Every year I put together an annual group photo-shoot for the Vegas PUG (a local meetup group I lead for super-cool professional photographers). It’s a chance for everyone to get out on location, have fun shooting with others in the community and hopefully come away inspired and having picked up a new tip or two. This year I wanted to do something a little different, so I surprised everyone with a styled shoot filled with eye-candy just begging to be photographed!
For for theme, I took inspiration from the unique style of Sofia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ (if you haven’t seen it, it’s a must!). I’ve always wanted to do my own take on it for a wedding-shoot and love how it turned out. Huge props go to my incredible team that pulled the vision together and made the shoot-out a huge success: AMAZING floral by Layers of Lovely, the epic cake and treats by Gimme Some Sugar, killer hair and makeup by Your Beauty Call, decor from The Pottery Shop, inspiring off-camera lighting demo by Steve Fogarty, an awesome behind-the-scenes video by Lighten Films, my girls Kristin Wilson and Liz Le for all their help bringing everything together and last but not least, our models: Carrie, Sarah and Lindsey – (all real and completely FABULOUS brides). Tons of love goes out to you all!
Here’s some of my images from the shoot:
Admittedly I always go a little crazy over Catherine at Layers of Lovely’s floral designs. Here’s Carrie modeling the pearl and peonies bouquet:
Lindsey’s rockin’ the macaroons - one thing a Marie Antoinette themed shoot would be incomplete without!
Towards the end of the shoot we topped things off with a surprise cake fight! While it was a bit sad seeing Gimme Some Sugar’s masterpiece getting torn apart, it was so much fun (and delicious too)! I couldn’t resist digging my fingers in for a little cake action – YUM!
Below is a fantastic behind the scenes video by one of my fave videographers, Terrence of Lighten Films!
You may notice that I sound like a complete dork at the beginning. I’m going to blame it on the cold, lol. It was freezing! Props go to the brides for rockin’ it out in the crazy weather we had that day.
**Click here to check out more images from this shoot in the feature on The Wedding Chicks!**
When Brit Bertino (the fantastic lead coordinator at Simply Weddings) came to me with the idea of doing a shoot with 1990′s inspired elements, I thought it was uber-rad and couldn’t wait to be a part of it!
For the photography I decided to create images that had a modern feel while reflecting the playfulness of the era. I took visual cues from 90′s graffiti and vibrant color trends, using bold shapes and splashes of color.
The shoot was held at Rumor – a super swanky boutique hotel just minutes off the strip. If you’re looking for a cool, modern location for an intimate wedding or after party, you should definitely check it out!
Of course, a 90′s hip-hop themed wedding wouldn’t be complete without great entertainment. Brandon Namebrand totally brought it with his killer dance moves on a LED dance-floor from Naakiti Floral.
Some of the pretty details:
Check out the feature on Rock ‘n Roll Bride with even more images from the shoot!
CREDITS
Photographer: Chelsea Nicole (me)
Coordinator: Simply Weddings by Brit Bertino
Venue: Rumor Boutique Hotel in Las Vegas
Bride’s Dress: Bella Bridesmaid
Groom’s Attire: Tuxedo Junction
Hair & Make Up: Make the Bride Up
Linens: Creative Coverings
Stationary: Sky Orange Studio
Flowers: Naakiti Floral
Cake: Gimme Some Sugar
Break Dancer: Brandon Namebrand
Couple: Jenifer Duncan & Dominick Hill
May love sweep you off your feet and take you to great new heights this Valentine’s Day!
Hope everyone has an amazing weekend! More from Larissa & Staford’s love shoot will be posted on V-Day. 
xox Chelsea
From our first meeting I knew this artsy couple (she’s an interior-designer and he’s an architect) needed an engagement session that showed off their playful, creative personalities.
What’s their favorite thing to do? Cook! What’s their wedding colors? Pink and grey. What were they up for? Anything! Even messing up their entire kitchen for a shoot? Bien sur! (But of course!) I’m quite sure I gave out an audible squeal of delight when I saw that they had done their kitchen with light grey cupboards and soft-pink counter tops.
I decided then: we just had to take advantage of this cooking thing they love so much! Since we were also shooting Lani and François’ destination wedding in Lille France, we added a pinch of macaroons, a dash of crepes and a whole lot of pastries to make it all complete. We tied it all together by designing a custom signing book with these images for their guests to leave their own recipes for a delicious marriage!
Lani & François were also featured on one of my fav wedding blogs, the Wedding Chicks! Click below to see the feature and tons more photos from their shoot:
Lastly, I’m super-duper excited to share the fusion video Jayse made of their shoot with my stills and his footage!
Big shout out goes to Signs by Diane who created the beautiful, handmade “Love is Sweet” sign! Her signs are perfect for photo-shoots or wedding decor, or both! I could totally see something like this being reused for a dessert display. And the engraved heart measuring spoons in the video are by Beehive Kitchenware Co.
I can’t wait for Frances & Eddie’s wedding coming up VERY soon (a month away from today!) at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and one of my favorite places: Vintner’s Grill here in Vegas. And today I have some photos to share from their recent engagement session.
For Frances & Eddie’s e-shoot we knew we had to plan out something fun to fit their personalities. A couple of their favorite things to do together are to travel (they are world travelers and have been to Hawaii, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia and Costa Rica together) and, when not globe-trotting, hang out a their local Borders bookstore. They love to browse through the travel books and make plans for their upcoming adventures together.
So, this is exactly what we did for our shoot and it couldn’t have been more perfect… We got to chill out in one of their favorite places, and while I photographed they even snuck a little planning time in for their honeymoon in Greece!
Afterward we headed outdoors to play in the late afternoon sun and test fly some paper airplanes Frances and Eddie constructed out of the travel maps at the bookstore.
Eddie made this particular paper plane so that Waikiki Beach, the place where he proposed, would be right on the wing.
F+E: Love ya two! Jayse and I can’t wait for next month!!
Cara made Nathaniel a skinny black tie to match with his outfit for the shoot. I loved the knit hearts – such an adorable little touch.
Nathaniel plays in several bands and collects punk and garage singles. So as a little prop he brought along an issue of his favorite magazine, Ugly Things, all about sixties garage bands. And Cara rocked a copy of Knitting for Dummies! Minus the desert backdrop, this is exactly how they can be found in their free-time - Cara with her knits and Nathaniel chillin’ with a good magazine.
by chels
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