Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Styled Shoot!! 4.15.2012

I cannot even begin to explain what a fabulous day yesterday's styled shoot turned out to be....but I will.
With the help of vendors who I can't be any more grateful to, we were able to pull off what I consider to be the best "country glamour" wedding shoot I have ever seen. 
For those of you who aren't sure what I mean by styled shoot....it is a photo shoot of a wedding in which I, as the designer, got to put my own personal vision to work. From the wedding cake to the location, I worked with vendors on putting together a look that is exactly what I imagined, in this case, "Country Glamour".
It will take some time to post photos but in the meantime I want to credit the vendors (these pictures below are not from the shoot).....
Videography- Alex Allahverdiev with assistance from his wonderful wife Helen. 
Alex is taking film school courses and despite the fact that he is a student right now, I would
 have to say that he is a professional in the film industry and is now looked at by all us 
vendors at the shoot to be a professional in the wedding industry as well. With all of his 
high-tech equipment and photo/videography knowledge, I can say that I have never worked 
with such a respectful individual in the world of film. Alex showed up before everyone else to
 set up and have everything ready in order to get the entire of production of the shoot. 
I can't wait to see the final product of Alex's film!!!  
Photography- Ananda Shorey of Bliss Fotography
I met Ananda at a bridal faire and soon after, met with her to talk business. She asked me about doing a styled shoot with her and even though I had never done one before, the thought, process and outcome was extremely intriguing. Ananda told me how styled shoots work and how it is a way for me to design a beautiful shoot that will represent my company in which I can use for my own marketing purposes. I couldn't turn it down! Working with Ananda for the past 2 months has been great and I am SOOOOOO excited to see her work and the other two photographer's, Luisa and Shireen. She really made this shoot happen.
Bliss Fotography bio picture
Rentals- Hartmann Studio Rentals
I used Hartmann A LOT when I was working with SpringLoaf Catering as an event assistant and the first rental company I could think of for their amazing pieces was them. I contacted them and within no time they told me they would love to contributing to the shoot. I went in and with the help of a very talented sales associate, I was able to mix and match all the pieces in their showroom. I was told "their showroom is my showroom" and that they were there to support me and my business. I couldn't have felt any happier leaving there knowing how amazing the shoot was going to look with their rentals. 


Stationary- Karla, The card lady. 
Ananda informed me that Karla does wonderful work and that she is a great professional to work with so I let her know about our shoot and she jumped at the opportunity. Karla asked me all about my color scheme, font choices and where everything would be placed. Karla's menus, name cards, table cards, etc. brought our table setting to the next level. I am obsessed with her work and can't wait to work with her again!

Florals- Daisy of Daisy Rose Floral Design
I also met Daisy at a bridal fair (if you can't tell I love bridal fairs) and was amazed at her work. I remember thinking about awesome it would be to work with her and have her florals at an event of mine! I blogged about Daisy a while back because her work is so great. Daisy did a tremendous job yesterday on all of the centerpieces for the table, dessert table, and the bridal/bridesmaid's bouquets. Not to mention, she was extremely communicative throughout the whole process, wanting to make sure everything she did was exactly how I wanted them. 

Favors- Leah Dancer of Love Bucket Baking Company
Leah is a very good friend of mine and literally the best baker I have ever met. Leah, her mom and sister own Love Bucket Baking Company, a handmade cookie truffle (!!) that couldn't look any more appetizing. I run to Leah's house when she informs she has Love Buckets. Love Buckets are a popular wedding favor gift and I knew they would go perfectly with our theme. I was totally right considering Leah walked into the shoot (winning the best dressed award for the day might I add) with a box of lovies for the dessert table and favor sized chocolate brown boxes with cream colored ribbons for the table. 
Love Bucket Baking Company
Wedding Cake-  Kelsey of The Whole Cake
This shoot was a challenging one considering I really wanted to use the most up to date trendy styles that everyone is seeing appear for the upcoming season. However, everyone was on board with that, especially Kelsey. I sent her pictures of some very detailed cakes and expressed to her how much I liked them. She made a beautiful three-tiered cake with raised dots and flowers. The cake was the focal point for our dessert table and made everything on there look spectacular. Orchid
Wedding Gowns- Janene's Bridal
The wedding gowns that the models wore yesterday were so stunning that I am pretty sure every one there had their breathe taken away and a smile on their face. From the sparkly dress, to the ruffly dress to the champagne colored dress these girls looked like the happiest brides on the planet. Janene's Bridal couldn't have been any more helpful from taking us at a later appointment to helping us and our picky taste into the late evening finding the perfect dresses. Also, the accessories from Janene's bridal were exactly what I imagined and made the girls feel and look like a million bucks. 
Bridesmaid Dresses- TART Collections. 
If you can recall my blog from about a year and a half ago, I worked with owners, Jaime and Dana Finegold on a launch part for their store opening. I have ALWAYS been a fan of TART Collections due to the owners being friends anddddd I have never felt more chic but comfortable in a dress for an entire night before wearing one of their dresses. I contacted Jaime about the shoot and worked with his amazing sales associates at the fitting to fine the perfect dresses for our shoot. They fit the models in all the right places and flowed in the wind where need be. Not to mention, the colors (eggplant and dark navy blue) warmed everything up. 

