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Commercial Food Photography: Cake Flour – Louisville, Kentucky

There are few things better than the smell of a bakery. After I finished photographing the IACP conference in Louisville, I met up with Claudia from Cake Flour to do a quick shoot. She had been responsible for a gorgeous pink domed dessert at the IACP host city welcome party, where local eateries gave a taste of the host city to IACP members. When I arrived, she gave me the grand tour and told me about how she started in pastry. We chatted a bit about wedding cakes (since I know those pretty well, lol) as she piped icing onto cupcakes that would eventually be dipped into homemade Magic Shell (yes, really). She even sent me home with a box of goodies for the road – thanks Claudia!

chalkboard menu at kentucky bakery

butter at louisville bakery

behind the scenes at cake flour bakery

grated cheese in kitchen at cake flour

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Commercial Food Event: International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Conference – 21C Museum Hotel, Marriott Louisville Downtown, & The Louisville Palace – Louisville, Kentucky

Culinary events are one of my favorite things to shoot, so I didn’t mind making the drive to Louisville, Kentucky to photograph the International Association of Culinary Professionals‘ 2017 Conference. They kicked things off with a party at 21c Museum Hotel, where they gave away this awesome black stainless Kitchenaid refrigerator!

The next morning began with pre-conference workshops, including one with Todd Coleman on making food videos and one with Molly Yeh on cake styling. Soon after, more sessions kicked into gear, a cookbook library was opened, speaker panels started, and more parties were had!

At most culinary events you’ll spot at least one celebrity chef, cookbook author, and/or influencer, and the IACP conference had no shortage of them at the host hotel, the Marriott Louisville Downtown. Edward Lee, Carla Hall, Ronni Lundy, and Dorie Greenspan were all in attendance, plus many more familiar faces.

We even set aside time during lunch one day to take headshots (who doesn’t need an updated headshot?). I was able to photograph about 40 attendees (including Virginia Willis and the ladies from Filipino Kitchen) before I needed to run to another floor to grab some photos of a bourbon tasting class with Woodford Reserve.

Awards night took place at The Louisville Palace, where a slew of awards were given, including cookbook of the year to Deep Run Roots by Vivian Howard (who you might know from the PBS series A Chef’s Life). Of course, an awards night for a bunch of culinary people can’t be celebrated without food, so once the awards wrapped up, attendees were treated to some of Louisville’s most famous eats, such as Hot Browns, Ale-8-One, and plenty of bourbon. If they didn’t get their fill then, Chef Edward Lee made sure they wouldn’t go hungry at the after party, which took place at Milkwood (one of his restaurants).

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Engagement: Rosemary & Dom – Blount Cultural Park – Montgomery, Alabama

When I saw that Dom was wearing socks with dogs on them, I just knew he and Rosemary were my kind of people. Easygoing and fun, they met on Thirsty Thursday and are the perfect balance of silly and sweet. They told me how they planned to put their own spin on their wedding, which would combine their two families. The groomsmen would wear superhero socks, and the bridesmaids would wear Converse. Dom (who is originally from France) was going to have Pepe Le Pew on his groom’s cake. Yep, like I said. My kind of people. 😀

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Destination Beach Wedding: Rachel & Dave – Fort Zachary Taylor – Key West, Florida

You would think a Key West wedding on the beach in April would be mild, right? Alas, it wasn’t meant to be that day – it didn’t rain, but it was HOT! After doing a quick scouting trip to check out the lighting in a few spots around town, my sidekick Genevieve and I started the day at the air-conditioned Merlin Guest House, where Rachel, her mom, and her sister were getting the royal treatment from the ladies of Bella Luxe.

Rachel’s grandmother’s ring, bearing the words “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” in Hebrew, was Rachel’s “something borrowed”. Her grandmother’s flower pin was right at home in her bouquet of peonies, roses, and succulents.

Two handkerchiefs were tucked into the back of her dress: one was “something blue” (from her grandmother), the other was a white handkerchief with embroidered wedding bells, given to her by the groom’s mom. Since the ceremony was taking place on the beach, Rachel decided to skip the sky high heels and wore pearl Betsey Johnson sandals instead.

