Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger!

Jodi and Brandon are awesome. This couple met at a wedding, when Brandon simply offered Jodi his jacket on a cool night. He likes to say, "And that was that, we have been together ever since." The thing I love most about Brandon and Jodi is just how connected they are. Their wedding day was incredibly emotional - and in the best way possible. Tears of joy were flowing from the couple, their friends and family - and Brandon couldn't have been more proud to call Jodi his wife. They literally had THE PERFECT day, in terms of weather, which was inspiring in itself. Everything on their day went off without a hitch and I simply couldn't be happier for these two! A special than you goes out to Sarah Trotter at Lasting Impressions Weddings for their day-of work and to Molly's Flower Studio for the gorgeous florals - and last, but not least, to Cakewalk for the (totally awesome) cakes that night!

Congratulations to Jodi and Brandon on getting married! Cheers to you two and many more to come!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Stolp!

Jordan and Steph are a couple who are incredibly thoughtful. Not only to each other, but also to their family and friends. On their wedding day, the two kept sending one another little cards and gifts, but they also had a very special surprise for one of their friends. Cassie, who was a Matron of Honor and Billy, who was an usher, are about the have their first child - a little girl in which they have named Willow. In an routine doctors appointment a few months ago, Cassie and Billy learned that baby Willow had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome...or basically an underdeveloped left half of her heart. Steph and Jordan have always been incredibly close to their nieces and nephews and so this news inspired them to especially incorporate baby Willow into their day. On both the bride and her matron-of-honor's bouquet, there was a charm of a Willow tree. It was a simple gesture, but one that was incredibly thoughtful to their friends, especially on such a big day. It was meant to celebrate the life to come, which when is there a better time to celebrate new beginnings, other than a wedding? Steph and Jordan's wedding took place in my hometown of Owatonna and we had an absolutely blast with this bunch! There were lots of touching moments throughout the day, and here are just a few!  

Congratulations to Jordan and Steph on their gorgeous wedding! We are SO happy to have been a part of, yet again, another family event!  To make a donation to Baby Willow's journey, visit the Caring Bridge site here!

LOVEe

Bailey and Logan // A Washington D.C. Engagement!

Bailey and Logan are one of those couples who when you meet them, they inspire you. As a couple, they are ambitious, adventurous and madly in love with each other. The two met thru a mutual friend, just as Logan was making the move to Washington D.C. As they were first connecting via phone calls and e-mails, Bailey was bragging about her spontaneous side and Logan made her rise to the challenge by inviting her to have dinner with him that weekend...in D.C. Just as Bailey thought he was joking, a plane ticket showed up in her inbox and she accepted the challenge. Their first date lasted 48 hours and so for their engagement session, we visited many of the areas around Washington D.C. that had significant meaning to them. I had so much fun getting to know this couple. Their energy and chemistry are totally infectious and you just can't help but laugh and smile when you're around them! Congratulations to Bailey and Logan on your engagement! We are SO looking forward to being a part of the big day!

LOVEe

Lynn and Pete // The American Wedding // Part 2

The second half of Lynn and Pete's wedding day was a smashing success. Their traditional Vietnamese wedding was followed up by a Catholic ceremony and a full-on American wedding. For the reception, they invited their guests to Windows on Minnesota to enjoy the spectacular views of Minneapolis. This part of the day was so much fun, because once all of the ceremonial obligations were fulfilled, it was time to party. I particularly enjoyed a moment, while riding in the limo, belting out music that might constitute as guilty pleasures for most of us! (You know, the Backstreet Boys, maybe a little N'SYNC, mixed with some Micheal Jackson...). Lynn and Pete's wedding just happen to fall on the night of the Aquatennial in Minneapolis, so there was a fireworks display, which I like to think was especially for them!

