Inspired By: Swedish Christmas

One of my favorite holidays comes from my heritage and my Swedish grandmother, her legacy still lives on as we hold tight to the traditions that have been passed down through the generations. Every December 13th on Santa Lucia Day, in the early morning hours, I was always awakened by the sounds of my mother singing a traditional Swedish Christmas song while carrying a tray of hot cocoa and pepparkakor cookies. The beauty of the candles and wreath on her head seemed magical at those moments. It was always one of my favorite parts of December and unfailingly came as a sweet surprise each year. Today, I too carry along the tradition with my little ones and even still the memories of these moments evoke such warm feelings.   I loved waking up my own sleepy little babies this morning as the sun was rising and sharing with them the heritage that my mother also gave me.  All dressed in white and with the wreath of candles on my head, my sweet Milla asked me if I was an angel.  There may only be so many instances in her life where she thinks of her mother as such but for now I will hold on to that...

These are the feelings that bring me the most inspiration. Last weekend I was able to weave together all the elements that are dear to my heart in this special holiday to share with Green Wedding Shoes.  The smells of Swedish desserts, Swedish meatballs, and hot chocolate have brought the memories soaring back. Paintings by Carl Larsson and rosy cheeked girls with braided hair have been dancing in my head. Pretty packages with dala horses hiding within, lit candles, green wreaths of fresh pine, and wood logs waiting to provide warmth are some of my favorite things for this ever so special day. What made recreating all of this extra merry is that I was fortunate enough to recreate the memories with my mother from Twigg Botanicals as we worked side by side. 

Head on over to Green Wedding Shoes to view the inspired shoot we created with a great team of talent! Enjoy the inspiration boards below and we'd love to hear about any Christmas traditions that you have with your family.

xo
Heather 

Baby Knox Is One

The joy that comes from creating life with your one and only love is a joy that can never really be explained. Our very own Heather and Troy have been blessed with three amazing children, and a fourth on the way! Their youngest, Knox, is not so tiny anymore. Knox recently turned one and to celebrate we thought we would take a look back at how fast these little ones grow. Rachel of Rachel Clare Photo beautifully captured the peace, love, and tranquility around newborn Knox.  We can't believe that in just a short month he'll be a big brother! 

To view more of Knox's photographs from his very first photo session click here

Remember this?

We couldn't be more excited to share the results of our engagement shoot design giveaway with photographer, Jill Thomas! To refresh your memory on the contest, revisit our Orange Grove Anniversary shoot, here. Our winners, Roxi and Zack are the sweetest couple, and we fell in love with their entry pictures. We can't wait to share their engagement pictures...coming later today, so check back soon!!!

Sunny Side Up! Our Spring Photoshoot

Photoshoots are a really fun way for wedding designers and florists to get creative! It's not often that we get to do exactly what we envision, and this is a great way to have fun and be really playful with what we do. When Exquisite Weddings Magazine asked us to be a part of their photoshoot, we were obviously delighted and started searching for inspiration.

We knew we wanted to do something springy and bright with the March magazine issue....and it seemed to be the perfect time to bring to life a concept that has been playing around in my mind for a few years now. With a love for breakfast and the fresh and bright look of eggs we knew we had found our inspiration and a way to turn our table...Sunny Side Up!

We loved the idea the idea of highlighting the egg and the symbolism it offers newlyweds: of new beginnings and the anticipation of what's to come. We played off of the white and yellow egg accents and combined it with a fresh spring palette. Robin Mathis of Twigg Botanicals created what may be one of my favorite arrangements yet! It was so beautiful and fresh that it literally looked good enough to eat. Using romantic peonies, veronica, orchids and amaryllis in shades of corals and pinks made our pops of yellow brighter than sunshine. We then accented the look with soft white feathers, giving the table a feminine touch. The fun white chairs that sat in front of our draped linens replicated the oval egg shape.

I have always wanted to do a wedding breakfast for an evening reception. I think it could be completely wonderful for a number of reasons! Who doesn't love breakfast foods at every hour of the day, and what meal is more economical and more fun than breakfast? It's completely unexpected for "wedding food" but enough to make any guest pleasantly surprised. I imagined the table set with a grand display of fresh-squeezed orange juice, warm waffles with raspberries, flaky buttered croissants and crispy maple bacon. I still love waffles for dinner just as much as I did when I was a kid. It always seems to be the ultimate treat!

Some of our favorite details were the paper elements that were done by Courtney Scowby of Brightly Designed. She was able to really create the look we were going for with the hint of a retro diner feel . I loved the menus and all of the egg yolk accents that complimented our "Sunny Side up" table.

