Lynn made the runners and napkins as well as all the paper products. She also assembled the silk flowers petal by petal and printed the wood leaves. So stinking amazing!

Now buckle your seat belts to view some tasty vitlins!

Figs picked fresh from the tree outside the kitchen window. The combination of a sweet fig and tangy blue cheese…oh my word. One of my favorite choices on my plate.

The smell of this smoked pork filled the entire tent.

Special Thanks to:
venue/reception florals/furniture: Foxie at Pharsalia Plantation

caterer: Maria at Pharsalia Plantation

tent: Liz at Skyline Tent Company

stylist/paper goods: Lynn of Sunshowers and Rainshine (and also her husband Chris!)

bouquets and bout: Petal Flower Company

Kristyn’s vintage dress: VintageVortex | shoes: Threadsence

hair piece: One Little Dove | gloves: Seventh Vintage

Kristyn’s hair: Fusion salon | makeup: Body Works

John’s gingham shorts: JCrew | shirt & belt: H&M | bow tie: Wickham House

shoes: Amazon | suspenders: Suspender Factory

Sarah and Nathan grew up in same town during their junior and high school years. They went to the same church, their families were very close and naturally Sarah and Nathan became very close friends. It wasn’t till their college years, Sarah was off at Virginia Tech and Nathan serving our country in the Army, stationed in Italy, that casual letters of friendship and companionship turned into more romantic undertones. It wasn’t much longer before intentions were clear, this was no friendship any more. A beautiful foundation had been laid for a decade and the two were married just four months after our wedding on New Years Eve 2005. IT. WAS. AN. AWESOME. WEDDING!

Most married couples know the struggle of finding other couples that you BOTH love to be around. In fact it is like finding a unicorn sliding down a rainbow. Not so much with the ole Sarah/Nathan…..Kelly/Ryan combo. PB&J has nothing on us. With creativity, sarcasm, and Jesus yoking us tightly…we dig on the Torrences like a bee digs pollen.

When Sarah and Nathan decided to take a little hobby of refurbishing and repurposing furniture and wood and make a go of selling their work publicly….well….we were 100% on board to support them. This shoot is one of many HUGE steps they are taking to take 508 Restoration to a national level. We wanted to showcase some of their furniture refinishing, decorative repurposing and barnwood art. We also wanted to give them some fun photos for their blog, Etsy shop, publicity and for funsies. It is a mix of all things Sarah and Nathan: rustic, vintage, style, creativity, color, fun and practicality. Without further ado….508 Restoration and Design a.k.a The Torrences!

How amazing are these knobs?

Sarah looks like one tough mamma jamma!

So this shot should have been pretty easy. I mean it looks like it went off without a hitch.

Except that they could not stop laughing at each other. It got so ridiculous especially when Nathan randomly reached up and said he was going to do a “Face Trace” and dragged his finger heavily down the side of her face which cracked all of us up. Public romantic gestures are not particularly a strong point for them, we understand the pressure!

Still not pulling it together.

Got it!

And the money headshots.

This grey beauty was just featured on one of the most well-known design websites around; Design Sponge!

We finished up their shoot at an abandoned house that is part of the Torrence extended family on Torrence land. Someday Nathan and Sarah hope to buy this house and make it a dream fixer upper. For now….we claimed the grounds around it.

I love this shoot, I LOVE THIS SHOOT!!! I know I am biased but I just think Sarah and Nathan are amazing and I am in love with all that they are producing. Please take some time to peruse their blog, shop their etsy and of course leave them some love in the comments section. Their furniture is available for purchase and shipping nationwide (**few exceptions). They also take custom orders or can refinish furniture that you have purchased. I promise you will not be disappointed.

This was a photo shoot with three distinct end products. An editorial set up using props, full body posing, and showing the headpieces in “action”. Ryan tackled the actual head shots that will be used to showcase the headpieces for Melanie’s Etsy shop. The final scene brought the girls back together for some dramatically lit, fiercely posed shots.

That amazing teal desk was refurbished by our friends Sarah and Nathan at Solace Restoration. She’s a gem and currently for sale. The pinwheels were made by yours truly, with the help of Sara. They came out so much better than I imagined and the tones of the paper worked so well with the woodgrain on the barn.