Lynn and Pete // A Vietnamese Wedding // Part 1

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again - I love weddings that embrace cultural traditions from around the world. A wedding is a tradition in itself, but when we experience these ceremonies, and how they are carried out differently around the world, there is so much more richness and history that is incorporated in these events! For Lynn and Pete, this meant embracing their family's traditions and having Vietnamese wedding! These are very family oriented ceremonies, which usually take place in the family homes. There is a processional where the groom, his family and friends bear gifts to give to the bride's family. These gifts signify the wealth that the groom's family will bring to the bride's family. As a big group of close family and friends gather in the home, the incense is lit, the gifts are exchange and the bride makes her first appearance to her groom! Lynn chose a gorgeous Ao Dai to wear for her traditional bridal gown and I thought she looked absolutely stunning! During the ceremony, the families are introduced, prayers are read and best-wishes are given by the guests. It's a very celebratory wedding that seems both elaborate and simple, all at the same time. Either way, it is a rich ceremony that was SO cool for us to document. For this wedding, I decided to separate the images into two posts. So, here are the photographs that I loved from part one of Lynn and Peter's wedding - the Vietnamese ceremony! Congratulations to Lynn and Pete on a gorgeous ceremony! Part 2, featuring their American wedding will be up next!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Siering!

Molly and Patrick had an absolutely fantastic day. As I am photographing a wedding, I always try to wrap my head around that couple's story and find some common theme throughout. For Molly and Patrick, I felt that the theme of their day was all about embracing the elements of surprise. When this couple first booked me for their wedding photography, everything was scheduled to be different. A different day, and different venue and an entirely different time-of-the-year. Life had other things in mind and a few months ago, Molly and Patrick found out they were expecting! With all of the excitement building for the wedding, the couple decided to switch it up and they changed course. A new date was set, the new venue was booked and everyone in their wedding came together to embrace the new direction of the day! Their wedding took place at Aria in Minneapolis and many more surprises happened throughout their day. Molly and her Father danced one of the best first dances I have ever seen. It was SO SO SO fun to watch their energy on the dance floor, especially after her father had just noted in his speech that dancing with his daughter in the kitchen was one of his favorite memories. At the end of the night, the wedding party - and all of the guests - surprised Molly and Patrick with a performance of The Lumineer's Ho Hey song that stole the night! In putting together this blog post, I realized a couple of things. First, Molly and Patrick are a wildly gorgeous couple. Secondly, their wedding is incredibly publish-worthy, so I'm going to keep some of it under-wraps until we submit it. Joan from Ambiente Wedding & Event Planning, along with the team at Arts & Flowers Design Studio transformed the space into an enchanting scene.  But most importantly, there were such great moments that in the images even surprised myself when I go back and look at everything! It is some of these special moments that I chose for this post. It was an absolutely romantic wedding that stole my heart and I hope it does you, too!

Congratulations to Molly and Patrick on your absolutely STUNNING wedding! We are so happy to have been a part of your day and are even more excited for all of the happy moments for your future!

LOVEe

Laura and Fotis // Engaged!

Laura and Fotis are totally my people. They love food (in fact, I'm pretty sure we ate our way through their engagement session), they like to live life in the fast lane and to top it all off, they are such a caring and hospitable couple. Both Laura and Fotis are surgeons and Fotis has been out in Seattle for his fellowship. Laura often travels across the country to spend time with her groom-to-be, so we thought it was only fitting to document this time in their lives in the city that they most love. Seattle is one of my favorite places in the county. It has so much to offer and we had absolutely amazing weather for their engagement weekend. It was so great to get to know Laura and Fotis so much more and we simply hung out in the city and experienced the beauty together!  

Congratulations to Laura and Fotis! I am SO looking forward to your wedding this fall!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. McDonald!

Every bride plans her wedding day to be absolutely perfect. This past weekend, Minnesota was hit by a series of storms that took out most of the power in the metro area. On the morning of Ashley and Matt's wedding, they woke up to discover that the salon, their church and their reception venue were all without power. To make matters even trickier, most of the cell towers were down, along with the internet, in most places. For us, as we were traveling to the couple to begin the day, the always quaint and gorgeous city of Wayzata was almost like a ghost town. Everything was shut down and closed, trees were down and as we were driving, we magically received a voicemail, letting us know a new location that had power! It turns out that good ole atlas maps still hold value and we found our way to the wedding! Once we arrived, I was so happy to see Ashley totally chill, getting her hair done and sipping a mimosa...perfect! She said it best herself, "You know, I planned for almost 2 years for this day. I had a plan for rain, for snow and just about every other situation...except for a power outage! Earlier this morning, I was driving with my sister and I thought, 'I could be a bridezilla. I could start freaking out. I could get upset, but there is no point. Power or no power, I'm getting married today and I am SO excited!"  I have always loved Ashley and Matt since the moment I met them - and their families, too! Despite the crazy weather, the day everyone managed with with style and grace and at the end of the day, everything went exactly as planned. The power came on to the church, then the venue and one-by-one, everything started to fall back into place! The incredible team at Mimi Design made the Wayzata Country Club look absolutely gorgeous - and at the end of the day, Ashley and Matt ended up happily married!