We loved incorporating the rooster egg cups we found that hinted toward an early morning wake up. Nestled in these cups, delicate hand-stamped eggs rested, which were marked with inspirational words relating to marriage and the nurturing of one's love. Such words as "promise," "patience," "loved" and "complete" were printed and personalized for each guest. We hand stamped these ourselves inspired by Palomas Nest on Etsy...where you can find similar customized ceramic eggs for your own events that don't require hours of tedious work :)

Each participant in the shoot was asked to create a specialty drink. We decided on a breakfast smoothie full of raspberries, bananas, pomegranate juice and vanilla yogurt. The bright color of the drink looked great against the glass with aqua details and swizzle stick that read the name of our drink "bright eyed and bushy tailed!"

We used french candelabras placed with yellow mums and topped with a single egg instead of a candle. The center of these candelabras held a yellow pomander with white ostrich feathers coming out the top.

Retro diner menus, hand-embroidered napkins done by Etsy seller and friend, PinCusionPrincess, and vintage dishes gave our table a nod to the past, while still keeping it fresh and current.

Place cards were egg patterened wraps that went around each place setting. I loved mixing the playful elements with the really eclectic and elegant touches like the tin candle favor and the gold and aqua trimmed china.

Twigg also created this incredible arrangement of feathers (alluding to a rooster's tail feathers), phalenopsis orchids and teddy bear sunflowers, all of which rested in a vase filled with real eggs!

Terri Rippee of Rippee Photography was the photographer for the day and did an excellent job capturing all the vibrant colors! Thanks to Terri and Exquisite Weddings Magazine for allowing us to showcase what we love to do! Be sure to pick up the latest issue of the magazine to see the rest of the incredible tables from all of the other designers!!

Step into Spring! Our Exquisite Weddings Photoshoot

We've been wanting to share our latest photoshoot with you all for awhile now, since last November when we shot it, and are so excited the time has come! The lastest issue of Exquisite Weddings magazine has hit the shelves, and if you turn to page 115 you can see our bright and happy wedding breakfast table...Sunny Side Up!

More details to come this week! You won't want to miss it!

Sharing the Love

It has been a very fun and eventful week here at Amorology! Just wanted to share some of the highlights with you that made us smile :)

First, we had so much fun doing our orange grove photoshoot with our friend and photographer Jill Thomas. It was an absolute bonus to have the entire shoot featured on Style Me Pretty this week! We love SMP and it is always fun to see our work on such a mega bridal blog :) Don't forget about our free engagement shoot and styling giveaway! See details of how to enter here.

Heather was also interviewed by Envelopments this week. Be sure to check out their blog to hear her thoughts on our carnival wedding, as well as some fun wedding tips! Thanks to the folks over there for such sweet words about Amorology :)

And last, but certainly not least, Kaite and Jordan's Hampton's-inspired wedding is featured on Ruffled! They were so sweet to include all of the details of our Beside the Seaside theme, from messages in a bottle, to a real rowboat photobooth!

Like I said, we have really been fortunate to work with such great people who all contribute to making these weddings come to life. A special thanks to Style Me Pretty, Envelopments and Ruffled for featuring our work. We know there are oodles and oodles of gorgeous, fun and creative weddings to choose from out there, and it means the world to us to be a part of your blogs :)

first anniversary party

welcome back to the party! More fun photos from our shoot with Jill Thomas Photography! Here is part two...and more reason to celebrate.

inspiration:

this is a vintage inspired shoot. using an old bridal magazine, vintage attire, record player, and even a couple vintage chairs. but we wanted a vintage inspired shoot with an element of beauty and elegance

theme:

we wanted to create a nostalgic feeling, that was reminiscent of each couples wedding day. we also wanted to honor traditions and to remember the moments that began their life together. we imagined our couples beginning a new tradition on their first anniversary and gathering friends together to celebrate.

the couples each re-created photos that reminded them of their actual wedding day.
Micah and Tracy: remembering their rainy Seattle wedding day

Ben and Paige: remembering their destination wedding
Megan and Evan: remembering their rustic ranch style wedding

using a record player, each couple danced to their first song that they danced to on their wedding day. This is one of my personal favorite anniversary traditions. I still love dancing with my husband with each passing year on our special day. It always makes my heart beat a little faster.

remember to enter our contest to win a free engagement session by Jill Thomas and style/design consult by us to make it fun. Just send in a picture of you and fiancé with oranges (the more creative and fun the better) as well as a description of what your ideal date together would be.

Be sure and send your photos and info to orangeyoursohappy@gmail.com

and we will be selecting one lucky winner as well as a 2nd and 3rd runner up who will win one of peppermint cloud's darling boutonnieres. we just adore their work and are so happy they could be a part of our contest. see below what you could win!!

love this cute picture of my brother and beautiful sister- in- law. It may be one of my very favorites of them!

a big thank you again to all of our vendors and beautiful couples who helped to make this shoot come together!!

event design: amorology weddings photography: jill thomas florals: twigg botanicals hair: kami christensen hair/makeup: kami christensen and paige christensen wardrobe styling: jill thomas and ben christensen wardrobe: second hand, vintage, and anthropologie paper elements: brightly designed cakes:flour and flower boutonnieres: peppermint cloud hair pieces : feathers and frills bow ties: me and matilda