Today I hope you have something relaxing and wonderful planned for the last day of summer. I hope you drink one more glass of lemonade and then go get a pumpkin spice latte. I hope you walk on the beach in your bare feet and then wander down row after row in an apple orchard. I hope you wear flip flops with your long sleeve shirts and maybe, just maybe, there'll be scarf out there or two.
Today, I hope you soak it all in.
**Here's just a crumb of a morsel of a taste of yesterday's mind blowingly beautiful wedding at Cairnwood Mansion. I wish I had the words to even begin to describe how awesome it was or how show-stoppingly phenomenal the whole team was yesterday (in particular event planning Super Star Erin Proud who rocked our faces off!!!) But right now my brain is mush from shooting a double header, so all that will have to wait! Let's just say the couple was stunning, the day was stunning, and the details...the DETAILS?! Well, they're going to make your head explode! :)
Yesterday we shot Diane & Ken's gorgeous day, with only soft, warm westerly winds as a reminder of the storm that was supposed to be there. They blew in over the greens and eavesdropped in on cocktail hour. Then they danced through the cigar smoke, taking time to twirl, and just like that they were off again.
Yesterday's wedding was in Milford, CT. And at the end of the night, we loaded up the cars with our gear and plenty of caffeine for Justin & Julia and made our way to Pennsylvania for today's wedding at the absolute INCREDIBLE Cairnwood Mansion. Sure my eyes are a little bloodshot this morning and I'll probably be double-fisting venti green teas all day, but still I can't wait to stop and take in the beauty of this day. Because I know it's going to be an amazing one.
The first time we applied to speak at PartnerCon, we didn't get picked. But we tried again... and the next time we did.
The first time we spoke at PartnerCon, we bombed. Fall on your face, bumbling through the words, fighting back tears, I can't believe this is happening, did I really just tell a "let's go into the darkroom and see what develops" joke...Bombed. I'm just thankful that there were only twelve people there to witness it. :) Because the first time we spoke at PartnerCon, we didn't do a good job at all. But we tried again.,..and the next time we did.
And right now once again, we're in a season of our business and lives with a whole new set of firsts....and a whole new set of "no's." But I try not to worry too much about the no's anymore, because I know that what counts- what really matters- is the trying again part. And that if we will just keep doing that, if we will fall down seven times but always get back up eight, it won't be any time at all before we can say: The first time we tried we didn't get everything we ever wanted.
But we tried again...and the next time we did.
**We are SO honored to be going back to where it all began, and speak at PartnerCon for what will be our fourth time now. There are no words for what PartnerCon has meant to us and to our business. But to put it simply: it was the entire reason we had the courage to go full time and start our business in the first place. If you have never been and you are thinking about going, don't think-just do it. I swear to you that you won't regret it. And if you just so happen to find yourself in our session, I promise I won't tell any lame darkroom jokes. Or at least I'll try really hard. :)
And if you haven't seen it yet, you HAVE to check out this amazing video the always incredible Ron Dawson made from last year's PartnerCon. And after that I know you're going to want to sign up, so head on over HERE to get 'er done!! :)
Bulldog, Arf! Bulldog, Arf! bow-wow-wow, Eli Yale!
Bulldog, Arf! Bulldog, Arf! bow-wow-wow, our team will never fail!
When the sons of Eli break through the line,
That is the sign we hail.
Bulldog, Arf! Bulldog, Arf! bow-wow-wow, Eli Yale!
As many of you may know, Mary and I are both Yale Alums. So I thought I was going to have to be really tactful with this one. Ya know, maybe NOT break out into our fight song before I even start writing the post. But I failed. Because really? We have a fight song that includes barking. And that is just pretty darn cool!! (In my book anyway!)
Um, yeah, moving on... It's that time! Time for the big reveal!
Massachusetts we bring you our latest Walk Through a Wedding with J&M workshop: Something Old, Something New, Something Crimson, Something Blue! (And something that was way to long to put in the header!!)
