Posts tagged ‘flipflopfoto’

Jan 18

Karen and David: A Summer Wedding {Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga} {Auburn, Ala}

When I first met Karen, it was clear that this wedding would have a different focus than the flowers or the invitations or food or anything else. It would absolutely be completely focused on the happiness of the couple, the blending of families and enjoying their time with their closest friends above all else. I was so excited to be asked to be her wedding planner.

Karen and David’s love story is wonderful. After being widowed with triplet daughters (yes, you read that right – triplets – and they are adorable), Karen was lucky enough to meet David and fall in love. And, it’s not hard to see why David would fall for her. Karen’s personality is infectious. Bubbly, happy, sunny – all words that come to mind about her. I mean, she teaches Zumba and you know that a Zumba instructor has to be high energy. Karen was very focused on simply enjoying the day. So, it was up to me to help pull her vision together while making sure that she was able to enjoy the love and togetherness of her wedding weekend.

They decided that they wanted to have a smaller ceremony and then a larger reception. To do that, they chose the Chapel at Callaway Gardens for their ceremony to get away from things just a little bit and then moved on to the reception at the Moores Mill Country Club in Auburn. It was one of the sweetest summer soirees I’ve ever been a part of.

So, of course, we had to turn to Rob Smith of FlipFlopFoto to photograph the day just perfectly. Always lovely! I’m so glad I can share the photos with you here. Many, many congratulations to Karen and David! Y’all were so great to work with and I wish you nothing but a lifetime of happiness! Until next time….. XOXO, Julie

The girls waiting for the cake to be cut. Classic!

Dec 21

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Weddings, Pets and a Merry Christmas!

I’m winding down for the year as most of you are. I only just got my holiday cards out. For the third year running, my lovely puppies are featured on our cards. I know I’m biased, but they are so cute! Bless them for putting up with everything I make them do all for a great Christmas card. I promise, no one was harmed in the making of my cards. That I know of.

It has made me think about how much pets are a part of families and I thought I would touch on the subject of how to include your pets in your wedding. As a blanket statement coming from a wedding director, pets in weddings are bad ideas. If you think children can be wild cards at a wedding, a pet is that much worse. I have done several weddings where dogs were a part of the ceremony (my own sister’s wedding included), and while nothing has gone wrong, I still can’t say that I would recommend it.

If you do want to have your dog with you at your wedding, there are some ways to it. So, here a few tips for such a situation.

1. Make sure that you have someone designated to watch your dog throughout the entire day. Like a handler. Just to make sure that they are well taken care of. That includes having a nice set up for them during the reception. Have a room in another area just for them to relax in and have some treats.

2. Definitely include them in your photos! I can’t think of anything cuter. But, be considerate. If it is hot outside, make sure you have plenty of water. It’s only nice.

3. Think about including them in other ways. One of my clients had custom stamps made for their invitations with the photo of their cute pug, Ollie. Since Ollie wasn’t able to make it to the wedding, they wanted to make sure that he was included in their day. He also got a mention in the wedding program. I thought it was great!

I hope that you are able to include everyone you love in your wedding day. Just make sure you are as considerate as possible to your pet and to your guests. And, to wish you a wonderful Christmas holiday, I give you Invision’s unofficial mascots – Oliver and Annie. Just so you know, Annie (the brindle) hates when I do Christmas photos. She hates it. Oliver (the black and white) could be a professional dog model. Many thanks to my dogs for putting up with my photo ideas once a year. And, also thanks to FlipFlopFoto for indulging this dog-momma’s need for cuteness and taking such great photos of my kids. A very Merry Christmas to you all! Our dogs are adopted retired racing greyhounds. They make fabulous pets and there are so many that need good homes. If you want to know more, ask me or go to www.adopt-a-greyhound.org4EXARDC8EDVS

Dec 14

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Kelly and Joseph – Married!

Happy blog day! Another wedding to feature! Kelly and Joseph had such a sweet wedding in Auburn. I was so happy to serve as their wedding director. With a July wedding date, Kelly had the good sense to have everything inside. Good thing too. It rained off and on the entire day.

But, it didn’t bother Kelly one bit. She was one of those brides who was just visibly happy about getting married. And, she ate it up. Also lucky for her, she had hired Rob Smith of FlipFlopFoto to take care of capturing her happy day. Obviously, she was in good hands. So, without further ado, enjoy Kelly and Joseph’s wedding day.

Until next time… XOXO, Julie

Oct 12

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Calligraphy or No?

Now a days, there are few places that you will see calligraphy in everyday life other than a wedding invitation. It is an art form that isn’t thought of much anymore. In our age of emails, texts and tweets, regular mail is rarely seen as much more than a bother. But, I have a long standing love affair with paper and all that goes into it. While I haven’t been shy about sounding off on specific invitations and how they set the tone of that wedding, I thought I would discuss one item in particular that I love about invitations in general – calligraphy.

