To say that I’ve been excited to share this with y’all would be a serious understatement. Becky of Event Crush and Cat Dossett invited me to join them to bring this concept to life last April and of course my answer was, “Hell yes!” when Cat said they were shooting at the Hobbit Trail just north of Florence. If you haven’t been to this magical place, get yourself to the coast immediately! Faeries live there for sure. Style Me Pretty just featured this, so now I can too. Check out our full feature over on their blog and leave us some love, eh? Here’s a few more of my favorite shots.

We made an altar in the trees with big swaths of chiffon and these floral tie-backs. It was a big hit with the day’s beachcombers. 

It’s basically impossible to go to the Oregon coast in April without a little bit of rain. It turned into a lot of rain, but didn’t seem to faze anybody. Besides, Cat’s from Alaska, so she’s basically too BA for rain anyway. 

That table is a pallet hanging from the trees, styled to perfection by Becky of Event Crush fame with rentals from Parties To Go. The centerpiece featured roses, ranunculus, columbine, foxglove, anemones, snowberries, astilbe, eucalyptus, and ferns in a low brass vessel set atop a runner of asparagus fern garland. I made the garland on site and when I plopped down in the moss to put it together everybody thought I was using the ferns growing there for a second and their eyes got big and it made me smile. I didn’t forage anything here–I like to leave these sorts of places nice for everybody.

The red, white, and pink bouquet featured those crazy huge Japanese ranunculus along with roses, astilbe, snowberries, anemones, columbine, amaranthus, and three different kinds of fern. We went all out on the trim, naturally. 

Cat made that dress. The woman can do basically anything, I’m not kidding. 

Not pictured: my dad, husband, and kid playing on the beach in the rain while I played with flowers, our “bride” freezing half to death, packing a pallet, bistro furniture set, crate of dishes and accessories, and two boxes of flowers half a mile down a trail, about a bajillion more photos, random passers-by who wanted to know what we were up to, Cat’s super good sport of a boyfriend hauling All The Things, and LOTS more rain. It was a super fun day and I’m so glad to share it with you!

Not possible without the talents of these fine folks:

Cat Dossett

Event Crush

Stationery by Rachel Gregg

Make Up by Reina

Parties To Go

The Sassy Cupcake

you guys! i was just going through and trying to make sense of my completely disorganized folders of photos and i came across a wedding that i never shared here. forgive me! without further ado, here are some beautiful shots by Amy Rollo, who is currently gallivanting around southeast asia, but would probably love to snap photos of you when she gets back.

kellen, one of the sweetest brides ever, chose lavender, blush, ivory, and silver for her palette. i played with that by mixing and matching the colors for the bridesmaids’ hydrangea poufs as well as the centerpieces. the whole celebration was crafted with lots of really beautiful layers, like gorgeous handmade place cards and plenty of candles, so we went all out on trimming the bouquets with lace, ribbon, and fabric.

flower-wise, there’s a whole bunch of delightful goodies here. the hydrangeas really take on a starring role, but i think my favorites are the blushing bride protea and flowering oregano in the bridal bouquet. if i could get that protea year-round i would put it in everything. you’ll also spy amnesia and sahara roses, cafe au lait dahlias,  scabiosa, larkspur, dusty miller, and more. the centerpieces also pick up some veronica, wax flower, and lavender, and a whole bunch of farm-fresh things that i can’t actually name, believe it or not. about half of the flowers were sourced locally around here.

there was just too much to share on tuesday, so thanks for coming back for more. this time, you get what you really want–the bouquet. seriously, everybody goes nuts over bouquets. i do. tables and accents are nice and all…but you don’t get to just bury your face in those all day. if you happen to stalk me on Facebook as well as my home turf here, you could have requested to have your dessert first.

actually, if i had it my way, i’d probably only ever have dessert. i digress…

sarah bernhardt peonies, red charm peonies, dahlias, cymbidium orchids, smokebush, hanging amaranthus, scabiosa, bleeding hearts, lisianthus, chocolate cosmos, and there’s a gardenia thrown in there for good measure. it’s at the back, strategically positioned for maximum scent enjoyment. if you think you’re not into the fragrance of gardenia, put away your lotion and candles and go find a real bloom. good lord. trimmed with gold satin, burgundy velvet, and vintage pearls and brooches.

