girl + photobooth

So…

I have a confession to make.  Of the 8+ that we’ve been married, I’ve sent out Christmas cards exactly twice (not this year, sorry Mom!)

And, although I’ve taken thousands of photos of our sweet girls, I’ve hired a professional photographer to take our family photos exactly twice as well.

It’s not that I don’t value good photography (or Christmas cards!). On the contrary.  I ADORE great photography.

But…..life happens.  I just never “had the time” (or so I thought) that it would take to properly plan out, prepare for, and then actually schedule a photo shoot.

Then, when I was crazy pregnant with Lucia, we did it.  Upset over the fact that there are hardly any photos of me pregnant with Eva, we took a great family photo shoot when I was 37 weeks pregnant in 2011 with our good friend & great photographer Natalie.  I LOVE & cherish those photos!  Why ever did we wait so long?

So, I know what you’re thinking.  She probably did newborn photos, 3 month photos, 6 month photos, etc…right?  Oh, no.  My oh my those months flew by, and good intentions don’t add up to much if you don’t make plans!  Finally, I had an idea to mark our 10 year engagement anniversary (I’m a sap, yes…)

I had two desires for our family shoot. I wanted it to be:

1. true to our family’s style and

2. different than what I’ve seen.

While I just love seeing other people’s family shoots at the expected So Cal spots, I had a hard time envisioning our family in the photos. What I finally came up with was a Vintage travel style photo shoot, embracing our family’s love for vintage style & colors.

Our Inspiration: I have always loved these vintage style engagement photos by Clayton Austin that I posted about back in 2010.  I didn’t spent a lot of time looking at family photos online, because what I found when I looked once was a lot of work that I didn’t care for, and I also didn’t want to be swayed to design something based on someone else’s idea.

The elements:

Our Photographer:  Our photog was the über talented Meredith of ZoomTheory Photography, who we have had the pleasure of working with on several weddings, as well as the Love Tour  that she has helped to curate (ps. if you’re engaged, there are 3 stops on the Love Tour this spring- please join us!)

Meredith & Amanda are amazing, their work shows their dedication to their art.  I love their wedding photography.  It’s easy to see that they capture something that’s different about each couple/family, and turn that into a story.

Our Stylists: Studio 514 over in Oceanside. I love this place.  A sweet spot just across from Hill Street Cafe, this studio exudes vintage cool (they even play their music on a record player!).

Francisco was styled by Mike Taylor, who regularly cuts his hair into the most perfect vintage style.  I love the haircuts that he gets from him, and I’m a tough critic!  My husband’s thick hair is easy to mess up.  Trust me, I’ve seen it.  I’ve also seen so-so & unforgettable styles, but the cut he’s been getting for the last year or so is my favorite ever.  He’s one handsome man (insert swoon here)!

My hair and makeup were done by Andra del Rosario of Studio 514. Andra is one truly talented hair and make up artist, and whole bunches of lovely on top of that!  My stylist, Gloria, recommended that I see Andra to create the vintage style hair and make up that I had in mind.  This was a component that I never guessed would add so much to our photos.

What she did was better than I imagined!  I am planning a follow up blog post about the whole experience of getting my hair and make up done, and why I now think that every bride should do this.  It’s a whole load of stress of your shoulders!  I’ve always wanted to have my hair and make up done for the Bridal shows (oh, those 14 hour days are horrendous on a girl’s makeup).  Now it just seems like a must!

Our location: the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego.  It’s a gorgeous building!  I love taking the train in to the city and ending up there, it’s a lovely space in which to enter the city.

The view from the Rolleiflex, how great is that?

Accessories: Vintage suitcase was a loan from my stlyist, Andra (how sweet is that?), and the Vintage Rollieflex (that would be the sweet vintage camera) was a loan from my bestie Angela.  This camera was inherited from her beloved grandfather, and it means so much to me that she let us borrow it for this occasion.  We even had an older gentleman stop and tell us about the camera, and how he remembered them fondly.  I love moments like that.  Warm fuzzies all around

That’s all for now!  I definitely plan to follow up with 5 reasons you should have your make up done for your wedding & tips for creating a styled family photo shoot of your very own.

Xxo

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