Architectural Wedding Featured on Style Me Pretty

I have been waiting for months to finally squeal that a styled bridal shoot that I did in collaboration with Gina Meola Photography is on Style Me Pretty!!! AHHH!!!

Gina came to me wanting to do create a styled bridal shoot, and I pitched the idea of something architectural and modern. She loved it, and the project was born!

We had sooooo many talented people collaborating with us, and we couldn't have done it with out them!

Photography + Art Direction: Gina Meola Photography Flowers: Avant-Garde Studios Wedding gowns + Jewelry: Mariee Gallery Cakes: Classic Cakes and Confections Invitations: LittleOwl Letterpress Contributing Photography + Graphic Design: Purple Nickel Studio Loft Venue: Portland 38 Reception Venue: The Audubon Center in Phoenix Makeup: Ashley Nicole Hair: Kim Cornwell at Triple Threat Studios (480-225-4282)

Please check out the post to see the full story of the shoot and all of the extra details of the wedding!

In the meantime, I'll give you the details on the FASHION!

The love story is between an architect (groom) and an interior designer (bride). So, everything was kept VERY clean and minimalistic. Jason Jarvis had an amazing black suit and an enormous tie collection to pull from. He also had this CRAZY AMAZING tweed Dior jacket that I HAD to use because it's that awesome. The rest is history - we kept him timeless, chic and monochromatic.

Miss Gwen is a talented model from Agency Arizona, and of course, she looked amazing in everything. So, for her first look I wanted something very simple and pretty, so I selected a Claire Pettibone gown from Mariee Gallery. For her second look, we wanted something more architectural and structured. Ian Stuart was the perfect gown designer for the job, and Mariee Gallery is the only bridal salon in Arizona that carries his work.

I hope you LOVE LOVE LOVE the project!

Part 3: Let's Dance - Photo Reveal

It always feels like Christmas when I get to reveal a new photo shoot to you guys. haha.

I'm SUPER excited to share the photos of Let's Dance - a fashion collaboration between AVE Styles, Jeanette LeBlanc Photography, Kim Cornwell of Triple Threat Studios, model Jennifer Zahorski and clothing provided by The Willows.

This photo shoot was inspired by the simple beauty that dancers embody. With poise, emotion and posture even the simplest clothes and hair can be chic. Check out my past post showing some fashion inspiration behind the shoot.

We decided that Tempe Center for the Arts was the perfect place to photograph because it's an iconic piece of architecture, the walls are simple concrete and, of course, the space is used to celebrate the arts.

We definitely wanted our model, Jennifer, to have her hair up in a bun. Dance and hair bun are synonymous in my mind. haha. However, we decided to showcase two different types of buns - one on top of her head and a low messy bun that was actually made of three small ones. Kim Cornwell definitely out did herself, no?

Jennifer and I collaborated on the makeup. I really wanted smokey eyes to bring in a high fashion element and counter balance the simplicity of everything. So, we went with black eye shadow and pale lips also staying consistent with the monochromatic color scheme.

Jennifer Zahorski, our model, is a long time friend of mine. She was a professional model for a couple of years, and now works alongside the owner of The Willows boutique as a buyer for the store's clothing. You guys HAVE GOT to go in this place! The home decor is gorgeous, they sell the BEST scented candles I've ever encountered, and, of course, their selection of casual basics is awesome.

This bring me to the clothing...The Willows offers closet staples of white and black tank tops, sweaters, skinny jeans and leggings. Really simple, but necessary for every one to have because you can EASILY build off of these basics with color and accessories. AND sometimes it's okay to just wear a white tank with black skinny jeans and call it a day. With confidence and poise it doesn't matter if you're dressed head to toe in the latest print.

To tie everything together, Jeanette and Mary of Jeanette Leblanc Photography did a wonderful job directing poses, capturing the fashion and creating truly artist images that I'm so happy to have forever.

I hope you guys love it as much I do. Fire away any questions that you may have about the shoot, and DEFINITELY check out my creative partners' websites!

