I’m so excited to share part two of our shoot in New Orleans, recently featured in Southern Weddings! The second half of our day led us down Royal Street, where we shut it down with an amazing band, tablescape, confetti parade, and lots of photoshoot magic. Some of my favorite details are the floral hat, shoes and ranunculous earrings by Datura: A Modern Garden; the gorgeous floral head piece with feathers by Twigs and Honey, a bouquet with a collar of tulle, and the incredible mixture of floral details pinned to our tablescape– both fabric, paper, and real. LOVE!

Here is the first look at images and details from that day! Amazing photography by the team at Carla Ten Eyck Photography.

Credit Reel

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck & Co. (Katie Slater & Sara Code-Kroll too)
Design & Styling: Jubilee Events
Location: Royal Street & The Cornstalk Hotel
Fashion & Styling: The White Dress by the Shore
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Hair & Makeup: Jennie Fresa & The Beauty Library
Cinematography: Vantage Point Films
Musicians: Dr. Jazz and the New Orleans Sounds
Confections: Sucre
Groom’s Tux: Perlis
Shoes: MADELiNE Shoes & Poetic License Shoes
Paper: Posh Paperie
Calligraphy: Elizabeth Porcher Jones Calligraphy
Custom Headpieces & Floral Sashes: Twigs and Honey
Vintage Jewels: Karen Lindner Designs
Jewelry: Haute Bride
Linens: Gala Cloths
Custom China & Napkins: Sarah Drake Design
Pink Candelabras: Nachtmann & Riedel
Champagne: Pommery Gold POP Champagne
Cake Stands:
Vintage Birds: Orange & Blossom
Vintage Umbrellas: Bella Umbrella

so much more to come xo!

We’re so excited to finally share our amazing shoot from January that was inspired by one of my all time favorite towns: New Orleans! I’ve traveled to New Orleans many times and love the people, culture, architecture, food, history, art, and their philosophy to let the good times roll! We started out with a small idea: let’s take our creative team on the road and design an editorial shoot in a different location. New Orleans was really the impetus for all the other road projects we’ve done— and the start of something amazing and special for our team. This shoot will always be my favorite for so many reasons, but each time I look back at these gorgeous images I’m reminded of the energy felt on Royal Street that day.

Our team started with our talented photography crew: Carla Ten Eyck, Katie Slater, Sara-Code Kroll, and Carla’s studio manager Dodie of Carla Ten Eyck Photography. The gorgeous fashions, accessories and styling of our models was the vision of Beth Chapman from The White Dress by the Shore. Tony from Datura: A Modern Garden designed all the gorgeous floral and collaborated with me on our epic tablescape! Jennie Fresa and Nedelyn Perry of Jennie Fresa Beauty Library composed our beauty team and created gorgeous looks for our models. To top it off– our friend Tom from Vantage Point Films was there to document the entire trip. You can see his incredible video here! Diana and I round out the rest of the team, accompanied by my friend and colleague Samantha Darr of soirrebliss! in Houston, Texas who came down to hang out and help!

Our morning started off at the historic Cornstalk Hotel, which, I might add, might be the prettiest Southern inn in the French Quarter. The Cornstalk is most famous for it’s iron cornstalk fence and famous guests (one of which is Harriet Beecher Stowe who was inspired to write “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” after visiting the inn).The Inn sits on Royal Street, which we’d later shut down and stage our entire shoot in it’s heart.

This shoot was inspired by fashion, and included a custom Modern Tousseau created just for our shoot. The bride wore a vintage rose applique by Karen Lindner Designs in her hair and jewels by Haute Bride. The classic black tuxedo was provided by Perlis, and the groom wore a sweet little peony boutionerre. The bridesmaid gowns are part of the  Jenny Yoo collection and were in a shade of grey, accentuated by pink fabric flower sash by Twigs & Honey and jewels by Haute Bride. The hot pink shoes are designed by Poetic License. The pink tulip and pink peony bouquet with tulle hem were created by Datura: A Modern Garden. The pink paper “just married” banner was designed and hand made by posh paperie. Bella Umbrella provided the gorgeous white and pink ruffled vintage umbrellas!

