Here is the trial run in my parent’s basement… the back board is two 8×4 pieces of paneling that he designed to interlock to add a little stability. The two metal pieces on either side we designed to function both as a shelf and vertical support so the boards wouldn’t fall forward. They are rebar and steel welded together with a glass shelf.  (All photos in this post were taken with my iPhone…)

Now that it is standing and functional it is time to make it pretty… I collected vintage books and tore the pages out in preparation to cover the wall…

Four hours of wallpaper pasting later…

Now the main structure was complete it was time to focus on my marketing materials. For those of you who have received prints or frames from me you have seen the hand-sewn paper envelopes that everything is packaged in. For the show I wanted to add a little something extra to the envelopes so I decided to use fabric paint to print my logo onto linen I had left over from a couch I recently recovered.  I then sewed the linen squares onto the front of the envelopes and  finished each envelope with a zig zag stitch (thanks to my mom for helping get all these done in time!).

Wow, that was a lot of work… it was off to bed to rest up for the show on Sunday…

Dad and soon to be hubs got up with me bright and early to help set everything up… well, maybe a little more supervising then helping…

all said and done I was thrilled with the way it turned out…

If you are curious as to what is inside all those pretty envelopes, drop me an email with your mailing address and I will drop one in the mail:)

Planning: Shindig

Hair: Judy Hayward

Make-up: Jeanne Cusick

Flowers: Floral Images

Lighting: Blue Ridge Light Forms

Attire: Celebrations Bridal

Rentals: Festive Fare

Mantel: Stonegate Event Rentals

Transportation: Albemarle Vintage Limousine 

A soon to be hubs did a pretty amazing job on the bling… lucky for me he found his way to  Tavia Brown, one of my most favorite local designers, who helped create a pretty darn spectacular and totally unique ring:

super funky, right? I love it!

so the next piece to the story is the how, when, and where…

for my birthday (back in may) my parents gift to me was a hot air balloon ride for Landon and I. I have always wanted to go on a balloon ride and was totally surprised. well, it didn’t take long for my wheels to start spinning and think that as much as my parents love me this was a pretty generous gift, leaving only one conclusion, it was a conspiracy. A couple of months went by and calling to schedule our ride was on my to do list but with wedding season in full swing it got pushed aside for a few months. finally we called Rick over at Boars Head Ballooning and scheduled a ride for early november. as the day drew closer I was definitely growing a bit suspicious but as much as I was  thinking and hoping that something this exciting was about to happen I couldn’t get my hopes up too high just in case my radar was off.

our flight was scheduled for early in the morning and we were suppose to be to the Boar’s Head at 7am. I had it all planned out… I was going to put a little bit of makeup on the night before and sleep with it on because I knew he would think I was acting funny if i got up early in the morning to primp. so a little bit of eye liner and mascara that I would just touch up in the morning should do the trick. 6:00 am my phone rings, turns out that despite the fact that it is going to be a beautiful day it was just a bit too windy to take a big ol balloon out for a ride. well darn. we were able to get rescheduled for the following day so I would have to wait another day to see if my suspicions were correct. the rest of the morning was pretty normal… breakfast at la taza, some errands, a little bit of work, and just as I was getting ready for the engagement shoot and senior portrait sessions that I had that afternoon I came bouncing down the steps to see Landon in the kitchen writing on our chalkboard wall, just as I look over I see this…

wow. I don’t think I have ever had such exciting butterflies. Best feeling ever! and the best part, I was totally caught off guard. No idea it would happen at that moment.

These past few weeks have been full of wedding planning and I honestly had no idea how much fun it is to be a bride!! The major pieces are coming together… we have a date, location, flowers, cake, I even have the timeline for the day set (a little crazy i know but it is what im good at…). still a few things to figure out and then time to get crafting for some diy fun! in the meantime I will be catching up on blogging from all the fabulous shoots I have had over the past couple months including weddings at the Homestead, the Hay Adams, the Greenbrier, and the Clifton Inn.

oh, in case you were wondering… the balloon ride was not originally a conspiracy… I do think however my parents were ready to marry me off and hoping he might take advantage of the situation. Well-played mom and dad.

When: November 20 from 11:00 – 4:00 pm

Where: 1527 Dairy Road Charlottesville 22903