Netherlands Beach Love Shoot by Oh Beautiful World Photography

This 'just because' love shoot is all kinds of beautiful.  The joy and emotions captured in these images will make your heart smile!  We love the incredible simplicity of the landscape around them - open air and beautiful space make for the loveliest portraits - the slight wooden fence and the thick-knit white blanket are the icing on the cake.  Definitely read this couple's advice for other couples - there are some wonderful words of wisdom there!

Advice for couples: Talk. About everything. Talk about the things that bother you in life, talk about the things you love, talk about your dreams in life. If you can talk about anything than you can truly be yourself. We know everything from each other, have no secrets and no shame. We truly believe we are soul mates and can't imagine a life without each other.

About their shoot: Susan is a wedding photographer, so always at the other side of the camera. It was time to have some nice photo's together, so we asked Hanneke to do a loveshoot. We don't come at the beach often since it's at the other side of the country, but we love the feeling of freedom there. So we asked Hanneke to come to Katwijk, The Netherlands. It was a chilly day in November and the wind was very strong. It was cloudy, but sometimes the sun peeked through the clouds a little bit. In combination with the strong wind that blew through the sand of the beach, it looked like magic. Hanneke made us dance, kiss, play, laugh and feel the love. It's almost like a therapy session; so focussed on each other and really feeling the love and forget the everyday-stress... That's why I think everybody should do a loveshoot every once in a while. :)

Photo credit: Oh Beautiful World Photography

A Croatian Love Shoot by Barbara Tursan Misic Photography

"These two have been together for four and a half years; they spotted each other in the local coffee bar but they kept seeing each other in the gym. He texted her questioning about working hours of the gym (like he didn’t already know that) and the romance begun. I’ve known Boris and Tihana for years; he is my husband’s cousin so we have been spending every summer together. They are always taking pictures of themselves with their iPhones so I suggested them a “real photo session” this summer. Of course, they said yes . Tihana and I picked both their outfits and she also did her hair and make-up. Location of the session took place in a vineyard in Slivnica Gornja and in the city of Zadar, Croatia."

Photo Credit: Barbara Tursan Misic Photography 

A Southern California Love Shoot by Belinda Love Photography

After your engagement photos and your wedding, how often will you continue to have photos done of you and your spouse? Every year? Every 5 years? Never? If you're like me and you have a spouse who dislikes being in front of the camera, then we may have to do something to bribe them ;) I totally love this fun "just because" session photographed by my dear friend, Belinda Love Photography. See the pretty light and the fields of yellow flowers? Just one of the reasons I love living in Southern California. Belinda, thank you so much for sharing this session with me!

What David loves about Lumi: Lumi has so much beauty inside and out. It is clear to see her great personality, her good nature and her ambition in everything she does. I cant image my life without her. The way she treats me , the way she speaks with me and others and the great love she has inspires me and makes me feel at home. God has blessed me so much with Lumi, she is beyond my all my expectations and needs. I love her so much!

What Lumi loves about David: David conquered me with his kindness and goodness. He is the perfect example of a gentleman and godly man. In good time and bad times David has been by my side and is teaching me about love: Love is kind, love is patient, love doesn't envy, does not seek its own, and love never fails....Together with David I feel safe, complete and ready for life's journey. Love him very very much!

2011: A wonderful end of the year report.

At the beginning of 2011, Le Magnifique was just a passing thought. At that time, that thought was not given a name yet. Fast forward to September, that thought came back and quickly turned into and idea which blossomed into Le Magnifique: the blog. I launched Le Magnifique on October 1, 2011 and have been blown away by everything that has happened since then. We want to share with you some amazing statistics from this year because I want to document this incredible time so that when I look back one year from now, I will see how far I've come.

In just 3 months we accumulated 65 posts! Of those 65 posts...

... 22 are featured weddings

... 9 are engagement sessions

... 6 are inspirational/styled shoots

In addition to that, we've:

... passed 55,000 blog views.

... received 1,080 likes on Facebook.

... been viewed in 97 countries countries.

Our 10 most viewed posts were:

... A Washington wedding by Michelle Newell Photography

... A Los Angeles wedding by Closer to Love Photography & Design

... A North Carolina wedding by Blue Frame Photography
... A New York wedding by Erin Oveis Brant Photography
... A Miami Beach wedding by Diana Lupu Photography
... A bridal shoot from Croatia by Barbara Tursan Misic Photography
... A Louisiana wedding by Ashleigh Jayne Photography
... A Newport Beach wedding by Closer to Love Photography & Design
... Johnny Appleseed Inspirational Shoot by Lukas VanDyke Photography
... Khara & Shane: Engaged | Amber Wood Photography

I've been so blessed by all that has happened thus far. I've gotten to know some wonderful photographers and vendors. One of my Facebook fans left a comment on the page telling me that she had gotten engaged and wanted to share that joy with me. That made me so happy. When I get messages or emails from people telling me that they really love my blog, it truly makes me happy. The support from my friends and people I've never even met has just been so wonderful. I didn't know what was going to become of this blog when I launched it less than three months ago and I don't know what will become of it in the upcoming new year. But you know what? I'm excited for all that is to come. I know it's going to be amazing. 2012 is going to be a great year.