Over at Center Court, Dave got ready with the help of his brother, while little fur-kid Henry supervised until it was time for the first look (I admit, I was a little bummed that Henry couldn’t come with us).

After taking some pictures around town (with lots of bougainvillea of course), we made our way down to the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor, where the sun was slowly starting to dip behind the water. Embroidered handkerchiefs sat on each guest’s chair to thank them for making the trek down to Key West, and to mop up tears, sweat, or both!

The Conch Train picked everyone up from the beach to give them a ride to the reception held inside the fort, which is a National Historic Landmark. Decorated with strings of globe lights, deep pink/purple uplighting, and seafoam green accents, guests were encouraged to leave their marks on a thumbprint tree guest book. Hors d’oeuvres were passed to help soothe growling stomachs, while a variety of drinks (including Florida Beer Company’s Key West Sunset Ale) quenched any thirst that may have developed in the Florida heat.

Rachel and Dave kicked off the reception with their first dance, then we snuck away for a bit because I had an idea for some super dramatic pictures in front of the fort (complete with a stack of cannonballs). I moved a couple of spotlights around, then we made those pictures happen while listening to Huey Lewis doing a concert at the venue next door!

The wedding cake (created by the bakery at Publix) sat on a table in front of a Civil War cannon, and was decorated with succulents and a laser cut topper. After the cake was cut and a little frosting was smeared, everyone danced the night away, including some familiar faces – years ago, I met Rachel when she was a bridesmaid in Melanie’s wedding! Soon it was time for the newlyweds to leave under a shower of sparklers.

Thanks Rachel and Dave for letting me come down to the Keys to take pictures of all your funny faces. 😀 And special thanks to my sweet friend Genevieve (who happens to be a kick*ss photographer in Ohio) for coming with me and shooting her butt off!

Venue: Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

Pre-ceremony Accommodations (bride): Merlin Guest House

Pre-ceremony Accommodations (groom): Center Court

Invitations: Minted

Hair & Makeup: Bella Luxe

Bride’s Shoes: Something Blue by Betsey Johnson

Video: Cineaverde

Transportation: Conch Tour Train

Cake: Publix

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Wedding: Elaine & Jordan – Private Residence – Camp Hill, Alabama

Every now and then I procrastinate on blogging a particular event – usually because there’s a big story to tell, and the thought of condensing it into just a handful of pictures and words is overwhelming. Elaine & Jordan’s wedding (held just outside Auburn, on a farm owned by Jordan’s family) was one of those events. You might remember me posting this easygoing couple’s San Francisco engagement session, featuring a couple of things that are totally “them”: coffee and their black goldendoodle Carl. So it’s no surprise their wedding day featured a mixture of things that say “Elaine & Jordan” – a little quirky, a little traditional, a little glam, a little rustic, and of course, a lot of Carl. 😀

The quirky invitation suite featured custom illustrations of the couple, the barn, and the dog, with a side of pancakes and coffee.

Elaine wore a pop of glam under her lace gown, in the form of Jimmy Choo shoes with a gold mirror finish on the wedges. To be perfectly honest, they were kind of bad*ss. During the reception, she switched to a pair of crisp white Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars.

Since it rained before the wedding day, there were some muddy areas and lots of bugs out. This duo (who have known each other since they were 10 years old) braved the flying wildlife and made the trek out to a nearby field for their first look. The bridesmaids (wearing a variety of styles of navy dresses) and groomsmen joined us shortly after via golf carts.

