We wanted to create a spring-inspired session filled to the brim with DIY elements that were fresh, romantic, and feminine. It was really fun, and we got maybe just a little bit obsessive (okay, maybe just me) about all the possible things we could have thrown in. Brides, I now understand how hard it is to stick with one theme and not over-do it with interesting ideas.

We had a lovely newlywed couple, Jamie and Matt, model for us. They couldn’t possibly have been a more perfect fit for our DIY springtime theme – Jamie runs her own blog called Work Your Closet , where she inspires readers to revamp their wardrobes in new and stylish ways as opposed to buying new outfits. Jamie brought that stylish bravado to our shoot and we rocked her dress out with two different cardigans, a gorgeous necklace, awesome accessories (her blingin’ ring), and too-cute shoes. Not to mention, her and Matt are basically the most gorgeous couple ever.

We even had help from the lovely Alex, of Mud by Alex, who did Jamie’s makeup for us. I have to say that Alex did the most amazing job. I told her I wanted “fresh, romantic, and springtime” for Jamie’s make up and Alex rocked it out of the park. Jamie looked like a total doll and fit perfectly with the style of mine and Sarah’s vision.

So let’s get onto the photos : ))))

So, first things first, miss Sarah is the craftiest lady and she painted all the chalkboards that you’ll see throughout the session. I had the idea to put patterns in frames for the shoot, as an alternative way to add color and carry out the theme without being too overstated. Sarah and I actually both had the same frame (the white ones pictured above) so it worked perfectly for us.

These are store bought flowers in Pier 1 imports cups (that were on sale for ONE DOLLAR or less). This is completely DIY and Sarah just took apart a few store bought bouquets and made them work.

Can we talk about how totally gorgeous Jamie is?! I mean, truly it’s almost unfair to the rest of us girls.

The tablecloth is a vintage hand-me-down of Sarah’s grandmothers. It totally fit the vintage/springtime theme of our tablescape. We added fabric flowers on some of the chairs as opposed to traditional ribbon. Because our tablecloth had a busy floral pattern, we didn’t need much else on our table to make it feel complete. We added flowers and a sugared fruit tower, along with plates, napkins, menus, and name plates. Voila!

I’ve seen sugared fruits used a few times before in wedding set ups, and I knew we had to use them in ours. Something about sugared fruit centerpieces adds a whimsical element to the whole setting. Swoon! and totally DIY.

We thought it would be great to add side tables and lamps to guide the guests to the reception site. We used spools of thread, balls of yarn, books, and cupcakes to tie our theme together.

Sarah had the brilliant idea of making DIY cupcake wrappers. You can get the step-by-step instructions for this on her blog.

Do I have any avid literary nerds out there?! I brought Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Gertrude and Claudius by John Updike (my favorite favorite favorite author, ps.)

Now can we please talk about this gorgeous couple some more?!

Don’t you just adore Jamie’s style? Check out her blog for more style tips.

Sarah made this adorable DIY banner, which quickly became the pseudo title of our little shoot, Sew in Love. : )

Le fin! And thank you to Sarah for helping me get this all together, and to Jamie and Matt for graciously offering up their time to model, and to Alex for doing an awesome job on make up! You guys all rocked it. : )

]]> http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/03/sns-sarah-hearts-inspirational-shoot/feed/ 5 http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/03/anna-kyle-orlando-engagement-photography/ http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/03/anna-kyle-orlando-engagement-photography/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:57:29 +0000 SNS Photography http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/?p=1211 It constantly amazes me that my clients allow me to witness their most romantic and personal moments and, better yet, allow me to capture them and keep them. I wouldn’t be anywhere in photography if my sweet clients didn’t let me in, and open up in front of me, and trust me to do these moments justice. I am so undeniably thankful and flattered, to all of you!, for letting me in, even for a few seconds. What I see when your guard is down are the most romantic and breathtaking moments, some of which I fear I may never forget.

Anna and Kyle did just that. They let me see who they are and I can never thank them enough for trusting me. There whole session was stunning, and especially the shots from the end of the day, they truly stun me. Magical. Without further ado…

First of all, can we say “YUM” about this cupcake and most importantly this gorgeous ring? Yuummmmmm….

Okay so first we started off with a very well thought out picnic for two, which included: cupcakes, champagne, flowers, a picnic basket, and blankets.

They gifted me this umbrella after the shoot! I love my clients : )

Then, for the grand finale, we went to this gorgeous spot and got some quintessential SNS shots in a golden field (of course!). Be warned, there is almost too much romance for one sitting.

How much does this dancing sequence make you swoon?

This next one was the last frame of the day. I almost can’t handle it.

To Anna & Kyle. First of all, your umbrella is doing fine – I’m taking great care of it. : ) Secondly, and more importantly, I love your love and am soooo excited to shoot your wedding this July. You guys are rock stars in front of the camera.

Anna & Kyle met on a canoeing trip, and I find that to be pretty amazing. You never know who’s right around the corner, do you?

Check out their feature and spend some quality time on Hi-Fi Weddings blog, a super cute resource for any music lovers who are planning a wedding (or who just love music).

We took photos of them taking photos. It was awesome.

And now for my favorite favorite FAVORITE shot of the day (and definitely on my short list of fav. shots for 2010):

and how much fun is this sparkely/silvery thingy:

and then we went and had a picnic! they brought all sorts of goodies

Isn’t Dana oh so beautiful?

