I read a post by a fellow wedding vendor a couple of months ago that has really stuck inside my head. In her post she asked everyone to come up with a word that describes their theme for the year. Mine this year is growth. I’ve been working hard to grow relationships, grow following, grow clientele, and grow as a business owner. I would have to say that I did a lot of growing in June. I had the privilege to work on three styled shoots in a row with incredible vendors, attended more networking events, connected with other pros and asked for tips/help, and really pushed myself and my business.
All that being said, I am so proud of the amazing team that came together to help execute a vision I had in my mind and make it even better! When I went on my usual perusing trip through Pinterest, I had a hard time finding inspiration that was wildflower centered without leaning too far into boho or the opposite way, into elegant. I wanted something that felt clean while being romantic and carefree, really using the vibes from Taylor Swift’s Love Story music video as a template, and I would say that that is exactly what we accomplished.
The Team:
As soon as I mentioned wildflowers to Tisha of Perfect Petals, she was all in and started bouncing ideas off me. I knew that her whimsical style would be a perfect compliment to the vision and boy did she deliver. Despite a family emergency on shoot day, she came through with beautiful pieces that were definitely the stars of the show.
Let me just say, God bless Elizabeth. I think this is the second or third vision for a shoot I had brought to her and she’s said “yes” every time. While there are so many amazing photographers here in Kansas City, Elizabeth is one of my personal favorites. Her light and airy style is the perfect compliment to my branding and she knows how to take product photos, something that not everyone can do. You’ll notice how much I love her work considering 90% of my website photos were shot by her! (Hoping to get that to 100% - wink wink). This was the third shoot in three weeks that I had the pleasure of working with her on and by the time this one came around we were both a little worn out and loopy. Through three weeks she was extremely patient with my requests and let me be involved with the way my products were staged and photographed. Thanks to that alone, I now have enough content to last me until December!
Like I was saying, when I asked Elizabeth to join the team for this shoot, she agreed and encouraged me to find a planner to help handle everything. She sent me Sofi’s info and we had a planner! Working with Sofi was an awesome experience. She was always patient with my Type A attitude and brought fresh perspective and ideas that really helped bring the vision to reality. Being so particular about the inspiration, she included me on style decisions like picking out the dishes and flatware at the Good Stuff China warehouse, selecting the dress from Pearl and Lace Bridal, perfecting the stationary vision with Rock Scissors Paperie, and doing the walkthrough at the gorgeous English Barn prior to the shoot. Sofi also tackled the logistics of finding additional vendors to add to the team, and setting up the timeline including coordinating load in and out around a separate event that the venue was hosting that night. She was spot on and an absolute joy to work with. She was such a tireless pro that I had no idea that this was the first shoot she had coordinated until we were nearly done!
On shoot day, despite a few hiccups, everyone brought their A game and it is absolutely obvious in the images. Hello Lovely did beautiful work with hair styling and makeup, playing up the model’s already beautiful features and highlighting her bright eyes, which looked re-donk-ulous! Our gorgeous models were good sports through traipsing all over the incredible venue, in the heat, in a beautiful lace and tulle, sweetheart neckline, ballgown by Pearl and Lace Bridal. I had the pleasure of meeting Taylor of Taylor Elizabeth Cakes, who incorporated fresh flowers on her gorgeous confection to tie in that whimsical element of the day. The place settings that we’d selected from the massive collection by Good Stuff China turned out beautifully in a tablescape adorned with delicate bud vases full of bright colored blooms by Perfect Petals and Rock Scissors Paperie brought a fun, green idea with a stunning invitation suite made of seed paper that can be planted after use.
Coming into this shoot, I had the idea of gathering local wildflowers for my pieces. Through the hot summer heat, through wanting to give up and call HyVee, through it all, my stubbornness and commitment to having authentic, Kansas grown wildflowers won out and I am proud to say that every bit of floral and foliage you see, suspended in my work was hand picked by me and wildly grown in the great state of Kansas.
I chose to take a different approach to arranging the florals in these pieces than I normally do, and left the stems attached and laid them out in a more organic way, that I feel, really captures the spirit of wildflowers. These pieces, along with a few more will be included in the wildflower series as part of my ready to ship collection, coming soon!
At the end of the day, I am so proud of what we accomplished and hope that you enjoy it too!
Thank you again to everyone that volunteered their talents. I’d definitely recommend giving every one of this smashing team a follow: