7 May
2010

Posted in: Creative Photoshoots, Destination Events, DIY & Templates
By Candice

Costa Rica: Behind the Scenes Part II

Our first day we landed in Costa Rica in the late afternoon and were welcomed by our hosts, StayInCostaRica.com and MMH Marketing with a cocktail and some delicious food– which was cooked up all week long by our man, Jose. To say we were exhausted would be an understatement! I must put this into perspective for you– the day before we put together an awesome photo shoot for Style Me Pretty and literally left Stamford, Connecticut to head to the airport (and wait 5 hours for our midnight flight!). With a 5 hour layover in Mexico City (which added to the delirium) we finally touched down around the time we wrapped up our photo shoot the day before. Weee!

The hospitality of our hosts really got us ready for the next day, which was a full day of shooting and scouting for locations. We met up with our photographers who got up to watch the sunrise and photograph our models surfing in the morning. The spot for our first shoot was where Larry of StayInCostaRica.com and our models Michelle and Alejandro surf every morning– Playa Hermosa . It’s a black sand beach with gorgeous views. It’s also where the International Quicksilver Surf Championships is held every year in August. We decided that for our beach shoot, the parking lot would be our ideal spot. A parking lot — I know. Even Larry said, I can’t believe we’re shooting in the dump where I park my car every morning!!! But seriously– it was so beautiful and had every element we were looking for. And to be quite honest, we can make ANYTHING look good.

After chose the beach, Carla, Mike, Tony and I went on a Costa Rican adventure to find the rain forest location for our second shoot… wait until you see it! Shout out to our friends The White Dress by the Shore and DD Nickel who were also part of our scouting adventure.

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3 May
2010

Posted in: Creative Photoshoots, Destination Events
By Candice

7 Comments

Costa Rica: Behind-the-Scenes Part I

After our New Orleans photo shoot, StayInCostaRica.com and MMH Marketing approached us about coming down to the incredible Los Suenos Resort to stage an editorial photo shoot for a national publication. Earlier this month my assistant Diana and I traveled to Costa Rica with an incredible team of Connecticut talent. My BFF Carla Ten Eyck and her studio joined us, along with the amazing Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore, my creative soul mate Tony of Datura: A Modern Garden, the extremely talented duo at Buzz Media, Mike and Erica, and the fashionable DD Nickel.

What’s better than having the opportunity to jetted off to Costa Rica and pull together a photo shoot for the incredible travel website, StayInCostaRica.com? Being able to do it with your friends, of course!

Among our travels we came up with loving nicknames for one another… so before I can show you the behind the scenes, may I introduce our crew:

Gramma NUT AKA the beautiful Carla Ten Eyck

Easy E, AKA Erik Maziarz

Carl Lewis AKA Greg Lewis

Poop Shoe AKA Sara Code-Kroll

Mix Honey Dew with Yoga Buns = Honey Buns, AKA Rebecca Hales

Tony Youngblood AKA Tony Palmieri

Dirty Diana AKA Diana Chounaird

Beth and Mark… AKA… Beth and Daddy

Susie Q AKA Susannah

DD Bananas AKA DD Nickel

Erica from Buzz Media

Mad Mike AKA Mike Cyr of Buzz Media

More to come! xo

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14 Apr
2010

Posted in: Creative Photoshoots, Featured Posts, Inspiration Boards
By Candice

7 Comments

A Spring Inspired Tablescape Featured on Style Me Pretty

Bonjour or should I say Hola?! (where am I today, anyway?!?!) We’re back from Paris and Costa Rica and I can’t wait to share the amazing things we did in both places. Upon my return to Connecticut I noticed…. there are leaves on the trees!!! And flowers coming up from the ground. How wonderful it is to come home and see our giant forsythia bushes in bloom!!!

While away our fun, spring inspired tablescape we created at The Society Room bridal show was featured on Style Me Pretty! I thought there was no better time than to share this with you know as Spring is in full swing. We shared an awesome booth space with the incredibly talented Datura: A Modern Garden and Carla Ten Eyck Photography. Tony and I collaborated on this fun and whimsical set up with touches of pink, gold, and ivory.

Have I ever mentioned that Tony and Cat from Datura: A Modern Garden are complete geniuses? They created all the floral decor for our booth– including the branch and greens centerpiece “umbrella” that rained beautiful purple orchids down onto our tablescape. Gorg!! I love our little touches of cucumber water on the table and lemonade and apricot squares on the sweet table. We were inspired by spring and wanted to creative a festive garden party inside.

We had an amazing dress on display by Melissa Sweet, available at The White Dress by the Shore.

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck / Flowers: Datura: A Modern Garden / Event Design: Jubilee Events / Location: The Society Room, Hartford, Connecticut / Invitations: Posh Paperie / Linens: Gala Cloths / Cake & Confections: Kim’s Cottage Confections / Calligraphy: Elizabeth Porcher Jones

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22 Feb
2010

Posted in: DIY & Templates
By Candice

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Style Me Pretty Inspiration to Reality Shoot: The Winner!

We are so excited to begin putting together a photoshoot for Style Me Pretty. Thank you to ALL those who submitted a spring inspired inspiration board for our contest. We chose this amazing board by Lena, below. Thanks Lena!!