Yesterday, I was blessed to be featured in a wonderful wedding blog called Le Magnifique! You can see the feature here! :)

With much joy, let me share with you the special styled shoot I’ve been working on with the rest of Diakonia Collective (Graphic designer John Kwok & videographer, Chris of Chris Ahn Productions) to bring together this whimsical afternoon to twilight tea & coffee inspired wedding shoot! :D

Let me again introduce you to Alice & James Wong! I posted their fictional love story here, and their very first sneak peek here. Long story short, the quote James Wong uses in relation to this theme is this: “I love coffee, she loves tea. We don’t agree, but she loves me!” Our theme revolved around the latest trends of love: coffee, and for the anti-coffee drinkers, tea! :)

Planning this styled shoot gave me a greater glimpse of planning a wedding, and let me just say, props to you brides who plan your weddings yourselves, and props to wedding planners, as well! I only worked with 13 other wonderful vendors besides Chris, John and me, and that was crazy enough to organize! While I have to admit that I had some stressed out moments during the weeks leading up to it, I definitely found a lot of strength and peace, and provisions, in God through it all! So praise God for all of that! But all of this definitely assured me that photography is my forte and love in the wedding industry!

Something I loved about this shoot is all the vendors I got to work with! Most of the details used were handcrafted, or recreated by the vendors, something that I greatly admire and am amazed at! Make sure to check out the vendors list at the end of this post!  :)

The day of the shoot was pretty darn amazing! We couldn’t have done it without the amazing hands of help we had from our friends Gail, Courtney (Photoflood Studio), and Jackson! You can see who helped out behind the scenes in my other post here. :) We arrived at the Hidden Valley Resort & Spa in Escondido around 1pm after getting well-caffeinated at Starbucks, eating some delicious breakfast burritos provided by Chris’s mom, and picking up the decor from Taylor with Folklore Vintage Finds & Retro Rentals! Let me just say, Taylor is such an amazing stylist, and the props and work she’s put into the props is amazing! She provided all the furniture and decor for this shoot! She is such a talented stylist, and decorator! The venue was gorgeous as well! It’s a great place for a small-medium sized intimate wedding! Their wedding packages include a weekend stay for the family, which is something I find pretty awesome!

We worked well into the night, and had so much fun! Sam, Wilhelm and London were great models, and all the work the vendors contributed to the shoot made everything beautiful! :)

 

 

I could not believe that Kia, from Nostalgia, hand-made and designed this dress! that’s definitely something I would never be able to do! So much talent! It’s a very dainty and fun dress, and it fit perfectly with our theme, and the burlap bow we found to go with it! :) She also makes beautiful bridesmaids dresses!

 

 

Davie & Chiyo has such beautiful handmade bridal party clutches that are able to be personalized as well! They started as an Etsy shop and have grown to be even greater! The clutches make perfect gifts to give bridesmaids and to have for yourself to keep all the necessities on your wedding day close by in a fashionable way! :)

 

 

How perfect are these tea favors?! Tammy from Belle Savon VT hand makes these lovely favors! The tea was delicious and it comes with a cute little bottle of sugar! So sweet! :)

 

 

And now to re-introduce Thuy of Fresh Face Era! She is such a wonderful makeup and hair artist! Sam couldn’t even feel the makeup on her face, and she looked beautiful Thuy also did Sam’s hair, and London’s hair! :)

 

 

Now I just drool whenever I look at this beautiful bridal headpiece by Etude Love! Can you believe that Sara and Eugenia hand piece every bead and detail into it?! They have SUCH beautiful pieces!!

 

 

This cute flower girl basket is one of the burlap pieces I got from Jennifer of Sparkle & Posy! Jennifer also provided us with the awesome burlap bow tie that Wilhelm wore as the groom! I can’t believe she makes these too!

 

 

The headband was made by the talented Kristen of La La Lola! Doesn’t it look so good on London? :)

 

 

Now here are three wonderful products that I’d like to introduce you to, here! Again, on the right is the awesome burlap bowtie given to us by Sparkle & Posy! The mirrored coffee cufflinks are another crazy thing I was so excited to find from Shamir with Cufflinks & Cowboy Boots! His shop is more popular for his hand crafted wooden cufflinks! The “Let Love Brew” coffee bean favor bags were also hand made by the wonderful Angel of Fairest LJ! She also hand crafted and made the doilies you’ll see later on in the shoot! :)

 

 

All the props you see here were contributed by Taylor from Folklore Vintage Finds & Retro Rentals! The coffee beans? From WinCo. ;)

 

 

John Kwok is a talented graphic designer, and many of you may know him as my second shooter! He designed this invitation as well as the one at the top to accommodate for both the coffee shop and tea feel! :)

 

 

All the flower arrangements of this shoot come from Jaime of On Pointe Floral! She is an experienced and wonderful florist! I sent her my ideas and she provided floral arrangements that exceeded everything I imagined! :)

 

 

Here are the doilies Angel of Fairest LJ made for this shoot! She made them vintage and tea-stained all herself! Using a curtain rod, fishing wire, and these wonderful doilies, we created a dainty doily backdrop that worked so sweetly with our theme! :)

 

 

Here are more of the props Taylor of Folklore Vintage Finds & Retro Rentals contributed to the shoot! Jaime’s floral arrangements looked great with them! :)

 

 

Now take a look at this gorgeous cake!! Cute Cakes in San Diego made the cake, cupcakes, and cake pops for our styled shoot! SO beautiful (& tasty!)! Don’t you just love the furniture, as well?? So great in this beautiful venue!!

 

 

Check out the wonderful video Chris Ahn Productions made!

 

 

Don’t forget that John, Chris & I have joined together to make a collective media wedding package called Diakonia Collective!! You can check it out on Facebook for now as we work on our website! :) Visit our Facebook page and “like” us, here!

We were so focused and energized by the shoot that we forgot about the Subway sandwiches we had for lunch and dinner! But don’t worry, nothing can stop us from eating! After the shoot we devoured some late night Jack-in-the-Crack(–I mean Box) boxes and cookies, and pretty much everything! It was a night filled with catching up with good friends and celebrating a day well done! :)

Again, THANK YOU to all the vendors & helpers we had for this shoot!  Wouldn’t have been the same without your contributions & Help! :)

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

 

VENDORS
Invitations & Prints: John Kwok / Videographer: Chris Ahn Productions / Venue: Hidden Valley Retreat & Spa / Wedding Dress: Nostalgia Hair & Makeup Fresh Face Era / Headpiece: Etude Love / Bridal Clutch: Davie & Chiyo / Bow Tie & Flower Girl Basket: Sparkle & Posy / Coffee Cufflinks: Cufflinks & Cowboy Boots / Flower Girl Headband: La La Lola / Floral Arrangements: On Pointe Floral / Decor Rentals: Folklore Vintage Finds & Retro Rentals / Tea Favor Bags: Belle Savon VT / Cake, Cake Pops & Mini Cupcakes: Cute Cakes / Coffee Favor Bags & Doilies: Fairest LJ / Bride Model: Sam Millare / Groom Model: Wilhelm Ong / Flower Girl Model: London D.