• Engagement Ideas & Rings

We just love anything girly, romantic, vintage and pink and so does our next bride-to-be, Stella. Just like her up and coming wedding, Stella wanted her engagement photographs to involve everything that she and Daniel and Love. Including their three dogs Louis, Garu and Pomi.
They chose a location with lots of trees and wanted to use tons of props. These two love birds basically made and thrifted everything you see for around $200. It was the perfect excuse to practice for all their wedding diy projects for their up coming Smog Shoppe Wedding. As you can see the, engagement session turned out fabulous so we are quite excited to see the wedding! To see the entire engagement session photographed by Closer to Love Photography click here.

From Stella:

After my fiance proposed I couldn't wait to start planning my dream wedding. Our first mission was to think of a theme we wanted for our e-session and I immediately knew that I wanted a romantic, vintage, girly setting in the woods with tons of pink and gold accents. This is also the theme I have planned for my July wedding. I love anything feminine so we will incorporate lots of lace into the little details of our wedding as well.

Another important factor that my fiance and I both had in mind when creating our e-session was that we wanted to stay within our budget. We also, wanted to be very hands on and do a lot of the things ourselves. It seemed hard at first but after much research and bargain hunting we were able to put together this whole e-session set for under $200!! And everything we purchased for our shoot we will also use for our wedding.

All of the props used for our e-session were Flea market and craiglist finds or DIY. A few months prior to our engagement shoot we started flea market shopping for props and began working on tons of arts and crafts. We visited the Rose Bowl every sunday they were open for about 3 months. All the props we used were $10 or less. Since we both like to be hands on and decorate we both had so much fun putting this set together. For example, we bought a slightly used Ikea dining set on Craigslist for $60 and banged it up with a hammer, put old nails in it, and stained it to make it look old and vintage. This was so much cheaper than buying a already made vintage table. The day before our shoot I headed down to the downtown flowermart in LA and picked up some flowers and did the arrangements myself. I only spent $30 on all the flower arrangements. The mason jars we purchased at K-mart and we used them a couple times so that it wouldn't look too new. I really feel like this photo shoot brought out the best of our creative personalities. The outcome of our vintage setting in the woods was even better than what we had ever envisioned.

You might think it would be difficult to pull together a detailed set but once you get started it's really not too hard. The best thing to do to create a vintage setting is to visit as many flea markets as you can. I personally love the Rose Bowl held on the second sunday of every month. It's huge and you can literally find everything there!! I was able to find everything you see in my e-session there expect for the dining set which was found on craiglist. Just make sure you look through every alley and corner and you'll be sure to find a great bargain. The floral arrangements were also pretty easy to create because the messier it looked the better. Instead trying to make it look picture perfect it's better to make it look like you hand picked the flowers from your backyard and just stuck it in the mason jars. This gives it a more chic effortless feel. Be creative and include all the things you love but don't get too carried away by trying to have too much stuff!! This was my problem in the beginning and something I restrain myself from even today as I plan my wedding!! I just have so many ideas and things I want to include which can ultimately turn up too detailed and take away from the important things you want to focus on. Limit yourself to a few props that you want to focus on and work on making those stand out. And most importantly don't stress out, have fun and let your imaginations run wild!!

Steal Stella and Daniel's incredibly stylish Boho Chic Engagement look. Not only do they look effortlessly fabulous, but so do their three little doggies.
For Stella
1.Forever 21 Lace Dress  | 2. Pink Nail Polish in Lovie Dovie from Essie | 3. Woodsy Flower Halo From Mignonne Handmade | 4. Square Halo Engagement Ring | 5. Suede Bottie From Steven Penbrook |
For Daniel
1. Black and White Bow Tie | 2. Gray Button Down Sweater | 3. White Button Down Shirt | 4. Khaki Pants | 5. Sperry Top Sider For Their Dogs
1.  Doggie Bow Tie

Photographer: Closer to Love Photography Makeup & Hair: Etude Lounge Desserts: Bottega Louie Vintage Props: Rose Bowl Flea Market & Craigslist Mason Jars: K-Mart Ribbons/ Lace: JoAnns Fabrics, Michael Levine Fabric Store, etsy Dog's tutu: Etsy store Ruffles and Stitches Dog's bow ties: Amazon Flowers: Los Angeles Flowermart, designed by the bride | Event Designer: DIY by couple | Engagement shoot location: Willow Canyon in CA | Bride's hair wreath: DIY by bride | Date Banner: DIY by the couple