{ images by carla, katie and sara for carla ten eyck photography }

{ photography by carla ten eyck photography; custom “Tia” gown by modern trousseau; vintage rose applique by Karen Lindner Designs; tuxedo provided by Perlis; bridesmaid gowns provided by Jenny Yoo; floral sash by Twigs & Honey; pink and white umbrellas by Bella Umbrella; jewels by Haute Bride; hot pink shoes by Poetic License; pink tulip and pink peony bouquet with tulle hem by Datura: A Modern Garden; paper “just married” banner by posh paperie }

up next: what happens when we shut down Royal Street? much more to come! xoxo

{ pictured: most of the team in between shots on playa blanca beach in punta leona }

Hot off the heels of a beautiful sunset, we woke up early the next morning and headed to Playa Blanca in Punta Leona to set up for our colorful and playful beach shoot. We packed up the car, jerry-rigged our furniture to the top of the SUV with some pretty purple organza ribbon, and headed off. The beach was remote, private, and a little challenging to get to. Walking through the rain forest will all our gear (i.e. table, benches, glassware, desserts, flowers, silverware, bouquets, gowns, accessories, spanx… !) we emerged onto a white sand, drift wood filled beach. There were amazing textures everywhere, like black volcanized rock with fossilized sea shells, old drift wood in interesting shapes that replicated furniture, palm trees, and a shoreline littered in coral. We set up our base underneath an old tree that was practically striped of its rooted home by the tide and rain water. Next to our shoot location, a river flowed onto the beach from the top of the neighboring mountain. Prior to our arrival, Costa Rica experienced the heaviest rains in 60 years. The aftermath of those rains came down in a steady stream and channeled into the Pacific Ocean.

{pictured: tony puts finishing floral touches on our tablescape }

{pictured: tony and I fending off this overly friend raccoon. he was after our delightful french macarons prepared by petites bouchees }

{pictured: the deliciousness of petites bouchee after the shoot. a worthy reward! }

After our beach shoot we returned home, tired, excited, and ready for a little rest! Our personal chef, Jose of El Buen Sabor, prepared a delicious meal for us which was very much needed! Jose has a company in Jaco, Costa Rica and caters all types of parties and social events– including weddings.

On Friday, we packed up the car full of big ball skirt dresses and amazing paper props and set off to Cuidad Colon and The Crazy Horse Farm for a full day of shooting. Krysia Peterson, the farm’s owner, was beyond welcoming to our group. We shot in the waterfall, on the side of a mountain, in a river, on the edge of ancient vines weaving through the rain forest, in Kenyan grass, on the top of the mountain overlooking the hills of Ciudad Colon, in a hammock (which to me, is the essence of Pura Vida), and last but certainly not least, on a horse.

{ pictured: myself, beth, max-daddy, diana and lindsay. it was really hot out, which explains beth and my delusions of grandeur }

{pictured: tony paints the pretty horses }

{pictured: my BFF, partner in crime, and the captain of our crew, carla ten eyck }

{pictured: max-daddy in full effect. and yes, that’s a cliff to his left }

{ pictured: tony and max do some heavy lifting of a vintage type writer. we are staging paper created by coral pheasant and love*jenna in these gorgeous kenyan grass fields }

{ pictured: carla ten eyck and team at the last shot of our shoot. what would a photoshoot with C10 be without some drizzle? }

{ yes, that’s one of beth chapman’s amazing gowns on that horse. and yes, eventually the horse did the unthinkable }

We wrapped just as the rain began to fall pretty hard– perfect timing.

There is something to be said, again, about teamwork and creative synergy. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by the brightest and best minds in the business. A true testament to friendship and teamwork is the ability to rise above and make things happen when the unexpected (or unthinkable) happens. I think that’s one of the things this team does best.

Many people ask me how to pull together the editorial shoots that we’ve worked on over the past year +. There are a lot of tips and tricks I could share, but really, the most important piece of advice I could give is for you to find a team that makes it worth wild. Because at the end of the day, aside from any kind of publicity you might receive, business you might garner, or glory you might gain– it really comes down to that magic moment when the excitement is at its peek, the vision in your head is made into reality, and you realize that you worked on this project because of the team– your friends– and the experience you’ll always have.

