The glamorous 'Haute Hat Show' was the 'grown up' equivalent of playing dress up. All of the models were dressed in sophisticated 'little black dresses' with jewels, gloves, boas, high heels and of course, fantastic hats! I felt like I had gone back in time and we were witnessing a modeling show from the 1940's with models that stepped out of Vogue magazine.
Jan Wutkowski of aMuse! has been creating custom-made hats since 1995 when she studied hat making in Melbourne, Australia. She now resides in Wilmington, North Carolina and has a charming little store. Aside from creating hats, veils and headpieces, Jan has an extensive collection of vintage jewelry, gloves, handbags and other pretty things. It was so exciting to photograph this show and I absolutely loved every minute!

The story behind this shoot is kind of entertaining. I bought this vintage 1950's prom dress from Ebay for the awesome price of $30 as an Alice in Wonderland halloween costume for my daughter. When it arrived in a beat up old Budwiser beer box, my daughter said it was not her style. I knew it was a bit over the top for a 7th grader and decided it would be cool for something else- I just didn't know what. The dress was super small. I guess it is true that people were smaller in previous generations, because that dress was little- probably a size 2.

I was looking around for models with red hair for my fall bridal shoot, and I met with Alison to consider her as a model. She just happened to be a perfect size 2. I brought the vintage dress with me to her fitting to just see if it would work for something and suggested that Alison try it. She fit the dress perfectly and lit up with excitement at the thought of modeling in it. The light blue color looked great with her hair color and we decided to skip the traditional bridal gown and go for a vintage/bohemian bridal look. To update the look of the dress, I cut off the bottom of the dress and made it shorter and added some new ribbon. I decided to feature Alison's beautiful hair and have it down in loose spiral curls. I bought jewelry, hair accessories and shoes and ended up making the bouquet myself in the car on the way to the shoot! I guess the moral of the story is that you can have a unique, creative look on a very small amount of money. We had Alison's makeup professionally done by the fabulous Amy Kennison of Mac. Amy completely translated my vision into reality and she looked amazing. The shoot took place at Orton Plantation Gardens. The perfect place to find fall color! 

I am so excited to announce that one of my photos will be featured on the cover of The Bride's Book magazine. It is always a huge thrill to be featured on a cover and I am so pleased that the image is one of the photos that I took of Rachel at the Dudley Mansion this past July. Congratulations to all of my ladies involved in this shoot! Tonya with A Carolina Wedding, Jennifer with Salt Harbor Designs, Amy Kennison with Mac makeup, and Jan Wutkowski with Amuse Artisanal Finery.

This post depicts our second in a series of 'model bridal shoots'.  We are pleased to feature our gorgeous model, Rachel, as our 'Summer Bride'. My goal is to photograph a bride for each season. I love styling each shoot; looking for the perfect model, choosing the colors, the jewelry, hair and make up. It has been such a great collaborative experience working with my favorite vendors to create such fantastic images. Rachel braved the extreme July heat and was the perfect bride. We enjoyed having such a beautiful location and send many thanks to, Cindy and Ron Picket, the owners of the Dudley Mansion.  I am also very excited to announce that one of these images has been chosen for an upcoming cover for a local magazine. Keep posted for more details when the magazine comes out this October!!!

The dress is an Enzoani, borrowed from A Carolina Wedding Bridal Salon
The flowers are designed by Salt Harbor Designs
The accessories are by aMuse
Make up by Amy Kennison with Mac: akennison@ec.rr.com, (910) 622-4473
The photos were shot at the historic Dudley Mansion in Wilmington. The mansion was built by the first governor of North Carolina in the late 1700's. It is now a privately owned residence and the owners have decided to offer their home as a wedding and reception event space.

I have taken portraits of Mikaela now for three years, and it is a joy to see how she has grown and changed each year. Each time, we have chosen a different setting. This time we had fun at the beach!

After many years of dreaming about styling a fashion bridal shoot with a model, we were finally able to make it happen this spring. Despite our busy wedding schedule we were determined to take photos in the height of azalea color. Our lovely model Noelle braved a very cold day with such grace. She totally rocked the shoot even with goose bumps. We couldn't have done it without all of the contributions of our amazing vendors. The vision came together flawlessly and better than we could have hoped for. We want to give credit where credit is due. Here are all the fabulous ladies whose talents are showcased in these images.

Tonya and Heather of A Carolina Wedding
Jen Rose Sandy owner of Salt Harbor Designs
Jan Wutkowski owner of aMuse Artisanal Finery
Amy Kennison with MAC Cosmetics 910-622-4473
Rachel Hickerson owner of Roots Organic Salon 910-262-7829

Take a look at these beautiful photos of beautiful Mikaela! This is the second time I have shot photos for her modeling portfolio. We took them 2 years ago when she was 7- now she is 9 years old. She did an amazing job- what an excellent little model! She wants to model and be in movies!