70s Inspired GOLDEN Intimate Wedding Styled Shoot

weddingscouples

Jun 19

Every year, as a wedding photographer, I make sure to do something for ME to keep my creative energy flowing and feeling energized. If you're a creative, you know the burnout is REAL! In the thick of wedding season, I put together this styled shoot with a few of my old vendor friends, and some new ones I've been dyyyyyyyyying to work with! The results SPEAK TO MY SOUL.

The theme words I kept emphasizing in the planning process were boho, warm, modern, with 70s inspired undertones. My vendor friends absolutely NAILED it with all the details they brought to the shoot!

Can I just say that if I could plan my wedding all over again, the Crafty Cocktail Camper would become a priority vendor in a heart beat! It's adorable, the drinks are delicious, and the owners are an absolute delight! Miss Abby, the face of the cocktail camper team, is the kindest gal with the most impressive drink making skills! Plus they provide their own lounge furniture, which are hella dreamy.
*heart eyes*

Intimate styled wedding day hack: Instead of doing a massive head table where you and all your wedding party sit, let your wedding party pals sit with their dates/families, and opt for a sweetheart table instead! With a sweetheart table, you and your new husband/wife can have some one-on-one time, plus you can deck out the sweetheart table and not have to worry about a massive tablescape. All you need is two beautiful place settings and you're set!

When brainstorming this styled shoot, I KNEW I wanted to shoot at the brand new venue, the 1868 Farmhouse in Boone, Iowa. The farmhouse itself houses the bridal suite (which is newly renovated and gorgeous) and the grooms lounge, plus it has a beautiful wrap around porch with a front yard that's perfect for an outdoor ceremony. Across the driveway sits the reception hall with tall ceilings, white walls, massive windows, and so on. I love it because it's the perfect mix of vintage + modern, and can be tailored towards so many different styles of couples! We took the venue in a boho direction, but it could easily be taken in so many different directions! Plus Allyson and her whole team are literally the best people. They're so kind, hospitable, and just super fun humans. So excited for them and their venture with this venue, and I can't wait to shoot some weddings here in the future!!!

THIS VEIL! I'm already obsessed with cathedral veils, but this boho spin on the traditional veil is AMAZING. Plus you aren't battling with a hair piece all day. A win win. ;) Shoutout to Modern Dress for making my boho bridal dreams come true!

Also -- Shelly Sarver Designs does it AGAIN with her amazing florals. Shelly and I are from the same hometown and I've known her the majority of my life. It's been such a blessing to work with her multiple times in my 2 year photo career! She's been a cheerleader of mine from the beginning and I cannot express how much I appreciate her friendship -- and of course her talent and creativity. :)

I'm here for the bridal hat trend.
Here's to hoping it sticks around forever!

At the time of this styled shoot, the venue actually wasn't complete! Minor details though. I knew all we needed was a corner of the space, and we'd be set to go! The venue's first wedding and scheduled day of completion is actually Labor Day weekend -- the owner of the venue herself is getting married on the property that weekend! How cool is that??

Shoutout to my husband Matt for making all the arch backdrops you see in this styled shoot! They now belong to Shelly Sarver Designs sooooooooooo you know where to find them. ;)

Laura and Jacob are perfect and seriously the best models I could've asked for for this shoot! They're natural chemistry in front of the camera was FLAWLESS. I didn't have to do a ton of directing -- they just know how to love on each other so well!

Can confirm: These drinks were so good. They had no flaw. Plus they're pretty. What more could you want??

Can also confirm: Cake and cocktails are the perfect pairing. ;)

I looooooove concluding wedding day portraits with the sunset. It gives the couple a moment to be together, plus y'all are usually on cloud 9 at this point in the day! The ceremony is over, you're a drink or two in, all the other photos are done, the stressful stuff is out of the way. Might as well skip around in the golden light of sunset. ;)