We wanted to do a 70′s styled shoot with a modern twist. Something funky but not over the top. So we channeled our inner hippies and came up with this fun take on a 70′s “Peace, Love and Marriage” shoot. We think this shoot will inspire brides to think outside of the “white dress” box and explore different options.
We also turned this fun shoot into a workshop where we mentored some of the new local photographers on some of the finer ins and outs to wedding photography. Thus the creation of Shoot Outside the Box Workshop, we hope to do another fabulous shoot later this year.
For the workshop I created one of a kind gift bags with the help of my 5 year old daughter. We gave them all their own unique water color rainbow treatment. Then we made name tags out of small circle and square wood pieces we picked up at Micheals. We painted the edges different colors then the tops black and wrote the attendees names in white paint pen. Inside the gift bags we gave each attendee a coffee cup. We spent about an hour and a half discussing photographing weddings. After which we started photographing all the loveliness the vendors brought.
About the shoot itself, Mercury Hall was the perfect backdrop for this particular shoot as it is a gorgeous white cottage (on the inside and out) with colorful stained glass windows. I have seen this space transformed in many different ways and thought it would be perfect since the layout and design is simple it is truly perfect for just about any kind of wedding.
We really strived to create a “Peace, Love and Marriage” feel throughout the shoot. Visual Lyrics created some amazing florals for us that had a “fresh picked out of the garden” feel to them mixing high end flowers with typical 70′s flowers like baby’s breath. The same owners of Visual Lyrics also started a new vintage rental company called Vintques they brought all the beautiful couches, chairs, table, and table scape set up that complimented our theme perfectly.
Catering with a Twist brought a lovely twist to the table with a Fondue cart. This would be a perfect appetizer option for cocktail hour. Then they created a Waldorf Apple Salad within an apple cup, Shake-n-Bake Drummettes, and a Petite Baked Potato which made for a beautiful dinner plate that begged to be eaten!
Austin also has a new baker in town that is specializing in cakes and cookies the name of this fabulous new company is Fine Arts Bakery. They created the beautiful hand crafted cake and the cookie gift box which would be perfect for the couple’s parents or bridesmaid gifts.
Summer Edwards of Loud Looks did the beautiful hair and makeup for the models highlighting their stunning features. She added in hair extensions onto our model giving her more of a hippie chic look. We also hand dyed the bit of lace that was in her hair and Summer added in feathers in the back to bring it together. I purchased the dress on etsy and dyed the dress with an ombre effect to give it a little bit of a modern hippie look. Our model created the beautiful feather earrings as well. The jewelry was borrowed from my Mom’s jewelry box and were authentic 70′s pieces. The shoes she wore for most of the shoot were from Forever21 so nothing super expensive but her foot tattoo really helped these shoes pop. At the end during the Holi Powder exit she is wearing a mini dress from Forever21 again that was pretty cheap when it comes to wedding outfits which was perfect in case it were stained by the powder. BUT we are proud to announce after two washes it is safe! The model also covered her shoes herself with a super rad 70′s fabric pattern.
The flower girl is actually my daughter (it was president’s day so she had the day off from school) and the dress she wore my grandmother made for me when I was little it had the perfect hippie girl look and she loves it because it is a perfect twirling dress.
Visual Lyrics and Vintques created a lounge scene outside that would be perfect for guests to wander to if they were all danced out. They also set up hookahs out there where guests could partake in an array of tobacco while lounging outside.
Then at the end of the day they walked through a cloud of holi powder as their “exit”. Which made for a stellar photo opportunity.
Holi Powder exit tips: To do this in a real wedding make sure you inform guests before hand (i.e. in your invitation) you will be doing this and encourage them to bring a change of clothes and a towel for their car to sit on. And if they don’t want to participate they can watch the magic from the sidelines. We also found that you need a pretty good sized handful to really get an impact and to throw it a little above their heads. Make sure the Bride and groom close their eyes and mouths as they walk through the color fog but you can still smile while doing it for photos. Make sure you do it in a spot that will wash off from the rain or the parking lot to where it will be ok to be colored (clear with venue first). Also ask the groomsmen or someone you trust to get a hose or bunches of buckets of water to rinse it away. Take your time walk slowly so your photographer can really capture the moment. And if you don’t have enough color go back through the line and do it again!
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