{inspiration monday}

Oh my oh my. I LOVE this theme. It was posted this week on the Wedding Chicks blog. It's a beautiful collaboration by Joy de Vivre Wedding Coordination and Nico Designs who did the florals. Too bad they're based in California! I grew up going to the beach and now live at the beach. I love the colors and use of the natural elements, so unique. It just makes me feel all good inside, plus it's finally spring and I'm getting anxious for summer here! I hope it inspires you the way it does me!

(engagement: Grace & Brian. wilmington, nc}

What a perfect shoot for the first day of spring! I've known Grace for a few years and I couldn't wait to take pictures when her and Brian got engaged. With Grace's beautiful eyes and Brian's Tom Cruise looks, they made my job so easy! The weather was perfect- we couldn't have asked for a better day. Poor Brian was feeling a little under the weather but we surprised him with a Corvette to drive so I think that cheered him up :) Brian and Grace met at Java Dog coffee shop downtown where Grace used to work so that was a perfect place to start our session. Then we headed out to drive a corvette and catch the beautiful sunset. Of course we had to incorporate the third member of the family, Marley! He wasn't too fond of my camera but we managed to get some really cute shots of Marley Man. I can't wait for your wedding in June! I know it's going to be amazing!

.wedding giveaway!.

I am pleased to tell you I have a wonderful giveaway to announce! Jaime from The Bride Gene is allowing me to giveaway a $50 gift certificate to her shop! I am so jealous. Jaime has wonderful items in her shop and you'll get to take your pick from it! Her shope includes items such as personalized cufflinks, placecards, stationary, and beautiful brooches.



"I create out of love for all things bridal, stemming from my very enjoyable and memorable journey planning a wedding in the Spring. With ideas to share and the desire to help other brides and grooms-to-be personalise their special day, I truly believe in budget weddings that never compromises on style + design, with focus on the little details that will be remembered for years to come."




Jaime is from Australia so I thought it would be cool to hear a little about her life there.

"I come from a very creative and talented family and have fond memories of my aunt crocheting, my cousin guiding me through my school art project, sitting next to dad when he taught me how to draw and paint a goldfish in Year One, and being nurtured through mum’s fabulous creations in the kitchen.The new addition to family would be my husband, who loves drumming in his free time and whom I appointed as Product & Quality Control Manager on the side. My husband and I live in a cosy little apartment in the city fringe suburbs of Melbourne, so we’re not exactly right in the heart of the city but close enough to take a 15 minute walk to the stadium to see a soccer match, be in the crowd at Simon & Garfunkel’s final world tour, cheer on Roger Federer at the Australian Open and so much more. Public transportation is at our doorstep and I walk a lot and have lived here for five years without a car - I can’t imagine it being as convenient elsewhere! I love feeling safe when I walk down the streets and how the working lifestyle here is all about balance, focusing on family, so people tend to leave their offices on time and life goes on coming home to dinner with the kids, catching up with friends, walking the dog or cycling by the beach before the sun comes down.

"I find the wedding industry similar to the wedding industry in America and a very tight knit industry because we’re so far away from everyone else. There’s been so much growth in the past few years. We’ve seen the launch of Australia’s The Knot dot com, bridal blogs like Polkadotbride dot com and the addition of more Australian wedding magazine titles, mostly featuring real weddings with fantastic ideas. Wedding styles vary from vintage to modern, simple to extravagant, with quite a lot of traditional touches to suit Asian, Greek, Italian, and Jewish ceremonies."

Jaime describes her style as classic simplicity. "One of my favourite quotes by Charles Worth sums it all up, “A dress should never overpower the wearer. It should merely be an appropriate frame for a charming picture, bringing out the beauties of the picture, but never distracting attention from it. So few women understand this”, and I feel the same concept applies to almost anything, be it your stationery, décor, accessories, and even right down to your ceremony and reception locations. When I design and create something, I try to imagine how it would look in ten years – whether it would be tacky or something someone would pick up and say, “hey, that’s pretty!”. I believe in quality over quantity and have to love everything I make enough to want to use them myself. Simple touches in weddings can make such a big difference and are more appreciated these days."

