Reynolda Gardens = Bold Modern Elopement

BOLD MODERN ELOPEMENT   ||   STYLED SHOOT   ||   September 27, 2020

Ya’ll! I’m SOOOOO EXCITED to finally share Part #1 of our gorgeous Styled Shoot from September with you!!! (Thanks to my other design team members: Whitney Davis of C&D Events and Kristen Brabble of Kristen Brabble Beauty for helping me bring this to life!!!)

It’s been really hard to keep the photos under wraps for 4 whole months!! This shoot has been our “baby” for MONTHS and I feel like this blog post is finally our “birth announcement” haha!!!! We all have put in COUNTLESS hours of emails, meetings, zoom calls, scouting locations, dress/suit fittings, scouring the internet, hobby lobby runs, pickups/dropoffs, designing, planning, research, shooting, editing…. the list goes on and on! It’s been a true labor of love and now we can FINALLY show you part of it!!!! 🙂

This idea literally started from a text from my talented friend Kristen saying, “I need some creative content, do you want to shoot a little something together?” and then once we brought Whitney (the organization QUEEN) onboard, all of our creative juices started flowing and turned into a HUGE all-weekend TWO PART shoot, on the western side of the state!!!! That’s what happens when you combine 3 wedding vendors in 2020 all NEEDING a fun and creative outlet! Haha! 🙂

This Bold, Modern, Distinct Elopement (Part #1 of our Styled Shoot) was definitely inspired by the events of 2020 – most couples switching plans to make their wedding day into an Elopement or a Micro Wedding! We wanted to showcase the extravagance and fun that a couple can STILL have choosing to elope, and have a “big wedding” later. Eloping doesn’t have to be boring or simple – you can still have a unique, beautiful style to make your Elopement special!!!! This also works for a fun Rehearsal Dinner look, if you want your Wedding Day look to be more “traditional”. Best of both worlds! 🙂

This shoot was literally a DREAM COME TRUE, and I feel so humbled. Whitney asked us to think of our TOP choices to reach out to vendors for this shoot, and every single time I took a deep breath and emailed my DREAM VENDOR to ask them to be a part of this shoot…. Every. Single. One. SAID YES!!!!!!!!! It was totally unexpected – because being a part of a styled shoot takes so much time and money – especially during 2020 when we all have lost so much work!!!! I was extremely humbled and honored, and I felt all the pressure to knock it out of the park!!!

We started our morning off at the crack of dawn with photographing details in our hotel room, and it seriously looked like a bomb went off in there, HAHA! We had the best time photographing custom modern pieces by Champagne Maker (literally TEARS of joy over her one-of-a-kind, INCREDIBLE work!) that were inspired by the Reynolda Gardens logo. We used custom mats from Shop Tiffany L. Johnson (my instagram shop for handpainted mats!) and Enfield Post curated a set of vintage stamps for us to use – so special!!! We had unique earrings from Poppy Co (still for sale HERE, if you want to snag them!) and gorgeous Tacori rings from Vaughan’s (who literally let Kristen and myself loose in their store, and said we could have ANYTHING to choose from!) beautiful blooms from FLORA (she is an absolute DREAM, follow her NOW!) and I had fun bouncing ideas off of Whitney for all the flatlays! My sister Angela was a HUGE help steaming all the suits, material, and welcoming all the vendors/models to the room while Whitney and I worked!

The hotel room was bustling with work as we finished up flatlays and Sarah (with the Pretty Barrette) and our other designer Kristen (of Kristen Brabble Beauty) set up and began Hair and Makeup for our model Sarah Greene. The rest of the afternoon was a happy blur – with photographing Sarah and Max (a real couple, who just celebrated their 1-year anniversary!) all over Reynolda Museum area. I can’t gush over Max and Sarah enough – right off the bat they made ME feel comfortable and they modeled like absolute PROS!!!! Max was a GREAT sport to go along with a whole afternoon of travel, getting dressed up, and posing for hours… and I was SO IMPRESSED with both of them!!!! They made the afternoon so fun for all of us!

One more little shoutout to my sister Angela who was a lifesaver for me! She came to Winston Salem for the whole weekend to help scout, the next morning helped iron/steam/prep details, greeted all the vendors and models, carry gear, kept me on task with the checklist, called in lunch for me since I didn’t have time for a lunchbreak, (and thanks to my sister Kristy who drove to pickup food for me and bring it to the shoot!!!), and did anything we needed. So thankful for my sisters!!!

I hope ya’ll will LOVE seeing some of my favorites from all of our hard work from Part #1 of our styled Shoot – a Bold, Modern, Distinct Elopement!!! Comment below if you loved it!!! 🙂

A HUGE thank you to the DREAM TEAM of vendors // check them out on Instagram!

Photography/Design: Tiffany L. Johnson @tiffanyljohnsonphotography⁠
Paper Design and Production: Champagne Maker @champagnemaker⁠
Rings: Vaughan’s Jewelers @vaughansjewelers⁠
Styling Mat: Shop Tiffany L. Johnson @shoptiffanyljohnson⁠
Planning/Design: @whitney_collective with @canddevents⁠ C&D Events,  Tiffany L. Johnson (me!) , and Kristen Brabble
Makeup/Design: Kristen Brabble Beauty @kristenbrabblebeauty⁠
Florals: FLORA @flora.andraya⁠
Stamps: Enfield Post @enfieldpost⁠
Hair: Sarah @the_pretty_barrette⁠
Veil: Ampersand Bridal @ampersandbridal⁠
Boutique: Alexias Bridal @alexiasbridal⁠ / Shelby you’re amazing!
Earrings: Poppy & Co @_poppy_co⁠
Location: Reynolda Gardens @reynoldagardenswfu⁠
Models/Real Life Couple: Sarah & Max Greene @hazelcannon @mcgreene⁠