Without further ado, Sara and Kristin working some serious magic.

As well as the girls did apart, they also worked some magic together.

A few outtakes. The copper tea kettles became a huge joke and then the laughing started and continued for awhile.

Moving into the twilight hour and some more dramatic lighting.

A few headshots that will be gracing Melanie’s Etsy shop in the near future.

Now before you get drooling on all the amazing details, I need to share with you that Melanie is wearing her something blue wedding gown designed by Project Runway’s Leanne Marshall. Not only is it the most amazing shade of blue, but it fits her like a glove. I’m not gonna lie, I was glued to that season of Project Runway and so loved Leanne’s style.

About the day, in the bride’s words:
“David and I aren’t very formal people, so we set out to have a sweet, silly, homegrown, do-it-together wedding. we were married at Queens County Farm Museum, which is one of our favorite places; it’s the only working farm within New York city limits, and it was the perfect mix of rural and urban for our laid-back wedding.”

I LOVE that all her bridesmaids wore not only different styles but different shades of green. Such a lovely pallet of color.

Only a sister picks your teeth.

All three beautiful sisters.

The gorgeous bouquet. Her bridesmaid’s fascinator made by Melanie herself.

One of my favorite quirky details of the day was the bridal party playing “Here Comes the Bride” on kazoos!

Outside the barn reception an adorable little photobooth was set up.

Seriously, good stuff is it not? I just adore this wedding, I adore Melanie and David and I adored working with Heather Espana.

Below is a list of all the DIY’s that Melanie and David did for their wedding.

veil & bridesmaid’s flower fascinator
favors (we wrapped chocolates with patterned paper & made heart cutouts)
guest book (i took a leather photo album, glued tiny envelopes into it, and guests were asked to leave us notes on small cards, which are now tucked into the envelopes)
napkins (we used striped, herringbone-patterned bar mops)
flowers (my sister rebecca did all of the bridesmaids’ bouquets & reception flowers on the morning of… phew!
eating tags, flags, table numbers (made using great patterned paper found at paper source, kate’s paperie and paper mojo)

If you can’t get enough of this wedding, please go and see Heather Espana’s post on her blog and our Wedding Chicks feature here.

Scene 3: “The Field”

ADDENDUM since posting: Some of you asked for full lyrics. Here they are. Song written by Dennis Jernigan.

I bless you with joy and peace and love that won’t let go. I bless you with grace and faith and fire in your soul. I bless you with dreams and visions most men don’t know of. i bless you with a deeper knowledge of our Fathers love.
I bless you with strength and power, grace through any trial. I bless you with wisdom and with comfort in your smile. I bless you with great adventures, journeys yet unknown. I bless you with hearts gone wild because you are His own.
I bless you with the heart of a warrior, grace to stand and fight, I bless you with brothers who will stand right by your side. I bless you with courage till the battles have been won, I bless you with the faith to hear your Father say “well done”.

CHORUS:
I bless you with joy and laughter, I bless you with a steadfast faith, I bless you with the hopes and the dreams that your heart goes after, I bless you with amazing grace.

This next one cracks me up….either we are really funny or we were confusing them with directions.

Beatrice was making her presence known.

These girls are amazing at pulling out vulnerable, beautiful looks.

A little out-take. Getting in this position for Lauren was a logistical feat. She had to balance against Kristin’s thigh which Kristin was a little too zealous to lend; tipping her over.

Much better.

Before we end with the adorable watermelon eating I just want to break to our two prop wenches that helped load and unload all over the property for us. These are not flattering shots but alas, we want to give honorable mention.

This is Kristin’s Adam working the pinwheel while frolicking with the horses.

and Lauren’s Adam taking a quick shot for Kristin’s sister.

These watermelon shots absolutely crack me up. The girls were starving by the end as it was a HOT, long five hours from start to finish. They devoured these watermelon slices in seconds.

Le sigh…..

Girls, I have said it a million times but THANK YOU! You exceeded each and every expectation I had for this shoot. We are so proud of the images and we are so pleased that these remind you of the blessing of pregnancy and friendship. We can’t wait to meet Violet and Beatrice in the upcoming months. Blessings!

