You’re charmed, we understand! All strung up. Maybe it will show up at the top of the cake or when you put it in ink. No matter how you show it, a gesture of  simple love makes for hearty results: here are five super ways to incorporate a little heart into your wedding celebrations.

Clockwise from top left: Ur A Star’s custom wooden cake toppers ($75US), Perch Papier’s Simple Love 8 wooden tags ($12US), Note Trunk’s Self Inking Custom Rubber Address Stamp ($26.95US), Joyful Joyful’s heart paper garland ($15US), Little Vale’s custom bouquet charm ($28US)

Remember our DIY from earlier this week? If you’re more of a do-it-for-me type (as many of us are) consider this:

Felt at Home – an Etsy seller in Birmingham (UK) will put your personal message of up to 25 words on a length of bias binding or ribbon, roll it onto a vintage wooden English cotton reel and secure it with a ribbon and button. A brilliant way to send someone you love a secret message if you ask me, especially if you’re planning to ask them something special… Artist Phillipa England has also created one-of-a-kind spools with beautiful phrases or poems for you to choose, if the pressure to come up with something original yourself gets you reeling.

The spools range from $25-$32US.

Happy Early Valentine’s Day… I just love this window display by Lauren Gallagher for Booksmith, a book store in San Francisco. To create her piles and the wall of ‘aged’ envelopes, she’s tinted them with coffee and two colours of tie dye … there really is nothing like getting good mail, and whether it’s a valentine or a wedding invite, how absolutely delightful is it to come home and have something pretty waiting for us at the end of the day?

Image and project information found at Design*Sponge.

Your Heart on Your Sleeve Cufflinks by Bella Moda Artist

Love these tongue-in-cheek heart-themed cufflinks for guys, especially those making their way to the altar shortly. What a fantastic way for him to wear his heart on his sleeve without compromising his coolness.

Ace of Hearts playing card silver cufflinks by Crimson King

Ace of hearts playing card silver cufflinks, $13 US; Your Heart on Your Sleeve Cufflinks, $24.99US … Now, if only i could find that heart symbol from Romeo and Juliet, we’d have a full set … I’ll keep looking!

Horseshoes & escort cards -- this pretty sign directed guests to find their names and seats.

Stumbled upon this wedding on photographer Tec Petaja’s blog. Held last fall in Colorado, we love DIY approach and the loose theme of hearts and the word “love” used throughout via stamps for the extras at the wedding.

The bride, a Weddingbee blogger and magazine editor is definitely a creative type and I love that she embraced a symbol that’s so deeply tied to folk art for her ranch setting.

By keeping it simple and not overusing the image, this is the perfect example of how hearts can be used beautifully and creatively without the tacky factor. These gifts and labels just make you smile when you look at them.

A simply packaged out-of-town bag

Strings of photos mixed with the odd stamped heart

Heart shaped name card holders and heart stamped calligraphed signs for the cake buffet

Sources:

Tec Petaja Wedding Photography

Bride’s blog

Heart name card holders (Bliss & Bloom), Love Stamp (Hobby Lobby – note their international shipping policy)

I’ve written about her save the date cards before, but how could I not post a new image from Irene Suchocki, a Montreal photographer with a penchant for hearts-as-lights, on this of all weeks? Check out her save the date cards for modern sweethearts and her Etsy shop of great greeting cards.

It might not feature hearts in the literal sense but there’s a sweetheart behind this project from paper n stitch! We love it as a valentine but also as a beautiful way to propose (maybe include the ring at the end of the message, or tied to the loose end of the ribbon? Also as a sweet way to ask a friend to be a bridesmaid … the possibilities are limitless.

Materials: Fabric or ribbon (length will vary depending on length of message), wooden spool (from craft store or recycled), rubber letter stamps, stamp pad, craft glue (as a substitute for letter stamps that can be hard to find, try stenciling your message)

Process:

1. Cut a long strip of fabric about 1.5 wide and at least one yard long depending on how long you want your letter to be. You can also use ribbon as oppose to fabric (cotton webbing works great).

2. Begin stamping your message leaving a few inches untouched left at the end of the ribbon or fabric.

3. Once the message is complete, glue the end of the message (the area that you left blank) to the spool using craft glue. Ravel your message around the spool. Place in a decorative box and you are all set.

*We’ve borrowed the images and the general outline from paper n stitch but made one or two changes to the directions so that the message can be read as it’s unraveled.

Hearts may not be everyone’s favourite visual imagery: they’re kinda cutsy and seem to always show up in the tackiest décor, yet the red heart is still probably the strongest symbol of love and romance we’ve got.

This week, to help you wear your heart on your sleeve, we’re dedicated to “the refined heart, one that is tasteful, beautiful, and cultured” and we’re also dedicated to finding truly romantic ideas for your sweetheart and your wedding day.

How much do you love this photo? Taken on Paul and Cassie’s wedding day by Australian photographer Jonas Peterson and found via Once Wed, we think it’s gorgeous and just the right image to get the week started.

Please your heart this week!