A fresh perspective

I hope you're as thrilled as I about new possibilities and a fresh perspective. It's hard to believe how much has changed since the launch of Pink & Honey, and with change comes growth. So after careful thought and consideration, I felt it best to say goodbye to my personal musings here on Alexandra's Joys, and hello to a fresh blog look and concept. I'd love for you to head on over and take a peek at...

Pink & Honey's new blog! 

With so much on the go with the business, I wanted to create and maintain a space where you can stay current on what I'm up to and be inspired as I am. Thank you for continuing to follow my ever evolving journey. xo

Rustic Ranch // An inspiration board

Pink & Honey had a busy but beautiful weekend. What a pleasure to style a rainy romantic ranch wedding for the most lovely of couples. It was a delight to work alongside such sweet, creative people and I just had to share the inspiration behind the styling and decor of their big day. 

Working with a color palette of ivory, dusty pink, slate blue and mustard yellow, I built this inspiration board to help us create a wedding that was rustic and vintage, simplistic and thoughtful. 

Check out a sneak peek from the real wedding here. I look forward to sharing more photos from the day soon. Congrats Chelsea & James! 

Clockwise from top left {1} Style Me Pretty {2} Style Me Pretty {3} source unknown {4} Style Me Pretty {5} Dreamy Whites  {6} Sixth Street Design School 

Humble beginnings

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It's been a busy month with two weddings, a major photo shoot, new client meetings, and prepping for a jaunt to the lake with my family. Pink & Honey is still on a learning journey and moments of doubt and confusion are inevitable. One of the biggest challenges seems to be educating about the role and value of an event stylist.

As a new and somewhat abstract field, there's a long way to go in best explaining and showcasing the value a stylist adds to a wedding or event. I've also found myself acting as a creative director on several projects and photo shoots. Again, a role that can be somewhat convoluted.

The pioneer of wedding styling, Joy Thigpen, explains it well: 

I see the role of Creative Director as keeper of the vision…responsible for setting the best possible course and eliciting the best work out of each team member involved in the project to serve the end goal. It is my job to bring everyone and everything together in an aesthetically pleasing, cohesive way.

Most of my styling work involves finding objects, combining them in ways that are interesting and appealing, and then arranging and tweaking them so that they look best for cameras, guests, and viewers alike.

It was relieving to read this passage and remind myself of what I'm doing and why. While attending Joy's styling workshop several months ago, we did an exercise that showed the skill it takes to make the ordinary extraordinary.

The simple project was shooting what Joy carries in her diaper bag for a feature on the sweet blog, On to Baby. It involved using what we had in the room and arranging the items from her bag to be photographed.

Nothing was pre-planned, just on the spot styling and shooting. It was incredible to see how beauty and interest can be created with the most simple of items, techniques and vision.

Here's how it happened...

Photo by Joey Kennedy 

Here's what happened...

Photo by Rylee Hitchner

There is typically so much planning behind good styling, but there is also a naturally possessed skill of being able to quickly create something incredible in a less than ideal environment or with the most humble of means. Such as a diaper bag full of mommy stuff.  

A true stylist or creative director is someone with the passion and ability to bring a beautiful vision, big or small, to life. 

Tonight I remind myself... from humble beginnings... 

See the full On to Baby post here. 

Old, Borrowed & Blue backdrop inspiration

To kick off wedding season, Genevieve Renee and I collaborated on an inspiration shoot to encourage brides to create something unique, personal and handmade for their wedding ceremony. We kept the backdrop inspiration sweet and simple, and landed on three original ideas that ended up representing something old, something borrowed and something blue.

The ‘something old’ backdrop arose from an idea to use the outside of an old church as the setting for a ceremony. For a modern yet whimsical twist, we added jumbo balloons adorned with mixed lace accents and anchored with white ceramic bookends.

The ‘something borrowed’ backdrop was inspired by the simplicity and beauty of nature. We borrowed tree branches straight from the forest floor and built an archway, securing the branches together with fishing line. We handcrafted faux flowers using post-consumer recycled cream-colored paper for an added charming touch.

And finally, the ‘something blue’ backdrop came from our attraction to stately patterns and colors. A bold fabric choice and a giant antique frame was all it took to create this unique focal point for a beautiful indoor or outdoor ceremony.

I loved designing and styling this shoot, plus... it was featured on the lovely blog, Wedding Obsession. Pink & Honey's first official published project! Hooray! Head on over to see more photos from the shoot. 

 

Photography ~ Genevieve Renee Photographie | Styling ~ Pink & Honey  

Summer Indulgences // An inspiration board

Two weeks today marks Pink & Honey's first official wedding, styled from start to finish. Although the anticipation of a real live wedding day has me incredibly excited, I couldn't help but add another styled photo shoot to the mix beforehand. 

After a chance meeting in Banff at Business As An Artform, I have the pleasure of partnering with the admired and talented Gabe McClintock on an upcoming shoot I've named, Summer Indulgences. The inspiration behind this shoot is that of a fresh faced beauty enjoying nature, the newness of a season, delight in simple indulgences. Romantic, lush, dewy, natural. White and creamy neutrals, with pops of coral, peach, pinks and greens. 

We've got amazing talent lined up to create this shoot- a stunning model and the best hair, makeup and floral talents. It's going to be good. Can't wait to share the final images, but enjoy the Summer Indulgences inspiration board in the meantime... 

Clockwise from top left {1} Poppies & Posies  {2} Camille Styles  {3} Tec Petaja  {4} Casa de perrin  {5} Jose Villa 

~ flora & forest ~ inspired in nature ~

My weekend happened outdoors. Enjoying the sun, watching the blooms, breathing fresh air, working with flowers, being with new friends. We set out to create and excite, while consequently being overwhelmed with fresh inspiration ourselves. I can't wait to share more flora and forest soon, but for now, here's a pretty preview...  

Photography ~ Genevieve Renee Photographie | Styling ~ Pink & Honey  

Farmhouse Kitchen Sweets

Last week I had the pleasure of designing and styling a dessert table in partnership with Calgary's sweetest bakery, Crave Cookies & Cupcakes. They hosted the loveliest event in celebration of their little bite baking and custom dessert tables.

Drawing from Crave's homestyle approach, I created a concept called Farmhouse Kitchen Sweets, with hopes of conveying a down home, nostalgic aesthetic. Based on a clean color palette of crisp white, country blue, soft peach and rustic brown, I began by creating an inspiration board.

Clockwise from top left {1} A Glamorous Little Side Project  {2} REcipe {3} Style Me Pretty  

{4} White Flower Farmhouse {5} Kimberly Taylor Images 

From there, I collaborated with the Crave team to plan a menu of delicious cakes, cupcakes and baking they would create for the table. Here's what we came up with... 

It was a lovely evening of champagne, baking and mingling. Pink & Honey even landed their first media spotlight via Avenue Magazine's Style Stalker feature.  

A heartfelt thanks to the wonderful team at Crave for contacting me about this opportunity. I can't wait to partner again soon. If you need savvy styling, I'm your girl; if you need phenomenal sweets, Crave's your bakery. Trust me, those desserts taste as good as they look. 

Photography by Genevieve Renee