I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;so I love you because I know no other way -Pablo — I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way -Pablo

I've been teasing my Instagram followers for a little over a week now with teasers from a shoot I styled back in spring with was just released as a 6 page spread in the Ottawa Wedding Magazine.

For this shoot to be published, the Editor had some specific requirements which she wanted to provide readers.

So as you can well imagine, I and all collaborating vendors had quite the task at hand. Since this shoot was primarily laid out before us, the real devil was in the details with the main question of - how do we convey a romantic feeling with the request of a more youthful shoot? And how do we tie two very different stories together? Let me tell you it wasn't easy and I still begrudgingly feel like I somewhat missed the mark. So let me break it down as to how we chose to represent these 4 requirements at hand.

Champagne Saucer Known by champagne aficionados as the Coup, to me, evokes connotations of popular romantic eras and luxury. With this detail I hopped to create a feeling of remoteness from everyday life and a little bit of an aristocratic influence.

Naked Cake was an initial ask by the Editor as a "new cool non-traditional" cake. To me, I've had clients for the last three years request and have naked cakes. So how can I take this "relatively" new idea and put a fresh twist on it? Lightbulb! Semi naked cake with a sculpted fondant base adorned with hand painted calligraphy quote... Rosie from Osso Sweet delivered just that!

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Como White Washed Charger. Craftmanship is also very important to me as a designer when selecting pieces. These handcrafted and hand-painted charger plates are made in Italy with techniques that date from the 13th century. An addition to envoke a more romantic feel by Plate Occasions.

Gold Cutlery The perfect pairing to continue our theme of a more mature sense of design aesthetic.

Eclectic Chairs I always like to use a bold accent to grasp immediate attention from it's onlooker. I find chairs are a great conversation piece. I often use different chairs when designing floor plans. Especially if my bride has expensive taste like me!

Floral Embellishment This detail is one of my standard go-to's when looking to soften the look of a stark object. I find small floral additions can add design continuity throughout any wedding or style shoot. Current obsession: Floral Drink Picks. Floral Reef

Furniture is what I used to tie the boudoir to reception snaps hoping that it would make the shoot more congruent.

Stationary.... another element I'm really crushing on. My clients will tell you, I always say, "Your invitation is your weddings first impression. This set's the tone for what your guests can expect on your wedding day". Working with Jessica from Ink Blossom is such a treat. She's always on point and I literally think she can read my mind. Not to mention, she exclusively hand draws most components in her invitations for a truly custom invite.

The transitional fashion pieces needed to be "one-of's". So naturally I call Meg from The Handmade Bride... Our fashion pieces comprised of the boudoir rhinestone & tule overlay robette & custom dupioni raw silk bustiere, Maureen Patricia halter wedding dress, finishing with a dupioni cigarello pant & top.

Linen can make or break your look. It can either look too heavy, no existent, busy or way too metallicy. (that's probably not a word).. So for this shoot I grabbed 6 different table linens and napkins from Mastermind Events. I spent 30 minutes staring into the abyss before the shoot contemplating linen colours and coordination. I'm telling you, colour pallets are HARD! Naturally I chose Ivory sequence with the Icy Pink polyester napkin. Side note it's okay to use polyester! not everything has to be silk!!

Hair & Makeup was flawlessly executed by Stephanie Richardson & 2BU Esthetics to embody a fresh, clean and simple effortless look.

For this shoot we were also very fortunate to have Up North Wedding Films capture some great behind the scenes footage which I've uploaded before vendor credits.