For my final project as an intern with Kristen weaver photography, I designed and planned my first inspiration shoot. This project entailed finding inspiration to create an overall vision, selecting and contacting the vendors that I wanted to be a part of the team, lots of running around town, and then being at the venue to put everything together and make sure the day went off without a hitch.

This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I have found a new love in the creativity of styled shoots. It is something I want to continue to do as I grow into a creative wedding professional. I could not have done any of this without the amazing and incredibly talented vendors who all had a hand in putting this together. I was lucky enough to work along side and get to know all of these amazing vendors:

Featured on The Celebration Society! https://www.thecelebrationsociety.com/weddings/dreamy-tuscan-wedding-inspiration-at-the-club-at-bella-collina-in-montverde-fl/

Photographer: Kristen Weaver Photography
Venue: Bella Collina
Florist: Raining Roses Productions Inc.
Dress Shop: Solutions Bridal Designer House
Bridal Gown Designer: Rivini
Food & Tables: Bella Collina
Stationery: A Fine Press
Hair & Makeup: LUMA Bridal
Chairs & Flatware: A Chair Affair
Videographers: James Rayner Films & Cody Jordan Films
Model: Modern Muse

From the Beginning
Early in my planning process I felt a little overwhelmed and found it difficult to wrangle my ideas into one cohesive vision. I knew I loved the idea of fruits being incorporated, a historic feel, and deep colors. I happened upon a few pictures of figs, and I fell in love. From then on, I knew they had to be incorporated. Figs inspired the color scheme, the decision to incorporate a food display, the stationery, and the overall theme.

Click here to see my inspiration board that started it all!

The Vendors
Each vendor was carefully chosen and sought out as I knew that I could trust them to bring my vision to life. I knew that their talents and style would be a perfect fit for this inspiration shoot and I couldn’t have asked for a better team of creative professionals.

Venue
With the way my inspiration board looked, there was no place I wanted other than Bella Collina. It was perfect with the Tuscan atmosphere and a bunch of little hidden gem locations to set up. They also provided the tables and edibles.

Food
Bella Collina provided the tables we used as well as the fig dishes in our food display. We met up with the chef at Bella Collina and I showed him what I had imagined for the food and we came up with a couple of dishes to showcase. The entire vision was inspired by foods, so it was only fitting that we styled a food display for the shoot.

This meeting is actually where we got the name “Pretty Figgy”. I was telling the chef how the entire theme revolved around figs, so I wanted them to be incorporated into the food in our display. He then asked, “So how figgy do you guys want to get?”, to which I replied, “Pretty figgy.” The rest is history.

Dress Shop
I had previously spoken to Tali at Solutions Bridal in an interview we did at KWP, and I knew that I wanted to work with Solutions for the shoot. We took a day and drove out to the shop and we worked with the Roberta at solutions to pick out this gorgeous Rivini gown. On the day of, they sent Daphne from their team to help us throughout the day with the gown and we could not have made it through the day without her help!

Floral 
When I saw the flowers on the day of the inspiration shoot, my heart stopped a little. They were absolutely stunning. I have absolutely no experience when it comes to floral arrangements or knowing flowers by name, so I only told Jesus from Raining Roses what I needed: An arrangement for the table, chair garlands, a boutonniere, a flower crown, and a bouquet. Then I sent him the link to my inspiration board, and he nailed it. It was one of the easiest parts of the entire process and by trusting his creative artistry, it relieved me from a lot of stress.

Hair & Makeup
I had also gotten to know Marla and Luisa of LUMA Bridal early on in my internship during an interview I did. I knew after sitting down with them that I had to have them for this shoot. I trust their work and I knew that they couldn’t go wrong with any of it. For our bride, we wanted to embrace her short hair with soft curls and a delicate flower crown. They kept her makeup luminous, romantic, and a little more on the natural side. As for the the male model, they just had his hair styled and pushed back a little out of his face.

Videographers
I had never met James prior to this shoot, but Kristen suggested that I check out his work and I thought his style was perfect for this project. He brought along Cody Jordan and they collaborated in creating this video. They were so much fun to work with and their work speaks for itself. I still watch this video a few times a week, it’s that good.
Check it out below!

Stationer
Matthew Wengerd of A Fine Press went completely above and beyond in creating the invitations and menus for this inspiration shoot. I had the pleasure of sitting down with him as he created these unique pieces for the shoot and I was in awe. The menus and invites were perfection. Matthew believes in creating invitations that are more than just a piece of pretty paper. These invites doubled as a gift. He hand-painted and foiled these lovely wooden cigar boxes which we paired with some figs and a leather journal.

 Models
We worked with David from Modern Muse Modeling Agency and he was such a perfect groom and made sure we all had fun. He rocked that plum velvet jacket and loafers! As for the bride, she is actually one of my close friends. I thought her look was perfect for this project, and as a someone who has never modeled before, she was such a natural. I couldn’t thank them enough for being the perfect bride and groom.

Rentals
As soon as I saw the French Country Chairs from A Chair affair, I knew I needed them. It was a little last minute, but Ann really helped me out in getting the chairs and flatware. Their team was so great in making sure I got everything I needed.

Other Details
The dish-ware, glasses, and other small trinkets and decor items came from Pier 1 Imports, Crate and Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, Anthrop0logie, Target, and Barnes and Noble.

Photographer
Kristen is not only one of my favorite photographers, she is such a great mentor and I could not thank her enough for giving me this experience. Here are a few of my favorite photos she took that day.

 

Below are a few more of my favorite shots from Kristen!