Today would have been the 50 Year wedding anniversary for Elvis & Priscilla…
…so in honor of that, we are proud to present photos of a St. Louis wedding styled shoot we did at this year’s Shutterfest (the most kick-ass photography conference on the planet)! www.shutterfest.com
I absolutely LOVE doing styled shoots!
Putting them together helps get some creative ideas out of my head and into the camera. They let me stretch my creative legs and they give me a good chance to practice lighting and posing (so that I’m not doing that at my client’s weddings).
When I was first starting out, styled shoots helped me build my portfolio, build relationships with vendors, and helped my SEO by getting published (inbound links, woop!).
The idea for this shoot has been in my brain for several years now, and finally got the chance to make it happen for my class “Rock Your Styled Shoots”. I wanted to give my students something they could use in their own portfolios by putting together all (or most) of the elements you would see on a wedding day, in a really cool way.
We live by the phrase, “Go big, or go home!”…
Putting together a styled shoot in another city where no one knows me was a little bit challenging. I had to “sell” the idea to work with me and do it for free, and promise my vendors that it would be worth their while. It’s not an easy thing to do! Thankfully, these professionals are just that and we made it all come together – this shoot wouldn’t be half as cool if it weren’t for them, and for that I am so grateful for their help!
From invitations to a tablescape, and all the details in between, I’m stoked to present my “60’s mod” themed shoot! I love rock n roll (my daughter was named after The King), and big hair & makeup from that era.
The Story
My favorite part of putting together a shoot is the story. Johnny and Presley ran off and got married at the Court House. They’re so in love and happy to be with each other that all that other stuff didn’t matter. They then threw a reception so their friends and family could celebrate with them…
We about died when we found this design on Pinterest, and decided to use it as inspo. We tried to incorporate different things from Elvis such as the hashtag #lovemetender – the wedding website foolsrushin.com – the Sun Records label – and some of the wording throughout the invitation suite.
Gaaaah! Aren’t the gorgeous?!
I must have told them 100 times, “You guys are so cute!”
Working with professional models makes a WORLD of difference! Stephanie & Josh (a real couple to boot) were absolutely fantastic. Their communication before the shoot was spot on, always getting right back to me, and being very involved with getting the right details together on their end. Models have a reputation for being “flaky”, or unreliable. NOT the case with these two… professionalism goes a long way! Not to mention that they were absolutely ADORABLE together…
We were on a time crunch (since the first set of models never got back to me), so I didn’t have time to get Josh a suit. He happened to have his own navy suit and bought a yell0w tie to match the details of the shoot! I found the perfect little record cuff links on Etsy tying in the rock-n-roll aspect.
We listened to my Elvis playlist while getting ready for the shoot!
Stephanie’s dress came from Denver with me from one of my most favorite shops, Little White Dress. Covered in pearls and tea length, it was absolutely perfect. We added some yellow “pop” with a petticoat found on Etsy, and her shoes were found at Target for $10! Her earrings and necklace were my Grandmother’s that she got in Hawaii in the 60’s. I love how the yellow center of the plumeria works for this shoot! I also wanted to do something more authentic and different than what you see in today’s weddings (pearls or rhinestones). Her hair & makeup was done by me…big hair & big lashes…
…had they left it unattended, I might have made off with it!
I LOVE old cars, in fact I’m a total sucker for them, and try to incorporate one every chance I get. So of course I HAD to have one for this and found a white 1957 Lincoln at Motoexotica in St. Louis. My friends down there were fantastic to work with and they were so professional and excited to help us out! The car was beyond perfect and absolutely gorgeous
Being that I’m in Denver, obviously I am not able to fly with a table, chairs, etc. to St. Louis. Thankfully, I found An Affair To Remember to help with all the tablescape details. They helped me last year, so of course they were my first stop. Blakely and I brainstormed through Pinterest and came up with some really cool ideas. I loved the thought of using milk glass, and Blakely already had a ton of it, including a cake stand! The linen she chose reminds me of the velvet wall paper from the 60’s!
Speaking of cake, my new friends over at the award-winning bakery, The Sweet Divine made a perfect little cake for the shoot, which looked adorable on the milk glass cake stand! We used two little glass “birds of happiness” bought at an antique shop for the cake toppers…
Their choice in flowers made everything look so sweet and cute!!
Tying everything together flawlessly were the flowers! Artistry Florist & Event Design put together the bouquet, boutanniere, and centerpiece. Using daisies and those little round balls (don’t know what they’re called), they were beyond perfect.
I put the other details together from stuff I already had (the cute blue suitcase for cards), or found at thrift stores and antique shops, or made my me (invitations, signage).
#lovemetender – adorable right?
Even though I am ALL FOR unplugged weddings, so many couples are incorporating unique hashtags as a way to collect all those iphone photos…so why not us!?
The “guest book” vinyl was found on Etsy at American Vinyl Co., and we had the students in the class sign it (the names of the Bride & Groom are actually my kids’ names!).
Venue: Union Station Hotel, St. Louis, MO | Dress: Little White Dress | Formal wear: Model’s own | Tablescape: An Affair To Remember | Florals: Artistry Florist & Event Design | Chair Rentals: Weinhardt’s | Cake: The Sweet Divine | Guest Book: American Vinyl Co. | Vehicle: Motoexotica | Hair & Makeup: Jewels Gray | Shout out to my friend who took a load of stuff I couldn’t fit in my suitcase: Vinessa Olp | Special THANK YOU to my lovely Assistant Sharon!! | Special SPECIAL THANK YOU to my girl Chelsea for being my wheels while in town xo
