Part One

I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to put together my own styled shoot! This all began when another photographer and I agreed to second shoot for each other! I thought it was a good idea for us to work together before a real wedding and it would give us additional portfolio work. From the beginning, I wanted a casually elegant styled shoot and I searched Pinterest endlessly for ideas!

My Group

I think Katie at Katherine Beliveau Photography had no idea what she was agreeing to when I told her my idea! LOL! My sister and Mom didn’t either and all three went along with my insatiable quest to put this together! I asked a few other vendors to participate, Gerri Russell at Pretty Petals, Pam Davis at PD’s Genuine Beauties, and Shannon Childress at Bogue Sound Distillery! These terrific vendors provided me with their services and products!

The Planning

I spent months on the phone with my sister (aka DIY Queen) and my mom planning. I could never have created this without the two of them. Every idea was met with both of them listening to my vision and making it happen! My sister, Shara is incredible! Not only was she my cake artist, but she also did hair for both of the brides, help me put together tablescapes, hemmed wedding dresses, you name it, she did it! My mom was also listening and then out shopping for the things I said I needed. She bought fabric, napkins, beads, and anything else I requested and spent hours polishing silver! And when I say hours, I mean hours were spent polishing silver goblets and candlesticks that had 25 years of tarnish on them!! The results were incredible! Thanks Mom!

Two of Everything

And the models, well it really helped that both my niece and nephew were recently engaged and all four agreed to be my models. Yes, that’s right, I wasn’t putting together a styled shoot with one couple, one vision, and one color palette, I decided to go big and put together two of everything. Two couples, two color palettes, two sets of bridal attire, two cakes, and two sets of tablescapes! It was crazy but I was trying to allow lots of options and variety for Katie and I.

The Location

The location for the styled shoot was always my issue! I toyed with so many ideas and couldn’t make up my mind. We had to do this on a Saturday as my family was driving up from NC and Katie was coming from West Virginia. I knew asking everyone to take off from work wasn’t an option. And I knew wedding venues would already be hosting weddings and would not be available. For all the time spent planning, I just couldn’t iron out where to do this.

The couples were staying at a local resort and my idea all along was to use that as our location but the day before Shara and I realized it just wouldn’t work. So at the last minute, I asked my neighbors, Chuck and Laura to use their property. These two love to garden and their yard is beautiful! They are the best neighbors and when I asked them, they immediately said “Whatever you need!” I was doing my happy dance in my head as I walked back home!! And if you need a veil tosser, Laura is AMAZING! I have the best veil toss pictures EVER!

First up, Salim and Ian! Next week will be Wendi and Sage and after that will be vendor highlights! So be on the lookout for more posts from this Casually Elegant Styled Shoot! Enjoy!!

Want to see a recent wedding, click here: Kayla and Chris – Married!

Florals: Gerri Russell at Pretty Petals

Cake Artist: Shara Childress

Makeup Consultant: Pam Davis at PD’s Genuine Beauties

Hair: Shara Childress

Signature Cocktails: Shannon Childress at Bogue Sound Distillery