A last minute, but still lovely Valentine's Day!

Hey guys!!! What is up? Obviously, today is Valentine's day - I know there are lovers and haters of this holiday, but I am definitely on the love side. Of any holiday actually. Why not celebrate? I'll take any holiday as an excuse to make a cake! Valentine's day, 4th of July, World Nutella Day, Pi day, you know, the usual holidays.

Anyway, I thought I would pop in today with some super last minute gifts that are awesome. All are homemade or semi-homemade and really easy. Here we go!
(counter clock-wise)

1) Marshmallow pops. Ridiculously easy. Here are the instructions: Get marshmallows. Put a stick in them. Dip in some melted chocolate. Add accoutrements. Let dry and package cute. Sophie made 3/4 of ours herself!  They taste so, so good too.

2) Make a sandwich heart. Does this need any more directions? (heart pancakes are a good idea too!)

3) Brownie bites. Again, totally easy. Either make brownies from-scratch, or from a box. Let them cool. Roll into balls. See #1. Super easy.

4) homemade valentines! I fell in love with these (you can get the template here!) b/c Sophie loves bugs and she is in preschool, so it was perfect for us. Again, totally easy.

5) Red velvet cake batter cookies. Recipe here - easy and quick and an awesome end to dinner!

6) the DIY bouquet. Get flowers from the grocery store (double points if you are near a trader joe's or whole foods) - ok, not the ugly ones, but some nice ones - two bunches. Take them home, open them, ditch the plastic, put the flowers together, cut the bottoms the same length. Now, this is key - wrap them in paper. Not PLASTIC. Either wax paper, or parchment paper, or kraft paper, or even solid wrapping paper if you must, but not PLASTIC. Tie somewhere with a twine (think the twine from the bakery box, or some rustic cord from the garage, or ribbon - not the curling kind). This bouquet will get you way farther than that original one in plastic (hopefully the price was not still attached!).

And, just in case those gifts don't work...

Wedding: Samara + Brian | Hudson Valley backyard wedding

Wow, what a wedding! Samara and Brian definitely win the award for the 'most wedding effort exerted' :). After looking at the photos below, if I told you that this wedding occured just a few days after Hurricane Irene hit, would you believe me?! With half the wedding guests from out of town and plans for a tented backyard reception, the hurricane couldn't have come at a worse time. But, even after several days of no power, no water, an underwater flower farm and several fallen trees, - these guys pulled it off! With the help of some clutch vendors, a generator, lots of diy details and a super happy couple, the day was amazing - proof is below :).

Sami and Brian - thank you so much for the honor of shooting your big day. We had a blast and hope you had so much fun on your Italian adventure!

Vendors:
Venue: bride + groom's home
Caterer: Eddie Kowalski / Lola's Cafe and Catering
Photographer: Jade + Tim / Uplift Photography
DJ + Ceremony music: Stephanie + Jeff / The DJ Solution
Hair / Makeup: Patricia Luccardi / The Beautiful Bride
Flowers:

So, I pretty much love this next set. These dresses = awesome.




The 'Wedding Village'

Check out all the wedding details!!!

Love these!

Wedding: Jackie & Nick

I love October weddings - October in general is one of my favorite times of year around here. The leaves are awesome, not too hot, not too cold, cider doughnuts, pumpkins, jackets/scarves/hats come out, Halloween...you get the picture.

I was really excited to kick off October with Jackie & Nick's wedding at the Plumbush Inn - it was my first time shooting there and I have always heard about the inn and wanted to check out the property (my parents went there about 25 years ago for dinner - pretty cool). Anyway, I think Jackie was slightly disappointed when it was raining the day-of, but...we definitely worked it out anyway. Brides with rain forcasted - try not to worry too much! It almost always clears up enough to either have your outdoor ceremony or your photos outside - in Jackie & Nick's case, we ended up having an indoor ceremony and did both indoor & outdoor photos (their indoor photos are some of my new favorites). The day was wonderful and then these guys took off for Tokyo for their honeymoon - awesome right? Here are a few of my favorites!



Love the shoes!!


Love Jackie's look - so vintage and my first bird cage veil!! Yes!


Jackie & Nick did a first look and I LOVE this photo - it shows the amazing emotions that come with a first look.

Loved both of these.




I have a ton of favorite portraits from the day







Love love the next two.








So many great details - check out the guestbook!




Jackie made ALL of these!