Congratulations to Ashley and Matt! We had such an adventure with you all and I'm so happy to have been a part of it!

LOVEe

Sonja and Brad // Engaged!

I first met Sonja years ago, on a beach, at her brother's wedding. I have since photographed many of her family's events, including her other sister's wedding! It's been fantastic to be invited back to document some of life's biggest moments for the Carlyon family, so when Sonja and Brad asked me to photograph their wedding, I was obviously thrilled. For their engagement session, the couple wanted to incorporate three of their favorite things - their love for Italian food, their love for coffee and the love-of-their-life, their dog Hank. We started the day off at the Loring Pasta Bar and continued into the North Loop Neighborhood for some charming backdrops and a little cold press.

Congratulations to Sonja and Brad! I am SO excited to be with you and your family on the big day!

LOVEe

Warren and Lisa // Engaged!

One day, I opened my e-mail with a letter from a man named Warren. He told me the story about him and his future wife, Lisa. It's a true love story, really, and one so inspiring I just HAD to photograph their wedding. Warren and Lisa first met in the 4th grade, knew one another all throughout their lives and even went to prom together! (If you don't believe me, see the photo below!) When it came time to go to college, the two went their separate ways - Lisa stayed in Minnesota and Warren went to the great state of Illinois. They went on to live separate, happy lives and then in November of 2011, Lisa decided it was time to join Facebook. She said to me, "What's the first thing you do when you get on Facebook? You look up your old boyfriends!" Warren and Lisa reconnected and started dating shortly thereafter and in March of 2012, Warren popped the question. I've only known these two for a very short time, but they are PERFECT together. I love their story and I am SO excited for their upcoming wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams!

Kaylan and Matt had a fantastic wedding. The vibe was totally chill, the crowd was incredibly fun and the location of their wedding day provided the perfect amount of surprise for their guests! The couple chose the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to have their wedding and what I personally love about this space is the great architecture and pockets of light that add a little  drama to the photos. Their ceremony took place on the Endless Bridge, which overlooks one of the best skylines that the city as to offer! It was perfectly overcast on this day, so the light was incredibly even and created a beautiful backdrop to be married. All of the guests then moved to the Dowling Studio, which is also known as the 'yellow room'. The light is unique in that space and continued to give gorgeous views of the city.  Just when their guests thought the night couldn't get any better, a secret wall raised up and Kaylan and Matt gave a dramatic entrance to their reception room, which was in a small theater, all decked out in chandeliers. It was dramatic, romantic and the perfect space to throw their party.

Congratulations to Kaylan and Matt! You really did have the BEST day!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Bonfante!

When I sit down to write blog posts about our clients, I try to reflect upon the day and tell a cool little story about the couple, their details and amazing vendors they have booked. However, when it comes to Kate and Juan, I feel like I need to tell the story from the perspective of our team. My assistants this past week were two dudes on our team, Jackson and Ryan. Ryan's been with our crew for 4-5 seasons and Jackson is a newbie (and an awesome one at that.) For the wedding, Juan, our groom, made a special request for us to shoot film images, specifically with a Hasselblad camera. Personally, for me creatively, this was amazing. It's rare that wedding couples make specific requests like this, so it's fun to have the opportunity to seriously shoot film again. Looking through the Hasselblad camera is an entirely different experience, then our fancy digital cameras. The colors look different, the depth of field is different and it just takes me back to why I am a photographer. It was refreshing for me to use that camera throughout the day and it was exciting for Ryan and Jackson to get a feel for it as well! Using film as a medium is just a yummy experience that gets me SO jazzed about creating photographs - and it's also a completely different process than digital. It made me slow down a bit and take it all in. (Though, according to Jackson, I was just 'blowing through the film', which is also kind of true...maybe I was too excited!) Throughout the day, there were various moments that really touched us all and after the wedding, Ryan said to me, "You know, I feel like I was really emotionally invested in today. Like, more than usual." It's true. Kate and Juan have a love that is SO genuine, so pure, so transparent and yet has so much depth to it. They exude a passion with each other, but also a love that extends to their family and friends. I guess I can't really put words to what we felt when we wrapped our shoot, but all of us felt like we had truly been blessed to witness a marriage as strong as Kate and Juan's.

