This lovely styled shoot came about one afternoon when I was having lunch with my favorite florist Katie, owner of Little Yellow Flower Design. She was teaching me how to pin a boutonniere on a suit jacket that day, something I get asked to do a lot being a wedding photographer. We were talking all things floral that day and we were talking about how she forages much of the time around her backyard in the neighborhood she lives in to gather filler items for bouquets and floral arrangements. Then we floated the idea of how crazy AND wonderful it’d be if she foraged for ALL the items for someone’s wedding day. Five minutes later and the vision for Flora & Fauna was born.
The idea was to have Katie forage for every. single. item for the styled shoot. We would use whatever blooms, ferns, ivy, and leaves were available that time of year in Austin. Not an easy task since we had the shoot in July, when Austin sometimes feels like the surface of the sun. But Katie was up for it and I was thrilled.
The look and feel we decided to go with was boho-whimsy and it sure did come together even better than I expected. Katie’s parents live in an adorable white farmhouse with blue shutters with an expansive horse pasture in their backyard. I went to elementary school right down the road and I used to save my apples and carrots in my lunchbox to feed to their horses on my walks home. The pasture was the perfect spot for the Flora & Fauna shoot, it’s a beautiful piece of land and there are HORSES. Adding livestock to this shoot was clearly the ‘fauna’ to our ‘flora.’
The day before the shoot Katie began foraging and created a gorgeous, mammoth bouquet and several table arrangements using crepe myrtles, eucalyptus, pecan tree leaves, garden spray roses, mustang grapes, loquat leaves, bamboo, and vines. Our model, Song, looked like she was amongst a wild garden…it was exactly what we had envisioned! I loved all the shades of green and the pops of soft pink and magenta. The table arrangements Katie put together paired so well with the glass terrariums and brass elements from Loot Vintage. A huge shout out to our stylist Jen Sanregret of Sanregret Weddings & Events who helped us arrange the most beautiful table. Our adorable and delicious miniature pies from Tiny Pies were placed atop a brass stand that blended seamlessly with tea towels and a French grain sack table runner. Speaking of the tiny pies, they were as cute as they were yummy, we enjoyed bourbon pecan, strawberry basil and coconut cream that day, I cannot get enough of those tiny confections.
Our beautiful model Song Mayo was given a fresh face of makeup and mermaid locks by Katie of Kiss by Katie. She does wedding day hair/up-dos AND makeup, one stop shop!! I especially loved how Katie stuck around after she was done styling Song to do any hair and makeup touch ups as needed. So helpful!
Say hi to our beautiful team of vendors and helpers who helped make the day happen 😉
The dress was a find from a photog friend of mine. She found it in a vintage store years ago and scored it for only $20!! We thought it paired perfectly with the Rooey Knots Song wore throughout the shoot. Rooey Knots is a sustainable fashion brand that makes accessories out of men’s neckties. Neat idea right? They’re based on the east coast and have been toying with the idea of creating a line of bridal head pieces. The Flora and Fauna shoot proved to be the perfect opportunity to whip some up. Song also wore jewelry from one of my favorite Austin jewelers. Kate Winternitz Jewelry is delicate and dainty and goes well with so many outfits, I can’t stop buying/wearing her stuff. On the day of we decided to stack two of Kate’s necklaces and pair them with matching earrings. The calligraphy was done by local calligrapher Colore` Grace. Her work is so classic and timeless. I was a huge fan of her doing calligraphy on the leaves that were scattered amongst the table.
Another artist along for the ride that day was Hannah Lee who also lives in Austin. I found Hannah on Instagram and knew she had to be a part of Flora & Fauna 🙂 She PAINTS weddings. Hannah created an expressionistic painting of the happenings of the shoot that day and we were all blown away. Such a unique and fun twist!
Thank you to all my wonderfully talented vendors who helped us bring Flora & Fauna to life. Working with each of you was a thrill and it couldn’t have happened without y’all.
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