JL DESIGNS: photo shoots

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

a martha stewart exclusive: metallic hollywood regency

this has got to be one of my favorite photo shoots to date...getting to collab with other amazing vendors for the GODDESS of weddings, ms. martha stewart, is like a dream come true...plus the design style they wanted us to incorporate was right up my alley - hollywood regency...

they wanted us to infuse loads of metallics in order to tie in with the color theme of their current issue...so we came up with something luxe, sophisticated, soft and dreamy...we also wanted to showcase something OTHER than a wedding...so we went with more of an engagement party feel, with cocktails, champagne and desserts...this could also work for a welcome reception, dinner party or bridal shower!

i designed florals in tones of white, gray, beige and muted copper...

no hollywood regency look is complete without a male bustform ;) renee also brought in the most insane antique gold beverage cart that we topped with greyhound cocktails along with grapewood branches and succulents that i spray painted gold...

shade hotel was a blank slate background and even had this chic white lounge furniture for us to use...

accenting the man of the hour's lapel was a vintage gold pin in the shape of a dog's head ...

and for the bride-to-be, i created a glamorous but subtle head band using gold chain and a gilded succulent...

kristy came up with some beautiful stationary to augment the shoot - i love how she blended metallics with the greyhound motif - super hollywood regency!

for the tablescape, i brought in a chain link patterned runner and some blanc de chine urns to get that regency feel...

i then filled white footed vessels with white hydrangea, pieris, ranunculas, lisianthus, beige scabiosa pods, gray dusty miller, silver brunia berries and these gorgeous muted copper toned garden roses...

beautiful antique gold rimmed china and a placecard with gold beaded trim helped bring more metallics to the tablescape...

more killer props from renee...

cortnie crafted these super easy greyhound drink stirrers...

aaahhhhh, the desserts - truly too beautiful to eat! cupcakes couture did an amazing job coming up with things that were like little golden works of art...gold dusted macarons, marshmallows and shortbread cookies - so, so pretty!

the cupcakes were wrapped with greyhound liners from kristy...

another little DIY project thats super easy to mimic...wouldn't it be fun if guests entered the party and were given these little gems to wear all night? just take some silver or gold chain metal, spray paint a succulent in the matching color and wire it onto the chain to create a bracelet! you can get extra fancy and add a jewelry clasp so it stays put on the guests wrist...

cortnie and i created this little popcorn stand with fabric wrapped tiers and cuffs of beaded metallic trims...it was then filled with salted caramel popcorn and made a fab alternative to a cake...

little cocktail pieces accented with more of the vintage gold doggie pins :)

aimee's silver sequined mini dress and gold jimmy choos were a perfect fit with the metallic vibe...

cortnie created another DIY project with these little mirrors, hung with silver chain from the back of each chair...i hot glued a golden succulent onto each one for added texture...

thank you thank you thank you to these amazing vendors i got to play with!

shoot production and coordination: leila from be inspired pr

photography: jose villa

event design and styling: cortnie from canvas and canopy

florals and styling: me :)

venue: shade hotel, manhattan beach

props: renee from oc prop girl

china, flatware and dog pins: jason from small masterpiece

desserts: cupcakes couture

stationary: kristy from momental designs

hair/makeup: erica from 1011 makeup

white "ottoman" linen: wildflower linens

chairs: classic party rentals

dresses, jewelry and accessories: stylish silhouette

models: the uber adorable troy and aimee grover

and thank you to shira at martha stewart weddings for giving us the opportunity to design for you! to view our feature on the bride's guide, click here...

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)...