely has a special place in my heart ever since Noel so sweetly took me to watch the movie on the big screen in an outdoor theatre on our 2nd year anniversary (he had me at Audrey Hepburn, and then he had to throw in movie under the stars and bubbles too…setting the bar high I tell ya). 

Sooo… when Christina of Brosnan Photographic asked me if I’d like to feature her Breakfast at Tiffany’s anniversary shoot, my heart skipped a beat, and I knew this had Swoon written all over it.

Now doesn’t Claire remind you of Natalie Portman (who incidentally is also often compared to Audrey Hepburn)? She’s perfect for this shoot! I also loved that Christina went beyond the iconic images of Holly Golightly and instead captured the romantic aspects of the movie. She wrote,

I’m really drawn to movement and the mood of old hollywood and french romance films. One thing I didn’t want to do with this shoot was make it overly cliche. I didn’t want the outfits to be exact or use the iconic black dress with tiara and cigarette holder. I just wanted the outfits to be inspired by the 1960′s and Holly Golightly. What I wanted to show is a small glimpse into the love between these two people and I wanted each image to feel almost like a movie still. I love telling a story through a series of images.

Christina is a truly an artist.  Check out more of the shoot on her blog.

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{Engraved ring bowl from Paloma’s Nest; I Love You print from Keep It Fancy; Christmas ornament heart and ribbon from The Lonely Heart}

Thank you for being patient readers and continuing to support Swoon and Love Olio. We wouldn’t be here today without you.  Wishing you lots of love this holiday season .

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{Bride wearing gold bolero from SW mag; gold sequin clutch from BHLDN; gold table setting via Erin Ever After; gold packaging via Design Girl}

Gold used to remind me of the phrase “tacky gold jewelry” and “tacky 80’s gold,” but the recent use of gold in weddings has truly impressed me. It’s glamorous without being loud, shimmery but not too shiny. And gold seems perfect for the holidays too…just the right touch of festivity.

Would you rock gold on your wedding?

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Ok how serendipitous is this… I just created a winter wedding inspiration board with red wellies and lo and behold, Carmen and Ingo send over to me a real wedding that features the exact same red wellies.

Oh and get this, they actually sent me the wedding photos several days before I posted my board and I only just got to their email today, so this was all honestly, completely, by fate.

Red wellies aside, this winter wedding is seriously breathtaking! From the red sash to red shawl, red balloons to the red napkins, it just keeps getting better and better. All the DIY details are so darling and so perfectly coordinated. You just have to see…

Sigh…amazing, right? Every scene tells the most romantic story of this sweet couple. I adore the floating red balloons in lieu of the traditional rice toss. Isn’t that brilliant? And there’s even more beautiful details over on Carmen and Ingo’s blog, so hop on over there and check out their fabulous work.

Many thanks to Carmen & Ingo for choosing Swoon to share Verena’s and Mathias’ gorgeous DIY wedding.

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{Holiday wedding cake via SMP, photography by Simply Bloom Photography; white fur bolero from BHLDN; Eleonore ring by Anna Sheffield; red Hunter boots via Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Preppiness.}

Hello dolls…it’s been awhile. I apologize for the long lapse. The holidays are in full gear and I’ve been super busy with work and other side projects. For awhile, I would let it get to me that I don’t post quite as often as many other well-known wedding blogs, begging the question, why do I keep doing it? Well, it’s simple. I love it. And in the spirit of doing what I love, I decided I will blog whenever inspiration strikes and not because I’m on some kind of schedule.

I hope the holidays are treating you well and you are finding time amidst the hustle and bustle to slow down, take a deep breath, and smell the fresh pine needle filled air. Cheers!

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Thanks to Easy Canvas Prints, I recently had the opportunity to try out canvas printing for the first time. It was a surprisingly easy and fun experience that got me hooked on canvas printing. 

Easy Canvas Prints made the whole printing process very simple and straightforward. Their site even helps you select a size by virtually placing the image on a wall above a couch for perspective.

One of my fears was that my image might turn out blurry, but Easy Canvas was very clear with the directions to help me size my image appropriately. They also have a test to ensure your image meets the resolution requirement before you place your order.

Our canvas print showed up in beautiful condition and it had a painterly quality that is very unique.  I also love that it’s mounted on wood so there’s no need to frame it.

All in all, Easy Canvas Prints is true to their name! The hardest part was choosing a photo. I had to sort through thousands of photos and I was so tempted to print more than one (still am tempted…).

I finally chose the picture of Noel and me kissing in the middle of a clay mud field. I love this photo for many reasons…the colors, the moment, the kiss, and most importantly, the story.

This was taken during our East Coast road trip, when Noel proposed. We were on our way to North Carolina and the sun was setting. It was super foggy but that made the light absolutely stunning. I asked Noel to pull over so I can take a picture and we randomly found this beautiful clay mud field. Noel pulled right into the mud and I set my camera on the car hood and began to photograph the scene. But as I reviewed the photos, I realized it was lacking something…it needed a subject. I set the camera on timer and we ran out into the field. Just moments before the camera clicked, Noel dipped me and we kissed. Voila!

I am so glad I now I have a gorgeous 11 x 17 canvas print of the moment to hang on our wall.

I can now speak from experience that printing your photo on canvas will do it the right justice. That soft, painterly quality gives it just the right feel.

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