December 2016 | Dearest Lou

Christmas Cards 2016 & Tiny Prints Giveaway

Merry Christmas Eve friends! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas. I grew up celebrating and opening presents at midnight so we are starting our festivities tonight and we will most likely start a little early too (;

One of our holiday traditions is to do Christmas cards and for the past three years Tiny Prints has been our go-to company! I love their unique designs and all of the different options they carry. This year they introduced FREE personalized recipient addressing which made this process so much faster and easier!

I've teamed up with Tiny Prints to giveaway a $100 shop credit! 

This would be perfect for those of you who didn't have time to send out Christmas cards to send out New Year cards instead! You can check out their fun designs here. I would suggest having your cards picked out, ready, and in your cart so you can take advantage of their 25% off Super Rush Delivery to get your cards by December 29th (;

To enter, simply visit Tiny Prints and fill out the rafflecopter widget below so I can keep track of your entries. The more entries you complete the better chance you have of winning. Giveaway is open to ALL Dearest Lou readers thru December 26th at 11:59PM EST. If your twitter, facebook, or instagram profile is on P R I V A T E please set your settings to P U B L I C on December 27, 2016 since I will be verifying the random winners entries at that time, private profiles will not be eligible of winning. Winners will be announced here on December 27th and contacted via email so they can use their credit and start creating their cards ASAP.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

David's Bridal Modest Styles

Photography: Me (Cecilia Harvard)
Models: Megan + Jeff
Florals: Mae Flower
Makeup Artist: Jessica Craig

Christmas is just around the corner and love is in the air. This is such a popular time of year for couples to get engaged. With engagements comes wedding dress shopping and when it comes to purchasing a wedding dress David’s Bridal comes to mind! They are known for their outstanding value, fashionable designs, and ease of one-stop shopping. Did you know that one out of every three brides in the US chooses to walk down the aisle in a gown from David’s Bridal? With over 300 stores and a variety of sizes and styles I can see why!

Earlier this year I put together a fun stylized bridal shoot featuring dresses from David’s Bridal Modest Wedding Dress assortment! I wish these dresses would have been around when I got married since they fit my modesty standards and are absolutely stunning. The dresses feature full length skirts, assorted sleeve lengths, and higher necklines. These dresses are perfect for brides looking for a little more coverage on their special day and range in price from $349-$1558 Such an affordable price for a dress you don’t need to add any sleeves, length, or add fabric to the chest or back area!

For the shoot I photographed 3 gorgeous dresses! I primarily focused on my favorite dress (the last dress- SLMS251111) for the stylized shoot (see more photos here) but wanted to go into depth about what I loved about each dress here on Dearest Lou. After all this is a fashion blog (;
Oleg Cassini Short Sleeve Modest Ball Gown, exclusively at David’s Bridal
SLCWG568
$1458 (available in solid white or ivory/champagne sizes 0-14, 0P-14P)
First of all, this dress is absolutely stunning. Any bride would feel like a beautiful princess in this gorgeous dress. I love the ball gown fit and that it is capped sleeved! The bodice of the dress features beaded Venise appliques and a zippered back! Zippered backs are always a plus since they are nice and easy to take on and off. The ruffled organza skirt is my absolute favorite detail about this dress! Super poofy and fun.

David’s Bridal Collection Beaded Trumpet Wedding Dress with ¾ Sleeves, exclusively at David’s Bridal
$949 (available in white or ivory sizes 0-14,0P-14P)
Anyone else a sucker for lace? I love the romantic lace used for this dress, the beading along the neckline and hip add that extra wow factor to this beauty! A-line fits are perfect for nearly every shape and size and I love the ¾ sleeves! This dress is perfect for a bride who may want that extra bit of coverage for her arms on her big day!

Melissa Sweet Modest A-Line Wedding Dress, exclusively at David’s Bridal
$1,258 (available in ivory/champagne size 0-14, 16W-26W)
This way by far my favorite dress! I loved the unique flutter sleeves and A-line fit! I love that the back is zippered but gives off the illusion that it’s a button up dress.This dress also features sequins along the bodice that really give it that feminine flare I personally love.

Like I mentioned above, David’s Bridal is a one-shop stop! They have a beautiful array of accessories to complete your wedding day look including shoes, handbags, veils, shapewear, and jewelry! Be sure to check them out online and you can find a store near you here and make an appointment here!

Zaden's 4th Birthday: Classic Fun Center in Orem

If you have been reading here for a while you know that I love to throw fun birthday parties! The older Zaden gets the more fun I have coming up with fun ideas to celebrate his special day. This year has been incredibly busy for me. Getting pregnant, having a new baby, and running a photography business on top of my blog and motherly/wife duties have made it the craziest (in a good way) year yet. I knew I wanted to take a simpler route this year and have the party somewhere else. After doing some research I came across Classic Fun Center in Orem!

I showed Z some of the photos online and he LOVED it and exclaimed that he wanted to have his party there. Classic Fun Center offers different party packages and they all come with hosts. I decided to go with a Semi-Private party since all of Zaden's guests would be under 8 and I wanted them to have the bounce and arcade area mostly to themselves.

We went with a simple dino theme! I got our dinosaur cake at our local Smith's grocery store and my sister was so kind and purchased the gift bags, dino masks, and a huge triceratops balloon. Classic Fun Center provided all the plates, utensils, a few balloons, and the table cloths!


The kids had an absolute BLAST in the bounce area.. and who am I kidding so did I! I definitely took advantage of that two hour period where we had the bounce area to ourselves. I love that our party host took care of all the major events so I didn't have to worry about it. She brought out the pizza's out when I requested them and drinks for our guests. It made his birthday much more enjoyable for me since I was able to spend more time with the kids in the bounce area.

The arcade area was definitely a hit among the adults. My sister and I took that clown game (first photo) a little too seriously and really wanted to beat the high score (it didn't happen). The games that were a hit amoung the adults were the Deal or No Deal game and the Basket Ball games! The kids had fun just trying a variety of games. Sandy's kids in particular were obsessed with the little carousel haha.

For the last hour of his party we had a private room which was really nice since Classic Fun Center opened to the public. We cut his cake in there and opened gifts. Zaden also got to spend 45 seconds in the prize cube and got to spin the birthday wheel! He had so much doing both. Our host Brinley then snapped a photo of the kids for his big birthday card which the staff decorated with dinosaurs!

If you are wanting a fun/care free birthday or party in general for your kids go to Classic Fun Center in Orem! They even have a blog post with tips on when planning a party with them. You can get 20% off your party package with discount code: dearestlou

Dockatot Review

One product I highly recommend to all my pregnant mama friends is a Dockatot! This product is absolutely amazing and is a MUST HAVE if you want your little one to sleep better at night and during nap times.

When Zaden was born I practically never let him out of my sight. We exclusively co-slept and he got accustomed to me being his human pacifier lol. Needless to say I felt a little trapped and wasn't able to get out and do much without him until he self-weaned at 18 months. I knew that wasn't going to be a possibility with Adrien. I still needed to be able to take care of Zaden and had previous obligations with my photography career. After talking with a few of my close friends, they highly recommended me getting a Dockatot! I was a bit skeptical at first but am now a firm believer in this product!

I love that I can take this product around the house with me and have a safe environment to set Adrien down in. Whether he is is a sleepy or playful mood he loves being in his Dockatot! It's also great for when we spend the night elsewhere and I can't bring his bassinet with us. I also love that it fits PERFECTLY inside his bassinet so he sleeps like a champ in it!