Our First Christmas By JoPhoto


A big hug and thanks to our darling friend Kathleen of JoPhoto for sharing this incredibly well planned first Christmas with us. This styled shoot has all the makings of a cozy country home amidst a forest of trees. Take these ideas and use them in your own home to create first (and lasting) Christmas traditions together.

From Kathleen: For this Christmas style shoot, we wanted to inspire newlyweds everywhere with ideas to make their first Christmas together unique and memorable. These ideas were focused around projects couples could create together and items that could be customized with their new last name. To showcase these ideas in a unique way, a full living room set was designed among the cozy Christmas trees at Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm. With the vision of bringing the warmth of a home Christmas to the rustic beauty of the outdoors, the rows of Virginia pine and Fraser firs created the perfect “walls” for this couple’s first home Christmas. Antique furniture provided by Restoration Rentals made a comfortable living room for real life couple Mike & Teresa. The mantel was flanked by buckets of presents and topped with a custom floral design by L.B. Floral and a handmade garland of burlap, lace, and holiday ribbon created by Ruffles and Rouge. L.B. Floral adorned the Christmas tree with handmade decorations, burlap, bows, and pinecones plucked straight from her backyard. Presents were wrapped in Kraft paper, plaid, and gingham ribbon, just like you would find in a country home. To make the gifts extra special, adornments like jingle bells, handpicked greenery, and hand-dyed tags were added to each one. All the fixin’s for a Christmas morning breakfast waited in the cupboard, including sugar and spice mix, pancake mix, hot chocolate mini mugs, maple syrup and a sleigh full of jams and jellies, all from Custom Love Gifts’ online store. Gail’s Custom Cake’s showcased her new layered cake in a jar, named “Country Bumpkins!” The designers sprinkled rustic elements like cedar and burlap throughout the design to tie in the outdoor setting. An antique hutch served as the perfect spot to hang handmade burlap stockings with Mr. & Mrs. stenciled designs. The couple enjoyed mugs of hot cocoa and even stole a couple of cookies from Santa’s tray.

































Vendors:
Photography - JoPhoto | Designer - Custom Love Gifts | Designer -The Bride Link | Venue - Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm | Floral - LB Floral | Furniture - Restoration Rentals | Cakes -Gail's Custom Cakes