Man that was a lot of photos for one blog post, but I just loved this session so so so much. These two make me want to be more well-dressed, more photogenic, and just in general a bit cooler. Dana & Josiah, I can’t wait till your October wedding, it’s going to be a blast

]]> http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/02/josiah-dana-fun-and-funky-engagement/feed/ 9 http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/02/valentines-day-treat/ http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/02/valentines-day-treat/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:04:31 +0000 SNS Photography http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/?p=1108 So many of you are celebrating valentines day this weekend and, accordingly, I just wanted to share what we did for valentines day in our house this year. First and foremost, I baked. Yes. I have grown an affinity for baking cheesecake this year, and so far I’ve had a ton of success with it (meaning, nothing caught on fire) and I decided to bake Jare a cheesecake for valentines day.

It all started with this book. For Christmas, Jare bought me my new little friend. Anyone Can Bake. And I found out, it’s the truth. If you follow the instructions, you can bake. It’s so simple and yet so awesome.

I actually sort of made up the recipe for the cheesecake I made on v-day, but this will give you the general idea. I encourage you to make up some little spin on traditional recipes(within reason)! I decided to make Strawberry Cheesecake Bars with Graham Cracker Crust:

Graham Cracker Crust: Mix 1/3 cup butter with 1 1/2 to 2 cups finely crushed graham crackers and line the pan with them. The end!

Cheesecake bar: mix 2 8oz  packs of cream cheese with 1 cup sugar and 5 egg whites. This is the part I made up: I added about 2 cups of fresh strawberries, the majority of them were mushed up into juice, and some were freshly cut. Take the strawberrry mixtury thing and beat it in with the cream cheese/sugar/egg combo. Put in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes, and bam! You’re done. You’re a professional cheesecake baker.

Topping: I took the remaining strawberries (about a half cup, maybe more), pinch of sugar, and oooooh about 1/3 cup of orange juice, put them in a skillet and let them simmer for about 20 minutes (until the cheesecake is done) and added it to the top of my delicious master piece.

And I know you want proof that I did this. So here, photographic evidence of my master chef status:

Mmmmmm. You like how I added the little heart to be super duper sweet and romantic for V-Day? I know, I’m good. I paired this yummy little guy with a bottle of Pink! champagne. YUUUU-UUUUM.

So, I challenge you to go forth and make delicious cheesecakes and all sorts of goodies for your man (or lady!). Flowers only go so far, people. Jared said it best when I questioned him getting me chocolates instead of flowers for valentines day, “you’re going to be glad later when you’re scarfing down those little chocolate turtle things out of a heart shaped box. You can’t eat flowers, Shan”. To which I thought, hmmm.. you should have gotten me both. Happy valentines day, lovers !

Seriously LOVE this shot ^ above.

Then we went to this gorgeous golden field for some quintessential SNS shots. Because really, there’s no better way to pull off timelessly romantic and whimsical photographs than with a field of golden tall grass at sunset.

okay and this next shot is my absolute hands down favorite shot from the day. I freaking love it. See below:

L&A: see you guys soon! I am too too too excited for your big day.

This trip was a gift to me from my parents for my 21st birthday. I could have picked any U.S. city to visit but for a few great reasons, I picked D.C.. Anyone who knows me can contest to the fact that I am a political geek, and with a double major in political science – international studies and sociology, D.C. is kind of like a mecca for all things political and/or nerdy, and for that reason alone I knew I had to visit. Also, living in Florida means I never get to wear my adorable winter wardrobe, and I desperately needed to wear those Steve Madden boots with my most favorite black double-breasted peacoat. But more importantly, I wanted to visit the city because I wanted to see the Wall with my father. My dad served as a corpsman in Vietnam, and suffered a number of injuries trying to save the lives of others. He is with out a doubt my hero and I knew with out even a second of thought that I wanted to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall with him, and if I could, I would be one of the luckiest daughters in the world. So I did, and I am. I love you, Dad.

So, as you can see, D.C. delivered on the cold weather. I now had no reason not to wear my favorite peacoat and boots, over and over and over and over again. Below is a shot of Dad trying to navigate the rainy city.

We finally made our way over to the Wall:

We also did a lot of really touristy stuff because… hey, we were tourists.

Here’s me geekin:

Also, ironically enough, I am the worst person to try and take pictures of:

hahaha. but seriously, that peacoat is awesome, no?

Mom’s photography (yes, i’m still geekin it up):

JFK’s grave:

Arlington:

Delicious delicious delicious Starbucks:

and that was it!

Stay tuned this week for a super gorgeous engagement session!

]]> http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/02/family-time/feed/ 8 http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/02/featured-on-the-wedding-chicks/ http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/2010/02/featured-on-the-wedding-chicks/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:57:40 +0000 SNS Photography http://shannonnicolesmith.com/blog/?p=966 So, do you guys remember Elyse’s stunning wedding dress from this wedding? Well, head on over to the wonderful Wedding Chicks blog to see a feature on Elyse’s bridal portraits and, well, that awesome dress. While you’re there, check out the Wedding Chicks blog for all kinds of stylish and chic inspiration for your wedding day. Thanks ‘Chicks for the feature!