When it comes to your wedding invitations, there are those that appreciate calligraphy and those that don’t. There are plenty of reasons to consider having your invitations addressed by a calligrapher. Of course, the highest reason is that it makes a beautiful statement. But, consider these reasons: you don’t have to sit and hand-write all the addresses (torture if you are busy bride), it makes your invitation stand out among the other pieces of mail that people get and halfheartedly sift through and it gives your invitation an air of importance.

I understand that not everyone has calligraphy high on their list of things that they want for their wedding. And, as always, cost and budgets do come into play. But, calligraphy doesn’t have to break the bank. Depending on the style and the calligrapher and the amount of pieces you want them to do, you can expect your calligraphy to add $1-$4 to your per invitation price. Do your research. There are all kinds of styles and price ranges out there. I have worked with quite a few calligraphers and they are all different. So, it really just depends on what you are looking for.

But, my biggest argument for calligraphy comes from the idealist in me. Do I think that you have to have calligraphy on your invitations because of some stated tradition? No. If I haven’t made myself clear, I’m not much for following traditions for tradition’s sake. Etiquette, yes. Tradition, no. So, I don’t think that you have to go and spend lots of money on calligraphy because tradition says that you do. I just love the art form of it. I appreciate the specialness of it. If there is any time to make things special, it is your wedding. Haven’t you ever heard someone say, “It’s the little things in life…”? Well, wedding calligraphy would be one of those things. Those small touches that just make things special.

To round things out, I’ve included a few photos of invitations from weddings past and each one has a different style. Maybe you might want to consider this often-overlooked part of wedding planning. Why? Because, I said you should . And really, who could argue with this… Until next time – XOXO, Julie

Katherine and Chris – one of my absolute favorites. Extra formal. Engraved invitation. I think the calligraphy is perfect!

photo by FlipFlopFoto

Brooke and Tom – There are more things to add calligraphy to than just the invitations and their reception printing was beyond. Calligraphy on their escort cards and menus. Set such a great tone for the reception.

Lauren and JP – Lauren, artist extraordinaire, did her own calligraphy. I would expect nothing less… . A little less formal to go along with her very colorful invitations. Absolutely perfect.

photo by Our Labor of Love

photo by Our Labor of Love

Karla and Jeff – Their December wedding was formal and everything a winter wedding should be. To compliment? Their entire invitation was done in calligraphy and then reproduced. Such a gorgeous look!

photo by FlipFlopFoto

Jul 27

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Kelly and Matt – a wedding review

Another wedding to feature! Yay! Today I give you Kelly and Matt. Kelly was another breeze of a bride. I worked with Kelly and her mother, JoAnne, for about a year to plan their beautiful wedding in Auburn, Ala. Kelly and Matt were looking for an elegant, southern wedding where they met and fell in love – Auburn. Being members of First Baptist Church Opelika, they decided to have the ceremony there. Reception would be held at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art in Auburn.

This was another ivory and green wedding design. We all took cues from the clean lines of the museum and the fresh feel that comes with a June wedding date to come to the simple color palette and decor scheme. Side note: I’m really loving what this particular color palette does for a wedding. Ivory – classic wedding color. Green – basic color found in nature. You cannot go wrong. If you haven’t visited Jule Collins Smith Museum, I highly recommend that you do so. The museum itself is great. And as a reception venue, I’m in love with it. When I mentioned that I’m a less is more kind of gal (see Brooke and Tom’s feature), I wasn’t kidding. The museum offers the perfect backdrop to a formal setting, but has the ability to be light and airy. There is no point to having anything overdone there. The building is art itself. No need to fight with that. We enlisted the talents of Kim Nelson of Kimberly Nelson Floral Designs to create floral arrangements that gave a traditional ceremony setting at the church, then pieces that complimented the architecture of the museum for the reception. White tulips were the main flowers and it came off flawlessly.

Beyond good design, Kelly and Matt were another super easy couple to work with. Throughout all the planning, Kelly was just a happy camper. She’s one of those types that really doesn’t ask for a whole lot. Which makes you want to do more for her. Even her mom said as much. In the end, she and Matt had a beautiful wedding, a great time with their guests and a thrilled planner. So, enjoy their photos by the one and only Rob Smith of Flip Flop Foto. Beautiful work as always.

Jul 6

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A brief on wedding photography

Seeing as how so many of us are either on vacation this week, or coming back from vacation and don’t want to think too hard on anything, I thought I would take a slower week on the blog and post just some wedding eye candy. I decided that I would reach into my photo file and pull out some of my favorite shots just to reminisce and maybe go into what I personally like about photography. So sit back and enjoy some oldies-but-goodies and some recent photos that I just really love. And, I do have more recent weddings coming your way for the blog. I’m just running a little behind . Hope everyone is having a great summer!