And Jaime's biggest inspiration? Love. "By that I don’t only mean the love between a man and a woman (hearing engagement stories still get me teary eyed!), but family love… a love a little boy has for his pet puppy, a love of nature and God’s creations, a love for fashion and the arts, a grandmother staying up late knitting a wool scarf for the love of her grandchild. Pure passion. I’m constantly inspired by true life stories I hear and read, as much as what’s beautiful around me. It could be as simple as a freedom song that translates into dove placecards. I never really know where creativity takes me and sometimes it isn’t even wedding related."







And finally, Jaime's advice to brides. "Be organised and stay calm. Plan your wedding with as much effort and efficiency as you would any important college assignment or corporate project because your big day deserves all that if not more. Making the best of your engagement period helps diminish any last minute stress so you can fully enjoy the actual day and even the week leading up to it.

Research local as well as international suppliers as you may surprisingly find some who meet your requirements in terms of budget and style. Confirming with vendors early on also helps cross out another thing on your list of things-to-do and may get you a discount especially if you get in before the end of the financial year when supplier rates usually go up.

Plan the wedding together as a couple, discussing what suits and represents the both of you. A budget wedding can look just as stunning as a million dollar one so pay more attention on unique, memorable details and strike off the unnecessary. There can be pressure from family and friends depending on your cultural background and people’s expectations in general. Remember to never lose sight of what the wedding really means to the both of you. Many brides’ best advice is not to ask too many people what they think as everyone’s different and will come back with too many opinions that may get you confused and stressed out.

Most importantly, have fun!"

Find Jaime:
Store: www.thebridegene.etsy.com
Blog: www.mybridegene.blogspot.com


To enter, follow this blog, fan DLP's facebook page www.facebook.com/danalaymonphotography.com or follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/danalaymon. Then leave a comment here with your email address and let me know what you did. If you do all 3, you'll get 3 entries in the giveaway!

Contest will end midnight next Thursday. Winners will be announced on Friday the 2nd so be sure to check back.

{sneak peak: Grace & Brian}

.inspiration monday.

in honor of spring!

.hump day help.

When I was a bride, I tried to keep the cost of our wedding as low as possible but still have all of the little details at our wedding to make it special. There are so many thing you can make yourself now and the stores are catering to it! (which i wasn't so fortunate with when we got married). I found some really great posts this week on DIY projects for your wedding and thought I would share them! I have so much fun just making the stuff so let me know if anyone needs any help :)


Intimate Weddings Blog has a great plethora of DIY ideas with pictures! Really cool ideas on here- love the candy wrappers!







Martha Stewart Wedding website has wonderful templates with instructions and downloadable templates for place settings and cute labels.










The Wedding Chicks blog which I posted on here a while back, also has a plethora of DIY projects and templates. I love their blog and follow it almost everyday!













And finally, here's a comprehensive list of templates this blog has put together. There were way too many for me to go through all of them but they're all grouped together by kids or menus or ceremony or reception. But what I really like is it gives a list of script fonts and you can download them right from the page ! I love me some fonts.

.inspiration monday.

love the color combos here!

.hump day help.

I am thrilled to announce that I have partnered up with Full Sail Photography to offer a photo booth with all of my packages! A photo booth is a perfect addition to any reception or party.



This classically styled photo booth has a lush red interior and film strips ready for print as soon as you're done! You'll get the photo booth, real time prints, a CD all of the prints for you to have of your friends and family, and a private online viewing gallery. The owners of Full Sail Photography will be there to help with the booth at each event and create your prints. How fun! You can even customize your film strips (or film squares:) with your wedding logo or names. Use these as great wedding favors for your guests to take home!



For pricing click here. Feel free to contact me with any questions!

{cakes and such}

Friday night I went over to help Stephanie and Whitney make a cake for a friend's lingerie shower. And when I say help, I mean take sporadic pictures and eat the chocolate shavings and leftover icing. But we've always wanted to document the making of one of Stephanie's cakes so this was a great opportunity. Although I didn't do a very good job because I kept getting distracted with all the sugary leftovers. But Tye, Whitney's son, was also a distraction during all this. He's so cute I couldn't get mad at him when he stole my chocolate shavings. Plus he likes the Viewmaster. Kid after my own heart. The final outcome was quite beautiful and it took all I had in me to not cut a slice! I also thought, in conjunction with our lovely lace cake, I would reveal my new lingerie invitation. It seemed like a good match.

Tye taking after me with 2 pound weights :)

They're too hard for him too.

man i love a viewmaster. we were distracted again.

And a perfect invitation for a perfect cake! I love the theme of the shower, pink/red, black, and white. So cute for a girls' night!