Bridal Shoot {Inspiration}

I really enjoyed working on this bridal shoot.  It was a great collaboration from a group of crazy, talented people!!  We had just got a bunch of rain, followed by sunshine which was just enough to make this field burst with wildflowers (and they were yellow, which went nicely with the shoot colors).

I wanted to keep the table simple but still filled with pretty things to look at.

I used a mixture of blue and white dishes, antique silverware, and small white ramekins filled with ripe strawberries.

The table was draped with simple white lace.

The (there are no words for how beautiful these are) flowers were done by Jacqueline Ahne of Floral Design By Jacqueline Ahne.  She is the kinda gal that you give an idea to and she runs with it and she ALWAYS delivers.  Beautiful.

I layered the table using cake stands, picture frames and baskets, all stacked in different ways to add some interest to the table.  I also added some antique trinkets, amber jars, glass votives, and a vintage crocheted lace runner.

The adorable pale green cake was displayed on a small side table.  It was backed by an old window resting on a large wooden easel.  This was perfectly lovely till a big gust of wind came in and knocked the window right on top of the cake. :(
For more images check out Kristin Rogers post or Bill Blakey post on this shoot.
Thank you Kristin for putting this all together, I know it was quite a task to pull off!  Here is a list of all the people involved in this shoot.  It really was such a pleasure working with this group, I definitely felt out of my league!!  

Hair – Dianna Lopez

Make – Up – Amy Clarke

Hair Pieces – A Touch of Vintage

Jewelry – Nicolenjoli Jewelry

Flowers – Flower Design by Jacqueline Ahne

Wardrobe & Styling – Rodellee

Wedding Cake – Cakes ‘N’ Bake

Bride Model – Allie Dayhuff

Bridesmaid Model – Tracy O

Groom Model – Rodrigo Nicolau

Groomsmen Model – Jon Riv

Grammy Awards Gifting Suite

When Suite 106 Cupcakery was asked to participate in a Grammy Awards gifting suite, they asked me if I would come along and design their dessert table. With less then 2 days to pull it all together, I think it turned out pretty well! It was a fun experience and I'm glad I had the chance to do it. Here are a few photos of the table set up. I'm hoping to get more photos from the PR company, but here are a few pictures Olya (good friend and my assistant for the event) and I were able to get.

Suite 106 Cupcakery was in this months issue of Essence Magazine so they brought along a version of the featured cupcake (strawberry shortcake) for guests to try, along with Christy's Southern Red Velvet, Dulce De Leche, Chocolate Praline, and several flavors of cupcake lollipops... Words don't do these cupcakes justice, they really are quite amazing.

Jacqueline of Floral Design By Jacqueline Ahne stepped in last minute as well and made me 2 of the most beautiful floral arrangements for the table! Thank you Jacqueline!! I highly recommend her, she's fantastic with taking an idea and pulling it all together.

A HUGE thank you to Olya! Olya, you are such a hard worker and so much help and even though I almost cut your finger off and nearly had us stranded on the side of the freeway, I hope you'll help me again one day. You're the best!

Suite 106 Cupcakery {Photo Shoot}

I had the best time working on a shoot for the sisters of Suite 106 Cupcakery. These girls won Food Network's Cupcake Wars and have been going non-stop ever since!

They have a shop now in Victoria Gardens which their family helps run while they bake till the wee hours of the morning!

I wanted to make sure the cupcakes were the main focus of the table so I kept things very neutral, working with lots of white, burlap, and silver trays. I kept the burlap table cloth nice and full on the table to give a billowy look. And yes, I did ask my sweet husband to climb a tree, and hang my very heavy chandelier from it, so that I could have that as part of my set (Thanks Hubby!).

We switched out their basic cupcake flavors half way through the shoot and added in some fun, brightly colored cupcakes. Also displayed are their cupcake jars (Christy thought of that while she was trying to perfect a way to ship cupcakes to her family members in other states - BRILLIANT!).

I wanted to use their packaging and labels as much as possible, so I added labels all around their brown cupcake boxes and stacked them to make a cute cupcake tier.

Keep checking back, I've got another project in the works with Christy & Rebecca... it should be fun and I'm really excited about it!

I know you're all dying to know... YES, the cupcakes are yummy! So far I think my favorite is the Celebration Cupcake with chocolate cake, or Christy's Red Velvet, or maybe it's the Dolce de Leche... I'm not really sure, but they were all delicious!

Drop by their shop in Rancho Cucamonga and say "Hi!" to Lee & Harry (their sweet parents)or maybe Michael (their cousin) will be there... it really is a family run business!

Victoria Gardens 12505 North Mainstreet, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
Mon - Thurs:10:00 am - 9:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sun:11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Thank you Kristin Rogers & Logan for inviting me and letting me use your amazing photos.

Sheila Northcutt - Make-Up Artist... Seriously. Good. (And she gives me little make-up tips which I love)

And a huge thank you to Condor's Nest Ranch for allowing us to shoot at their ranch, it's a beautiful place and would be absolute perfection for a wedding!

Baby Shower {Inspiration}

I won't have a usable camera till Friday, so in the meantime I though I would post more 2010 pictures of projects I have worked on.
I had the the fun task of helping plan my sister-in-law's baby shower over the summer. I was put in charge of the dessert table, table set ups, decorations and such. So, I got to work...

The dessert table was covered with a simple white table cloth, burlap runner made to the width of the table top, with a vintage lace runner down the center. Picture board with family pictures was used as a backdrop for the table.

Desserts were a selection of mini brownies, cookie bars, chocolate dipped marshmallows, peanut clusters, dipped pretzels, and many other goodies, all hand picked by the mommy to be. I used tin containers lined with vintage lace. A mixture of trays and platters from my own collection (like these from Crate & Barrel), and finished it off with printed labels for each dessert.

I found a great gold mirror at a garage sale, spray painted the frame buttery yellow, and painted the mirror with chalkboard paint. It worked great as a sign for the party favors.

Party favors were little handmade fabric pouches, filled with candies, and tied off with a thank you note, package of seeds and jute string.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE these big fabric pom-poms!! There were quite a lot of work, but well worth it! Hundreds of hand cut circles individually hot glued to mini lanterns. Then I tore long strips of fabric attached it to the lanterns and hung them in sets of 3 from some of the chairs.

The flowers were done by the lovely team at Jenny B Floral Design

Tables were covered with white linens and patterned runners. Plates were bamboo with simple jute ribbon used as napkin rings.

Large lace flower corsages with dried flower button centers for my nieces to wear in celebration of their future baby brother.

And now, a picture of me with my 1 and only nephew! We had no idea how stinkin' adorable he would be!


Baby shower pictures copyright - Eric CotterFlowers - Jenny B Floral Design (absolutely wonderful to work with!)Dessert table picture board, photos copyright - Kristin Rogers Photography
*Special thank you to Miya & Mel and the many hours they spent helping me pull this all together