The entire event was expertly coordinated by my friends at Invision Events, including the smallest details, like the ribbons used for the hanging lanterns and the mason jars that lined the aisle. Everything was going as planned as the string quartet began playing the ceremony music, until it was time for ringbearer Carl to come down the aisle. Here’s a little tidbit to put into your “life lessons” file: when a very large goldendoodle doesn’t want to do something, you’re probably not going to be able to make him. When Carl hestitated at the back of the aisle, Jordan (who had already made his entrance, along with the bridesmaids and groomsmen) called and walked toward him to encourage him to make his way down, but the dog decided to go for a little romp instead. So Elaine and her parents continued with the processional, but you’ll be glad to know that Carl did join everyone shortly after, on his own schedule. 😉

Elaine’s uncle was the officiant, which was apropos since Elaine was a flowergirl at his wedding. He made the ceremony one of the funniest I’ve witnessed in a LONG time, reading from a Star Wars notebook Elaine & Jordan had given him. Most days, he works as a doctor, but he mentioned that had he not been officiating, he would probably be the one taking lots of pictures. So much to everyone’s surprise (and laughter) he decided he should just go ahead and get his shot out of the way at the beginning of the ceremony, and proceeded to bust out his phone. I didn’t notice until later that Carl totally photobombed the picture I took when that happened (see if you can spot him below). My favorite part was probably during the vows, when the officiant breaks the vows into short phrases and has the bride and groom each repeat them. This is a shortened version of what actually happened, but it went something like this:

Elaine’s uncle: “I, Jordan, take you Elaine to be my wife”

Jordan: “I, Jordan, take you Elaine to be my wife”

Elaine’s uncle: “for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health”

Jordan: “for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health”

Elaine’s uncle: “as long as we both shall live”

Jordan: “as long as we both shall live”

Elaine’s uncle: “Oh”

Jordan (slightly confused): “Oh?”

Elaine’s uncle: “yeah”

Jordan (now smiling): “yeah”

Of course, Elaine got the “oh yeah” treatment added to the end of her vows too. I was dying.

After the ceremony, we made sure to get a few portraits with the big teddy bear Carl before the reception, which was set up at the barn. Marquee lights in the newlyweds’ initials adorned the side of the barn, while the escort cards featured an illustration of their favorite pooch. During cocktail hour, guests enjoyed sipping from copper Moscow Mule mugs (which doubled as wedding favors), and burned messages into a Jack Daniels whiskey barrel that acted as a guest book. Flowers by Hothouse Design Studio decorated the reception tables, along with small cakes (in addition to the bride’s and groom’s cakes), and paper lanterns that bore the names of Elaine’s family. Inside the barn, laser cut star-shaped pendants hung from the ceiling, and galvanized buckets displayed table numbers.

After dinner was complete, the toasts were the first sign that this reception was gonna get really interesting really quickly. Elaine & Jordan were completely surprised when the best man’s toast started out typically, but then a guitar was brought out. Elaine’s dad welcomed everyone to “L.A.”, meaning Lower Alabama. Elaine danced as they cut the cake, and ate cake off the cake server. The groom’s cake was a replica of Jordan-Hare Stadium – I know, you’ve seen Jordan-Hare cakes on this blog before. But when it has built in STADIUM LIGHTS, you know this reception is gonna be next level. I haven’t even gotten to the part with the foot beating yet.

I’ve witnessed more than my share of Asian wedding traditions, from Vietnamese tea ceremonies to Chinese door games. Most of them are intended to prove the groom’s “worthiness” and/or give him a chance to “earn” the bride by either completing a specific task and/or paying respect to her family. The Korean tradition of beating the groom’s feet was a new one to me, but from what I gathered from a little Google-ing, there are a couple of explanations as to why it’s done. Most websites said it’s intended to test the groom’s strength and character, and show that he’s strong enough/good enough to take care of the bride. Other websites said it was supposed to increase the groom’s….um…”wedding night strength”, if you catch my drift. I’ll let you decide which one is accurate!

After Jordan’s feet got a good old fashioned belt whipping, Elaine changed into plaid and overalls, a late night snack appeared in the form of Chick-fil-A, and a Bongzilla emerged. Yes, you read that correctly. The band from Mississippi, Compozitionz, worked overtime because the party got CRUNK. Many thanks to Elaine & Jordan for letting me be a part of it, getting smooshed on the packed dance floor was totally worth it!