4 Easy Tips to Start Designing your Wedding Reception
Laguna Beach Wedding Recap
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Laguna Beach, CA to coordinate an intimate, beautiful wedding for Caroline & Marco. I want to share all of the behind the scenes action and show you why their wedding was so special.
Scheduling Wedding Hair & Makeup- What you Should Know
Today is all about beauty! I chatted with beauty expert Kate Hodges from Kate Erin Beauty Styles, LLC to get the answers to all of your wedding hair & makeup questions. I think we came up with some pretty helpful tips for all of you brides-to-be! Here is everything you should know when scheduling your hair & makeup for your wedding day...
Wade House Wisconsin Styled Shoot
Our Wade House Styled shoot goes down in history as one of the most FUN styled shoots I've ever been apart of! Let me bring it back and tell you how it came to fruition.
My husband, Brandon, and I planned a trip to visit our families back home in Wisconsin and I thought it would be perfect timing to team up with my sister-in-law Anna Bayliss (a fantastic photographer!!) to produce a wedding style shoot together!
... get ready for some GORGEOUS photos coming your way!!!!
Overall, we wanted the shoot to be light and romantic! A lot of the shoot stemed around the romantic nature of bridal fashion. Thanks to Be Inspired PR, we were able to work with some fabulous designers for the dresses! Sarah Janks sent us their beautiful 'GIA' bridal gown for us to showcase. It was a two piece gown with a silk ivory slip and a beaded embellished lace overlay. Our model Hannah carried the lightweight fabric with such grace!
Our sweet bridesmaid models wore a mix of soft pastel hues of dresses designed by Joanna August. We let each girl choose which style they wanted to wear. OH my goodness! It was like Joanna August made a dress specifically for each girl! They fit PERFECTLY and there seemed to be a style that just completed each girl perfectly. haha truly amazing!
We were lucky to partner with beauty expert Kate Erin who has previously worked her magic on models for NEW YORK FASHION WEEK (and she is going back this fall)! She has some mad skills with makeup and made each girl absolutely gorgeous! Jewelry stylist Niki, from Candi by Niki, completed the looks by adding a little bit of extra gold sparkle with a mix of stylish necklaces and bracelets for the girls.
Stationery artist Rachel from Printed Ink Designs did an amazing job of custom designing an invitation suite that echoed our blush watercolor palette.
To continue the romantic, lightweight nature of the dresses, we found soft pink, rose detailed chair covers, made by Wildflower Linens. To really make the chiavari chair covers pop, we used a metallic-like jade color for the table linen.
What really pulled the shoot together were the flowers. Florist Colleen Meulbroek from Caan Floral just so happened to get married a week before the shoot at The Wade House! How awesome is that! She still had her newly-wed glow :) She designed one of the most spectacular pieces I've ever seen... a large cascading floral arrangement coming from the window of a horse drawn carriage! Can you say AH-MAZING?
Now let's chat about details! Anna & I incorporated a handful of items from our family members to style our reception table. The china was actually our mother-in-law's wedding china, the copper chargers were our husband's grandmother's from Mexico, and some of the glass candle stick holders were my grandmother's! It kinda made the shoot extra special :)
Topping off each place setting were hand lettered river rocks. Prairie Letter Shop did a beautiful job with the calligraphy!
I had the fun privilege of reuniting my wedding cake designer Jen Stephanie, from Bettersweet Bakery, to produce this tasty looking buttercream masterpiece.
Ok... now for my FAVORITE detail of the styled shoot... this had made ampersand marquee sign provided by Folk & Fancy Rentals!!! L-O-V-E
The girls who probably injected the shoot with so much FUN & laughter were the videographer duo Lauren & Jessica Schmitt from Double Vision Films! Oh my goodness, they had us all giggling the entire time! They are so versatile with their craft and not only captured the details on film, but they also created a time lapse video of the creation of our reception table AND busted out the drone!
Thanks to all of the fantastic creatives, we pulled off one "stylish" photoshoot. We battled some weary weather, antsy horses, and crunch time with the setting sun. But overall we made magic happen that day!
Anna was an absolute pro at capturing every detail so beautifully! I'm a huge fan of her photography and this was such a fun sister-in-law bonding project!!!
GO TEAM!
Venue – The Wade House // Wedding Planner – JoAnna Dee Weddings // Photography – Anna Bayliss // Videography – Double Vision Films // Hair & Makeup Artist – Kate Erin Beauty Styles // Florist – Caan Florals // Bridal Gown – Sarah Janks // Bridesmaid Dresses – Joanna August // Vintage Detail Rentals – Folk & Fancy Rentals // Cake – Bettersweet Bakery // Jewelry – Candi by Niki // Stationery – Printed Ink Designs // Calligraphy – Prairie Letter Shop // Rentals – All Star Rentals // Chair Covers – Wildflower Linen // Models – Hannah, Jordan, Annabelle, Molly, JoJo and Brittany
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Meet Me By The Sea
I truly believe God puts people in our lives for specific reasons, and I'm so lucky that he put Iliasis in mine :) As I described in some of my recent blog posts, Iliasis, from Iliasis Muniz Photography, was one of the first people who reached out to me after my husband and I made the big move to South Texas. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was to connect with a fellow young entrepreneur in our new home of South Padre! After our initial brunch together we started collaborating on a beautiful beach photo shoot.
Valentine's Day Inspired Engagement Shoot
You guys... this is probably one of the cutest shoots I've been apart of! Get ready for a bright, Valentine's Day inspired engagement shoot at the convention center on South Padre Island.
Inspired by You! Maribel from EightTreeStreet
Have you ever met someone very briefly and in seemingly inconsequential circumstances who ended up REALLY making a big positive impact in your life?! That is exactly what happened to me when I met Maribel.
It is my pleasure to introduce Maribel Kalata. Maribel is a DC/VA florist and owner of EightTreeStreet... oh and I should probably mention that she is literally my favorite human in the world! Let me tell you how we met! ...
Inspired by You! Tara Rochford
Welcome to the second installation of my "Inspired by YOU" blog series! It is my pleasure to introduce to you one of my Butler University, Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters, Tara Rochford!
Tara is extremely talented in many facets of life. She is an incredible singer/performer, she was a fitness instructor abroad a cruise line, and she started an awesome blog named Treble in the Kitchen! Ever since the year she graduated college, she blogs almost every single day, which is inspiring in and of itself...
Inspired by You! Random Acts of Kindness with Leigh McManus
Welcome to the very first installment of my "Inspired by YOU" blog series! When I came up with the idea for this series, I immediately thought of one person to feature in the first edition. Hopefully, she will help kick off your 2015 with an extra dose of inspiration. Meet Leigh McMannus! She is a burst of sunshine who has a heart as big as the world. She is going places my friends.... g-o-i-n-g places. (You can say that I introduced her to you first.) She is a bride to be too! :)
Finding the Right Wedding Photographer for You
I had the chance to meet with Serena from Love by Serena Photography to ask for her advice on what couples need to look for when searching for the right photographer. In the video, she touches on the importance of meeting with a few prospective photographers first. I completely agree with her! Each photographer has a different personality, style, and approach to their weddings. It is important that you feel comfortable with the person(s) shooting your wedding.
Our BIG move to South Padre Island!
Hey all!
I realized that I haven't written a single blog post since April! Well I have a TON to tell you. DC to South Padre Island huh?! I wonder how many people actually make that move in their lifetime! Let me tell you how it all started...