Little known tidbit. A lot of the inspiration shoots that we feature come from photography workshops. Where some of the best photographers in the world essentially re-create a wedding so that they can impart their words of wedding wisdom to up and comers. It's pretty genius if you ask me. Photographers get to learn how to snap all of the little details that make a wedding so swoon worthy...and WE get to eat up all of the eye candy! Well, some of the best photography workshops come from the fabulous team that is Justin and Mary Marantz. My sweet friends and two of the best photographers I know. And this one, made especially for you Southern girls out there, just might take the cake. Click here to see even more!
click here to see all of the gorgeousness!
From Justin & Mary Marantz...Ever since we took Justin & Mary's "Spread The Love" Tour through Nashville, TN last February, we have been looking for a reason to go back to the city. Then, when J&M worked on the Style Me Pretty wedding with Chase Rivers and Sarah True this Spring that sealed the deal: The next "Walk Through a Wedding" workshop HAD to be in music city!! And it HAD to feature biscuits from Loveless Cafe. We started our design board with biscuits in mind and after brainstorming a few more ideas, Mary had an epiphany. In the movie, Stranger Than Fiction, Mr. Crick (an IRS agent) brings Ms. Pascal (the baker)... flours. And our theme was born!! I mean come on, how cute is that? He brought her FLOURS! A design board quickly followed (click here to see).
We had an awesome time putting together our DIY projects for this one and styling everything for the shoot. We sat around the office throwing around other play on words that we could bring into the mix. Pun totally intended! :) "Get whisked away" and "Pick a Flour" eventually made the cut!
We love a detail oriented weddings, so we made sure to plan out place cards (whisks!), favors (flours!), desserts (cherry cobbler in jars!), good night favors (jams!), and decorations (cookie cutters, aged recipe cards, biscuits, etc etc) that went along with the theme. We thought our theme was coming together pretty nicely and were pretty psyched for our workshop. And then, the first day we were in Nashville, we stopped by Cedarwood Mansion. All three of us walked around gasping, pointing, and just about fainting, because Cedarwood...is perfection personified.
To keep the vintage vibe flowing and have a little fun with our bridal party, we put together a photo booth that we like to call the Plates and Plates photo booth. To make sure we kept the entire bridal party busy, we also set up a table near our photobooth that we could have some fun with! And just because Cedarwood is so awesome, they already had a vintage pickup truck just sitting in the field! So of course we took full advantage! In order to keep the portraits interesting we also added in a mixing bowl, vintage books, a utensil bouquet, and some fun vintage suitcases. Mary also came up with the AWESOME idea of having all of our bridesmaids wearing Anthropologie-esque aprons. It looked fabulous! :)
We really do enjoy doing most of the styling ourselves but we can't do it alone. Amy and Matt of Invitations Ink, put together our stationery suite with two days notice!! Chase Rivers rocked the head table flowers and cooked up a scrumptious buffet including coconut fried chicken and a cherry plum slaw! Linda, Karen, and the crew at Cedarwood did a phenomenal job helping to put the finishing touches on all of our ideas and pitching in and helping with some extra details like pops of hydrangea, vintage china, a mason jar covered altar for our ceremony, antique crates... the list goes on and on and on.
We also owe a very big thank you to The Bride Room for loaning us a stunning lace dress and Renee Fisher, who went above and beyond and rocked out the makeup in 100 degree heat! And to Eugene & Heather of 2Duce2 Videography for rocking out video for us!
Our step by step DIYs can be found here: Strawberry Jam, Cherry Cobbler, Raspberry Infused Sweet Tea, Aged Recipes, Flour Favors and Recipe Garland
Location: Cedarwood Nashville, TN / Photography: Justin and Mary Marantz / Bride's Dress: Target and The Bride Room / Paper Suite: Invitations Ink, Manasquan, NJ / Make up: Renee Fisher Head Table Flowers & Buffet dinner: Chase Rivers / Floral Accents: Karen Wright / Videographer: Eugene & Heather / Models (all fellow photographers!): Tiffany & Jonathan Zajas / Zach & Jody Gray / Sara Renee
Great, right? I mean the favor ideas alone are kind of awesome, although I now have this terrible hankering for biscuits from Loveless Cafe. If you haven't been, you HAVE to put it on your bucket list. Okay, so before we let Justin and Mary go, we wanted to share this absolutely awesome promo video...not as an advertisement...but to show you how freaking cool this photography duo is. And why we love them so. Just make sure to grab a tissue before you start. You will definitely need it.
Cinema by StillMotion. Thank you J & M! We can't wait to see what you two crazy kids come up with next! xoxo