Mad props to: Carol ?, Bali of Unique Model Management, Max, Diana, Lindsay, Dodie, Aryn, Mark, Krysia, Nicole, Michelle, Erik, Oscar, Ivonne, Jessica, Carla Ten Eyck, Katie Slater, Sara Code-Kroll, Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore, Tony Palmieri of Datura: A Modern Garden, DD Nickel, Jim Altieri of Vintage Cinema, The Metal Mermaid, Paloma’s Nest, coral pheasant, love*jenna, petites bouchee, Resource One Inc, Eventos BoadiceaStay in Costa Rica, MMH Marketing, Kayak Jaco, and Finca Caballo Loco for making it possible.

On the heels of Thanksgiving I am reminded of things that I am truly thankful for, one of which is the recent trip I took with Diana and Lindsay to Costa Rica. We had a second opportunity to travel with friends for Stay in Costa Rica (a company that we’re partnering with to plan weddings at their gorgeous properties)  for seven days, filled with a lot of laughs, wine, good food, pure adventure, inside jokes, and creative synergy.

My first full day in Costa Rica was spent with part of the team scouting for locations. We had a rough plan and idea put in motion, but adventure took us in another direction. After a heroing car ride getting lost in San Jose, working our way up to a coffee plantation on the side of a mountain, we then arrived to The Crazy Horse Farm. Yes, The Crazy Horse Farm. I can assure you that the only thing crazy about it was how magical it was.

{ pictured above: pinto, the jack russel with an enormous personality | photography by tony }

On our way back from Cuidad Colon, we went scouting for a second location that would be the backdrop to our dramatic and colorful beach shoot. We toured a remote, rocky beach only accessible by boat via our friends at Kayak Jaco and later found an gorgeous, white sand beach (rare on this side of the pacific) just next door.

Our first shooting day as an incredible, “be inspired by your elements when you get there” kind of shoot. See, that’s what I’m talking about when I’m talking about creative synergy. It’s just something that happens when everything aligns right. I feel so fortunate to be constantly in sync with this incredible group of friends.

{ tony, pictured, near the property of Puesta del Sol chopping down wild foliage to make something amazing, no doubt }

Stay in Costa Rica has gorgeous properties with views overlooking the rain forest, harbor, lush landscapes, and incredible sunsets. on Tuesday, we shot in one of their amazing homes: Puesta del Sol. This home is an amazing 5 bedroom masterpiece with incredible amenities and a beautiful infinity pool that overlooks the bay. The second home we shot in that day was a clean, modern, and luxurious condo named Villa Artiv.

We finished our first day on the top of the mountain at Los Suenos at Casa Marlin (a house we are looking to plan our first event!), overlooking the sunset. It was a special night– gorgeous, perfect sunset, great light, bride floating in an infinity pool. What more could you ask for on Day 1?

{ pictured: carla ten eyck, jim altieri, and sara code-kroll showcasing teamwork }

{ pictured: beth chapman styling the clips and DD coming to the rescue for hair / makeup }

{pictured: us girls taking a break — diana, myself, beth chapman, and magan hunt }

Just to recap– the team headed down to Costa Rica included big talents: Carla Ten Eyck, Katie Slater, Sara Code-Kroll, Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore, Tony Palmieri of Datura: A Modern Garden, DD Nickel, Jim Altieri of Vintage Cinema, Stay in Costa Rica and MMH Marketing for making it possible.

More coming from our trip!

xoxo

{ photography by carla ten eyck }

An exciting announcement this morning: we’re partnering with Stay in Costa Rica to plan, coordinate and design your destination wedding to Los Suenos Resort & Spa! We’ll be working closely with destination couples from around the world as they plan their Costa Rican wedding. You can learn more about Stay In Costa Rica by visiting their website or emailing us at puravida@eventjubilee.com.  Stay In Costa Rica represents beautiful luxury homes and properties that you can rent for your wedding. They offer beach side locations for ceremonies and receptions (along with a deserted island!) and rai nforest accommodations and views. It is truly spectacular. Stay tuned to our blog to learn more about the possibilities of a destination wedding in Costa Rica with Jubilee Events + Stay in Costa Rica!

