Prepare yourselves for what is quite possibly MY FAVORITE SESSION EVER!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing my first “styled shoot” with a new friend, Maddie Butterfield (the stylist).  We’d been dreaming this session up for weeks and it was so satisfying to bring it to life!  We’re calling it:

“Burgundy & Blush Elopement in the Evergreens!”

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I was so excited that Samara & Derek agreed to be our models, as they are actually engaged and hope to elope soon!  And I’m pretty sure we are all on the same page that Samara could actually be a super model.  (But I’m glad she’s just a humble small town girl who I could recruit to be in my photographs!)

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Props to Samara, whose dress had been decided on weeks before hand… and then it ended up being 32 degrees out on the day of the shoot!!!  But she powered through in those spaghetti straps, still looking gorgeous as she froze to death.

(I’m not completely cruel though, I let them take “warm up” breaks in their car every 5-10 minutes)

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Maddie did such a beautiful job executing the sweet heart table!  I love the layers she created in the place settings!  You can see ALL of her creative ideas on her blog: click here.

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One of my ideas for this session was to do an exciting champagne opening!  We weren’t sure just how much to shake the bottle up before hand, now we know it could have used a little more.  So for anyone looking to get a crazy Champagne shot, shake it A BUNCH!

But Samara & Derek had the perfect facial expressions!  Nailed it, guys!

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Maddie’s amazing Buffet display:evergeen rows elopement maroon navy blush mixed race_0181evergeen rows elopement maroon navy blush mixed race_0183

All of the flowers and greenery in Samara’s bouquet were from Four Seasons Flowers, out of Ft. Wayne.  I threw them together for a wild looking arrangement.

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Wooden tiered display from A. Shively & Co. out of Columbia City.

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Vendors:

Stylist: Maddie Butterfield

Samara’s dress: David’s Bridal

Derek’s suit: Express

Florist: Four Seasons Flowers

 

***If you are a vendor in the Ft. Wayne area and are interested in doing another styled shoot with Valerie Joy Photography, I’d love to hear from you!  I offer all of my images to vendors to use for their advertising in exchange for use of their services during the shoot.***