Venice Elopement Inspiration

This is an elopement inspired by the romance and mystique of the city of Venice, Italy! Using a gorgeous red gown custom made for the shoot by Joanne Fleming Design, we set the stage for this inspiration in the misty first light of day at St. Mark’s Square off the Grand Canal. I flew with a cake (inspired by Valentino’s fashion forward Winter 2015 collection) from New Orleans across the pond to this extraordinary locale. I wanted to play up the movement of Fleming’s gown and have this really be the statement piece of the shoot, standing out amidst the muted and natural tones of the city’s well-worn architectural and the soft green and blue tones of the canal waters.

I used Silk & Willow’s indigo dyed ribbon on the bouquet to play up the color of the water flowing in the streets, and kept the color tone of the florals light and airy with a heavy focus on the beautiful ranunculus sourced from a local vendor right at the base of the clock tower in St. Mark’s Square. We sourced the table and chairs or the table scape locally from one of the plentiful restaurants hiding around every turn, and brought movement into the tables cape with the blush colored muslin runner by Silk & Willow to mimic the movement of the silk organza bridal gown and cape.”

From Archetype: “There is nothing about life that we enjoy more than traveling together and the adventure of new places; and there is nothing Koby and I would rather do than photograph the beauty of love in new places. Truly afflicted with a lifelong wanderlust, we structure everything in our business towards the goal of continued travel. Koby has wanted to take me to Venice since we started dating back in high school… Italy is one of our favorite countries to visit, but Venice just wasn’t in the cards until we decided to make it happen by extending a trip to France by a few extra days. Not a week had passed after booking our tickets, that we decided to plan an editorial shoot in Venice and invited one of our favorite stylists, Valerie to bring the shoot to life.

While she worked on styling details, we focused on finding the perfect models – a real couple. Jeni & Roberto came to us through one of the casting calls we had posted in various places online. What a beautiful relationship they have, and getting to know them through this shoot was magical. We could not have predicted that out of 137 churches currently standing in Venice, we would scout and pre-pick the very one they were standing in front of when he first told her he loved her! As we approached it about halfway through the shoot, Jeni turned to me and whispered, “How did you know?!” We didn’t until that moment. You will see it in their eyes… this kind of love brings a magic that affects everyone around them.

A celebratory dinner and off to prep for the sunrise shoot. According to Valerie’s step counter, we walked 23,230 steps that day which included 32 flights of stairs – all together equaling 10.53 miles. Whatever it takes. It’s that simple. Not ever willing to give up, but always willing to adapt without sacrificing the vision. 04:30 wake up call to begin makeup and hair. A magical shoot. An afternoon to soak it all in, then up at sunrise again to catch a flight back to Houston. Would we do again? – absolutely – a thousand times over. And in a thousand different cities – we aren’t done yet.”