For this chat, I thought that I would stick to one aspect of a wedding in terms of your photography: emotions. I love how one photo can capture the essence of what was being felt. Which is probably why I really love the photo-journalistic style of wedding photography. Posed shots have their place (I have some favorites of those) and of course you will want to have the scene and the details of the day captured. Your album wouldn’t be the same without those. But, I am the type of person who would prefer to have photos all over my walls so that I can look at them all the time. And the photos that speak to me the most are the ones with emotions tied to them. So many times, those photos are of an unguarded moment. Something un-posed or prematurely thought about. It’s honest and pure. While I could give you photos of floral decor, or ceremony set ups or reception design, I thought I would focus on something that I have absolutely nothing to do with in terms of the wedding – those perfect moments when you are totally in the moment and things are just right. Kudos to all my photographer friends who work so hard to catch these moments. I am constantly in awe of your talents!

Brooke and Tom – photos by The Decisive Moment; Brooke was an absolutely radiant bride. I loved working with her and Tom and I enjoyed every moment of their wedding. The shots below make me super happy. Happy enough that I have prints of these hanging in my office – my wall o’ weddings if you will. I also think that there is something about black and white photos that puts all the emphasis on the emotion of the moment. Shocking for me to love something in black and white… At any rate, these are some of my very favorites.

Kara and Ian: photos by FlipFlopFoto.com; Kara and Ian were so great. Super fabulous and absolutely meticulous in their planning and hopes for their wedding. But, after all the planning and design and work and watching everything come together flawlessly, the thing that really makes me happy as a planner is to see my clients have moments like these. There is nothing better.

Lauren and JP: photos by Our Labor of Love; Oh, the joys of this wedding. Lauren, being the artist that she is, was flawless in her wedding design. Her attention to the paper details is something you don’t get very often. But, in all her work, she never let the significance of the day get lost. She and JP were totally aware of every part of the wedding day and you could tell that they drank it in.

Tracy and Stephen: photos by Burnett Photography; Tracy was possibly one of the easiest clients I have ever worked with. Cool as a cucumber during all of the planning and even more so on the day of the wedding. She and Stephen were a dream and even with the July heat factoring in on their wedding day, there was nothing that ruffled their feathers. Not once. All day long. Fabulous.

As elated as Tracy is in this photo, the smile on Stephen's face may just say it all. Too cute!

Tracy and her mom having the time of their lives.

Here’s hoping that this tides you over for the next week. I am doing a bit of traveling and I hope to have a new batch of weddings to share with you soon. Until next time!

xoxo – Julie

Jun 22

Floral ideas from Jess Margeson of Frou Frou

Hello readers! I am way excited to introduce you to my very first guest blogger! After my post on DIY wedding projects (see it here), I immediately thought of our own local crafty genius, Jess Margeson of Frou Frou, Inc. Jess gives her own touch to events on various scales. She can tackle true craft projects such as a life size tree made entirely of paper for an escort card display at one of my favorite weddings we’ve worked on together – or my one of my favorite weddings period. Or, she can handle fresh floral arrangements. She has a crafter’s heart and a southern bent – a killer combo! So, I asked her to chime in on some things that she has been inspired by for events and weddings. She was so kind to want to contribute and I know you will like her ideas. So, please enjoy her crafty musings today. - xoxo, Julie

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By: Jess Margeson – Frou Frou, Inc.

You could call me a fool for fruit.

I have (with reckless abandon and little regard) added to fruit to almost everything my crafty little hands have touched this summer. I would say it’s the summer season that has me in this state but to be honest, it’s really a year-round obsession.

I love the idea of mixing mediums, so naturally this combination peaked my interested. Fruit not only adds bold pops of color but also brings in that ever elusive element of texture. And thus it’s the mixing of textures and mingling of mediums that take a design from pretty to pretty fabulous.

Check out the following for ways to bring this festive idea to ‘’fruition’’. Excuse the bad pun

The Inspiration: Color Contrast

For Jessica’s spring wedding, the bride knew she wanted to play up the color pink. What better way to do this than to place pretty pink tones against the crisp coolness of Granny Smith apples? Petite bouquets comprised of spray roses, garden roses and antiqued hydrangeas sat in marked contrast to the backdrop of green apples stacked in clear glass cylinders. Set against the green of the grass surrounding Moore’s Mill Country Club, the effect was subtle but still surprising. And perfect for a summer soiree. *photo by Tristan Cairns

The Inspiration: Organic

Green apples were once again the focal point in this low arrangement used to mark guest tables at Oakbowery Plantation. The heavy emphasis on the color green paired perfectly with the lushness of this outdoor setting. *photo by Lucky Photography

