Consider this an official plea. I am literally on my hands and knees begging one you crafty brides out there to design a wedding JUST. LIKE. THIS. I mean, a lemon and lime bouquet? Mini key lime tarts? Homemade lemonade and handpicked flowers? Hello gorgeous. This is the latest photography workshop by the beloved duo, Justin & Mary Marantz. And being the fabulous SMP contributors that they are, they’ve filled it to the brim with SO many ideas and inspirations that you can apply to your own big day. Oh and for you budding photographers out there…they’ve even included a few photography tips to ensure that you capture the details with as much beauty and style as humanly possible. Click here to see SO much more!
From Justin & Mary Marantz…
When we first started planning the workshop we had a completely different theme in mind altogether! But the morning we were going to post the design board, we started our day with a quick peek at Style Me Pretty as we usually do! Lo and behold, the gorgeous wedding being featured that morning was spot on for what we had put together. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, we decided to head back to the drawing board and pow wow a quick redesign. We knew we wanted to keep the vintage southern feel of the original design so we kept the bride and groom’s attire and the mint juleps. We love it when a couple uses fruit to compliment their flowers so we added a picture of lemons to the design board and the theme just sort of took off! We wanted to have a workshop full of DIY details that brides could easily put together for their own weddings so we looked for some fun projects to put into the design board, combined with some more lemonade-y details like crates, beverage jars, and a vintage sign. I think it turned out better than we ever could have hoped! The design board ended up looking like this: click here.
When we put together a workshop we want it to be as much like the real deal as possible. We start with getting ready and move right through to the last dance. When we plan the reception, we make sure to keep in mind all of the little details that make a wedding extra special. That means we plan everything from table settings to good night favors.
The lemonade theme really let us have fun this time. We started with the idea of an afternoon wedding and wanted to transform the carousel house into a southern lemonade luncheon. We wanted the tone set as soon as the guests walked through the door, so we decided to do a little something extra for the placecards. We made them using lemons and small green envelopes, finished off with red bows to add a pop of color to the otherwise green and yellow pallet. We enhanced the Summery, relaxed mood by decorating with home made paper flag garlands, tissue paper pom poms, and a lemonade stand that could double as a favor display and a desert table. For favors, we had made candied lemon peels and put them in little burlap bags made by Stonington Paperie propped up with some lemon stick candy. For a touch of unexpected whimsy we used miniature lemon merangue pies and key lime tartlets for dessert. To enhance the scene even further, we made homemade lemonade in vintage looking bottles and placed them around the reception. We also added extra limes and lemons, mason jars full of wildflowers, and a few homemade signs that read, lemonade 5 cents.
We love it when our couples go the extra mile and plan something fun for portraits. We added flags with fun sayings on them, cute polka dot glasses, and a lemon and lime bouquet so our bridal party had some extra things to work with. The lemonade stand was also a really great “set” for them to play with. We attached the lemonade sign to dowels and used the stand for some of our portraits. It was tons of fun!!
Although we did most of the planning ourselves, (we even put together the flowers!!) we needed some expert help to complete our vision. Stonington Paperie made us some amazing details including the menus, favor bags, and bottle tags. Traci Romano jumped in and designed our table for us and it looked stunning! We also had Purdy Hill Bakery put together some mini key lime tartlets and lemon merangue pies for us at the last minute and they were just perfection!!
We also owe a huge thank you to The White Dress by the Shore for providing the Bride’s gown and the Bride’s Maid’s dresses and jewelry. To Larissa Lake who made the stunning hair pieces and necklace for the Bride, and to Professional Makeup by DiLieto who did a fabulous job for us!! We also have to send a huge thank you to our friend, Alicia Candelora of No Eye Has Seen Photography and our bride Jil, whose help was immeasurable!
The posts for our DIY extravaganza are here: Candied Lemon Peels / Mint Juleps / Old Fashioned Lemonade / Pom Poms / Flag Garlands / Bridal Party Flags
A little info for newly minted photographers on how we shot the details…
The carousel house has amazing light so we used natural light to shoot most of the details. When shooting details, we prefer to use side lighting to create depth and also try to get as close as we can to showcase unexpected angles. We’re also shooting those wide open (with the 50 1.4 or 85 1.4) for low depth of field and really creamy pictures. When we shoot the couple, we look for slices of life to capture. We look at the way a couple holds their mint juleps as they lean in to one another, or how his grandfather’s watch catches the light when he pulls her close. For us, slices of life are just as important as the big picture!! When it’s time to process our images, we try to keep it clean and simple. Most of our processing actually happens in camera raw and then we season our images with minimal actions that are lowered to about 10 percent each. We want all of our images to look clean and enduring.
The end results just blew us away and we can’t wait until the next workshop!!
Photography: Justin & Mary Marantz / Fashion + Styling: Beth at The White Dress by the Shore / Paper Goods: Stonington Paperie / Table Design: Traci Romano / Baked Goods: Purdy Hill Bakery / Hairpieces: Larissa Lake / Venue: The Carousel House at Lighthouse Point, New Haven, CT / Make-Up: Professional Makeup by Dilieto
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