We are super excited for this one! Because everyone loves a good rivalry right? And the rivalry between Yale and Harvard? It's pretty epic! The Game (a tradition since 1875!!) is right around the same time as the workshop so we thought we would have a 'lil fun with that!! Add in a dash of preppy seaside goodness and we have ourselves a recipe for workshop success! And we can't wait to get started! We have tons of DIY fun coming your way (just wait until you see what we have planned for favors!) and we have already been antiquing for some props to use for the shoot! We can't wait to see it all come together!! Email us to sign up (It's happening on Oct 7th) because we would LOVE to see you there and just like The Game, it's gonna be EPIC!! :)
Is anyone out there a Crimson fan/alum? If you are please feel free to drop some suggestions. We're a little skewed toward the Blue side of things over here and we might need a little help seeing our shoot from a different angle! ; )
It's me, Julia, checking in while J&M are off "coasting" their way to relaxation. While they are off taking a well deserved rest at Cedar Point, I thought I would start the day right- with a full recap of the Nashville edition of Walk Through a Wedding with J&M. We brought you a sneak peek right after we got back and now that Style Me Pretty has featured it, we're going to go ahead with the big reveal!
Ever since we took Justin & Mary's "Spread The Love" Tour through Nashville, TN last February, we have been looking for a reason to go back. Then, when J&M worked on the Style Me Pretty wedding with Chase Rivers and Sarah True this Spring that sealed the deal: The next "Walk Through a Wedding" workshop HAD to be in music city!! And it HAD to feature biscuits from The Loveless Cafe. We started our design board with biscuits in mind and after brainstorming a few more ideas, Mary had an epiphany. In the movie, Stranger Than Fiction, Mr. Crick (an IRS agent) brings Ms. Pascal (the baker)... flours. And our theme was born!! I mean come on, how cute is that? He brought her FLOURS!!! A design board quickly followed.
We love a detail oriented weddings, so we made sure to plan out everything for this one!! We thought our theme was coming together pretty nicely and were pretty psyched for our workshop. And then, the first day we were in Nashville, we stopped by Cedarwood Mansion. And I‘m not going to lie, Justin, Mary, and I, all three of us walked around gasping, pointing, and just about fainting, because Cedarwood? Yea, Cedarwood is perfection personified. We couldn’t have dreamed up a better location for the workshop we had planned. Linda & Karen at Cedarwood are amazing and instantly started throwing ideas into the mix. And just like that we weren't just psyched, we were bursting at the seams!!
Thank you to our fabulous attendees! You guys blew us away with your enthusiasm and genuine willingness to learn!! We feel blessed to know you! Next time we're down in Nashville, we'll have to get together for some biscuits at The Loveless Cafe!! : )
We love putting these workshops together but we can't do it alone!! A huge thank you to everyone who helped bring our vision to fruition!
Karen and Linda put together this AHHH-mazing alter for us as a surprise! How awesome are they?!? And the vintage truck? Cedarwood seriously has everything!
We used whisks as place cards and stuck them in a vintage crate full of flour. The recipe garland and mason jars added to the festive mood we were setting for the rest of the "reception". Cute little whisk tags courtesy of Invitations Ink!
We love to have our bridal parties do something unique. So we put together this photobooth to have something to play with! We also put together a table nearby, utilized the truck and had a few props like bowls of flour and utensils for the bridal party to have fun with!! It instantly made the images just a little more fun!!
A few scene setters and a delicious head table covered in flowers by the phenomenal Chase Rivers!!
More gorgeous details. The hanging mason jars were already there!! How beautiful is Cedarwood?!? More flowers by Chase!! GORGEOUS! And our aged recipe cards cards hung with care! And um, Tiffany? You are STUNNING!!!
A different perspective of the head table set in Cedarwood's beautiful barn!!
Loveless biscuits!!! A sweet dreams table with cherry cobbler served in jars and jam for the guests! Cute little tags by Invitations Ink! They seriously came through for us with less than two days notice!! We can't thank them enough!
Sigh....
Our favor table! Pick a flour! :) And Jonathan looking every bit the dapper groom!
If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out the behind the scenes video by the amazing Eugene and Heather!
Also be sure to check out the rest of the images Here!!
We had so much fun working on this one, we can't wait to show you what we have up our sleeves for the next one!!
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