Monthly Archives: October, 2009

When I blogged Brandon’s photos from the Jessica Claire photography workshop a few weeks ago, I had no idea that the photos from that event were going to be picked up by so many wedding blogs. What a pleasant surprise! Since this shoot turned out to be such a hit, I thought I’d share a little bit about the “behind the scenes” design process…

The lack of color in the natural backdrop of this rustic shooting location allowed us to go with a muted color palate and know that it would still stand out.

Summer and I had oodles of fun gathering all the little details for this tablescape. Summer started her design process with the idea of the hot-air balloons and a vintage french aesthetic. When she told me that she was going to use vintage papers, I suggested that we also incorporate old books. I’m sort of a fiend for books, and have a rather large collection of old books that I’ve collected over the years, mainly from my travels in England. Summer also did some incredible DIY paper/book projects.

Many of the detail items were pilfered from Summer’s house. This fabulous chandelier, for example, usually hangs in Summer’s bedroom!

This ridiculously fantastic paper-mache balloon was made by Summer. It was a HUGE project, terrifically time-consuming, and we had so many text-messages and phone calls back and forth during the process as we tried to figure out the most efficient way of paper-macheing the world’s largest balloon (okay, perhaps I’m exaggerating… slightly). About half of the chairs were picked up at garage sales and estate sales, and the other half came from my home and Summer’s home.

Some of the vessels used for floral arrangements were found by Summer in vintage shops, while a few came directly from her home (like this silver piece, which was sitting on her kitchen windowsill with a green plant inside!).

As for the flowers themselves, Summer gave me a color scheme of pale peach and pink, cream, and aqua.  I used Caramel garden roses, “Engagement” roses (the coraly roses), “Versilia” (the smaller caramel roses) and “Else” (the coral spray roses).

Then I found other flowers that would help me produce a vintage gardeny vibe- we wanted a truly organic look that didn’t look too “perfect.” So I found some peachy stock, pink sedum, pink hyacinth, queen anne’s lace, and assorted pinky/peachy/orangy ranunculus.

I used lots of dusty miller for foliage, and added in dried lotus pods, silver brunia, pink astilbe, and scabiosa pods to really go crazy with the texture. Texture is my favorite design element by far!

Summer provided me with tissue-paper flowers, and I incorporated them into the bridal bouquet and the groom’s boutonniere.

Every element of this design collaboration came together so perfectly, and I’m always amazed when I step back and take a breath to realize “it’s done.”  This collaboration was the result of a really impressive design team, and I’m so pleased to look at the photos and know that I was a part of the process from the beginning all the way through to the finished product.

CREDITS | Stylist: Summer Watkins | Floral Design: Lauryl Lane | Hair & Makeup: Vivian Tran of All Made Up | Invitation & Paper Goods: Megan Gonzalez of MaeMae Paperie | Paper Goods Printing: Czar Press | Hair Accessories, Shoe Clips, Banner: B. Poetic | Cake: Cheryl Stewart of Cake My Day | Calligraphed Boutonniere Tags: Victoria Hoke Lane of Calligraphos, Ink | Location: Riley Wilderness Park, Mission Viejo CA.

ELSEWHERE | Style Me Pretty, Part One | Style Me Pretty, Part Two | Style Me Pretty, Part Three | Jessica Claire, Part One | Jessica Claire, Part Two | Grey Likes Weddings