AHHH!! I am super duper excited for this Wedding Wednesday!! So excited that I have this wedding shoot already on the blog and the shoot happened last Saturday! This rarely happens, but hey, when you have a free day the day after the shoot and you are in love with the photos, you just gotta do what you gotta do! ;P
This wedding blog post is a little different from the typical wedding post. This post is actually a styled wedding shoot!
I have been wanting to photograph Marissa + Mike in a wedding type of setting for MONTHS. I have worked with this couple the past couple years and when Mike was deployed last year, I sent Marissa a message saying I wanted her to be a “model” for me, but I wanted Mike to be there too! So, we waited until he arrived home. Once he arrived home in November, that is when the real planning started.
All I had in mind was to work with a bridal dress shop and a florist for the bouquet, but when I met Yoco of Pure Serendipity Events at a Tuesdays Together in October, everything changed! Yoco and I ended up meeting up early December for some coffee on a cold evening to catch up and talk details. When I told her about Marissa + Mike and what I wanted to do for them, she wanted to do more than just a bouquet for them! She wanted to do a full styled shoot and surprise them with it all! If she wanted to willingly do what she does best and what she loves as a creative, I was ALL FOR IT! I was so excited she wanted to do this and I was even more excited to gift Marissa + Mike this experience.
As I continued to talk with Emily and Anna at Ferndales Bridal, I let Yoco do all the rest of the planning for this. All I asked was to have a touch of my aqua (of course, right? 😉 ) and that is all. I let her be free and fill her heart with what she wanted. She gathered the rest of the vendors and I am so thankful she did, because everyone made this shoot such a blast and it all turned out beautifully! I can’t thank them enough for all their planning + hard work!
As the week approached, we ended up having to switch the date of the shoot. We did not have any rain all week, but the day of our shoot was Sunday and the forecast said there would be rain. The day before and after would be sunny, but the day of our shoot? Yeah, no sun… Full of wind + rain. That’s California, for ya! hahah! So, with the luck of it being slow season for us wedding vendors, all of us were able to make it work for Saturday! We tackled the harsh sunlight and made this shoot an unforgettable one. As soon as we were on the road to head back to Orange County, we had rain clouds surround us and had some drizzle. Great timing, right? I think so! 🙂
Now, before I go into the photos, I do want to talk about the sweet couple we did all the work for. Marissa + Mike.
These two are one of the most laid back, outgoing, sweetest, funny, oh my… I can go on and on, couple! When you are with either of them or even better, both of them, you already know you will have a good time. We don’t get to see each other often, but the times that we have worked together or when I am in their area, we try to get together and catch up. They have turned into such sweet friends, instead of just clients and I am thankful for them.
These two met through a mutual friend, while Mike was actually at boot camp for the Marine Corps. Writing letters to each other is what really started it all. Marissa has been there with Mike through it all. Through boot camp, moving away from home to another state, multiple deployments, and just simply being a military spouse. It’s tough, but they make it work and they make it look easy! (Though, we know it’s not!) They are two strong individuals, but even stronger together. They never had a wedding, when they got married two years (almost three) ago. Due to majority of the family not being here in Southern California, budget, and deployments, they just wouldn’t be able to do it. So, that is where I came in and wanted to do this for them… and I did, with the help of many vendors, of course! They now have “wedding” photos to look back on for many years to come.
This is what truly fills my heart. Being able to give my work to people and for them to cherish for YEARS to come. Their marriage is beautiful and they deserve to have these beautiful photos to go with it. These are the moments that are captured for the couple themselves, but also so that their future kid(s) can look back on and hear their love story, then their grand-kids, and so on!
I hope you all enjoy the photos from our styled wedding shoot!
Again, a HUGE thank you to all the vendors!!
Photography: Shelby Danielle Photography
Coordination/Planner/Florist: Pure Serendipity Events
Venue: Harmony House – Hutchinson Wedding
Bridal Gown: Ferndales Bridal
Sweetheart Chairs + Farm Table: Rustic Urban Events
Dinnerware + Décor: Vintage Owl Rentals
Cake: Nicole Bakes Cakes
Linen: Glow Concept Linens
Stationary: Tangé Design
Makeup: Allie Jackson
Hair: Candace
We had a little visitor come to the flowers! 😛
