Today, I have a gorgeous shoot styled by Yelena Johnson of The Stylish Soiree and photographed by Heather Kincaid. I’m in LOVE with the dresses, the bouquets, and the beautiful table. Yelena also sent over a bit behind their design concept which I love hearing where the inspiration comes from. Thanks Yelena!
When Heather and I teamed up to brainstorm about this shoot, we realized that the majority of weddings we see are either completely modern, traditional or very vintage vintage in style, without a lot of blending of the styles. The concept behind this wedding shoot was born as a study in beautifully blending very modern elements with traditional and vintage elements to create a richer look with interest and depth. I love to approach wedding design and planning in the same way people approach interior design and fashion styling – by mixing elements with different styles, colors, textures and shapes to create something unique, different and beautiful.
We pulled dresses that had both vintage and modern elements from Shareen Vintage. The idea of a short, more casual wedding dress with color accents is definitely a more contemporary idea, although the dress we chose as the ‘wedding gown’ was a vintage find from the 50s. The creamy color and blue accents looked gorgeous against our model Emily’s skin tone, hair and eye color. The pale blue, short-sleeve mini dress was reimagined as a fun and flirty reception dress, with delicate applique florals and tiny crystals for a bit of sparkle. I paired the mini dress with light gray tights and black patent slingbacks to bring in other colors from our color palette as well as additional texture.
Krista Jon from Krista Jon Couture Florals created two gorgeous bridal bouquets for the bride – one more traditional, large bouquet with peonies, ranunculus, dusty miller and sweet pea, and tied it off with a piece of sky blue suede I bought in the fabric district. Though you can’t see it in the photos, the handle of the bouquet also featured a large vintage-style pewter button. The second, more modern bouquet was smaller in size, featured a large succulent embellishment on the handle and paired with the bride’s sky blue reception dress.
To create the accessories, we took traditional bridal accessories and embellished them in a modern way to take them to a whole other level. Vintage gloves were cut down with pinking shears and an industrial zipper and button were added around the outside, creating an edgy, modern take on the old fashioned vintage lace wedding glove. Instead of accessorizing the bride in a single strand pearl necklace, I piled three different color and size pearl necklaces together and tied them with a hand-dyed blue silk ribbon for an unexpected style statement. We finished the necklace off with a sparkling brooch for the wedding shoot, although it was removeable and can also be worn without for a more subdued look. The final accessory created for this shoot was the slate gray silk shantung flower hair clip, which was crafted from a one yard piece of 1.5″ wide ribbon, a taupe accent ribbon (about 5 inches long) and a hair clip. The bride’s hairstyle and fresh makeup was created by Fiore Beauty. Her hair began as a classic updo that was then let loose for the reception dress.
The tablescape was a collaboration between Krista Jon and myself, and incorporated a mix of quirky elements, modern elements and very antique, traditional elements for the richly textured look we wanted to create. The plate sets and simple gray napkins were very clean and modern, while the multiple bottles, vases and candlestick holders added an eclectic feel with some very vintage items. The antique silver vases holding the ranunculus were very old pieces, the blue perfume bottles were new pieces made to look like vintage items, and the ‘candlestick holders’ were glass bottles with the stems wrapped in Spanish moss. Krista incorporated succulents, ranunculus, pussy willow, dusty miller, sweet pea, anemone and Spanish moss into the floral designs, which played perfectly into the overall design.
This shoot was actually created to share some DIY ideas for Non pareil magazine. Check it out for step-by-step instructions on how to make the gloves, necklace, and hair piece! Thanks to everyone who worked on this lovely inspiration.
Vendors:
Photographer: Heather Kincaid
Styling, Planning & Design Direction: Yelena Johnson, The Stylish Soiree; Yelena also created the necklace and gloves used in the shoot
Vintage dresses: Shareen Vintage
Florals: Krista Jon Couture Florals
Hair & Makeup: Jaimi Brooks, Fiore Beauty
That reception dress is incredible! i want it in a big way!!!
