Tag: Found rentals

After honeymooning in France and eating countless baguettes and macarons, I knew Steve would have no problem nailing a French flea market themed photo shoot. It was guaranteed to be très belle!

I only caught a few glimpses of him working on it, though. He’d be up late in our dining room playing with our silverware, eyeing how all the pieces would look on top of my mom’s white china versus next to it. He had the idea to use mini baguettes to double as guest place cards. This was such a great idea (in theory), until we visited what felt like every bakery and grocery store in the Seattle area. We could not find baguettes that were quite right. They were either too long, too fat, or too dark in color.

We tried every place we could possibly think of, buying a lot of not-quite-right breads along the way. I think we ended up with a backseat filled with some pretzel bread, a few different types of rolls, and maybe a few croissants until we found the ones that were just right in size and in color. Magnifique! Steve always says that blue is a tricky color to work with, especially when used in shades other than classic navy. He  found some antique blue and white toile patterned wallpaper that Judy of Tallant House used  to create an edible image for the beautiful toile cakes. She also made the gorgeous macarons that Steve piled high, and surely had to also ‘taste test.’ To round out the tablescape with a real vintage look, Jeni of Found Vintage Rentals was so kind to send up some of her antique calligraphy writings. The faded edges, scripted handwriting and aged staining on the pages gave the shoot just what it needed.

Add in the gorgeous stamped wood menus created by Sally of La Happy and her hand lettered place cards (tied to the perfect baguettes) and there you have it! Fantastique, just like I knew it would be. photo credit: Matthew Land Studios

It’s been nearly six years, but I still remember the day Seattle Met first asked me to style a shoot for their magazine.  I was blown away that they were interested in featuring me, and I was proud to have my work printed in a magazine; such a dream come true.  I was excited (and really nervous) to prepare that fall inspired shoot- I hardly even slept the night before.  But, I nailed it  (at least I think I did…) and then anxiously waited for the issue to hit the stands. It was such a sweet feeling of victory and success seeing my published work. That was my first magazine photo shoot, and it was a really big deal to me.Over the years, I have been blessed with more opportunities to contribute to other publications, including national features in Brides, The Knot, and Martha Stewart.  Although I am so thankful for those opportunities to have national exposure, there still is nothing quite like getting called by the ladies of Seattle Met when they ask if I want to contribute to the next issue.Seattle Met started their publication around the same time I started my business. We were new together.  When other publications wouldn’t even give me the time of day, Seattle Met took me under their wings and provided opportunity upon opportunity to contribute to their pages.  The exposure they gave me grew my business by leaps and bounds and they directly played a part in our success today.Although I no longer get as nervous and anxious for a shoot as I did that first time, I still get just as excited to collaborate with Seattle Met, and I impatiently wait for the new issue to hit the stands. Being featured with them is an honor and will always be a big deal.

Make sure to pick up their current issue to see our French inspired shoot, and check back on our blog later this week for more images of the details of this shoot.

The best part of working on this shoot with Elizabeth Messina was getting to collaborate with Jeni Maus, owner of Found Vintage Rentals.  I don’t think I would have been able to get everything done if she was not there that day.  Not only did she bring the most amazing pieces from her (vast) collection of vintage furniture and props (seriously-check out her collection), but she also worked alongside me that day helping me to wire garlands, wrap bouquets, and style the different sets.  It was like racing against the clock to pump out bouquets and scenes for Messina to shoot, meanwhile trying to think like Messina and intuitively know what she wanted. I think at times we felt like we were always a step behind.  Regardless, we shared a lot of laughs and it truly made the day  and my whole experience so much fun.

Thanks Jeni for helping me feel so calm and confident that day!  So thankful for the opportunity to meet you that day, and I can’t wait until we get to work together again!