Holiday Inn Stylized Shoot Part 1

Natural lighting. Open back. Fresh greenery. Swoooooon!

Style shoots are always exciting! The design aspect is my favorite part of working the wedding industry. For some, this might come easily. For others, not so much. I fall somewhere in between (thanks to an abundance of ideas but a complete lack of decisiveness). When we were approached to shoot at the Holiday Inn Oceanside, Jamie decided to take a step back and let Jen & myself (Maria) each take the lead styling and showcasing different locations at the hotel. My task? The restaurant patio... no pressure!!

I knew right off the bat that I wanted to keep the color scheme pretty neutral to allow for subtle pops of color. And I wanted to incorporate sea glass, driftwood, and oyster shells somewhere into the mix. With an enclosed patio on the beach, it's hard not to let it inspire you! However I am LITERALLY the most indecisive person in the world!

Thanks to PaperDolls for the simple, yet gorgeous invitation suite!

...And thanks to the amazing Rebecca at Waterford Event Rentals for offering me a bit of advice: "You can play with pretty things all day, but sometimes you just have to make a decision and roll with it". After pulling out 1/3 of their inventory (ha, love ya'll!), I was finally able to pick out a combination of linens that I knew would serve as the perfect base to the old beach/boho vibe I was going for! After that, everything else was a breeze!

I got a little thrifty and was able to find and spend the next day DIYing extra decor and dinnerware for the shoot! I repurposed oyster shell's from previous shoots, turning them into candles to mix in with the centerpiece. Spray paint transformed plastic salad plates and thrift store champagne glasses into just the right shade of blue. Add a team of awesome vendors, models, and the rest of the JLE team to help me initiate the look day of and my very first styled shoot was a success! Fluttering Flowers and Cereus Art created the prettiest floral driftwood centerpiece, as well as extra decor for the dessert table; a friend of mine provided the cake and macarons. Tidal Bay Collections rocked it with custom sea glass napkin rings that also served as name cards for my place settings. She's amazing people! Can you believe that just feet away beach goers were washing the sand from their toes and being seated for dinner? Yeah, me neither!

P.S. When you do 2 shoots at the same location, sometimes you need to trade models so the photographers have a chance with both! Thank you Morgan and Marisa for being such good sports!