So for a brief history of this shoot because it really came together in a few weeks….let me share. Ryan and I have known the extremely talented Adam Barnes for many years. Those of you long time fans may have seen the vintage editorial shoot we did of Adam and his wife Lauren about a year and a half ago. There is no denying Lauren’s incredible beauty, poise and style in photos. She was a DREAM to shoot. She took my ideas and RAN with them while purchasing her clothes and accessories….the shoot would not have been half as impactful without her eye for style and her incredible talent at hair and make up. It can also be noted that Lauren has the most beautiful heart too.

Fast forward to the present. Adam has a very talented and very beautiful associate photographer working for him named Kristin. I have gotten to know Kristin over the last year loosely through the internet and because she worked part time at the salon I get my hair done at…score. Talk about another beautiful woman both inside and out. Kristin and Lauren also happen to be great girlfriends AND they are just 5 weeks apart from having their first babies together!

So a similar itch started about a month ago to create a stylized shoot, rich in details, themed, but this time with women. We don’t boast that we are maternity photographers, in fact we tend to shy away from anything family, maternity or baby. But as a woman, mother and now an expectant mother again…..I am in total girl mode. I think I pondered the concept of this shoot for about a minute when Lauren and Kristin popped in to my head. Two great friends, similar stature, naturally photogenic, stylish, and TOTALLY into details……oh yes….this was it! I fired off an email to them both asking if they wanted to do this shoot with Ryan and I for funsies. I explained how I saw three different scenes in my head. One was going to totally be bright, kitchy, summertime…borderline gaudy bathing suit scene. The second scene was going to be more “glam”, an outdoor living room scene with stronger poses…more serious. The last was going to be at sunset…dreamy, soft, lots of back-lighting, sundresses, quilt-on-the-grass sort of deal.

Well they jumped right on board, a flurry of emails ensued, they went shopping, I went collecting props and well…..there you have it. A hot July evening on an abandoned farm, two gorgeous pregnant women, two husbands named Adam that did the heavy lifting, one husband named Ryan that was along for the ride to shoot and execute what was in my brain and one GIDDY Kelly watching it all come together.

Enjoy Scene One….”Summertime”

As far as props for this scene. The lawn chairs are ours. Those amazing pinwheels were a last minute find at Big Lots $7.99 each!! Mini pinwheels and popsicle bubbles are from Joanne Fabrics, straws are my children’s, and little stool is mine. I think I spent about $20 for this simple set up!

So the LIFE game was a little epiphany I had a few days before the shoot racking my brains about how to show they were having girls without all the stereotypical ways. We already owned the game so it was a free addition to the props pile. To my knowledge, I have not seen this before but I do know there is nothing new under the sun….so maybe you have. I don’t really hang out on maternity blogs!

Scene Two…”The Living Room”

Props were scored from two sources. One…Ryan’s full time job as a commercial photographer at Moore and Giles leather. The chairs, the full hide, even the distressed door and mantel are all props from his workplace..MAJOR SCORE! The vintage calendar pillow, some bottles, vases, candlesticks are all from my dear friend Sarah who refurbishes and sells at Solace Restoration. The ladder was found on the property.

Part Two coming soon…..

Both ladies are expecting “pink”! Little Beatrice will be joining Lauren and Adam in September. Little Violet will be joining Kristin and Adam (different Adam..I know it is confusing!) in August.

My friends and renovation specialists at Solace Restoration, loaned me this sign. This is a portion of a song of blessing we sing at our church. Ryan and I sing this song to our kids every night before bed. It is incredible.

To see Janie and The Brides Cafe posting on this shoot click here. To see Courtney and Little White Book posting on this shoot click here.

We had to give in and let them wear their coats. I mean we are humane :-)

Flowers by Janie Medley of JM Flora and The Brides Café

Styling by Courtney Spencer of Merriment Events and little white book

Dresses by Whirling Turban

Makeup by Erika Nixon of Makeup on Demand makupondemand@comcast.net

Cupcakes by Two Sweet

Pink feather fascinator by One Little Dove