We recently had the blessing of having our Building Blocks of Love styled wedding photo shoot featured on the Pretty Pear Bride blog! This styled wedding shoot was showcasing a new venue in my local area, and a full team of talented models and vendors. We created a theme that our team just loved. We had a great time putting this all together. Please enjoy!
Inspired by bright jewel tones, wildflowers, and an unexpected twist—Legos!—this shoot captures the joy and creativity that every couple brings to their wedding day. The colorful building bricks and mini-figures added a playful element to our aesthetic, making it an unforgettable experience. Our delightful wedding models, who are engaged in real life, brought an additional layer of authenticity as they showcased wedding costumes from the groom’s Hmong culture. Their love and connection shone through every shot, making this styled shoot truly magical.
What was your design inspiration?
Deanna Townsend, the sales director for The Reserve at Stone Creek, contacted me about collaboration on a styled wedding photo shoot for the venue. It is a newer venue in Northeast Ohio, about to celebrate its first business anniversary. Upon taking a tour of the venue, I discovered the modern rustic vibe of the building, with a neutral gray color scheme, stone work, LED lighting, an enclosed fireplace and waterfall feature, tons of natural light, and large, well appointed facilities for wedding parties to get ready in. In order to play off of the monochromatic look of the venue, I created an inspiration board with bright jewel tones, wildflowers, and Legos. Yes, Legos! My daughter received one of the Lego Botanical Bouquets for Christmas, and I loved the colors and textures. She also belongs to a Lego Minifigure subscription.service, where she receives figures and accessories monthly. She shares my love of those colorful plastic bricks! I knew then I wanted to incorporate both toy styles into the overall design. We added the bricks and characters everywhere. So cute! The Legos gave a playful touch to our colorful wedding style. .
Describe your flowers.
We used several types of faux florals in the overall designs. We wanted to showcase the variety of sustainable floral pieces, that can always be reused for future events. The venue has a large selection of decor items that couples may choose from, to accent their own decorations, or to create a cohesive look similar to other events held there. Items include lanterns, glassware, LED candles, votives, and more. We selected the two piece arch set from the venue’s collection. We placed the columns at the base of the venue’s dramatic staircase, which sits in the middle of the main room. The two arch pieces are covered in a variety of white silk blooms and greenery. Our florist added individual silk flowers in bright jewel tones, and fluffy blue ostrich feather plumes, to match our color scheme. At the bottom of each column we added brass lanterns and large LED candles, to complete our romantic ceremony background for our models.
Our florist, Ronna Thompson of Tipsy Designs, created our colorful centerpieces, bouquets and boutonniere, and bud vases for this event. Ronna specializes in designs using sola wood flowers and silk greenery. She hand dyed each flower that was used in her designs. Included were blooms of sunflowers, mums, lilac bushes, hydrangea, various roses, carnations, and Gerbera daisies. The bridal and bridesmaid bouquets were hand tied with wide white silk ribbons. A Lego Bride minifigure was pinned into the handle of the bridal bouquet. The groom’s boutonniere also featured a Lego Groom minifigure. Our groom model, Vang, got a chuckle out of seeing the little figure pinned to his floral piece. Our bridal model, Leah, thought that the bride minifigure was really cute. I had ordered the pair of figures especially for the florals, as the pair closely resembled our couple. The centerpieces were designed in golden bowls, placed upon tall gold rectangular stands on the guest tables. Ronna designed a lovely low table centerpiece to flank the front the sweetheart table. It looked gorgeous against the purple sequin tablecloth, and gold votive candles. We also scattered several small bud vases of the sola wood flowers on our dessert and gift tables, and around the venue.
Finally, Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom provided our creative team with several different kinds of the Lego Botanical Flowers Collection. We placed a couple of the larger bouquets of Lego wildflowers on the cocktail tables, and one bouquet of Lego orchids on the dessert table. There were also a couple of bouquets of Lego roses, that we used to accent other feature areas of the venue. These were such colorful and whimsical additions to our event. There are so many types of the Lego flowers to choose from, one could end up with an entire garden!
Describe your cake.
Our cake was a riot of color, designed by Shannon Dort of Sugar Shananigans. She created a cake that closely resembled the one in our inspiration board, with two tall tiers covered in vibrant blue buttercreme. Hand painted, textured wildflowers danced across the cake, in bright contrast to the blue icing. Our cake topper was a mirrored acrylic “Mr. & Mrs.”, with another set of Lego Bride & Groom minifigures, and Lego miniature flowers. The cake was placed on a round gold stand that had a geometric design. Shannon also decorated Lego-inspired cookies to match our theme. There were cookies with minifigure faces, flowers, and the familiar Lego bricks. They were almost too cute to eat, but they were delicious! The cookies were arranged on golden garden stands from our rental partner, Canton Chair Rental.