The day was perfect, in it's own way. It was a windy, blustery, chilly day here in Minnesota, but it didn't rain and they light was gorgeous. Since we have had all of this rain here this Spring, the Cherry Blossom trees were in full bloom, along with Kate's favorite flowers, which are Lilacs. Their ceremony took place at the Lake Harriet Band Shell and the reception was at the Walker Art Center. One of my favorite things about their reception was the potted herbs that they used for their centerpieces - what a cool idea for a spring wedding?

                                          

Congratulations to Kate and Juan on their amazing day. Thank you so much for inspiring us! You better believe that the moment we get the film back from the lab, I'll be blogging about that, too!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Friendshuh!

When I first met Ashley and Eddie, the first thing that came to mind was,"Hell, yes." I had been waiting and waaaaaiting for a bad-ass bride. You know, the tattoos, the piercings, the whole bit. Ashley fit the bill perfectly for one of my 'dream' brides, but over the time that I was able to really get to know Ashley, she really blew me away with her real, flawless beauty. She's a girl who will never admit it. She'll say, "I'm a mom to three kids all day, I don't wear makeup!" The truth is, she doesn't need it and I know Eddie, her groom, would agree.  The bad-ass vibe aside, both Ashley and Eddie are two of the sweetest people I have ever met.  The couple has three gorgeous children who also celebrated the occasion and it was clear that they were just as excited for the party as the adults.  Ashley and Eddie had an incredibly special day. The weather (as it has been this entire spring) had been flirting with a thunderstorm all day and just a couple hours before the ceremony did the rain let up. The sun was shining bright during the ceremony and the casual-country reception at Minnetonka Orchards ended up being one of the most beautiful nights of the year thus far. There were lawn games, live music, bonfires, home made desserts from The Country Cake Cupboard, and more. The ladies of MiMi Design put together a gorgeous event for all of the guests (and kids!) to enjoy!

Congratulations to Ashley and Eddie! You absolutely know how to throw a party!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Halland!

Abby and Eric are two people who come from incredible families with strong foundations. On their wedding day, it was simply these family and friends that meant the most to the couple. Abby and Eric  are both the youngest in their families and their wedding party consisted solely of their siblings. Even though both sides have a big age-gap, it was also clear that the siblings had grown closer and closer, the more they grew up and all of the brothers and sisters couldn't have been more thrilled with Abby and Eric getting married. This couple is also one of the sweetest I have ever met. Before their wedding, I was trying to describe Abby and Eric to my assistants for the day, and tell them a bit of their story, and the best words I could find was, "They are honestly just so sweet." Their wedding ceremony took place at the Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, which is one of my personal favorites, because the space is small, intimate and absolutely stunning. The weather on their wedding day was a different story. It was sunny, and windy, then maybe a little cloudy and it even hailed a little bit. Yet, despite all, it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day.

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Halland! Thank you so much for inviting us to document this day!

LOVEe

Minneapolis Institute of Arts Wedding // Mr. and Mrs. Cadogan!

Allison and Brett have been amazing clients and so much fun to get to know while planning their wedding. I first met Allison when she was a bridesmaid in another wedding I photographed a few years ago and I loved this girl instantly. When her and Brett became engaged, we got together and I found out that we had way more in common than I ever imagined. We all share the same favorite restaurant, the 112 Eatery, we all love our dogs to an enormous degree and last, but not least, we all love to go to happy hour. It turns out that I run into Allison and Brett all over town - and they are just simply 'my people'. It was an honor to be asked to photograph their wedding, years after I initially met Allison, and I am SO happy I was able to do so. It also turns out that this couple has impeccable taste when it came to their wedding. Allison wore a gorgeous Vera Wang dress from L'atelier Couture and their wedding marked the first official wedding event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Style Architects brought Allison's vision to life and put together a beautiful reception, while Just Bloomed made our jaws drop with the all-white floral theme. Nan Fletcher, one of our favorite makeup artists to work with, made all of the women look so beautiful and the entire day was just a lovely work of art! Oh - and Allison and Brett brought the party and secured local musicians, Roster Mccabe. This band has made its rounds on the local music scene, but rarely will you see them play at weddings. It was SO refreshing and fun...and the dance floor was hoppin'.

