We were thrilled to find out that a recent collaborative wedding photo shoot was featured yesterday on Ruffled Blog!
Midsummer, we were starving for something different and unique. Seeing so much of the same thing, we were
moved to pull together a group who could re-invision vintage from an artist’s perspective. Chelish Moore Flowers, flowers
and decor on this design team, introduced us to Carol of Piedmont Renaissance Center in Concord.
We loved their space but we are always looking for different and rare, so Chelish wanted to show us the upstairs…precisely 8 sets of staircases up.
Falling in love with a 1920′s loft space, pre-renovation, I was instantly transported to the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Loving anything that reminds me of NOLA, I wanted to come up with a concept that was a direct reflection of what
two young artists might plan. Playing around with the idea of water color and paint splatter, we knew we didn’t want the entire
concept to be based on that as it wouldn’t be eclectic and relaxed enough. We decided on a color palette based on our company,
ivory, turquoise, earthy and gold accents. We also have a beautiful paisley chair and wanted to incorporate that into the shoot.
We turned to Stephanie Huxter of Inspire Design Studios to help us pull together this unique, vintage remix. Stephanie embraced so
many of the concepts but added her own beautiful touches like the stained and faded wood accents. She designed the watercolor stationery
elements by hand and made each piece so special. We proudly display the real pieces in our gallery!
Using Amy Craparo of Wow Factor Cakes was a no-brainer, and I know that Amy is best when inspired by elements like the florals, details of the
dress and the stationery. In this case, we asked Amy to make this cake a best friend to Stephanie’s watercolor design, as if an artist painted the cake.
Not only did Amy far exceed my expectations, although at this point I always expect perfection from her so not sure how she keeps doing that, but she
made this cake move! Seriously, each edible abstract flower accenting the cake wiggled a bit, the way a flower might if a slight breeze caught the petals.
I had a very hard time giving that cake back for her display area!
We wanted lace as the through line for our bridal look and wanted to deconstruct and make it as relaxed as possible.
We took that approach into the table cloths, which were provided by Chelish Moore Flowers, even taking extra
pieces of lace to hang over the backs of the simple white dining chairs to add a bit of softness. Again, we
wanted the event to look pulled together from objects that they may already own.
The splatter coffee table was a roadside find that Casey painted for about $15 and
something that the couple could reuse.
When building the fashion side of this inspiration, I turned to CJ at J Majors Bridal. I let her know
we wanted lace with nothing fussy. I wanted the bride, in this case Heather Lewis, to be able to walk barefoot and not
need a beach to justify it and to look and feel uncomplicated yet beautiful.
Pulling from my favorites Claire Pettibone, Nicole Miller and the new Erin Grey Couture line,
we had all the lace we needed for our gorgeous bride. Next to accessorize with pieces that she might
already own, we did some shopping with Erin McDermott Jewelry for the combination of fun, fabulous and
totally wearable. I loved Erin’s pieces for their flexibility and pops of color and texture!
And to make our bride’s skin and hair reveal a free spirit who is lovely inside and out, Kymm McLean of
Who’s the Fairest was another super easy choice. I loved Heather’s dewey skin and smokey eyes, loads of
cascading curls and she was stunning! I had fun changing up the hair and even add a rock inspired headband
of extra lace from the hem of her dress.
Our groom, Chase Manly, needed a look that was as far away from cookie cutter as we could get. For much needed
help, I called up Gabe Morton who is a friend and local vintage clothing hound. Gabe has a great idea for pieces
that are both simple and full of style and I love his personal look. We pulled together everything from a vintage
tux jacket with jeans and a scarf to a vintage baby blue linen button down with a tailored vest and white linen pants.
Mixing in clothing that he would have already owned, we supposed that he would invest in a new vintage tie to go with his
paper made corsage wrapped around a paint brush.
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Lastly, I have to give my husband big props for hand dying the watercolor runner for the ceremony aisle!
It was another fun twist that we thought our couple would add to their wedding day. I can’t wait to use it again for another shoot!
Like any artistic venture, pulling together a group is a lot of work and in this case actually resulted in a LOT of sweat!
The sweat, flights of stairs and heat was worth it. We want to thank all of our collaborators and wonderful models!
We love being involved in an industry that continues to inspire!
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