Tell us about your attire choices.
Leah and Vang, who are currently engaged, were our stunning bride and groom models. Charli was our gorgeous bridesmaid model. She also donned a second wedding gown and veil for separate editorial photos during our event. The attire choices for our models were graciously provided by Encore Resale Fashions, and Steve’s Tailoring & Men’s Wear, both located in Canton, Ohio. Both establishments have served area customers for several generations. Encore carries a large range of excellent condition women’s and men’s clothing, and are well known for their bridal and prom gown sections, which are fabulous. Steve’s Tailoring is known for their selection of suits, shirts and accessories, as well as custom alterations. They also partner with several men’s formal wear companies for tuxes and suits for weddings, proms, and other events.
Steve’s Tailoring provided our groom model, Vang, with a French blue suit and vest, crisp white shirt, a long satin tie in Tiffany blue, a preppy blue and pink bow tie, and coordinating pocket squares. The tie clip was custom made with Legos, as were the cuff links. Vang’s boutonniere featured a blue sola wood rose, and a Lego Groom minifigure. He cut quite the dashing figure!
Encore provided the gowns, shoes, and accessories to adorn our models. Leah, our bridal model, looked ethereal in a floaty strapless chiffon gown, with off the shoulder flutter sleeves, and a thigh high part in the softly flowing skirt. To accent the gown, we added a long satin sash, that was richly embellished with sparkling rhinestones. The sheer veil was a single layer, fingertip length, trimmed in rhinestones. Her shoes were also covered in crystals. Leah’s earrings were her “something blue”, large emerald-cut blue topaz, on a thin gold drop wire. Her necklace was a choker style, featuring multi-colored emerald cut stones in jewel tones to match our color scheme. She was sparkling from head to toe!
Charli was blooming in her dusty rose bridesmaid gown. The sleeveless gown was designed with a plunging neckline, and a shimmery mesh panel. The skirt skimmed Charli’s curves, ending in a soft sweep train. We accented her gown with a multi-strand necklace and bracelet, with pale amber, pink and crystal beads. Her shoes were also accented with crystals. She was glowing! Charli also donned a separate bridal gown with tons of lace and crystal embellishments. Her dramatic train featured lots of appliques and a blush underlay. Her cathedral length veil, and rhinestone necklace and earrings completed her amazing bridal look by Encore Resale Fashions.
Leah and Vang also had a special clothing selection, that we wanted to showcase. Vang is of the Chinese Hmong heritage. He and Leah held their cultural wedding ceremony last summer, surrounded by loved ones. They will have their American style wedding ceremony later in the autumn. Their costumes had a white pattern on a black background, with multi-colored accents. There were several layers of garments, with a hat that Leah wore, and belts and large necklaces with intricate silver medallions and beads. Very visually stunning!
Please describe any DIY, handmade or personal details.
There were several details created especially to use in this styled photo shoot. Our groom model, Vang, wore a tie clip and cuff links made with Lego bricks. There was also a similar hair clip that Leah wore while getting ready. Little turquoise blue tulle bags were placed at each setting on the guest and head tables, which contained Legos that each guest could play with during the reception. The flower girl basket had Lego pieces that were meant to be scattered. However, that did not actually happen, because honestly, it hurts to step on Legos! We did not want any injuries to occur during the event. The place cards on the head table and guest tables, denoting wedding party members, were created with a light golden color card stock that had a shimmery patina. Lego minifigures were added to the place cards. Minifigures were also added to the cake topper, sweetheart table settings, the bridal bouquet and the groom’s boutonniere. Individual Lego Wildflower Collection blooms were styled with the custom invitation suite pieces, and also placed in bud vases on the dessert table and the artist’s station. The Lego minifigures used on the sweetheart table, and the large bouquets in vases were provided by Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom. All other Lego minifigures, loose bricks, and individual blooms were provided by Kimberly Lehman’s daughter, Kendallynn. Kendallynn’s Lego Wildflower Bouquet was the inspiration for the overall theme and color palette of our styled wedding event. It was a delight to create a design with such a universal toy, that holds the power to inspire multiple generations.
