Featured 100 Layer Cake // sophisticated desert inspired elopement

back in May i planned a trip to CA, did shoots both in Palm Springs & Joshua Tree. it was completely fulfilling while also being one of the hardest projects I have ever planned/worked on. I didn’t realize until I stepped off the plane & had a less then a desirable interaction with a taxi driver and felt the emotions welling up inside of me. I knew I had invested time, energy, & money into making this idea come to life but had no idea how much of myself was intertwined into this. planning a shoot in your own back yard is a lot of work, but doing so from another location and relying on people to jump in and show up, and bringing all the pieces in to make it happen is a whole new level. I could NOT have done it without Ian my creative director. he nailed it with my mood & colors and really helped me fine tune & bring all the elements together. being positive when not only one, or two, but our 3rd model canceled on us the day before our shoot! even staying calm when down to the last minute we finally found a table and loaded it into a borrowed cargo van on his way out of town. it takes a team, and I had a good one.

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i’ll be honest. being on both sides of this shoot was a lot. i appreciated so much that Ian continued to check in with me, making sure that my ideas and vision were being shown & stayed consistent. looking back we probably should have started hours before we did, set up the table the day before as we did not plan for 25+ mph winds to sweep across our borrowed fine china. i didn’t get all the shots that rolled around in my head, but we fucking pulled it off & had a great time doing it!

so here it is. my idea to bring sophistication to the desert //

video from @benjaminthomasfilm https://www.benjaminthomasfilm.com (just happens to be my husband….jumped in to support me, kept me going, focused & held my hand when I cried in the car)