Carmel Wedding Photographer | Vintage Austrian Lace Gown | Heidi Morgan Photography

Wow! Thank you for the inquiries on this previous post on a beautiful shoot in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California!  Here is a recap of what you saw:

The day began as any clean slate should — with rain! Wiping away all that has been, giving moisture to the beautiful foliage and sharing promise of life to come. At least that is what the Hawaiians would say! For us? It came with a moment of panic. The day was rich with collaborations — makeup artists, hair stylists, set designers, and floral stylist. Add to that a wedding photographer, assistants, and a canine. Getting a visual? So glad!

We said it — RAIN OR SHINE — and we meant it. And so it went. As they say optimism goes, the sun began to peek through the rain clouds and the Spanish tiles began to dry at this beautiful Carmel home named Bougain Villa.

For those of you not familiar with Carmel-by-the-Sea, it is a beautiful town near Monterey and Big Sur in California. This coastside community is renowned for its golf (think Clint Eastwood, Pebble Beach, etc.), but also for its shopping and Comstock homes. To retain this unique charm, the Carmel community goes by names of individual homes rather than by street address! Sound confusing? Perhaps, but I bet your mind wanders to the ultimate of questions: “What would I name my home?” Today, as I remember my sweet grandmother Marguerite, my home would be called “Santa Margarita.”

Enter Jennifer Keszler of The Proper Poppy. She has launched The Proper Poppy after years of penning this simple flower onto handwritten greeting and thank you cards. She prides her style as simple yet elegant. One cannot help but agree when they see her work. Which is the very reason that I knew she would be the perfect candidate to both style the shoot and model in the vintage bridal gown. This gown is special, and has been painstakingly cared for since it was last worn in the 1960s. Its Austrian lace is strategically placed in the most feminine of locations, making this dress stand out from any other.

Makeup artist Shannon L. Woods is used to working with Carmel brides. Some are locals; others are destination brides. Shannon provides location-based services that focus on those same classy and elegant qualities that Jennifer so enjoys. In fact, Shannon and Jennifer became acquainted eight years ago; Shannon was Jennifer’s makeup artist at her own wedding. Just like the men we have long teased for their “little black books,” Jennifer and her super-organized mother Judy kept Shannon’s contact information handy. Then — voila!

Enter hair stylist Joette Catanzaro of the  Salon at Lincoln Lane. In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that canvases featuring my work line Joette’s salon. With that out of the way, I must tell you that these canvases are from this very shoot! We all loved it, frankly. Joette did such an outstanding job on Jennifer’s hair that she wished it had looked this way at her own Pebble Beach wedding!

Enter the beautiful details: Tiffany earrings, wedding and engagement rings, etc.

As I said — BEAUTIFUL, right? Here was the only dilemma: The Tiffany earrings went missing! As you have read, I am cool under pressure. But this freaked me out! We looked everywhere, the entirety of us. My colleague and great friend Claire Morgan was visiting and shooting with me. Even she couldn’t find the earrings. We narrowed in on the most likely suspect: Abby the Dog. Doesn’t she look guilty?

We threatened x-rays, offered claims on professional liability insurance policies, the whole can of worms began to open. I won’t bore you with the details, but the earrings were sitting right under our eyes.

This allows me to breathe a sigh of relief and move on to the visual feast that lay before me on this previously wet and beautiful day in Carmel-by-the-Sea. So here goes…

Even the pottery was decorated at this home. Add to this not one, but two bouquets designed by Kathleen Shawl-Parkes of Poison Ivy Design and you can imagine my heaven. It’s all in the details, right ladies?

The rest was just icing:

– Finding of a “something blue” sewn inside of this vintage gown.

– The courtyard, the emotion, the fragrance juxtaposed against the beach and ocean just one tiptoe across the street.

At the end of the day, all left happy — even Abby the Dog!