Hair- Summer Albin
Not to brag, but Summer is my hair stylist :):), who has solved all my hair issues and made my hair look celeb status. On top of that, she is one of the sweetest people and was super excited to do hair for this shoot. I knew that I wanted to do something new age with braids and buns since that is so in trend right now and Summer pulled that off completely. She didn't hesitate to go at the complicated braid pictures I showed her. They had the look of bridal with a touch of high fashion. Even after hair was done, Summer followed us around the grounds of the location, hair spray and bobby pins in hand, ready for any flyaways!! 
Makeup- Annie Lau (and assistant Amy)
Annie was referred to me from an associate at Hartmann with a wonderful rapport and huge review. I contact Annie and even though she is a good hour and a half from the location, she was more than happy to drive out for the day! I challenged Annie with a dramatic look on the bridesmaids but one the wouldn't take away from the bride. She did a beautiful rosy face with dramatic eyes and a soft coral lip. Annie, with the help of her assistant Amy, was able to do makeup that popped so well in the pictures, my jaw dropped when I saw it on screen. 

Models- Lauren, Lexi and Sam. 
Again, not to brag, but I have some beautiful friends!!!! Lauren with her tall frame, long blonde hair and pearly whites was our bride. Sam, petite perfectly tan and gorgeous features was also a bride and a bridesmaid. Then my little sister, Lexi who definitely didn't look like my little sister anymore, wore both of the bridesmaid's looks. All of the girls endured this long day with smiles on their faces (it might have been the bottle of champagne shared at lunch that helped).
My Assistant/Friend- Teliah Bertolini
Having a fashion degree and a love for details just as much as I do, I knew that having Teliah stay with me this weekend would be the perfect time considering she would be able to come to the shoot. Teliah dealt with my long phone conversations this past weekend before the shoot and on the day of, ran around with me setting up the table and getting everything prepared. I am so appreciative of her for going through this day with me, couldn't have done it without her help!! 
Location- Grandparents house
A big beautiful white home in the country with a pond, chicken coupe and colorful landscape.....who wouldn't want to do a photo shoot there? Lucky for me, my grandparents built this home not to long ago and we were able to use the home as a photo shoot location. My grandparents are so sweet for letting us use their home and I can't wait to show them how great the pictures turned out :)
Mom & Dad- One more thank you I cannot forget is to my parents who I discussed every little detail with throughout the process and who listened and tried to help out in any way they could. Oh and also thanks for bringing those sandwiches!!! Pretty sure we would have had some fainters without those :):)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

My first styled shoot!

For the past 2 months I have been working on putting together a styled shoot that is going to take place this Sunday!
Partnered up with Ananda Shorey of Bliss Fotography to make this shoot happen, we have focused on getting together great vendors for a photo shoot that will represent the style of Ashley Bloom Events and feature talents of these great contributors. From making my inspiration boards, coordinating with vendors, and styling everything from the tablescape, dessert table and the dresses/hair/makeup I have had SO much fun and can't WAIT to see the gorgeous photos (and video) after Sunday's production. 


We are REALLY hoping to get onto a big wedding blog (or local bridal mag, fingers crossed!!!) through these photos. 


To give an overall concept of the theme (Elegant Country Vintage) here are the inspiration boards...












Stay tuned for the photos/video!!!