Congratulations to Allison and Brett on their absolutely stunning wedding! And this isn't the last we will see of these two...their wedding also marked the first official wedding where Chris can show off his mad-video-skills...stay tuned!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Vaillancourt // Married in Mexico!

I love destination weddings, I mean it - I really, really love them. Every guest at a destination wedding is experiencing a new place, a new space and best of all - they are on vacation. I find that the vibe amongst the couple, their families and their wedding party are more relaxed when everyone is entirely out of their element. For Allison and Beecher, coming to a place where they could get away, relax and be with family and friends was incredibly important to them. They are a bit of a high-profile couple here in Minneapolis, with Allison running Ignite Models Inc. and Beecher going between managing Epic Entertainment and his new event production company, V2 NightLife. These two are incredibly passionate about their work, but wanted to escape for this special occasion. Personally, I've had the pleasure of working with Allison thru her agency over the years, and it was so nice to really get to know the other side of her world. Allison and Beecher have an adorable little girl and another little one on the way. They are amazing parents who have an incredible family behind them and everyone in the room could feel this love at their wedding! It was a pretty impressive turnout - almost 80 guests flew in to witness the wedding and some even came all the way from Iran! Carrie from Pineapple Travel did an amazing job with booking the travel and made everyone feel taken care of. The destination was Los Cabos, Mexico and all of the guests stayed at the Barcelo Los Cabos Palace hotel. The wedding, however, took place at the prestigious Cabo del Sol golf course. The weather was 95 degrees and perfectly sunny for the big day. This wedding meant a lot to me for many reasons, but especially because Allison and Beecher are incredibly connected - and especially with photographers - in the Minneapolis area. They could have literally asked anyone to photograph their wedding, so it was a true honor to be chosen to capture this day. I was also able to fly down my great friend Daniel Chin of Traverse Photography to shoot with me and it was SO much fun to work with him! So, without further adieu, lets officially kick off the 2013 wedding season with a giant blog post...

Congratulations to Allison, Beecher and your new little family! It was such a great weekend, thank you so much for inviting us to document this time in your lives!

LOVEe

Abby and Eric // Engaged!

Abby and Eric are fantastic. They are such an easy-going, happy, light-hearted couple who have basically been together since the day they met. And can you guess how they met? None other than the marching band! Both Abby and Eric were part of the band at the University of Minnesota and who would have thought that this is where they would find love? (Have I mentioned that I LOVE to hear stories of how couples meet? Every story is incredibly unique...) I asked the couple, what was is about one another that you fell in love with? Their answer was simple, "It's just been so easy - and so fun."  

Congratulations to Abby and Eric on their engagement! The couple is getting married in just a couple of weeks, so we'll be seeing more of them on the blog, soon!

LOVEe

Wedding Photography Workshop // Boot Camp

For those of us in the Midwest, weddings are a pretty seasonal business for us! We go from zero to sixty in one day and for the entire summer, we give all that we can to our wedding clients! We are on the dawn of wedding season and I thought this would be the best time to offer a little pre-season boot camp for wedding photographers! The idea came about when I was preparing a little intensive for our in-house team. I wanted to put together something that would refresh our ideas, skills and inspiration. As I've been putting this together, I realized that the content is pretty great and that this could benefit way more people, than just our crew! So, we have officially put together a 1 day workshop for all of you wedding photographers who would also like to freshen up and prep for the busy season ahead! The workshop will be from 9am - 5pm on Wednesday, May 8th. We will be hosting the workshop in a SUPER cool loft, which will also be the perfect space to practice with both natural and reception lighting. We'll be providing food + drinks for the day and we want to keep the vibe pretty casual and a great environment for learning! Topics for the workshop include:

• - Using natural light to our advantage (especially in those dim-lit hotels and churches)
• - Group portraits
• - Photographing details
• - Lens choice & composition
• - Working with on-camera flash (perfect for family formals + reception lighting)

Registration is officially open for the Wedding Boot Camp - and the best part is, it is only $350 for the entire day! CLICK HERE to reserve your space, we would love to have you!

