If you love giving gifts that feel personal without costing a fortune, this one is a keeper. A personalized love print is custom framed artwork you make yourself — layering a meaningful background (a love letter or your song’s lyrics) with a pretty overlay and the couple’s names and date. It makes a beautiful, inexpensive wedding or anniversary gift, and it’s just as lovely as a piece of home decor for your own walls.
The best part? Once you’ve made one and have a template, you can personalize it for anyone in minutes. Here’s how it comes together in three simple layers.
What You’ll Need
- A computer with a word processor or a free design tool like Canva or Google Docs
- A printer
- Card stock paper
- A frame (an 8×10 works great)
Layer 1: The Background
Start with your background. You have two options: design your own personalized background, or use one of the ready-made ones below.
To make your own, here’s what I did:
- Add your text. I copied the text of a love letter my husband wrote me during a key moment in our relationship. You could do the same, or use the lyrics to your song.
- Shrink the margins. I set my document margins to about 0.2 inches. My computer warned me it was outside the print margin, but it still printed just fine.
- Make it pretty. I switched to a fancier font — I used Janda Elegant Handwriting because it looks handwritten. (Next time I want to scan in an actual letter in my husband’s own handwriting — wouldn’t that be special?)
- Justify the text so the words fill the whole page, edge to edge.
Prefer a shortcut? Our designer Leah Aldous created three beautiful ready-made backgrounds you can use instead:
- The lyrics to the love song “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
- The phrase “I love you” in several different languages
- The dictionary definition of love
Whichever background you choose, print it out — card stock gives the best result. Once it’s printed, you’re ready for the next layer!
Layer 2: The Overlay
Now for the main focus — the overlay phrase that sits on top of your background. Leah designed four pretty options to choose from:
To add it, place your freshly printed background back into the printer and print the overlay on top. One tip from experience: double-check which direction the design will print — I may or may not have printed a few upside down!
At this point you already have an adorable piece of art you could frame as-is — or you can personalize it even further.
Layer 3: Personalize It Even More
This is the step that makes it a perfect wedding gift. Once you have a template, just swap in each couple’s name and wedding date. Here’s how:
- Insert a text box. In your word processor or design tool, add a text box to the document.
- Type your text. This is where the couple’s names and wedding date go. I used two text boxes — one for the names and one for the date.
- Pick your fonts. I used Freebooter Script for the names and The Blue Cabin for the date, but there are thousands of free fonts to choose from.
Position it just right. Placing the text box is a bit of a guessing game. Put it roughly where you think it should go, then print it on a separate sheet — not your final background/overlay page. Lay that test sheet over your finished print and hold it up to the light to see if it lines up. Adjust and test-print until it’s perfect. Hint: keep your frame size in mind. An 8×10 frame with 8.5 x 11 paper means you’ll be trimming, so leave a little room.
Once it’s positioned, load your final background-and-overlay page into the printer (facing the right way!) and print your names and date onto it. Done!
Frame It & Enjoy
Find a cute frame and trim your print to fit — trimming an 8.5 x 11 sheet down to 8×10 actually looks better, since it runs the background right to the edge. Pop it in the frame and you’re done!
The steps look long written out, but it really is fast — especially once you’ve made your first one. I couldn’t stop at one and ended up making several for friends!
There are so many possibilities here. It’s a beautiful, personal wedding or anniversary gift for any couple — inexpensive, handmade, and full of meaning. A big thank-you to our designer Leah Aldous for the gorgeous background and overlay designs!
More Romantic DIY Gift Ideas
Love a handmade, personal gift? Here are a few more to try:
- DIY Photo Pillow From Your Home Printer
- DIY Heart-Shaped Picture Poster
- 25+ Anniversary Date Ideas, Gifts & Printables
Personalized Love Print FAQs
It’s framed artwork you make yourself, layering a meaningful background (like a love letter or song lyrics) with a pretty overlay phrase and the couple’s names and wedding date.
It’s inexpensive, made at home, and deeply personal. You can customize it with the couple’s names, their wedding date, and a meaningful quote, which a store-bought gift can’t match.
Just a computer with a word processor or free design tool, a printer, card stock paper, and a frame. That’s really it.
A love letter, the lyrics to your song, the phrase I love you in different languages, or the dictionary definition of love all make beautiful backgrounds.
Absolutely. Swap in your own names and anniversary date, or use your wedding song, and it becomes a personal anniversary gift or a sweet piece of home decor.
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We love your comments
I’ve done the first two layers and it looks great! I’m working on the names and date now! How did you do the hearts?
I am so glad you found this and are enjoying it so far! For the hearts, my word document program had a button with shapes and I just chose the heart shape, placed it between my numbers and then played with the color. I hope that helps!
I do not see where to access the pages referenced above. It just keeps showing me a picture when I click on which number I want to use.
Rebecca – I am glad you found this post! Hopefully you are able to make a beautiful gift! To download the templates you will see this phrase at the bottom of the post: “You can get all of Leah’s beautiful printables right here to get started on your own project” and then there are large pink words that say “BACKGROUNDS” and “OVERLAYS” You can click on those words to start your download! I hope that helps! Enjoy!
OMG! This is the cutest idea! We always give money for wedding gifts, but that’s so impersonal. I like to tack on a cute diy gift too! This is perfect for the one we’re going to in a couple weeks. How do I download the templates that were made?
Amanda – I am glad you like it! It is seriously so simple but so personal! I had given some away and they have loved it! To download the templates you will see this phrase at the bottom of the post: “You can get all of Leah’s beautiful printables right here to get started on your own project” and then there are large pink words that say “BACKGROUNDS” and “OVERLAYS” You can click on those words to start your download! I hope that helps! Enjoy!
The link is not working! Could you help me please?! I need them for a gift I’m giving soon! Thank you!
I am sorry you have had issues accessing the printables! I just sent you an email with the printables attached. Please let me know if you do not receive them!
How did you get the hearts on the date?
Love this idea!! What size font did you use? And if it doesn’t fill up the entire page, do you just repeat?
The font I used for the names was Janda Elegant and it is set at 80. Depending how long your names are though you will have to play with what looks the best for you!
Rachel –
I am so glad that you enjoyed this! I am sure it turned out beautifully! It is such a great gift to give. I am so glad that you found our site and appreciate hearing how it has affected your marriage!
I just did the personalized print. I love it. I’ve been looking forever how to frame a love poem my husband wrote to me. It turned out great. I did my own large print that does in the middle. I just typed Love Poem. in the middle. Thanks for the idea. It’s our 7th anniversary this weekend. and this will show him how much I love the poems he writes to me.
By the way I just wanted to say how much this website has helped my marriage in the past 6 months. We were kind of getting in a rut. But by doing some of the dates on this website it was giving me a new found excitement for my marriage. It’s so much fun.
Just did this for a wedding present to go inside a nice frame! I did the L O V E letters in bold over the writing instead, but both ways looked beautiful. I love this idea AND your website, your site is always a ” go to” for crafts and gifts.
So glad it turned out!!! XOXO
This is adorable! I must try it!
I might try this! We did a hand fasting ceremony, and I have been trying to figure a way to put the vows on display as a gift for my husband. Thanks for the idea!
Personalized word art is HUGE right now – I love the new addition of the layering. Beautiful!