IN THE STUDIO // HEARTEN

Open publication - Free publishing - More minneapolis

I'm so thrilled to be able to introduce to you Hearten, the online magazine of the Independent Wedding Association! This has been a pet project of mine for some time now. We started talking about it last spring, did the photo shoots this summer and wrote, designed and edited it this fall and now it's here! Take a look, won't you?

Hearten {whose tag line is "Encouragement & Ideas for your Twin Cities Wedding"} was born out of a desire to provide Twin Cities couples with education, inspiration and comfort. We wanted a magazine that was more than just pretty pictures {though there are lots of them too}. We wanted real content for couples to go to when planning their wedding from vendors who are close to what they do and LOVE what they do. So while we do have two glorious photo shoots with great ideas AND gorgeous photos, we also have features like "Glossary" which, in this issue, defines the terms used in floral design. Do you know what a pomander is? You will after you read Hearten. There are other great features in this issue that you'll have to see for yourself and there will be even more in future issues.

I will be posting more photos of the stationery I designed for the two shoots in the coming days. I hope you enjoy Hearten as much as we enjoyed putting it together and bringing it to you.

IN THE STUDIO // UPTOWN MODERN

It was a pleasure to work with so many creative wedding professionals (many from the IWA) on this inspiration shoot for which I did the stationery. Though not the central focus, vendors were encouraged to be as eco-friendly as possible. With this in mind I created a stationery suite that minimizes paper use and maximizes smart design. This is most evident in the invitation which is printed on both sides and is divided in the middle by a perforation. The top of the invitation has all of the pertinent information for the wedding, the bottom has a reply post card. For the back of the stationery, the top of the invitation (the piece that the guest keeps) has directions to the event, the bottom (on the back of the reply) has a return address with postage affixed. This piece does minimize paper which makes the design of the piece that much more important. Great attention was paid to the design of the invitation as a whole keeping in mind what the pieces will look like when separated.
Other paper minimizing features include signs that replace individual place cards and a sweets menu sign. Another minimalistic consideration would be a menu sign. For this shoot, however, individual menus worked better for highlighting place settings.

Thanks to Katrina Hannemann of Studio Laguna for not only organizing the shoot but for taking the gorgeous photos.
It was also wonderful working with the following talented wedding vendors:
Grace Bridal Boutique (now available at Posh Bridal)
Five Event Center
BeEvents
Sassafras Floral Design
JWP Jewelry Design
Heimie’s Haberdashery
Fabulous Catering
Jessica’s Cakes

IN THE STUDIO // PHOTO STYLING

I was lucky enough to spend last Thursday and Friday with the talented Erica Loeks of Erica Loeks Photography styling some photographs of my wedding invitations. I think both Erica and I learned enough to fill a book. Styling, while fun, is so very time consuming. I have some experience with photo styling in my previous life as a creative director for a small company, but there I was working with a pro. When it's your work and you're not a pro it just takes so much more time and the stakes are so much higher. Of course it helps to be working with a creative photographer (something that all brides should consider when hiring one for their wedding).

Here are a few things we learned:
1. It's a really good idea to do your research beforehand. This means finding out what style you are interested in for the shots, thinking about how you are going to use them, considering layout of the pieces, and
2. Be willing to go off script. You can plan and plan and plan but sometimes the best ideas just come to you on the fly.
3. Restraint. In this situation where we didn't have the use of a full studio and didn't know all the tricks of the trade, it really was best to practice the old adage "less is more".
4. Work together and plan your time. While Erica set up the lighting, I played with layout and props. Then we would come together and critique and rearrange. It was a good set up. Still each shot took and average of 2-3 hours to complete. That's right 12 or so hours for 4 final shots. I think this is to be expected for such styled shots but still it's more time than either of us thought it would be.

I suspect these are good things to keep in mind when you are thinking about your wedding shots as well {with the possible exception of number 4). I will receive the final photos in a couple of weeks and will post then. In the meantime here are more shots of the shoot {Disclaimer: I took these with my phone so the quality is what it is}.

Above: a layout that came on the fly. I love it!

A flowery layout where we had to figure out how to get large and small blooms to stand up and show themselves off.

Getting the lighting right any way we can.

Getting those small kermit mums to stand at attention with sticky gum and small pieces of card stock. Hey, it worked.