This shoot was featured by I Do, Y’all.

The inspiration for this shoot was really just trying to do the marvelous location - the Durham Museum of Life and Science's Butterfly Pavilion - justice. For those of you who haven't experienced the wonders of a butterfly house, just picture a massive greenhouse with lots of butterflies floating around. A trip there last December sparked months of daydreaming, scheming, Pinterest board making, and eventually coordinating with my wonderful vendor partners. The bride that I imagined up was smart as a whip, thoughtful, and spunky;  attributes that might make her want to have her wedding in a museum, or maybe go with some unconventional styling choices. When I handed it off to Tori (event designer extraordinaire) I had a color scheme, sort of. During our meeting, the words 'botanical' and 'lotsa greenery' came up a lot. After leaving the design in her hands, she blew me away on shoot day!

This was a consistent theme with all the vendors: I would set the general direction, and then they would take it and run with it - for a full list, make sure to hang around to the end of the post! For my bride friends out there: find capable, trustworthy vendors, and then trust them! It takes so much off of your planning plate, and in my experience the result was better because they were making decisions from their areas of strength. It all came together for a wonderful evening shooting in the world's best work environment (after all, who can be stressed out when there are butterflies all around?).

Hair by Abigail Hillman - I loved how she incorporated the gorgeous emerald ombre in a creative and classy way.

Hark, a wild Tori in her natural habitat. She and Kelsey (calligrapher, watercolorist, and kindred spirit) set up and tore down their reception set in record time without sacrificing quality. What heroes!

Invitations and menus by the aforementioned Kelsey of Kettle Pot Paints. I loved her attention to the small details.

Flowers by Brandi, of Brandi's Botanicals. I loved that she used flowers from places as exotic as Africa, and as local as her backyard. Also, bonus points for thistle usage! 

Some of my favorite photos in this set came about almost by accident, when Meeza was chasing butterflies, trying to get one to land on her.

A huge thank you to the wonderful team that made all of this come about. 

Hair: Abigail Hillman

Makeup: Meeza Gee, Warpaint Artistry

Event Design: Tori Allen

Calligraphy + Invitations: Kelsey Furr, Kettle Pot Paints

Flowers: Brandi's Botanicals

Location: Butterfly Pavilion, Durham Museum of Life and Science  

Assistant: Laura Dohm (thanks for hauling stuff/arranging veils/trying to draw in butterflies with fruit juice. you're the bomb)