{ photography by carla ten eyck photography }

In the studio today we’re putting the finishing touches on our itinerary for a new Costa Rican adventure with our amazing collaborative team! For the next week we will be sharing the amazing images of our April project with Stay In Costa Rica — a property and event management company representing the most luxurious properties on the Costa Rican Pacific! We’re traveling with an incredible team: Carla Ten Eyck Photography, The White Dress by the Shore, Datura: A Modern Garden, DD Nickel Beauty, Vintage Cinema, and MMH Marketing. A special shout out to three incredible vendors who contributed to our project on a substantial level but cannot be with us: The Metal Mermaid, Coral Pheasant, and love*jenna. You are with us in spirit– we’ll be drinking a mojito in your honor!

Stay tuned ya’ll– you don’t want to miss this series and why Costa Rica is THE spot for a destination wedding. Plus, we’ll be sharing some highlights from our current adventure.

xoxo– or should we say, pura vida!

In case you haven’t been following along, you can check out our behind the scenes post number one , two, and three for more information on who, what when and where. These pictures are  compilation of talent that makes up the Carla Ten Eyck team. We put together these amazing editorial shoots for our friends at StayInCostaRica.com, who are THE people in Costa Rica for luxury property rental, vacations, and destination weddings. Another big shout out to our set up crew on day two Diana, Tony, Susannah and Mark for all your hard work. You guys made this shoot more amazing than the first!!!

After our epic beach shoot at Playa Hermosa with our loving couple, Michelle and Alejandro, we woke up the next morning and decided to do it all over again! These shoots are a lot of work– especially when you do them outside the comforts of your own territory. In between shoots, we also had to be fully functioning businesses.

Tony and I worked on our laptops every day, getting back to clients and vendors in between the commotion. Good thing we set up the office in the bar!

Here you can spy Erik and Greg working hard, too!

During our scouting session, we decided our rain forest shoot would be at a small village / hotel community at the base of a large mountain, overlooking the ocean and waterfalls of the rain forest. This small village, I believe, was transported to Costa Rica from a Spanish country. It had a GORGEOUS chapel and amazing rain forest views. It was perfect.

So, we set up our tablescape right in the water. It.was.amazing! And totally on the fly. To be honest, Tony and I didn’t have much of a plan… but we worked together to put together something amazing with the natural elements around us. Working with Diana and Susannah, the four of us came up with a lot of awesome ideas on the spot! We wove leaves together to create a natural linen and used lots of growing vines that Tony cut down from the surrounding vegetation. The flowers? We cut them out of the rain forest ourselves!

Here is Tony rigging up something amazing for the back of the chair.

We got the idea to wet down the table which took it to a whole new level!

Meanwhile…. while we were setting up, the rest of our team was getting ready. Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore styled all our models for day two, and DD Nickel did hair and makeup. Here is our maid, Katelyn, getting the finishing touches by DD!

While we were setting up in the rain forest the rest of our team, once ready, first it up Alejandro’s surf shop in downtown Jaco. It was absolutely amazing! Here is Beth in action styling Michelle!

And here is Carla micromanaging posing inside the surf shop… to be honest, Michelle was amazing and didn’t need much guidance!

After the surf shop, the team was reunited in the rain forest and we began shooting!!!!

Here is Diana and Sara putting the finishing touches on our tablescape prior to shooting.

Sara looking out for Katelyn’s hair as she takes some gorgeous shots of her in this beautiful yellow dress! Isn’t she stunning?

And here DD jumps in to help Katelyn out… it was REALLY hot… and REALLY humid!! I give her a lot of props for being up on that little skimpy rock in those Michael Kors wedges!

There were snakes, lizards, monkey’s and Toucan’s all over the place!

We moved over into the chapel to do some gorgeous bride and groom shots. Here Beth gets Michelle ready!

After, we headed back to our spot and did some incredible shots of the bride and groom! Here Carla sets up a shot in the water.

Here you can see Mike from Buzz Media shooting while we look on.