This is one of my favorite designed posts ever! I agree that mixing styles is key. Love all the DIY & the flowers. I’ve worked with Krista & she is amazing!
loving the tableware! especially those plates!
AWESOME!!!! <3
Thanks so much for the feature! It was so fun working with this great team of women on this shoot! xoxo
Thanks for the lovely feature, Jen! I hope it provides some inspiration for your readers. :)
XO Yelena
The bouquet is gorgeous. The second dress is my absolute fav! Her accessories were perfect. Love it!! Great job, Heather.
Oh my goodness, those dresses are to die for!!! :O and what about those plates? Are they by Ester Coombs by any chance? I adore her!
Beautiful and elegant wedding photos give me the sense of the existence of happiness. They are perfect and happy.
I love this post! I visited the Shareen Vintage site and couldn’t find an online shop. Their MySpace shop lists 0 items. Does anybody know if any of their clothes are available online? Thanks!
These ladies outdid themselves! This shoot is beyond gorgeous!
Hi Ashley,
I don’t believe their clothing is available online, although if you call them I’m sure they might still have the dresses available and for sale. They might even ship if you speak with them – Shareen is very accommodating and great to work with!
Hope this helps,
Yelena
absolutely gorgeous. and so exciting- i know that model!! what a small world! great job yelena heather and crew!!
i’m in love with those plates!! where can i find them??
Wow.. i absolutely love EVERYTHING about this session! Totally gorgeous.
I really appreciate the pair of black gloves. it is one of the hardest things to incorporate into an ensemble! well done Yelena
This shoot is absolutely amazing! The blend of vintage and modern is very much my style personally, and I love seeing it interpreted so beautifully! And the colors are gorgeous. So well done!
I love it. More sophisticated than I’ll ever be.
Is there any way I could get that beautifullll necklace Yelena made? I’ve been searching high and low for a necklace like that for my July wedding to match the blue sapphire earrings my mom is giving to me and the pearls with the blue ribbon is to DIE for. I’d love to know!!!
*nicole
This took my breath away. It is poetry.
I am soooooooo excited. I love love love this blog! Heather’s pictures turned out amazing, and Yelena’s styling was the most inspiring! vintage, modern, organic….love it!
Hi Nicole,
I could make you one of those necklaces if you’d like… get in touch with me at: events {at} stylish soiree {dot} com
Glad you liked it so much!
Yelena
This one is really beautiful, love the dresses and the flowers. Awesome ladies.
I’m dying to know where those plates are from!!! Beautiful!
Yes!!! Where can I get those plates??? Gorgeous shoot.
Seriously! Every couple you post is so freaking cute!
This is sooooooo beautiful. I love all of the amazing details and the colors are so great!
What a beautiful, dreamy wedding. Love the classic platinum tones. Like a fairy tale!
I love it! I dream of photographing weddings like this ;)
I’ve looked at this shoot so many times in the last fortnight and I keep coming back to it – I can’t stop! It’s one of the most classy, sassy, creative inspiration shoots I’ve ever seen. Thank you for showing us how to freshen up a bit of vintage in such a clever way – this look is absolutely timeless. PS – anyone else think the bride is majorly channelling Rachel Menkin from Mad Men Season I in the shoots where her hair is down? That’s the icing on the cake!
Thank you everyone for all the amazing feedback!
So many sweet brides emailed me to ask about making a necklace after this feature that I just opened an Etsy store where you can order a custom version:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/YellyBelle
XO Yelena
This has given me great inspiration for our new wedding invitations and stationery – Amelia
I LOVE this!! Where on earth was this photographed?!?
Great everything! Very pretty!
Is there any way to find the blue floral applique for the wedding dress?
So pretty!
I absolutely love both of these dresses. I love that they incorporate blue and that they are short. Beautiful!