Describe the tablescape elements.
Our gorgeous tablescapes included guest tables, a dual head table on either side the sweetheart table, a dessert table, cocktail tables, and a table for cards, gifts and accessories. The head tables, guest tables, dessert and cocktail tables were draped in crisp light blue linens. The head and guest tables were also laid with shimmery crinkled table runners, that would change colors in the light, in shades of pink and purple. These tables were surrounded by stylish white chiavari chairs. In between the head tables was the sweetheart table, draped in a rich purple sequinned tablecloth. These tables were set with gold bead rimmed charger plates, gold trimmed bone china plates, gold flatware, and clear glassware. The place settings were accented with blush pink satin napkins, in a current knotted style, and the champagne glasses on the sweetheart table held light blue napkins. The centerpiece created by Ronna Thompson gave the sweetheart table an elegant look, along with gold votive candles. A Lego Bride and Groom set, along with the blue tulle bags that held small Lego pieces, completed our sweetheart table. Tall taper LED candles and small votives dotted the front of the tables. Two sizes of large brass lanterns and LED candles were set on either side of the sweetheart table to complete the romantic setting. The guest tables had the vibrant centerpieces atop large golden rectangular stands. There were more tall taper LED candle and small votives on each table to cast a warm glow.
We had two tall cocktail tables set up near the dessert table. They were draped in the same crisp light blue linens, and royal blue runners. The light blue linens were provided by Canton Chair Rental, and the royal blue runners were added by the venue. The vases with the Lego bouquets were placed on top, with votives surrounding. Very elegant look, and certainly a conversation starter! The rustic wooden table for cards, gifts and accessories, is generally used to highlight cakes and desserts. In this event, the table was covered with vintage pink and blue linens, to gently complement the other tables. We placed the venue’s clear square card box, signage, ring pillow and flower girl basket on the table, along with gold votive candles and bud vases with sola wood flowers.
The dessert table was an elegant visual display, with so many pretty details. Draped in a light blue linen, the table held our two-tier, vibrantly decorated cake on a gold cake stand with a geometric design. On either end of the table, two gold birdcage style displays held the decorated sugar cookies to match our Lego theme. “Love Is Sweet” graced the table in front of the cake, along with a blue and white decorative plate, gold utensils, and two vintage napkins and blue wine glasses. One bud vase held a Lego stem of orchids, and the other contained more of the lovely sola wood blooms. On either side of the cake were gold and black chalkboard signs that declared, “Let’s Party!” and “Let’s Celebrate!” Those petite signs summed up the overall atmosphere of the event perfectly. Simple in design, those charming little blocks, like our other design elements, can build anything, including a timeless love story.
Vendor Love
Photography: Shiny Penny Studios | Ceremony Venue: The Reserve at Stone Creek | Reception Venue: the reserve at stone creek | Event Planning, Cufflinks, Decor, Handmade Items, Tie Clip, Stationery, Placecards, Wardrobe Styling, Accessories, Favors, Cake Topper, Cake Cutter, Necklace, Bridesmaid Jewelry: Love, Laughter & Elegance: Wedding & Event Planning | Floral: Tipsy Designs | Videography: Video Memories, LLC | Wedding Cake: Sugar Shananigans | Rentals: Canton Chair Rental | Linens: Canton Chair Rental | Catering: Old Carolina BBQ | Hair: Skylar Nicole Biggie | Makeup: Amanda Boylen | Officiant: Dearly Beloved by Jen | Entertainment: Russell Sound Lab | Tableware: Canton Chair Rental | Table Numbers: The Reserve at Stone Creek | Photo Booth: Fun Booth Canton | Model: Leah Stanevich | Model: Vang Lor | Model: Charli Veronica | Painter: Mandy Coy Photography and Fine Art | Cookies: Sugar Shananigans | Non-Floral Bouquet: Sir Troy’s toy Kingdom | Engagement Ring: Leah Stanevich | Card Box: The Reserve at Stone Creek | Candles: The Reserve at Stone Creek | Ring Pillow: The Reserve at Stone Creek | Wedding Dress: Encore Resale Fashions | Groom’s Attire: Steve’s Tailoring & Men’s Wear | Shoes: Encore Resale Fashions | Bridesmaid Dresses: Encore Resale Fashions | Veil: Encore Resale Fashions | Earrings: Encore Resale Fashions | Bride’s Belt: Encore Resale Fashions | Submitted via: Matchology
Love, Laughter & Elegance 