Vendor Love // Gateaux Inc

Gateaux Inc is one of the most inspiring bakeries in both our local Minneapolis market, but also around the world. Their vision is not to mass-produce cakes, but rather to make every piece a work of art and literally bring your design to life. We have seen their work plenty of times in person and we are always amazed and in awe by what they create. When you have a Gateaux Inc cake at your event, you don't just have a cake. You are giving your guests an incredibly unique experience, and one that they will continue to talk about for years to come!  The best part is that baked goods from Gateaux Inc go beyond weddings and add the perfect surprise touch to any occasion! After all, who doesn't love a to a WOW factor at their party?

Q. With the wedding industry being so full of bakeries and cake artists now, how do you find that you are able to stay true to your original mission?

A. It's easy.  When we started Gateaux, 17 years ago, there weren't any other bakeries doing completely custom cakes for weddings.  It was a great niche for us in the Minneapolis area, and still is.  Truth be told, it is not a particularly good business model to do what we do, so most bakeries limit their designs to variations of cakes that they can produce quickly and in large quantities.  That's never been our style.  While it would be a whole lot more efficient to limit the designs that we create, it would bore me to death!  Fortunately, we have found a market of clientele who appreciate the uniqueness and intricacy of our cakes and are willing to pay a little more for  a truly unique cake.  I've been asked about mass marketing and expanding under Gateaux's name, but I refuse to expand the business to a point that will compromise our quality.  That covers design, as well as flavor...we'll never mass produce or freeze our cakes or desserts.

Q. Aside from your amazing and renowned Cakes, you also do custom invitations! Can you tell us a little bit about that?

A. I started offering custom invitations as a way to balance out the cash flow in winter months.  It was a natural fit.  We simply transferred the methods that made us successful in wedding cakes over to invitations.  I have a number of invitation companies around the US who will customize fully to my specifications.  This way, we can design invitations completely unique to the client's wedding.  If we can 't find a company that does what we're after, we'll do it ourselves.  The handmade ribbon rosettes on the attached invitations were made by our cake decorators.

Q. Your designs are one of a kind and so intricate.  How many artists do you have on staff?

A. As any good control freak would, I keep my staff small.  I have Jenna, Julia, and myself to decorate, and in the summer, we hire a part time dish washer to help keep us moving.  I'm lucky to have two decorators who are not only talented, but creative problem solvers, and passionate about decorating.  You have to love this job or you won't last.  It is long hours, and a lot of responsibility. But the rewards outweigh the stress.  I love it when we finish a cake and we manage to impress ourselves.  You'd be surprised how many times "That's a cake!" is uttered at the shop.  It still amuses us to no end.

Q. Each bride and groom are so unique, as are their weddings.  Would you say that one of your favorite parts would be the customization of all your cakes?

A. It's what makes my job the best job in the world!  People always ask me how I come up with such unique designs.  I don't.  My clients bring them to me (whether they know it at the time or not).  Each wedding has it's own distinctive look and design scheme.  I'm just a really good copy cat!

You can also check out Gateaux Inc on Facebook.

Vendor Love // Pressed Cotton

Millie Holloman is a great friend of mine. I seriously love this lady with my whole heart and whenever we get to see each other, life is just much happier! I also have a great deal of respect for Millie - she is a true business woman. She has a few companies under her belt and she is definitely an entrepreneur who I look towards for inspiration. What I also admire about Millie is that with every project, event, photo shoot, or company that she creates, she brings together the perfect team who really makes the finished product SO well done. She never compromises quality and you know that whatever Millie is a part of is going to equal brilliance. Her latest company is called Pressed Cotton, which is an online shop, focused on detail pieces that can bring together one cohesive look to your home or event. It's even a great place to purchase a gift for someone! We caught up with Millie to learn more about this new adventure and more behind the vision of Pressed Cotton!

(All photos taken by Millie Holloman Photography)

Q. Tell us about Pressed Cotton. What was the inspiration behind starting this company? 

A. We decided to begin this adventure over a year ago because my friend, Jennifer, owner of Salt Harbor Designs was always saying there wasn't one place she could go to purchase the things she needed to create a cohesive wedding. As we became friends, I noticed she put a great deal of time and effort into creating items because she could often not find anything of the quality she wanted already made. Also, she was spending many hours making things from scratch when she could have been spending that time on other things. We also were doing lots of styled shoots and often received emails from people asking if they could buy the pieces she was creating. With Jennifer's gift of design and styling and my love for details and photography, it seemed like a natural extension of our talents and so Pressed Cotton was born! We asked our favorite graphic designer (who also happens to be my brother), Brent Holloman, to be involved and now here we are!

