Tuesday, October 5, 2010

a photo shoot for southern weddings magazine

5 months ago, i had the pleasure of working on a photo shoot for the newest edition of southern weddings magazine...jen from green wedding shoes, the ladies of 100 layer cake and emily from once wed were all asked to design a spread with the idea of "what a southern wedding means to them"...when jen emailed me and asked me to come on board i was ecstatic! and nervous...

we met for dinner, looked at each other and said "how can we do this shoot while staying true to ourselves and our california roots?"...i mean, neither of us is from the south...i have never even BEEN to the south (i don't count the florida keys or washington dc - ha!)...so designing an entire shoot around what it "means" to me was going to be tricky...

we decided to go with our first instincts of traditional southern elements (green tomatoes, cotton, lace, bourbon, iced tea, magnolia) but we added in some of our own cali twists (succulents, tomatillos, rum mojitos, poppies)...hope you enjoy the mash-up!!!

style file: traditional south meets california cool
color scheme: peach, cream, mint, tan, brown
elements: green tomatoes, succulents, cotton, tomatillos, mint, wood, lace, magnolia, poppies


this was my version of a "socal" bouquet - peach parrot tulips, blush and coral poppies (california state flower of course!), minty green succulents (which are found all over our state beaches), finished in crochet lace and a gold/pink cameo...







jen designed the ceremony backdrop using strips of fabric and hand-made paper magnolia blooms...we accented it with extra laces i brought in, as well as some rustic crates and glass apothecary jars full of green tomatoes, tomatillos and raw cotton...jeni from found rentals loaned us her wood benches and oversized bell jars...












for the tablescape, we went with one of jeni's light wood tables and a mismatched assortment of bistro chairs...wildflower provided the gorgeous lace overlay and white hemstitch napkins...

i wanted to create something low and dramatic down the length of the table...and something i hadn't seen before...so i started with a larger piece in the center, which was made up of magnolia leaves, white lilac, queen anne's lace, raw cotton, succulents, mint and green wheat...i then added tons of green tomatoes, succulents, tomatillos and raw cotton to both ends to create one long, linear piece...





a cute little tomatillo adorned each napkin setting for a pop of color...



cant get enough of these overhead shots steph took...








for my "southern" bouquet, of course i had to go with 2 things KNOWN for in the south - cotton and green tomatoes - uhhhh....which actually were tomatillos in this case - they are smaller and easier to work with ;)



boutonniere of cotton, mint and green wheat...



jen came up with a fab idea of a "mint station"...the idea is guests could muddle their mint with 2 types of sugar and a variety of fruit and top it off with bourbon + sweet tea (southern style) OR rum and peach nectar (cali style)...









some yummy oatmeal whoopie pies for dessert :)





LOVE this last photo...steph, you are genius...nuff said...


thank you southern weddings for the opportunity to create something pretty for your magazine!

and now to give it up for all the wonderfully talented people involved!

Concept + Design: Jen Campbell (www.greenweddingshoes.com) and Carissa Jones (www.jldesignsandevents.com)
Styling: Jen Campbell (www.greenweddingshoes.com)
Photography: Stephanie Williams (www.stephaniewilliamsphotography.com)
Flowers: Carissa Jones of JL Designs (www.jldesignsandevents.com)
Makeup and Hair by Nyrie www.symmetrybeauty.com using Jouer Cosmetics and Unite
Prop Rentals: Found (www.vintage-rentals.com)
Lace Table Runner + Hemstitch Napkins: Wildflower Linens (www.wildflowerlinens.com)
Wedding Dresses: Temperley London (www.temperleylondon.com/bridal/collection)
Paper details (invite, mint bar tags + sign, name cards): MaeMae Paperie www.maemaepaperie.com
Hair Pieces: Lo Boheme www.loboheme.com/
Groom Shoes: 6pm.com (www.6pm.com)
Models: Chris Marino and Amanda Rau

13 comments:

Carter & Cook said...

The flowers are seriously so impressive! Amazing job girl!! WOW! :)

christine said...

absolutely stunning all round, well done to everyone involved in putting this all together - i love everything about it!

Vicki Grafton Photography said...

Carissa this is just stunning shoot and concept. Love everything about it.

Unknown said...

Love the use of tomatillos and green tomatoes, especially for a Southern wedding. Those oatmeal whoopie pies look delicious!

Paige Appel said...

Beautiful job ladies!!!!

rebeccavalentine said...

Everything is gorgeous. I absolutely love your flowers, Carissa. I love love the color combinations of the first bouquet and the table centerpiece is beautiful! Stunning!

Becky Hill said...

Gorgeous flowers and photography! The cotton is an unexpected and charming accent. Love it!

Merissa said...

The most beautiful wedding! Seriously! And I look at a lot of weddings!

You have GOT to send that picture of you in the embroidered & feathered dress to Temperley. I'm betting they'll be inspired to completely redo their photos and styling, and hire you as their model/muse. Lovely!

Annie @ Marry You Me said...

Ever since I got my copy of Southern Weddings magazine I have not been able to stop staring at this shoot! Such amazing work. I'm especially enamored of the bouquet and the ceremony marker of ribbons and lace! Just gorgeous.

Praveen said...

Love this, it's perfect for spring! Amazing job ladies. I can't wait to share, thanks! {http:\\rivernorthlove.blogspot.com}

Floral Cotton said...

Lovely! Thank you for sharing! www.floralcotton.com always has plenty of Raw Cotton! American Owned and Grown!

Katie Kaighin said...

This is so gorgeous and unique! I love it. What do you use for the base of your long, linear arrangement that allows both flowers and succulents alike to stay in place? Is it just a long brick of oasis?

Katie Kaighin said...

This is so lovely and unique! I love the long, linear tablescape arrangement especially. Do you recall what you use for the base of that arrangement? Is it just a long brick(s) of oasis foam?