Promise Tangeman Creative Photo Shoot

So, I'm really excited to reveal a photo shoot that I was actually in this time. I had the privilege of being photographed for Promise Tangeman Creative by our TALENTED friend Melissa Jill. Promise and I had a blast doing her photo shoot for her website and promo photos at the end of last year, and so of course, we needed to have another girl PARTY (a.k.a. photo shoot) to kick off 2011.

As I mentioned awhile back, I've been helping out Promise Tangeman with some project management, and I'm LOVING it! She is incredibly energizing, brilliant and SO encouraging. Seriously, follow along on her blog and you'll see what I mean.

I had a blast helping to put this shoot together. It took place in downtown Phoenix - the BEST place for locations in my opinion. Color, hair and makeup were the focal points of this shoot. So, of course Promise and I had our good friend and hairstylist Kim Cornwell help us in the hair department. AND...Jack of all trades, Tina Burnham, joined us to do makeup even though she has told me she isn't a makeup artist. Well, I'm sure you guys can tell from these photos that she is UBER talented as a makeup artist in addition to being a talented photographer and hair stylist. RIGHT?!!

So, as always, we collected hair, makeup and clothing inspiration for this shoot. Promise had been wanting to do a bright eye, and I have been in love with bright lips all season long, so we went our own ways with the one condition that COLOR had to be incorporated. We even painted our nails a really bright color as shown below.

As for hair...Well, as you can tell Miss Promise has hair that is unrivaled. I mean, there is NO chance I could ever do what she does with hers. This girl gets SOOO many questions about her hair and every girl in the work wishes she could get that kind of volume. I have accepted the sad truth that I'll never have "promified" hair, so Kim and I decided we would work with what I have that is unique to me - CURLS!!!

Kim did a FANTASTIC job, no? I felt like I had just stepped off the spring runway. Remember my post on fuzzy curls? Well, she nailed it!!

As for clothes, well, with color being the requirement there was no question that my red, GAP skinny jeans would be used for this shoot. They definitely make a statement. And of course, I played up my love for retro style with my gingham oxford shirt tucked in. We had a second look for which I was struggling to find something until I did a little shopping at Buffalo Exchange and found this cute magenta skirt for $7.00!!!

Promise on the other hand, had these amazing jeans that reminded her of clouds, this sweet neon green/yellow bandeaux top, a teal shirt and this AWESOME pair Zara shoes she got in Europe. I think we nailed the color requirement. haha!

In her second look she incorporated some colored denim and played up the black and white stripes trend. It looked awesome against the blue wall!

Here are some more fun photos. I hope you love them as much as we do!

Part 1: Let's Dance

Back in September, I was surfing the web and stumbled upon some dance photography, and it reminded me of the elegance and beauty dancers bring to the simplest clothing. They could be wearing a loose pocket t-shirt and leggings and look incredibly gorgeous and fashionable simply because of how they carry themselves.

So, I wanted to do a dance-wear inspired shoot with basic clothing, colors and hair to really remind everyone and MYSELF that you don't need bright lipstick, striped dresses or awesome shoes to look fashion-forward. You can wear the plainest shirt and look chic.  It's just about the ethereal, beauty that every woman possesses and needs to have confidence in.

So, here is the inspiration for the shoot that just took place on Sunday in collaboration with Jeanette Leblanc Photography, Kim Cornwell, Jennifer Zahorski and AVE Styles.

Hair inspiration...

Makeup inspiration...

I'm looking forward to seeing the final product of the team's effort and I hope you are too!

Part 2 Epiphanie Shoot - Photo Reveal

In Part 1, I mentioned I had an incredible opportunity to style a photo shoot for Epiphanie Bags featuring the Lola bag and photographer/designer Promise Tangeman.

The setting for this photo shoot took place in the desert near a run down gas station during dusk. It was perfect for the free-spirited indie look I created for Promise.

I used clothes from her closet and paired different textures and patterns. I also created a cool scarf by braiding three separate ones together.

Kim Cornwell, who I have worked with on several shoots such as Equestrian Glam and Marie Antoinette, styled Promise's hair. There's definitely an essence of Native American heritage represented by the braids and earthy quality.

The photos were taken by Epiphanie Bags founder, Maile Wilson. I hope you love how it turned out as much as I did.

Don't forget to check out Epiphanie Bags! They are great even if you're not a photographer.