It’s engagement season, and I can’t help but smile at all of the proposals I’ve been hearing about in recent months. I remember sitting last year across the table from Emily, a fantastic event planner with Emily Katherine Events in Raleigh, sharing with her my vision and ideas of a perfect Raleigh wedding affair.
“I want to do something that has an elegant feel, but is really simple and beautiful with small splashes of color mixed in. Does that make any sense at all??” Trying to cast a vision you’ve had in your head for a long time can sometimes be hard to put into words to someone else, but Emily was amazing and understood exactly what I meant. In so many words, we thought, “What kind of wedding photographer, types of images and other amazing vendors would a bride look for if she were trying to plan a beautiful, yet simple and elegant affair?”
After chatting a bit, Emily said, “I think we can do exactly what you’re thinking about, and I really love the idea!”
That’s all we needed to get the ball rolling for a styled shoot we put together with a team of vendors from across Raleigh and other parts of North Carolina. With many phone calls, e-mails, texts to find the perfect vendors and finding the beautiful Angeline from NYC to model an elegant, yet simple dress from Gilded Bridal, the result was nothing less than I had imagined.
When I first got to the Leslie Alford Mims house, I felt as if I’d stepped back into a late 1800s/early 1900s mansion full of exquisite fixtures and textures. Hydrangeas were in full bloom and the towering magnolia trees filled the space around us.
Our day started with the details that our team brought to our shoot. Jessica Yee from The Oblique Pen provided calligraphy services by way of a gorgeous acrylic piece that sat out front welcoming guests, and through an arrangement of invitations trimmed in real 24-karat gold. I felt like I was holding a priceless jewel while photographing them! To say they were exquisite is an understatement.
Flowers were provided by Wake Forest Florist & Gifts. Beautiful peach roses and pink & white peonies were tied together and offered a perfect color palate to our shoot. In addition, Wendy Darby with Premier Designs Jewelry offered a wide array of jewelry that fit perfectly with the Gilded Bridal gown donned by our lovely Angeline.
To get our bride ready, Liz from Wedding Hair by Liz and Kathy from A Shear Perfection worked together to create a very elegant, natural look between hair and makeup.
In addition to our lovely bride Angeline, Joey was her groom and wore an ensemble put together by The Tailored Look. The two of them together enjoyed their time on pieces provided by The Prettiest Pieces based out of Greensboro, NC. It was like walking onto a timeless movie set complete with an outdoor living space to tie everything together.
Between the beautiful cake provided by Taste of Douce, complete with light pink roses and white beadwork, and the food dishes provided by Fords Fluent N’Food, our mouths were watering by the end of it.
One of the greatest moments between the laughter we all shared was when Angeline shared her gift of singing with us and sang the whole first verse and chorus of “Part of Your World” by the Little Mermaid. It was priceless, and I wish I could’ve captured I on video.
Thank you for the amazing vendor team who came together to make this happen – for the services you offer and the vision that was carried out by everyone. We couldn’t have asked for better and I look forward to working with you all again sometime in the future.
Complete Vendor List:
Photography: Kate Cherry Photography, LLC
Event Planning: Emily Katherine Events
Venue: Leslie Alford Mims House
Groom’s Attire: The Tailored Look
Bridal Gown: Gilded Bridal
Hair: Wedding Hair by Liz
Makeup: A Shear Perfection
Jewelry: Premier Designs Jewelry by Wendy Darby
Calligraphy: The Oblique Pen
Cake: Taste of Douce
Catering: Fords Fluent N’Food
Rentals: The Prettiest Pieces
Flowers: Wake Forest Florist and Gifts
This shoot was also published on the So This is Love blog :)
