I recently had the pleasure of capturing the sweetness of intergenerational love in a Valentine’s Day styled shoot at Promise Manor in Lynchburg, TN. We wanted to showcase the beauty and importance of love throughout your lifetime, highlighted by the gorgeous Pantone Color of the Year: Classic Blue. 

The models ranged from a couple who have been married for over 60 years to a pair of newlyweds and some sweet mother-daughter pairs. Our older couple taught us about how to celebrate love later in life, while our newlyweds explored how to celebrate Valentine’s Day on a budget. The moms and daughters showed us how to make Valentine’s Day meaningful outside of a romantic context. There are so many ways to celebrate love!

I shot using film and digital to capture the timeless, radiant, and joyful elements that define my photographs. In addition to artfully posing our models throughout the beautiful manor, I wanted to highlight their own personal love stories. Our mother-daughter couples even enjoyed a sweet tea party and some craft time! Our joyful styled shoot demonstrates the importance of celebrating Valentine’s Day with everyone you love!

The Promise Manor was a perfect location for this shoot. The historic home is owned by a sweet couple who fell in love, got married, and nurtured their dream of one day owning their own wedding venue. The Promise Manor is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and I love how the history of the home reflects the eternal nature of love.

Today I wanted to share part one of the shoot: 10 Creative Ways To Celebrate Valentines Day With Your Little Ones

Valentine’s Day can be seen as a purely romantic holiday for many people, but if you are a parent, you should consider showering your little one with lots of love on this holiday as well, because our little ones are so precious and important! If you are in the same season I am experiencing, you will understand that taking your little one out maybe a bit tricky and complicated due to nap times, your little one being too little to walk, or finances may also be a factor because paying for multiple meals (or tickets) for experiences can add up. Here are some creative ways you can enjoy this Valentine’s Day at your own home. (NOTE: even though the photos represent Moms with their daughters, you can also be creative and find ways to celebrate Valentine’s day with your sons too. I am a boy mom and I am already thinking of ways to make this holiday special and unique for my son, so boy-moms you can be inspired by this article too!) 

1. Host a tea party complete with cookies, valentine’s candy, sandwiches, literally the sky is the limit. The spread is entirely up to you! Now, since I am a boy mom, I am already planning on having a PIZZA spread instead of a high tea with my son when he gets a little older (Again, you are in charge of the spread and you can do what fits your child’s personality!) If you are local to Middle Tennessee and would like to have specific Valentine’s cookies, you should order them from Emily Howell here: she is active on Instagram, so send her a DM and check out her work!
2. Buy some Valentine’s balloons and make up some fun games with the balloons. If you have a baby, tie some balloons up (gently of course) to your little one’s arms and legs and watch them laugh over the balloons above their heads. If you have toddlers create a game with the balloons-perhaps hide a balloon in every room of your house and go hunt for a balloon!
3. Have craft time with your little one. Here is the craft that inspired this shoot: https://www.makeandtakes.com/bouquet-hearts-card-valentines-day
4. Snuggle on your couch and watch some kid-friendly shows with your little one (Daniel Tiger is a favorite in the DeLong household!)
5. Get outside and go on a walk and share some of the things you love about your little one (even if they are too little to understand, just talk out loud to them and let them know how much you adore them!)
6. If you have a porch, go outside and sit and observe what is happening in your neighborhood! One of my most favorite memories with Blaise (my son) when he was a baby (as in he couldn’t crawl) was taking him on the porch and just sitting and watching cars drive by, he absolutely LOVED that so much. It was simple, easy, and free. Also, it gave him joy, which gave my heart joy!
7. Host a Mommy-and-me event at your house and invite your child’s friends over so that you can get to know other moms (and actually have an adult conversation!) If you do not know where to begin on this one, perhaps go to Facebook and find a local moms group in your city and create an event to meet other local moms in your area!
8. Create DIY Valentine’s Day cards to hand out to friends, family, and neighbors. If your little one is old enough, let them help you bake some cookies or desserts as well to hand out as well!
9. If your little one loves to read, go to your local library, check out some books, and read some books together (while sharing some sweet treats together) talk about the books, and maybe even share some memories from when you were a child and what books you enjoyed reading growing up.  This is a great thing to do with an elementary-aged child!
10. Have a family game night. Order take-out and create a picnic area in the living room (or a comfortable area of the house) to spread some quality time with one another.

So I hope I have helped inspire you to think of some creative ways to spend time with your little one this Valentine’s Day! You do not have to spend a ton of money on them to make the day special, just spend time with them and it will show them you value them! If you have a spouse, don’t forget to include them too! 🙂

Next week I will share more from The Promise Manor Valentine’s shoot, but until then, you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for reading!

Meet Your Friendly Nashville Family Photographer

Dolly DeLong is a Nashville-based family & personal branding photographer, and also serves as a business systems educator to new creative entrepreneurs (which is a fancy way of saying, she enjoys teaching how to best lay a good foundation for automating your new business).  Dolly loves serving families, and business owners with her timeless, radiant photography.  She loves capturing the joy and emotion in both digital and film photos.

She also has a heart for serving the larger business community. Dolly shares her knowledge of tools like Pinterest, email marketing, automation processes, and time management with fellow creative business owners in an encouraging and supportive way through her T.A.S.K.* method (an example of this can be seen in her Pinterest Foundations Mini-Course), through helpful blog posts, and other resources. 

Dolly’s faith and love for her family motivate her to help other business owners find the joy and freedom she’s found in running a successful small business.

Whenever she has a spare moment, she enjoys watching TV (i.e. Survivor), eating way too many sweets, and listening to podcasts while running or walking. To work with Dolly DeLong Photography LLC, please email her at thedollydelong@gmail.com or fill out her contact form here.