'Weddings Imitating Art' Dutch Still Life Wedding Inspiration

Today I am delighted to share with you this rather stunning art inspired styled shoot. The shoot took place on 22nd May at Franklin On Penn in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The shoot is full to the brim with amazing wedding inspiration, with it’s origins and inspiration coming from a Dutch still life painting from years ago. ‘We really wanted to share a cohesive design from start to finish and give couples a variety of things that could be adapted from our shoot’ says Erica the wedding planner. With over 20 wedding suppliers getting involved, they managed to focus on many areas, from the jaw dropping flowers to the handmade ceremony backdrop, to the cocktail hour and gorgeous outfits. This is a full on glam shoot, throwing inspiration at anyone looking for an elegant yet personal, flower filled day.

Like many wedding ideas, this Dutch Still-Life inspired styled shoot started as a love story- from planner extraordinaire Erica, to her future self.

As a young and hopeful graduate, Erica found a painting in a small thrift store that brought her immediate calm and inspiration- a Dutch still-life floral arrangement on a deep background, framed in gray and gold.

Fast forward almost 15 years and a couple cities later, Erica walked into a Pittsburgh florist’s shop to find a deep, colorful, dutch still-life painting in a gold frame- so similar to her own. The owner was warm & inviting and inspired Erica with her painting-worthy florals. After a few more years, Erica began establishing her own wedding planning business. When an opportunity was presented to showcase a new downtown wedding venue, the idea clicked.

This shoot features magical details from nearly twenty vendors from within a fifteen mile radius of each other. We combined high-end florals and vintage furniture rentals with crafty DIY backgrounds. Older technology like Nellie Bradford’s super-8 film and combined it with newer, impressive techniques, like printing our inspirational pattern onto macarons. Iconic Pittsburgh vendors like Vintage Alley Rentals and Farmer’s Daughter Flowers combined with newly formed favorites like Gemma Bridal wedding salon and She is Cheval luxury wedding shoes. The building itself, Franklin on Penn, tells the same story- once a fully functioning bank, now the hippest wedding and party venue. We mixed an event and design that would tend to gear towards the “dark and moody” vibe, but with the vision of Anne Troxel Photography, it was captured in a more timeless, bright way. Everything was made to be like oil paint- a push, a pull, and a blend.

This shoot truly had an overload of incredible details- a getting ready lounge, House of Hackney custom ceremony arch, a first look from our real couple, hand-written love notes, happy hour-style charcuterie bites and custom cocktail menu, half-moon place cards and dinner menus, a sweetheart table, a full guest table, and even a champagne tower with a dress and shoe change. Under a finer lens, gilded raspberries, custom-printed macarons by Aychomelange to match the House of Hackney wallpapered ceremony arch, and the most perfect non-traditional diamond creations by Skelton Jewelry.

As far as our couple, Miranda and Zack are a real-life couple getting married this fall! This shoot was something wonderfully outside of their comfort zone, making it extra important for us creators to make them feel like their absolute best selves. Pittsburgh hair guru Christy, from Simply Captivating Hair, used her magic and Miranda’s gorgeous hair to create a vintage glam wave. Julea Beauty brought a slightly dramatic but wearable look with a pop of color on her lips. We wanted it to be a glam moment, without it taking over Miranda’s natural charm.

We really wanted to share a cohesive design from start to finish and give couples a variety of things that could be adapted from our shoot. As mentioned above, the wallpapered arched backdrop was a total DIY, with it’s entire cost being less than $500. It can be created at a fraction of the cost of a traditional installed floral arch, but still has a huge impact. In addition, it’s easily moveable to become a cocktail hour background by adding an LED sign, set behind a sweetheart table, cake display, or could even function as a drink stand if shelves were added.

Likewise, the smaller floral arrangements would easily transfer to another area, such as the sweetheart table, cocktail display (as we chose), or even around a telephone guest-book. Having easily movable statement pieces allows you to stretch, not just your budget, but also your entire theme throughout the entire event. The same wallpaper we used for the backdrop was able to be cut into liners for the invitations. It took a little time and DIY, but using the same pattern in multiple ways truly created such a cohesive look.

While we all love the wedding robe trend, we also wanted to feature garments and items that could be usable 365 instead of just on a wedding day. Investing in quality pieces is one of the many ethos that all of the vendors on this team share, so we wanted to use colorful items to prove that no, it doesn’t have to be white, ivory, or any shade between to be bridal! Go for the bright floral robe or the incredible color slippers. Wear the blue shoe with the faux feathers. We love reminding wedding clients that this is a celebration of who they are so choose items that speak to you!