Victorian Botanical Styled Shoot | Heather Roth Fine Art Photography

Hello!

I have a beautiful Victorian Botanical inspired shoot to feature today! You will immediately fall in love with our adorable couple! You might even recognize them – it’s Rachael and Kevin, who we were lucky enough to photograph on their BIG day this past January. 🙂 A HUGE thank you to them for hanging out all day with us!

So back in the day, those living in the Victorian era were fascinated with natural history. Women loved collecting and preserving plant + insect specimens, as well as sharing pressed flowers with their friends. Along with the study of botany, Pteridomania or what is commonly known as fern collecting, became unusually popular. To display their neatly dried and pressed ferns, these fancy ladies used terrariums as miniature garden showcases. A group of local vendors and I decided to put a spin on this educational & fun pastime to create a special wedding event to inspire our brides.

I really want to take the time to give everyone involved a shout out. I LOVE them all! So here’s a little something you might not have known about them.

Longview Farm House is a historical home available for special events & weddings. I had no idea! This beautiful space, patio garden, & wonderful property made it a no brainer for us to work there! Exclusive catering to the house is Villa Farotto. I don’t normally photograph food, but it was actually kind of fun! So when they wanted to join the fun, we couldn’t say no. And let’s just say we worked so hard we all wiped those plates clean! De-lish!

The White Rabbit, a vintage-chic boutique, was the perfect partner for this collaboration. They are also a mother / daughter team! We thought since they aren’t necessarily in the wedding industry that they would have a completely different eye. We see weddings all the time, so why not ask for an outside perspective! Their new & fresh approach was really breathtaking. They have some really unique items and fab merchandising skills. All the props & furniture we used – new & old – made for great displays for our shoot. Have you thought about buying items for your wedding instead of renting? Buying can actually be more cost-effective than you might realize. They supplied everything we needed! If Katie from Simply & Forever and I didn’t already buy everything we loved, you just might be able to find something similar at their store. 😉 Go give them a visit and tell them you saw the shoot.

The gown! Oh my goodness, did I have so much fun meeting with another mother / daughter team at Fleur De Lis Bridal Boutique in Clayton. The boutique is beyond darling, and ironically, is furnished from some special finds at The White Rabbit. 🙂 They carry beautiful gowns, and I soon found out that Elizabeth Fillmore was one of my favorite designers they carry. The Milla dress was perfect – with its long sleeve crochet lace capelet and hair accessory – which I was calling the “little poof” the entire time. 🙂 So dainty and feminine. Adore! And those sweet lace up boots… My Mom wore those in the 1980’s to Hallmark Cards (where she worked) almost every day with her coordinating Perry Ellis attire and loose bun. ha! Oh the things I remember! Sadly, I can’t squeeze my feet into them, and I don’t have the heart to give them up!

Rachael looked stunning. She is a natural beauty, and so sweet on the inside too. I don’t know how she could get any prettier, but leave it up to Nicole Brown with NB Artistry to add the finishing touches. She’s great with a really soft romantic look and it’s why I ask her time and time again to work with me. She also did the hair – we wanted it up since we were planning on that “little poof!”

I was so nervous to ask Melinda from Les Bouquets to help with the shoot! I know floral is really expensive anyway, and to ask for her time and talent AND flowers for a styled shoot is a lot. Luckily she said yes, and she did such a beautiful job. We were so lucky she gave us such an assortment to work with.

One Canoe Two Letterpress is located in Fulton, MO. They designed all the paper goods. These gals couldn’t be more talented! They even have their designs in Anthropologie! They are what I call – quirky-chic, with all their hand-drawn illustrations. 🙂 After they created the design, they then had to create plates to have them printed – just for our shoot! We really appreciate their time + talent + all the paper goods. They are currently breaking into the wedding industry with their wedding letterpress designs. If you are interested in a really unique wedding suite, please tell them you saw our shoot and are interested!

I didn’t have a chance to sample the cake, like I like to do at every wedding! But I heard it was delicious! We wanted that terrarium-look, as if the cake itself was the specimen and deserved to be preserved under a glass dome showcase. Thank you Rachel’s Cakery!

And last but not least, sweet Katie from Simply & Forever. Boy did she not know what she was getting into. 😉 I love that we are both perfectionists! I’m really high-strung, full of energy – with a big mouth. Er, I mean I have lots of things to say! 😉 If only I had an ounce of her calm and reserve. She was great to work with, and I love the ideas she generated and just how much she cared about doing something like this. Great work, girlie!

Okay, on to the photos! I have decided to post a few of my absolute faves, and if you want to see more scroll on down to the bottom to see the ISSUU journal.

Be sure to tell us what you think by leaving comments below. I think I speak for all of us that collaborated on this project, we’d LOVE to hear from you!

xox

HSR