cymbidium orchid, gardenia, hanging amaranthus, and pheasant feathers.

want an easy way to infuse some pattern into your decor? wallpaper, folks. it’s heavier than you think, so beware if you think you’re going to just to tape it up with painter’s tape. plan ahead and secure it to some plywood to make a real backdrop. ceremony, photobooth, behind the desserts–so many opportunities!

one of the coolest parts of this shoot was that there was a focus on the behind the scenes. (if you’re a geek like me, you might even say that we tore down the fourth wall). i totally knew about this in advance, and yet i still managed to show up in a batman t-shirt with no makeup and slouched the whole time.

and speaking of behind the scenes…brendan from happily ever after films was there to shoot this fantastic tidbit. enjoy! (there’s links below, if the embedded video won’t display for you. click through to watch!)

An Art Deco Inspired Film from Happily Ever After Wedding Films on Vimeo.

a lunch date with anne of anne nunn photographers a little while ago led to some biz chat and brainstorming…and eventually this goodness. i loved working with anne. she gave me a direction–art deco influenced, but updated–and let me run with the rest. i came back with luxe mixed metals and a moody palette of burgundy and ivory, with a little bit of pink for good measure. the concept for this shoot has been rattling around in her brain for literally years now, and i’m so glad i got to help bring it to life for her.

my goal was to marry classic, luxurious elements–peonies, orchids, vintage brooches, and pearl trim–reminiscent of the affluence of the time with just a dash of angsty romance communicated through the dramatic palette (gatsby, anyone?). an editorial photo shoot is the perfect way to play like this. nobody’s going to describe their wedding to me as angsty (how emo!), but there’s plenty here that’s beautiful enough to steal.

beautiful stationery from little arrow drove home the art deco influence. our tableware mixed old and new with modern china alongside vintage touches like champagne coupés and brass and silver containers for the centerpiece arrangements.

of all this though, i think my favorite part was the spectacular venue anne lined up for us. we were in junction city, just north of eugene. the space was a second-story loft, with great old wood floors, soaring ceilings, and exposed brick. in a past life, it was used as a meeting hall for some secret society a la the freemasons. they still had all this crazy furniture there–big upholstered chairs with crazy carved wooden backs. apparently, when the current owner took over the property they found a bunch of ceremonial masks and capes in the closet. spooky, right?

enough talk, show me those pictures!

come back again, and i’ll show you the beautiful couple who modeled for us and what i made for our “bride.” it gets even better: there’s also a video from happily ever after films.

every now and then, i get an itchy trigger finger and have to spray paint some leaves. this is controversial among my colleagues, and many will turn their noses up at this and lump painted leaves in with unnatural blue orchids. worth it.

cafe au lait dahlias, hydrangeas, roses, stock, and (of course) gilded leaves for a july wedding last year. with a matching boutonniere for the mister.

photos by erika nicole.

P.S. now you can hover over the pics here on my blog to pin them. try it, you’ll like it.~

i love the geometry and the details in this collection by erik gutter via artiflor. reason enough to tear some attention away from the flowers and shower it on the vessels that hold them. click through and browse some more, there are some beautifully understated and utilitarian pieces waiting for you.

ready for a new wedding look? i am.

clockwise from top left: samm blake via style me pretty; pam sattler via ffffound, via grumblr…i mean tumblr;  via oncewed; via tumblr after clearly being scanned from some magazine; edyta szyszlo via the collection event studio

this board is inspired the lovely sara and chris, who happen to clean house every time they go to vegas and take a seat at a blackjack table. the look is old vegas, with free flowing champagne, lots of sequins, and dashing young men in tuxedos that sound like sinatra. there may or may not be a marquee involved. the palette is soft and shimmery, in champagne, ivory, and twinkle lights, accented with gold. i’m calling twinkle lights a color from now on.

who thinks this could be pulled off in jackson hole? yeah, raise those hands up there. (that might explain the inclusion of the photo on the bottom right.)

p.s. let it be known that i don’t like tumblr. perhaps, i’m just biased since i use pinterest, but when things have been pinned after they’ve been tumbl’d a few times, it’s basically impossible to track down the true source of an image. so if you know something i don’t know, please do share.

p.p.s. if you only click one link in those credits, let it be the one to edyto szyszlo’s website. it’s maybe the cutest, most inventive site for a photographer i’ve ever seen.