Moi. December 2011

I'll be taking a week off from blogging on Le Magnifique starting Christmas Day. However, I'll be blogging on my personal blog. I'm going to use the next week to rest and plan for 2012. This blog will be undergoing some neat changes. I'm currently working with someone uber talented who is creating a logo for Le Magnifique. I'm looking into a new color pallet that I think will represent the Le Magnifique brand better. There is going to be a ton of great changes in the next couple of months. One last thing...

In the next few weeks, I will be announcing something HUGE. 

That's all I can say right now :)

xoxo, damaris

Happy "almost" 1 month!

Tuesday, November 1st will be one month since the launch of Le Magnifique and it's been one amazing month. All my expectations were definitely surpassed and I couldn't have done it without YOU. I set a goal of 5,000 blog views and I felt like that was pushing kind of high. I was launching a brand new blog and didn't think it was going to get very much traffic. As of Sunday, October 30, 2011, Le Magnifique has over 11,500 blog views. Is that not amazing? So to every single person who has stopped by this blog and checked out the amazing weddings and shoots I have shared with you, to everyone who "Facebook liked" the posts, left a comment, posted sweet things on our Facebook page, emailed me, submitted a wedding or a shoot to me, shared the blog or Facebook page with their friends.. .THANK YOU!!! I've been so blessed by your support and am so grateful. So, thank you so very much.

I have so many plans for Le Magnifique and am so excited to see how everything unfolds. I really do hope that this becomes a blog where brides from all backgrounds and personal styles can come and gather inspiration because your really find inspiration anywhere.

There are a few things I want to go over in regards to the blog :)

• Le Magnifique is now accepting submissions via Two Bright Lights. If you are on TBL, we kindly ask that you use this incredible feature to submit your weddings and/or shoots. If you're a photographer and you're not on TBL, head over there and check out all they have to offer. It's a great tool for vendors to exchange images and to submit their images to an incredible selection of blogs or magazines. 

• Le Magnifique uses a really neat commenting feature that is super easy to use. I just want to point out a few things so that you get an understanding of how the commenting feature works :)
• You cannot comment on a post if you are on the homepage (www.lemagnifiqueblog.com). You will only be able to leave a comment if you are on the actual blog post. I will always post a direct link to the actual post on Twitter or Facebook. So if you're on the homepage and would like to leave a comment on one of the posts (which we hope you do because comments makes us very happy!), all you need to do is just click on the title of the blog and it will take you directly to the post and open a comment box at the very bottom of the post.
• You can post a comment many different ways. A few options are:
• Guest. You can leave your name and have the option of adding a link to your site (which if you have a website, we encourage you to add it).
• Facebook (must be logged in)
• Twitter (must be logged in)
• and a few more!
• Facebook Like!
• Located at the very bottom of the post. We encourage everyone to "like" the post if there was something about it you loved :)
• StumbleUpon.
• If you're on StumbleUpon, we'd love for you to stumble the post! 
• By commenting, liking, sharing, stumbling, you're making me happy and you're making the photographer who submitted their work happy. Also, you're helping both of us get exposure! :) So thank you to all who continue to do this :) It's very much appreciated :)
• Pinterest :) I love Pinterest! If you're on there, please follow us!
• We are always taking submission for online publication. There are times when we are looking for something specific. So if you're a photographer, check out our REQUESTS page for a list of what we're looking for :)
• We've received a bunch of inquires regarding sponsors/ad spots and starting December, we're going to start taking accepting "applications" for ad spots for the 2012 year. So if you're interested, stay tuned for details come late November :)

We have a bunch of lovely features coming this week and my 2 year wedding anniversary is coming up the following week! Yay! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend :)

xoxo,

damaris mia

5,000 blog views + cupcake inspiration

Yesterday was a big day for Le Magnifique! We hit 5,000 views! Well, right now we're almost at 5,500! That was my goal for the month of October!! Okay, I just realized there are a lot of exclamations marks in the last couple of sentences (!!!). I so didn't expect to reach 5,000 views in just TEN days. Like, whoa! Since I reached my monthly goal so quickly, I'm going to up my goal to 15,000 views this month. That's a high number but I'm going to hit it :) So to everyone who stopped by this blog and left a comment or Facebook Liked a post, THANK YOU. Seriously, thank you.

I originally intended this blog to be used for all things weddings. While I will be primarily focusing on anything wedding related, I also want to throw in everyday inspiration. When you're planning a wedding, the wedding doesn't become you nor do you become the wedding. You're still doing your everyday things like working, house duties, going out, etc... Those things will continue even after you get married. And because of this, I want to share things I think would inspire you in your everyday life. I want to give you ideas for your wedding planning as well as ideas for the in between moments in life. Like cooking, for example. I love cupcakes. Wait, saying I love cupcakes would be an understatement. I recently came across Ming Makes Cupcakes while Stumbling (if you're on Stumbleupon, follow me!) and just had to share a couple with you. Don't these look delicious? Yum! Great for the holidays coming up or any bridal shower you may be planning. These are definitely two that I want to try out. Which one do you want to eat?

We love comments! So if you enjoyed this post, please leave us a comment below :)