Lindsay Smith Photography Blog

Her encouragement over the past almost 8 months has been indispensable. There have been several occasions when she has shared her experiences and passages of hope from the Bible that have been helpful during my separation from Mike.

I want to additionally thank the following people for their encouragement during Mike’s deployment to Afghanistan:

* Mike’s mom – She answered many of my late night calls and was always ready to pray with me during hard days.

* My best friends – They have listened to me talk about Mike on a daily basis, and many of them have never even met him.

* The post master – Thank you for faithfully delivering every single package I sent overseas on a bi-weekly basis. You rock.

Finally, since these tulips are such a thing of beauty, I thought I would share them with you:

In fact, here’s a snippet of her bio from her website www.styleyourlifeblog.com to give you an idea of her outlook and experience with fashion:

Over the past 17 years, Jennifer has worked as a style expert in all facets of the fashion and retail industry, including merchandising, head department store buyer, owner of a children’s boutique and a seamstress extraordinaire. Today, as the founder and owner of Style Your Life, Jennifer’s greatest passion is helping her clients create stylish lives. Most women think it takes a lot of money and time to look fabulous. Jennifer shows them just the opposite. You don’t have to be in Prada from head to toe to look fabulous.

I am so excited to be partnering with Jennifer to provide you with style advice for an engagement or Love Shots photo shoot. Here’s a quick photo of Jennifer, the stylist behind the magic:

The most common question I receive after booking a photo shoot is What do we wear?! I’ve decided to share some expert advice with you. From Jennifer’s website I obtained the following His and Hers outfits, and paired them together in what is perfect examples of coordinating couples’ outfits.  Take a look!

I encourage you to take a look at Jennifer’s website and contact her if you have specific style questions. Investing and considering your outfits before a photo shoot will produce images that are both beautiful and fashionable!

I chose the colors pink, black, and white for all of the paper goods, and used both a script font and a sans serif font for all the typography. Specifically this means the table name cards, the seating chart, the invitations, and all the display signs are printed in the same colors and the same fonts.

During the process of choosing my color theme, I recognized I liked pink and it would pair well with my country club wedding. Some of the other colors I considered were eggplant purple and light teal. The way I knew which color to choose for my wedding was by determining the length of time I had liked each color. Knowing I was going to have a year and a half long engagement, I wanted to make my design decisions based on things I had a history of liking. That way I would be less likely to change my mind later and create double the work for myself.

Here are several tips for branding your wedding that might be useful as you plan for a memorable day:

1. There is such a thing as too many options, especially when it comes to weddings. When you choose a color or font that you like, stick with it. Otherwise, guests may feel like the wedding is an odd jumble of mixed styles and they will not see your wedding as a cohesive event.

2. Create a logo, color combination, or decoration style that fits you and your fiance. I knew Michael and I liked clean design, and we wanted guests to feel the country club vibe even as early as when they received their invitations. If you’re not design-inclined, go to a local print shop or browse the internet for logos and themes that you like.

3. Remember that your wedding is not a cheap themed party. When I say the word theme, I’m not implying your guests should arrive in hula grass skirts if you’re getting married in Hawaii. The best way to create a theme is by determining what the bridal party will be wearing, considering where the wedding venue is located, and letting an organic theme arise with your wedding decorations, favors, and paper goods.

4. Browse magazines for inspiration! Magazines are better than the internet for wedding design planning, because you can tear out pages and pictures and paste your ideas into your wedding planning book.

5. If you don’t have one, get a wedding planning book or binder. One with pockets for photos and magazine cut-outs are especially helpful.

Here’s a glimpse at my wedding invitation suite and some of my inspiration planning:

Good luck branding your wedding!

I have friends that I see at work every day. I have friends that I know on a first name basis and see only at Christmas and the occasional fourth of July. Jen is not one of those friends.

I’ve know Jen since high school, and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. For the past 5 years we have had a Friday night girl’s night every two or three weeks. Her husband Jeff went to college with Mike, so we have all become close friends. I shot Jen and Jeff’s dating and engagement photos over a year ago. Let’s just say they are comfortable in front of my camera!

Jen and Jeff are getting ready to move to Florida in March, so I decided to surprise them with some new portraits. Plus, on a beautiful 45 degree February day in Ohio, there is no reason not to be outside enjoying the weather. Here are some of my favorites:

Don’t let the 18th birthday icing on the ice cream cake below throw you off. Yesterday I celebrated my 23rd year of life.

There is a running joke between one of my best girlfriends and I about what age we are, what age we act, and what age we look. But understanding the joke isn’t the point. The point is having friends that acknowledge your inside jokes. Friends who remember your favorite flavor, favorite color, and favorite place to eat. Friends that let you call them when you fail a test. Friends that let you cry because you don’t understand why hard things are happening. Friends that encourage you to dig deeper in your Bible for wisdom. Friends that pray for you consistently. Friends that aren’t afraid to tell you when you’re not acting Christ-like. Friends to celebrate with, grieve with, work with, and grow with.

I’m thankful for my friends. I am so excited to get married this year, and celebrate new beginnings with my friends. 23 will be a great year.