Q. You have been a wedding photographer for years, all the while keeping your entrepreneurial spirit alive and growing your businesses organically. What is the secret of 'branching out' from photographer to pursuing other business endeavors?

A. An amazing team! Seriously, without my team I could not do any of this. When one puts the right people in the right position, and allow them to exercise their strengths, beautiful things happen. It also helps that I am super organized and love to automate things and create system that produce efficiency and get the job done in as little steps as possible.

Q. What is the difference between coming to Pressed Cotton or shopping on Etsy?

A. At Pressed Cotton we have tried to think of every element you could need on your big day from the ceremonial moments such as the sand ceremony to the guestbook. We have goods that can be used individually or paired with other items to create just the right look for each couple. We have created a one stop shop for party host's and brides, a place where they can come and find items to use for their event. While Etsy provides a wide range of products, the difference is that our team of designers and artists are working together to create a cohesive look, we are using our experience and expertise to put it together for you!

Q. Pressed Cotton is a company that is targeted towards both Weddings and the Home. I think this is brilliant, but why did you decide to market both?

A. Brides put a lot of time and energy into create the perfect day. They dream about it for years and also typically spend quite a bit of money on their wedding day. Each event should reflect the couples personality and style. If the couple chooses items that reflect their style the ability to re-use them in the home not only maximizes their investment, it creates less waste. Plus, when starting a new life together, what better way than to fill their home with warm and cozy items that are reminders of their beginnings and full of memories while serving a purpose!

Q. How important has the collaboration process been with you, Brent and Jennifer to bring Pressed Cotton to life?

A. HUGE! Brent and Jennifer do most of the product design and development. I typically run the business side of things. I love the business and creative side so I have fun giving my ideas and then helping it all come to life. Jennifer's styling and designing experience as well as years of being a wedding planner and designer help us know what works and what won't. Brent's graphic design background and education provide us with a never ending resource of amazing graphic design ideas and the ability to bring them to life. My marketing experience and love of business help the gears we've set in place work so we wind up with a well oiled machine. I would not want to do this without them and I think they would say the same!

Q. What is your dream for Pressed Cotton?

A. Our goal is to make the lives of wedding planners and brides easier by providing items they love at an affordable price. Our dream is to be constantly developing new ideas, creating new products, and to expand our team by adding other brilliant minds. In addition, we have a wholesale division so we aspire to engage large wholesale accounts and help bring some solutions to planners in the industry while giving brides more options. Our dream of being an international business has already materialized, we are shipping to France and Australia and have had website visits from over 78 countries. We just want to listen to our heart and to our clients and create something that we are proud of.

Q. Do you hope to grow your product range?

A. Yes, we have big plans for everything from custom wedding invitations to an entire line of favors (coming soon) and many more fun areas we will fill in!

Q. What will keep brides and shoppers, in general, coming back to Pressed Cotton?

A. We'll be releasing new items all of the time, new collections, new pieces and new ideas. We have a notebook full of things ready to implement. Party hosts can come to our site for small or large parties. As mentioned earlier many of our items also double as home decor making our site a great place to visit for just about anything event related or home decor. We also have a blog coming within the next year which we hope to have so packed full of content, ideas, and gorgeous design you won't be able to stay away!

Q. What are some of your favorite products that you carry at Pressed Cotton? Most unique?

A. I really love our pillows, they are custom designed and sewn in house and they've been a hot seller! I also love our wire card holder, and vintage table number holder for holding photos and other fun objects in my home. The favors we have coming are also some of my favorites. I find myself indulging in them on a regular basis, in fact that is why we will be carrying them, they are too good to keep to ourselves. Our garlands are super cute too, they make me smile. Our lavender smells amazing, you'll just have to order a bag for yourself!

Q. Anything else we should know to share the love?

A. Right now we are just trying to get the word out that we are here. We are so happy to see our idea become a reality in Pressed Cotton and that it's working! We are incredibly grateful for the support that the industry has given us so far and we can hardly wait to see what is to come!

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