It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and one of the fun things I do with my kids every year is create a fun custom photo valentine that they can take into school with them.  It’s pretty easy, so I thought I would share it here for my Friday Fun post this week.

First, I sit down with my boys and we go through some of our favorite photographs this year.  They can choose their favorite photograph of themselves from the year- this year, they both chose images from our trip to Switzerland this summer.

It’s pretty easy to find great custom Valentine’s templates for purchase online, but the second step is to tweak that template to fit the folded card design.  I print my images through my pro lab- ideally I want to fold the card and staple it on the bag of candy, so I either create a card or tweak the template that I purchase so that it will work for a folded card.   They boys and I generally choose a nice, simple message for the back of the card, and then choose a complementary solid color for the inside of the card (since it will be invisible until the candy bag is opened).

Then we stuff cellophane bags with the candy of choice for the year.  I like wrapped candies so that the kids can help me.  Finally, fold the cards over and staple them to the top of the candy bags.  The boys love taking in custom valentines to their classes, and I love working on a photo project with them.

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!

I am so happy to announce that one of my weddings was featured again in Seacoast Weddings Magazine!  If you haven’t checked out this magazine, it is full of eye-candy if you are planning a wedding in coastal Maine, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire!  This year they featured Sasha and Sam, one of the most colorful weddings that I ever photographed (and I love color)!  Here are Sasha and Sam during their recessional:

What’s not to love?  Sasha and Sam were married in a gorgeous spot (the Asticou, right outside of Bar Harbor), they had beautiful dahlias as their wedding flower, and Sam and his guys wore kilts to celebrate their heritage!  Plus, they are an unbelievably sweet couple!  This wedding was designed and coordinated by Amber Small at Sweetest Thing Weddings.  Sasha and Sam’s wedding was also featured on the WellWed Blog – click below to head over to the Vermont Vows feature.  Of course, you can click below to take you to my original blog post about Sasha and Sam’s Asticou wedding.

The magazine also featured some of my work from Skye and Allen’s fall wedding outside of Bar Harbor, Maine, which was designed by Judy from Flora Fauna Weddings- click on the link below to see my blog post about Skye and Allen’s fall Maine wedding.  Skye and Allen’s wedding was also featured on Grey Likes Weddings- click below to check out the Grey Likes Weddings feature.

Here are a few quick snapshots of the magazine with my iPhone- to see it in all of its loveliness you can pick up a copy of Seacoast Weddings online or in stores now.

Thanks for reading!  I hope that you all have a wonderful Monday!

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Post by Maine Wedding Photographer Michelle Turner.

I don’t post pics of myself shooting very often, and I ran across these the other day and thought it would be fun to put them up.  These were taken while I photographed Alyssa and Jamison’s wedding at the Mt. Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.  Many thanks to my friend Earl Christie (also my second shooter that day)!

Post by Maine Wedding Photographer Michelle Turner.