Love Locks Inspired Wedding Ideas

Bright and colorful wedding inspiration is always welcome in our books, and today’s styled shoot from Mikkel Paige Photography, Dulce Dreams Events, and Makini Regal Designs fits the bill perfectly. The team used “love locks,” those darling padlocks inscribed with lovers’ names, as their main inspiration point, and carried the theme throughout the decor for a shoot that’s as fun as it is stylish.

From the photographer, Mikkel Paige: Love locks on famous bridges around the world informed the inspiration for this “Forever Linked” inspiration shoot, notably Ponts Des Arts in France. When photographer Mikkel Paige and Dulce Dream Events dreamed up the scene, they thought vibrant colors would be the perfect pop of happiness to accent the gold and silver of locks, keys and fences. Our hope is that the inspiration is for any couple who enjoys cheerful romance and a theme elegantly carried throughout a wedding day yet does not overwhelm it, whether they are in large cities like Paris, Rome, or Los Angeles, or in their smaller suburbs or closer to country homes. Details were engrained in every inch of the shoot, from the bride’s fingernails to the chain links on the couple’s chairs.

The bride wore a stunning two-piece gown and a second, shorter dress with thousands of gold link strands on it. A favorite stand out detail was custom nail art on the bride’s fingertips, complete with gold metal accents and Swarovski crystals on top of a pink ombre design. The bridesmaids had a neutral glitter half-moon nail design to allow the bride’s fingers to stand out. A lock and key were fastened in the bride’s hair with a beautiful gold chain link from a custom bobby pin designer. She wore stand out blue suede heels for a fun pop of color and had pink lips. The bridesmaids wore two different styles of gorgeous cobalt blue dresses, and all the women wore jewelry with links to emulate the theme.

The bride’s bouquet had a custom ribbon design wrap design around its stems, where keys hung down from and seemed to chime like wedding bells when she walked. The bridesmaids carried single stems of blossomed yellow peonies. The men wore custom suits and the groom wore a navy blue tie. Small skeleton keys were affixed to the men’s boutonnieres. For the ceremony backdrop, keys were dipped in orange, yellow and pink paint and tied on blue ribbons that hung from an oversized gold glittered link chain motif. A dinner menu was presented to guests on a framed board uniquely chalked on “blueboard” instead of black, with hand lettering done in white ink. Agate coasters and gold striped glasses sat next to gold flatware and silver metallic dotted and blue scalloped-edge plates. The highlight of the tables was the place settings: one master wall in the reception area had table cards, each containing several guests names. Once at their table, guests found their names on hand-painted locks, on top of pieces of silver “fencing”, tied up with blue tulle. The bride and groom’s seats were especially decorated with gold and silver chain and “L” + “G” links for their names, Lorelai and Grant. A cake was adorned in carefully handcrafted gumpaste flowers to match the centerpieces, and a lock and key on the cake stand gently echoed the theme.

Monogram Magic In This Textural & Earthy Wedding With Elevated North Carolina Flair

The evening ended with a toast to the happy couple, with “You stole my heart and forever threw away the key,” quoted on tags that hung from gorgeous blue glasses, finished with the couple’s initials. It was all beautifully placed in front of huge marquee light-up letters “BAR.” Lanterns surrounded the sign with rose heads inside instead of candles. This couple’s gorgeous day reminded us how wonderful it is to write your name and the name of the love of your life on a lock, put it on a fence in a romantic city, and then hold the key to each other’s heart forever. Forever Linked in love.