Happy Friday..errr Thursday, friends. I have been so swamped with weddings lately. When you are in the thick of a busy season it is easy to get overwhelmed with logistics, labor, anxiety, etc. People always say "Oh, you have the best job, I would love to just play with flowers all day!". There is SO much labor in flowers, people. So. Much. Ordering and knowing how/when/where to order. Pricing and meeting with clients and brainstorming and constant emails with vendors, brides, parents, event planners - all simultaneously for a number of events. THEN you get the flowers. You have to clean + process every single stem. Create the designs and all that goes into it, pack them for delivery and THEN the actual delivery/setup and midnight return to break it all down, clean up and take home. After that you have a studio that looks like an actual tornado rolled through. Your bones ache, your feet hurt, your hands are cut up, BUT you feel so happy that your client is happy and then you do it all over again and again. So, when I am in those moments of feeling overwhelmed and tired, I step away. I take an hour or a day and regroup. I look at photos or blog posts or sweet notes from clients. Then I reflect on the 10 months that this business has been open and remember how insanely grateful and honored I am for the amount of work I have received and the type of events that people have trusted me with. It is one thing to invest in yourself, but when others invest in you, man that feels good.
So, as I enter another wedding weekend I am reflecting on a styled shoot I was a part of last February. Not sure what a styled shoot is? It's when a group of vendors get together to brainstorm, collaborate and create. You all offer your services to each other for a final product that can be picked up by publications, added to your portfolio, and help build relationships with other/new (to you) vendors. Having moved here fresh off of being a Project Manager for major photo shoots, I was not sure that styled shoots even happened in Indiana. Basically, what you see in magazines and on websites are styled shoots - referred to as editorial. The definition of editorial is: relating to the commissioning or preparing of material for publication. The wonderful thing about doing a styled shoot on your own is that YOU are the client. You get to come up with the inspiration, the colors, the details. SO, today I am sharing a styled shoot I worked on and the many wonderful Indy vendors that shared their talent and time. At the time of the shoot, I had only lived here for 4 months and was thrilled to be invited on board with vendors like Stacy Able, Leslie White, Laurel Hall, Madeline Marzec, LUXEredux and Jupiter and Juno.
This shoot was the initial baby of Madeline Marzec of Ry & I Creative. I met Maddie the first time I went to one of the local flower wholesalers. I had no clue what I was doing and had only worked within the NYC flower market - which is like a giant mall of flowers and you just buy what you see. It also happened to be a horrible snow storm and my first time driving in one. I was rattled and Maddie's friendly warmth automatically drew me to her. I decided right there that we would be friends. We bonded over both being new to Indy, both having recently moved here from big cities, and lots of other things like our love affair with vintage Coach bags. A friendship was born. Maddie pulled in this team of vendors and they hit the ground running. I came in towards the end when these ladies had worked out so many fun details. They told me to think LA meets the Midwest. Tropical, modern and fresh were important terms. We knew this was something the Midwest had not seen and we all had a blast working together. Stacy Able of Stacy Able Photography took so many stunning photos. Leslie White of Leslie Hair and Makeup (and her Assistant Shellee Summersett) did the most stunning and clean hair/makeup for our already gorgeous models Meghan + Phillip Bowers. Leslie and Shellee knocked out multiple looks - and quickly! LUXEredux provided glam designer gowns while Jupiter and Juno wowed us with a colorful stationery suite. Quirky Kate Spade heels, The Mrs. Box and macrame placemats from Mount Macrame were fun details that tied in the modern touches. Make sure you scroll all the way down to the links for all involved vendors.
As for flowers, Maddie gave me complete creative freedom and the only guidelines were to keep it bright, tropical, creative and inspired by citrus. This was my first time using actual food with flowers. I LOVE texture so using the clementines in the arrangements just made my heart happy.
After setting up the ceremony space, we felt like something was missing. Then it hit me. LA>Orange County>Orange Grove. I attached the oranges to the artificial topiaries that Laurel Hall provided and it was the perfect compliment to the pressed greens that Maddie created from World Market floating frames. I used more of that hand dyed silk I am always swooning over in a dark hue of forest green and we had THE cutest macaroons made by Stacy Able herself! Stacy and Maddie put together the spunkiest little dessert bar that you ever did see!
Stacy had the idea for an avant-garde inspired shot. Maddie styled our model laying down on the floor while I styled loose petals around the bride. Stacy took images from the stair case, floors above, and the product is pretty amazing.
The best part of the whole day? Stacy brought her green VW van and I got to adorn it with tropical greens, a homemade eucalyptus wreath, citrus and daisies inspired by the 60's VW van era. Maddie styled our model in a vintage silk dress and I made a special bouquet of only pin-cushion protea + monstera to mix modern + vintage. Stacy shot some images on film during the day and holy cow - the film images are so so good.
A recap with some of my favorite images and a huge thank you to Laurel Hall and their AWESOME staff. Laurel Hall is beyond words gorgeous. A former fraternity home, it sits up high on a regal hill and boasts some of the prettiest historical details that Indy has to offer. I felt like a character in The Great Gatsby all day long! Brides - GET MARRIED THERE! And thank you to my fellow creatives for welcoming me to Indy with such a fun day and to our models that were so patient and hung in there all.day.long! Planning a styled shoot? Let's chat!
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