The Inspiration: Lemon Yellow
When bride Morgan told me she wanted her primary color to be a ‘’lemon yellow’’ I immediately knew fruit would play a part. For her festive summer wedding at Fountainview Mansion, the vibrant palette popped against the coolness of the pool and subtly of the surrounding landscape. Lemons were the theme and the result was a zesty combination of cobalt blue and vibrant yellow! *photos by FlipFlopFoto.com

The Inspiration: Something Blue

Bride Erin requested a classic look, centered around the color blue for her summer wedding. Like Morgan, her wedding was also held at Fountainview Mansion so we knew the blue of the pool would be a focal point. To set off the blue of the hydrangeas, I once again turned to my old friend-the Granny Smith apple. The crispness of the green was a bold contrast to the classic coolness of the blue and the combination was perfect in this lush outdoor setting. *photos by Carson Studios

May 27

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Invitation School – Classic Winter Wedding

When last we met, we were discussing the brilliance of Leah and Nathan’s beautiful Auburn wedding (in case you missed it, see it here). Per my usual, I have the invitations from their wedding to dive into.

Some may wonder why I spend so much time blogging about invitations and wedding printing in general. Well, if you have never been through the process of picking out and designing invitations, editing wording, counting your guest list, etc. for a wedding, then take my word for it. Wedding invitations are the most involved parts of wedding planning. You are, in essence, putting your entire wedding down on paper for all your intended guests to see. And remember that some of those invited won’t be able to attend. So, your invitation is all they see from your wedding (until the fabulous photos of course). As an event designer, I’m big-time crazy about having the invitation reflect the event perfectly. And as someone who dreams of being a graphic designer in her next life, paper (and all that goes with it) is a near obsession.

With that out of the way, I will get back to the issue at hand. Leah and Nathan’s gorgeous invitations. With a December date, it is inevitable for a pseudo-Christmas theme to be proposed. That wasn’t quite what they were going for. Yes, they would have some trees in the decor, but that wasn’t really the bulk of their design. It was more along the lines of warm winter. Welcoming. Roaring fireplace (and it was roaring!). Sparkle. Vintage inspired. Am I describing this correctly? At any rate, getting my invitation in the mail was a treat. The warm ivory tone, the small and understated (read: perfect) tree motif, the gold accents. I knew what was to come on December 4.

So, here are some invitation pictures along with some wedding pictures to round it all out. Perfect photos by FlipFlopFoto. Of course.

It was a really beautiful wedding. Ms. Joni and Leah, you have flawless taste. It was such a pleasure helping you bring it all together. Congratulations again!

– Julie

May 19

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Leah and Nathan: An Auburn Wedding {Auburn, Ala}

In case you didn’t know, Invision is based in the lovely and wonderful college town of Auburn, Alabama. Home of Auburn University. Home of the 2010 NCAA Football National Champions. Home of many other fine things. Anyone from the South knows what SEC football means to people here. Especially when those people are recent graduates of Auburn and have decided to have their wedding here.

Leah and Nathan chose Auburn as their wedding destination because of all the fond memories that they had of the town that served as the best backdrop as they fell in love with each other. They picked December 4 as their perfect date. Or, so they thought. You see, in Auburn, football season rules everything in the fall. There are no weddings on home football Saturdays. And who would want to have a wedding during an important game anyway, right? The date of Dec. 4 was chosen at least a year ahead of time with the thought that there was no way that Auburn would be playing any post-season games. Surely our beloved Tigers would still be “re-building” and not be in contention for a chance at the SEC Championship game (always held the first Saturday in December). To everyone’s happy surprise, Auburn completed the season undefeated and were indeed scheduled to play in Atlanta for the SEC title. On December 4. At 3:00 PM. And if they won this game, they would be on their way to the National Championship game. As if a wedding needed any more excitement added onto it.

I worked with Joni, Leah’s mother, as their wedding planner to make their wedding one of the most enjoyable that I have ever been to. In terms of design, Joni and Leah’s taste was flawless. Vintage inspired, winter theme. Warm ivories and golds and browns. Details abounded. The biggest issue was how to bring together a warm and inviting wedding and the fact that everyone will be on pins and needles about the game. So, with humor and style, Auburn football was included in the day and nothing overshadowed the excitement of the bride and groom on their wedding. As fate would have it, Leah and Nathan had an unbelievably gorgeous wedding and the Tigers won. It was the perfect day for these two Auburn graduates and their Auburn friends and family gathered around them.

So, I bring you the amazing photos from that day. Many thanks to genius photographer Rob Smith at FlipFlopFoto for capturing the spirit of the day perfectly. I’m still drooling over these photos. Thanks to Leah and Nathan for asking me to be a part of their day. I loved it!

My absolute favorite photo. Classic. For those not from Auburn, this is the top of the university’s iconic Samford Hall. I still can’t quite figure out how this angle was achieved. Regardless, I love it!