I loved hearing the feedback from all of you on yesterday’s post! Today I will be giving you a closer look into the DIY deliciousness that was included in the shoot and I even have a few photos that haven’t been released until now, which I think all of you Hunger Games crazed fans will appreciate!

 

The Hunger Games Wedding Concept & Photography

Our styled shoot was conceptualized by Meghan (Meghan Christine Photography) & Whitney (Looking Glass Photograph) and they did a beautiful job working with our team of talented vendors to bring their vision to life. Some of the ideas they came up with (a bouquet of arrows?!) were simply brilliant and truly brought out the best in our entire team. They were also the talent behind the lens for the incredible photos you’ve seen ~ beautiful work!

 

The Paper Pretties

Whitney asked me to design the paper pretties for the shoot and I had the most wonderful time creating them! I was inspired by the arrows that are so close to Katniss’ heart and knew they would be a key part of my design. I also wanted to capture the concept of beauty emerging from chaos and found two ways to do it. First, I used several mediums (watercolors, ink and color pencils!) to create a variety of different types of arrows to represent the children lost to the Games that Katniss cared about and felt the need to honor in her own way. Second, I arranged them in a chevron pattern in a sort of organized chaos. I used this pattern on all of the paper pretties: the invitation, menu (it’s sitting on a pretty vintage plate from The Vintage Table Co.!), escort cards and the cupcake liners. It was my first time designing cupcake liners, so that was a fun challenge (and I might just have to make a batch of cupcakes for myself now so I have an excuse to design more!). Have a looksie…

 

 

It’s all in the crafty little details

Although Meghan & Whitney dreamed up most of the loveliness for this photo shoot, the power behind the actual creation is mostly due to the crafty talents of Kellie (Kellie Ann Events/Weddings) with the assistance of Kacee Forte (who was also the talent behind the cake and cupcakes, but more on that later!). If there were a DIY crown it would go to Kellie in a heartbeat. She poured her heart and soul into crafting the details of this shoot, ending up with results well worth her effort. How incredible is the arrow bouquet that she crafted from wooden hearts & dowels, feathers, paint and glitter?! And the matching boutonniere? I DIE.

 

One thing you should know about Kellie ~ that girl is ambitious! She not only mastered the amazing arrow bouquet, but she also crafted a second bouquet. With this one she transformed ordinary pinecones into beautiful wooden flowers. How she managed to do that so elegantly (and without gluing all of her fingers together in the process) keeps me in awe of her crafty talent. Now if her bouquets impress you, this little tidbit will knock your socks off. She didn’t have a blanket in the color she wanted for the shoot, so SHE KNITTED ONE. Yes, that purple beauty laying beneath our wooden table is handcrafted by Kellie. It literally makes me speechless.

 

We still aren’t done lovelies because Kellie also crafted a few lovely flower balls to hang over Katniss & Peeta’s sweetheart table. Apparently she is pretty handy with wood burning tools ~ she drew the mockingjay and burned it onto a wooden disc. Hello dedication. Not to mention she kept burning up a storm and made the ‘happily ever after’ sign you’ll see further down in this post. That is one talent I do not have by any stretch. Give me a wood burner and I’ll lose a few fingers and probably a toe! Anyhow, I digress. Do you see those arrow cupcake toppers made of felt and dowels?! Adorbs!!

 

 

Now we are winding down to some of the final details: the centerpieces. Did you recognize them from my Handspun tutorial a few weeks ago? I crafted two of them (a ‘K’ and ‘P’) and was over the moon with relief that I managed the ‘P’ (poor Peeta would have been so sad if he’d been left out!). Want the inside scoop on how I was able to get that lovely bend in my sticks? I used a thin twig that had recently fallen from the tree ~ it was still green so it was flexible enough to bend.

 

The cake & cupcake deliciousness

In addition to being the helping hands to Kellie in her crafting fury, Kacee put her talents to work in creating the cake and cupcakes for our shoot. How lovely is that cake? She created paper flowers to adorn the cake and hand piped chocolate into mockingjays for the cupcakes. She has a talent for drawing and hand lettered the ‘happily ever after’ sign to match the font I used in my paper pretties. Can you believe that?! It looks like she used the same font if you ask me!

 

the models & their transformation into character

We were so fortunate to have Susannah and Lukas VanDyke (Lukas VanDyke Photography) model for this shoot. Since they are photographers they know how to pose from an editorial standpoint and they are quite simply, ridiculously photogenic. Top that with the chemistry of true love (husband-wife duo!) and you have an incredible Katniss & Peeta. Denise (Beautiful Faces by Denise) did a beautiful job on the makeup front and Laura (Butterfly Loft Salon) braided and twisted until she got the perfect look for Katniss’ hair. Christy (The Gown Swap) lent her styling talents to finish the transformation of our lovely models into Katniss and Peeta. Don’t you just LOVE that wedding dress? You are in luck because it’s for sale in her shop!

 

New Photos for my Hunger Games Fans

If you are a Hunger Games fan then I suspect you will appreciate some of the small touches we included in the shoot. Did you notice a few of them in the photos above? Take a close look at the escort cards to see which characters from the book we invited to the wedding. The above menu? It only has food that we thought would be available in District 12: wild mushroom soup paired with rolls and garlic herb butter, roasted duck in a braised wine sauce on a bed of wild roasted carrots & roots, goat cheese & apple tarts. Most of the team told me their favorite detail was the Katniss Mellark name card, even though we all agreed that she doesn’t seem like the sort to change her name. However, we did feel it would probably be something that Peeta would have wanted, so it is possible she would be inclined to do it for him as a gesture to make up for everything she put him through… right? Maybe? Regardless, it was a detail we couldn’t resist adding in.

 

We have a few ‘bonus scenes’ that were captured on film and they have not been shared anywhere yet. You, my lovelies, get the first look! Doesn’t the first one feel a little more like the Katniss you know and love? We are convinced that she would end up putting something like this on over her wedding dress once the reception actually started. And that last photo is how we pictured Katniss tucked tightly in Peeta’s arms when they are in the cave during the Games. Sigh.

 

 Credits: Meghan Christine Photography

 

 Which details were your favorite? Any that you would have added for a Katniss & Peeta inspired wedding?