Concept Photography » Photo Blog

Inerview with our beautiful bride, Lauren:

What attracted you the most to your husband?
His easy going nature-Shane rarely stresses about anything, so we tend balance each other.

How did he propose?
Shane whisked me away for a ‘beach weekend getaway’. When we arrived at the Resort at Singer Island, on a rainy Friday evening Shane told me as we were pulling into the resort that we had to change quickly. Since our dinner reservations were soon. Shane refused to let the valet help with the bags and made me go look out the windows as he checked in. As we went up to our room and he opened the door to an enormous suite overlooking the breathtaking the ocean; there was chilled champagne awaiting our arrival, and I thought nothing of it since we were rushing off to our dinner reservations. However, after a brief moment of I turned around and Shane was standing there with a ring box in his hand. I immediately freaked out and turned bright red. I can honestly tell you I don’t remember what he said; I just remember how much I was in shock and awe. We joke around that we can’t remember if I ever said yes… but the rest is history!

What inspired your vision for your wedding?
I like to call it a modern twist on traditional. When I initially began to look for colors I found black and white damask print linen and decided that would be the focal point.

How did you choose your dress?
This question is hilarious because I like to say my dress chose me. I dragged my matron of honor Leslie around to EVERY single bridal salon in Orlando and always felt like I just didn’t find ‘the one’. One (what I thought was a fateful Saturday) I took my mom, Leslie and my other matron Lindey to Solutions Bridal and tried on a million and one dresses. I kept coming back to this very simple, form fitting Rivini, so I decided on it, but I wanted to hold off on my measurements for a couple months. A couple months went by, and I never really had the ‘this is my dress feeling’ so as my mom and I went in for my measurements we decided I was going to look around a little more. I was beginning to feel like I would never have that ‘ah ha’ moment, but Molly at Solutions was there to help! We walked into the store and hanging on the end of the rack was this GORGEOUS dress, that had a little of everything I thought I wanted (slimmer fit, beading and interesting back)… I knew it was the one. I spent a couple hours trying on other dresses as options as Molly had saved the special dress for last. The moment I put that dress on I knew it was the one. I finally had the ‘ah ha’ moment. Before Molly even had me zipped up, I knew it was my dress. We walked out of the dressing area and both said to my mom, this is it. My mom agreed and I’ve loved it ever since.

What was your biggest planning challenge?
Scheduling- We were having a Catholic ceremony at 2:00pm. We knew the ceremony would be over by 3:00pm, and knew we didn’t want to start dinner by 4:00pm. So we decided to have a short break between the ceremony and reception, but it turned out to be perfect. We were able to go to a location for pictures and guests were able to relax before the reception began.

Favorite design element of your big day:
Definitely my head table, or as Lori from Arthurs calls it ‘the feasting table’. We had a large (14 person) rectangle table for the bridal party with the black and white damask print tab linen I had found months prior. It was what I based the entire reception around.

Tell us about your wedding flowers:
Oh my! Lee Forrest at Lee Forrest Design is AMAZING. Our colors were black, hot pink and lime green. My bouquet was a mix of hot pink and white peonies, hot pink calla lilies’, and lime green orchids. I told Lee I wanted something medium size and different, definitely not the traditional bridal bouquet. It was bright and different, definitely one of my highlights.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?
Definitely being announced as husband and wife and walking down the aisle.

Describe your wedding cake:
Julie from Cut the Cake did an AMAZING job! I took in a picture I found in a magazine and combined a few other elements to make it perfect. It was 4 tiers, a base square and the top three tiers were round. Three tiers had platinum scroll work and one tier had a plaque with a B on it. All of it was topped with a fabulous fondant bow. We had 4 different flavors, and all of them were delicious!

How was your experience with your photographers?
We LOVED Jason and Sara! We knew from the instant we met with them, they were perfect for us! We loved their style, personality and fun loving nature. Sara was with the girls most of the morning and she was just an extension of the bridal party. Jason spent the morning with the guys and was subjected to many inside jokes and crazy antics, it was like he was just one of the guys. We are already recommending them to our friends.

Any vendor shout outs?
Absolutely, I tell all my friends that I had the BEST vendors! Paperdolls Ink did our invitations, programs, and menu cards/table numbers and specialty drink cards. They were creative and very easy to work with. They saw my vision and ran with it! Lee Forrest from Lee Forrest Design was amazing and I cant say enough fabulous things about him and his staff. Arthurs, their fabulous staff and Lori Player were top notch. The food was delicious, service was impeccable and assistance with everything was wonderful. DJ Phil and Tiffany from Soundwave Entertainment brought the element of fun. I told Phil all I wanted was the dance floor to be packed and our guests to enjoy themselves, and he definitely achieved that! Julie from Cut the Cake made our fabulous wedding cake; it looked unbelievable and tasted even better. Rainer Flor and Simply Cinematic were there for all the little funny parts and all the serious mushy gushy. We knick named them the ‘black ninjas’ because they were everywhere! We cant wait to see the finished product! Last but certainly not least, Concept Photography, we love them and had the best time with them!