Wedding planning trip number two to New Orleans started smoother than the first trip. As you recall, the first trip included cancelled flights and lots of fun airport time for Justin.
We arrived in New Orleans with no issues on Wednesday night last week, ready for the engagement shoot the next morning. We have been planning for this shoot for a long time with our wedding planner, the amazing powerhouse Belinda of Blue Gardenia Events (Instagram: @bluegardeniaevents), our super talented and genuine photographers and videographers, Marissa and Devin of Mon Soleil (Instagram: @monsoleilweddings), and our awesome and inspiring stylist, Gabrielle Hurwitz (Instagram: @gabriellehurwitz). This dream team (with the help of our wonderful friend, Jessica Serrano), gave us a day I could only envision in a Hallmark movie. I cannot thank these wonderful souls enough.
The morning started at Belinda's office (thank you for letting us take over and providing the much needed coffee, snacks, and champagne) with my hair and makeup trial by Christine and Jessica of the Signature Beauty Group (Instagram: @signaturebeautygroup). I am always a bit skittish trying out new people for hair and makeup, but these ladies made me feel like a princess. Their talent is unmatched and I am so excited for them to do my hair and makeup for the wedding.
After the hair and makeup trial, Marissa, Devin, and Justin arrived (poor Justin got lost after I gave him the wrong address several times...oops) to start the shoot. We started in our first look of the day (the most casual) right outside of Belinda's office trying to take a picture with a streetcar in the background. In typical New Orleans fashion, the streetcar driver stopped, so we could take a photo while everyone in the streetcar yelled out their congrats.
We next moved to the real first location -- the French Quarter. Once again, the true New Orleans spirit came out when a street musician spontaneously started singing about our photoshoot. We managed to take some beautiful photos all around the French Quarter before we moved on to our next location.
Our next location was at the beautiful Elms Mansion where Jessica is the Sales Director & Event Manager. The Elms Mansion is the perfect location for a wedding or any other very special event. We were so lucky to be able to shoot there. This location required our most formal wear -- Justin put on a tux and I wore a gown. The mansion is so breathtaking and every room leaves a lasting impression. I cannot wait to see all the photos from there.
After a quick change of clothes (into our 2nd most formal look), we drove over to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The front of the museum, with its clean and crisp look, provided a great contrast to my bright red, flowy dress and Justin's black tux. The wind also allowed us to take lots of movement shots, which is what we had hoped for.
At this point, we were running short on time because the next location needed us to leave by 5 pm. I was eager to get there because of the beautiful oak tree pictures that I wanted. The Longue Vue House and Gardens is where we wanted to have our ceremony, but someone already beat us to it. I knew the next best thing would be to have our pictures taken there (at the suggestion of Belinda) for our engagement shoot. We changed into our 2nd least formal look here (I put on a white one-shoulder dress and Justin changed into a suit) and started the photoshoot.
The biggest surprise were the last photos. Belinda set up one of the most gorgeous picnics for our shoot, while Marissa and Devin surprised us with champagne. We really felt like celebrities at this point and I almost cried from happiness.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank everyone involved in making this dream a reality for us. I cannot wait for the big photo reveal coming soon...stay tuned.
(I apologize in advance that this post does not include any mention of food).
So excited to see the photos!!