Orchestrated: Mediterranean Mosaic

Ok, I know we JUST had an Orchestrated photo shoot in February and it’s been the subject of my latest Orchestrated blog posts, but while I wait for those photos to get edited and posted on the photographer’s blogs and facebook pages, I’ll flashback to June, 2011 when Chelsea and I created our second Orchestrated event.

Before the first shoot (Yellow & Gray: Backyard Soiree) even happened, we were already planning our second one.  We weren’t exactly sure what the theme would be, but Chelsea really wanted to go Mediterranean/Greek with royal blues and greens.  I was struggling with the overall look because I just couldn’t make it feel like me.  So one day she said, “Forget all that.  Design a wedding around this…” and inserted a picture of a mosaic:

So that was my assignment, and I ran with it. I also immediately started shopping.  I found the most gorgeous plate at Target, of all places, rented chairs and an archway from Distinctive Event Rentals, discussed floral concepts with Leslie Hartig, and talked to our favorite stationary gal Tyler Adams about creating the paper goods for the shoot.

Next was location.  Ok, that was actually the first thing we hashed out because it’s kind of a major factor.  A friend of mine from high school grew up in a home on the water and it has a very Mediterranean style to it.  I had honestly only seen the front of the house and the main rooms during her graduation party years ago, but I figured it would be the perfect spot.  How many Mediterranean-styled homes are there in the area?  Especially those that we have a connection with?  So I talked to the homeowner and she was so excited to host us.

We did our first site visit in March and as were VERY happy to discover her backyard is SO gorgeous!  We were floored with how perfect her house would be for our shoot but it didn’t stop there.  She had big plans to completely redo a section of her yard to include a checkerboard pattern of grass and marble, add a fountain, and tall potted trees.  She also told us that most of the flowers would be blooming at that time and she was repainting all of the furniture.  Holy cow.  Host from heaven!

When we arrived a few months later, we were just so amazed at all she had done and she was thankful that she finally had some inspiration and encouragement to do all the things she had been meaning to do for years with her backyard.

And while I go through the photos, I’ll give you a quick scoop on the details… here we go!

Our models, Morgan and Bruce, are newlyweds and were so stinkin’ cute together, so we had some great shots of them just looking like themselves: happily in love!  Morgan and Bruce both wore dress/suit from their own wedding.  We added a simple blue sash to the dress and blue tie for Bruce.  Hair and makeup by Heather Toler.

That checkerboard grass/marble I told you about?  Yeah, it was amazing. We rented chairs, chair cushions, and an iron archway from Distinctive Event Rentals, added simple white fabric for a little more drama, and let the space speak for itself.

The wedding party: family and friends are always fun to have at the shoot with us and we had a blast getting to spend the day with people we love… and give them some great photos at the end of the day, too!

And the house? Wow.

I found the PERFECT plates from Target, napkins we ordered wholesale from Saro Trading Co., and the stationary is all custom design from Tyler Adams of The Girl Tyler. I know you can’t really read the menu but it was created by a friend of mine, Harry Osbeck, a professional chef who spent a seriously long time coming up with a totally authentic Greek menu.  He’s legit.  And so is that menu.

Our little flower girl was so adorable.  What a natural, huh?  As for the flowers, Chelsea and I really wanted olive branches.  Well apparently, they’re impossible to find. So Leslie Hartig did what she does best and created the most beautiful arrangements and bouquets for us, with some kind of leafy plant that looks almost exactly like olive branches!  We were so excited when we saw them.  Thanks Leslie!

Another one of our favorite vendors, SparrowBlu (etsy) sent us the cutest little flowers for the flower girl’s sash.  We gave one to her and I actually stole the other one and wore it on my dress for the day. The perks of being on the Orchestrated “staff,” right? The plate below was my absolute favorite, I wanted to keep the set for my kitchen.

On every shoot, Chelsea and I have one thing that we are totally obsessed with.  The first shoot had those amazing wine bottles.  And this shoot has a cheese board.  I can’t even call it that because it’s so much more.  It was like a piece of art. We got huge cheese wheels from Harry, and he helped me figure out how to put it all together.  Ugh. It’s amazing. Or at least I think so:

Instead of having a wedding cake this time around, we chose to go with the traditional Greek dessert: baklava. And I made it.  🙂  Ok, I helped.  Does that count?  We got to eat it later and it was seriously delicious.

We placed the sweetheart table at the top of the steps on the porch.  It was under a beautiful iron chandelier that lit up the whole area at night.  Unfortunately, it started raining so we had to do a quick clean up before we could let the light do it’s thing.

Thanks to everyone for making this shoot a reality.  It was small scale in terms of photographers but much bigger than Yellow & Gray and we are so pleased with the end result.

We also want to say a special thanks all of our vendors and friends who were involved along the way.

Photography by Chelsea LaVere, Bit of Ivory Photography.