If you want to give one of your photos a softened, romantic look but don't have the photography filters to use, here is a very simple way to get a very similar effect in PhotoShop.
Open your photo, and using the marquee tool, select the whole image or the part of the image you want to apply the effect to, then click Ctrl + C to copy the photo to your clipboard. Here I am using one of my candle photos, and I am romanticizing the whole photo.
Next, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and move the slider to the right until you have put a large amount of blur into the photo. How much you use depends on the effect you want. You can always adjust the blur level later in your Layers Palette. I am using a blur ration of 43.5 in this photo.
Next, click Ctrl + v to copy the image being held on your clipboard over top of the blurred image. Go to your Layers Palette and adjust the opacity for this new level until you can see the blurred image underneath. I am using an Opacity ratio of 54% on this image.
At this point in time you can alter the levels of your blur or the opacity until you have achieved the effect you want. Save your new image and you're all done. Remember to use Save As if you don't want to overwrite your base photo.
