In honor of our one year wedding anniversary, I was inspired to do a curated “redo” of our wedding flatlays. I truly cannot express just how glad I am that we took these. I got to collaborate with my dear friend (and Cal’s Cousin), Allie Beau Creative, on this very special project and I am absolutely thrilled with how the photos turned out! We have a few of these shots hanging in our home now and they make me smile whenever I pass them. Allie is truly AMAZING and I cannot recommend her enough. Be sure to check her out for thoughtfully curated and detailed content + creative concepts if you’re in the Chicago area!
– The Backstory –
Now, let me rewind to start… One of the things that I cared about the most for our wedding was how we captured and commemorated it. I wanted to be able to look back at photos and see all the care and detail we put into the weekend. When it came to vendors, I was super particular about who we were going to hire as our photographer. I had a Pinterest board filled with inspiration shots, Google Sheets filled with rates and research, and emails back and forth with plenty of potential options. When we finally settled on a photographer, I was SO happy to check that off of my list. At the time, I felt confident that we’d made the right choice. (Lol, foreshadowing.)
Disclaimer: To ensure it’s crystal clear, we did not hire or work with Allie for our actual wedding day or wedding photos at all! She is wonderful and helped us create the beautiful wedding flatlays featured in this blog post as well as our one year anniversary photo shoot.
The following statements reference the individual we hired to capture our wedding day.
Unfortunately, with our originally contracted wedding photographer, things did not go as planned. At all. Sparing you the web of details and drama, the person who we originally hired to photograph our wedding was not at our wedding at all.
Sadly, just a few weeks before getting married, our family experienced with a very sudden and unexpected death. It hit us all HARD and was an incredibly difficult time. That said, when our contracted photographer told us just five days before our wedding that they had to back out, I took the reason at face value. I didn’t learn about the craziness behind the scenes until much later on. Months later, that same photographer was at the center of a bunch of drama and we learned of numerous couples who had similar experiences. You’re welcome to dig in and try to research that on your own, but that’s where I’ll leave the matter on my end.
The team that stepped in and actually ended up capturing our wedding for us was made up of absolutely wonderful individuals. Each person was very sweet, professional, and a pleasure to work with. I honestly felt bad that they were working with the disadvantage of not knowing us or having been part of any of the past conversations we’d had with our contracted photographer. Even without that info or context, they still did a wonderful job! I am truly so thankful that they were able to step in. We got some absolutely beautiful photos of the two of us, our bridal party, families, and the day as a whole thanks to their involvement.
Weeks later, when I finally received our photos, routed via our original photographer and delivered far later than promised, I was honestly a bit bummed. We has lots of really lovely photos of us, but some of the elements that really sold us on the photographer we hired was the elegant, stylized flatlays and airy double exposure shots that we saw in their portfolio. After receiving our full gallery, it became incredibly clear to me that our photographer had given the team sent in their place basically zero info on what we had discussed. (They had truly been flying blind and I still feel so bad that they were put in that position!)
We did have a few simple flatlays that were snapped on wedding day, since I prepped the details in the bridal suite ahead of time. Also, I did appreciate having any flatlays at all given the circumstances, but they just weren’t aligned with what we had been sold on. Almost a year later, not having those images still bothered me. This is where my idea for a “redo” photo shoot came into the mix.
– The Redo –
As our one year anniversary approached, I was starting to think about how I wanted to commemorate the occasion on Instagram. I started to flip through our wedding gallery to select some photos and was reminded once again of the disappointment I had felt about the flatlay shots. It was in this moment that I texted Allie with my idea.
She was already aware of the situation we’d dealt with and was SO down to help out with a curated “redo” photo shoot for our wedding flatlays! We started making plans for Allie to come to our apartment in Logan Square for an afternoon and she also offered to take some one year photos of us. (Those also turned out SO cute!) Ahead of the photo shoot, Allie and I poured over different background options for each shot to find the perfect selection for each concept. We also both bought every single blue hydrangea stem that we could find and I found myself rummaging through my Petite Keep trunk to collect every little detail from wedding day that we could use for the photos.
It was SO much fun to work with Allie on this project and so satisfying to finally see what I had envisioned come to life! The photos below speak for themselves, but I cannot express just how happy I am with these curated wedding flatlays. I am so excited to hang more of these around our home as we add to our gallery wall + decor.
I’ve linked details below, where possible, and hope that you love these photos as much as we do!
– The Night Before, Rehearsal Dinner –
Alfred Sung: Floral Lace-Up Back Bustier Satin Dress // Kendra Scott: Dira Stud Earrings in Blue and Lisa Necklace in Pave Diamond // Scenery Bags: “To The Bride” Clutch // A New Day: Stacy Pearl Mule Heels (No longer available.) // David Yurman: Classic Cable Bracelet in Sterling Silver 7mm with Blue Topaz // Family Heirloom Signet Ring
– The Groom, His Details –
J.Crew Factory: Champagne Bottle Critter Socks // Indochino: Custom Made-To-Measure Suit // Waterford: Wishes, Love, & Romance Heart Toasting Champagne Flutes // Citizen Watch: PCAT Blue Dial Stainless Steel Bracelet // Etsy: French Toile De Jouy Custom Vow Books // Family Heirloom Cuff Links // Custom DIYed Oyster Shell Place Cards // Etsy: Personalized Washer Charm Necklace // Vittorio Russo: Marco Leather Derby // Corkcicle: Can Cooler + Custom Monogram Sticker via Etsy // Tom Ford: Beau de Jour eau de parfum
– The Bride, Her Details –
Alena Leena: SOPHORA Wedding Dress (Customized to add straps.) // American Pearl: Yellow Gold Diamond & White Rose Pearl Grace Earrings // Kendra Scott: Round Bezel Set Tennis Bracelet (No longer available, similar style here.) // Amazon: 3 Slot Velvet Oval Ring Box and Two Slot Octagon Ring Box // Loeffler Randall: Camellia Blue Pleated Bow Heel // Diptyque: Fleur de Peau Eau de Parfum
– Day of Details –
– Second Look, Party Time –
VHYBE Studio: Dalia Dress (gifted) // Shashi: Flower Pearl Stud Earrings // Waterford: Wishes, Love, & Romance Heart Toasting Champagne Flutes // American Pearl: Spring Pearl 6.5 x 7mm Freshwater Pearl Bracelet with Diamond Bow Clasp // Etsy: Dainty Two Initial Monogram Necklace // Veuve Clicquot: City Arrow Limited-Edition Brut Nv Champagne With Personalized Tin // Zazzle: Custom Paper Cocktail Napkins // Loeffler Randall: Shay Cappuccino Rhinestone Heels
– Wedding Cards from Our Guests –
Once again, a HUGE shout out to my girl Allie Beau Creative for helping bring this vision to life! I will treasure these beautiful wedding flatlays for the rest of my life. What a special way to commemorate our one year wedding anniversary!
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