Erik getting all crazy in the water with his hat, looking like he should be on a safari!

Here we all our snuggling up to the back of Carla’s camera… well, everyone except Greg, who’s more interested in his own stuff!! Burn!

After our rain forest shoot, part of the team went up the top of the mountain to our new friends boutique hotel (opening soon). Victoria and Enrique were such gracious hosts– you MUST see what an amazing piece of property they have!! Enrique is an architect and built the beautiful 5 bedroom boutique hotel which overlooks the ocean and the rain forest. All the wood you see is hand carved and native to the area. The shots we got here? Absolutely and positively INSANE!!!! Thank you SO MUCH Victoria and Enrique!!!

Just a little taste. Wait until you see the amazing short clip from Buzz Media!

Well, that’s the end of our behind the scenes look at Costa Rica. We are dying to show you the images — soon! We want to thank all the vendors that participated in both of these amazing shoots: Stay in Costa Rica, Carla Ten Eyck Photography, Jubilee Events, The White Dress by the Shore, Datura: A Modern Garden, Buzz Media, DD Nickel, Gala Cloths, Eventos Boadicea, Posh Paperie, Paloma’s Nest, Zappos, Primele Calligraphy, Ben Amun, Riedel, kate’s paperie, and Larissa Banting for local referrals!

xxooo!

In case you haven’t been following along, you can check out our behind the scenes post number one and two for more information on who, what when and where. These pictures are  compilation of talent that makes up the Carla Ten Eyck team. Our first shoot for the amazing StayInCostaRica.com began out at Playa Hermosa with our tablescape and ceremony set-up. Big shout out to our set up crew Diana, Tony, Susannah and Erica for all your hard work and sweat!  And if anyone is curious, this is what the temperature read when Mark dropped us off:

How’s that for hot? You might be able to get a peek at Larry’s dashboard there. He’s already had it replaced once!

Didn’t I tell you this spot was awesome? We had so many ideas for it, but as with most shoots, you never really know if your ideas are going to work or not. We had envisioned draped fabric between the trees like a canopy, filled with greens and interesting leaves that we cut down ourselves in the rain forest… Oh man, it was going to be so gorgeous!!! But nope, mother nature had other plans. And it’s called wind! I will always remember Larry saying to us, “Wow, this is so unusual. It’s NEVER windy here!” Figures. So we improvised!

We also planned on building a four posted structure for the ceremony. It was also going to be swaddled in fabric. Can’t you see it blowing in the LIGHT breeze, whimsical, simple and elegant? NOPE. First of all, we forgot a mallet to hammer it into the ground. Second of all, there is NO way it would stay. That thing was going to take flight!!! So what did we do? Improvised. Check out Tony below making it happen… because that’s what he does!

So much of what we do is planned, yet our best ideas are usually the ones that are not. Here is the team hard at work improvising and creating things on site.

Meanwhile… back at Los Suenos…

The talented DD Nickel was on all the beauty of our gorgeous model, Michelle and bridesmaid, Magan. We hadn’t worked with DD before this trip but let me tell you, she fit right in. We love her! She’s the kind of artist that does her own thing and pays attention to detail. She understood our overall vision and then added her two cents, which is just how we like it!

Then our amazing crew and models arrived and it was down to business! We got changed out of our sweaty, gross clothes so we could sweat and be gross in some new ones. And also so we could make like we were guests!

Our amazing Carla Ten Eyck pack with Buzz Media in there too!

It’s hard NOT to smile when you see what’s inside Carla’s camera. And she always comes in with the sneak peeks!!!

Mrs. Beth Chapman from The White Dress by the Shore who single handily makes sure our models look amazing at every shoot!

This may be my favorite picture of all time. Carl Lewis with the sneak attack on Poop Shoe’s towel…. bloop!

This was one of the last shots of the day… mid afternoon… the skies just opened up and it started to POUR. I guess rain follows us where ever we go. There was a mad dash to get everything cleaned up and out of sight before the rain subsided. What do you do after a long day of set up and shooting in the open Costa Rican sun? Well, besides get your self a cocktail….

more to come… ! xo

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.